Licuala ramsayi and Licuala peltata ‘Sumawongii’

Love all members of the Licuala family! I had an Australian one growing in my garden twenty years ago, but sadly it died off after being thrashed by Cyclone Yasi!! I really miss its beauty.

I’m so sorry!😞. I know Licuala species are very sensitive to direct hot sun and strong winds. Isn’t Licuala ramsayi native close to where you live in very dense tropical rainforests?

Yes Delonix, the Licuala ramsayi is native to north eastern Queensland, further north than where I live, and in the rainforests up there. We often refer to it as the Queensland Fan Palm, rather than the Australian Fan Palm.

The Licuala ramsayi was the one I had growing here.

Oh ok, further north than where you live.

That’s good information which makes a lot sense. It’s commonly sold as Australian fan palm here in the U.S., but I know there’s several native Australian fan palms: Livistona australis; L. drudei; L. decora; L. humilis are just a few examples.

They should make good trees in a few years time!

Licuala species are slow in the hot tropics and painfully slow here in San Diego’s mild subtropical climate. It’ll be decades before they are of any size, 6 ft or 2 m.

Then I could grow one in our living room! :D

I purchased a Licuala peltata ‘Sumawongii’ in 2009 and it grow unbelievable fast, four fronds a year (pretty much unheard of here), I brought it indoors and it died from major bug infestations. It’s a very poor houseplant because it loves humidity and good air circulation. I would think if you baby it by getting a humidifier, never let it dry out and use a systemic pesticide every 4 months it may grow ok indoors.

This is what my Licuala looked like in June of 2010.

https://growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/159125-licuala-peltata-sumawongii-sumawong-pleated-licuala/all

I took a look at your plant & it looked very good!

Yes, I was so surprised it grew so well outdoors for two years. My biggest mistake was bringing it indoors and forgetting about it. It got infested with bugs which killed the heart.

That was a shame, Andy! But then the same thing has happened to me over the years,in fact just a few weeks ago I brought in a trailing plant with lovely pale lavender blue flowers. I had recently removed the Tradescantia zebrina plants from on top of the fridge in the kitchen &replaced them with new cuttings recently planted up. as the side of the fridge was looking so bare I thought this plant would like nice there & I hoped it would flower all winter. But I forgot about it after a week until I noticed dead leaves & flowers on the counter beside the fridge - I'd forgotten about the plant! I watered it & it started to recover but again I forgot about it & it's now dead! :(

Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear about your T. zibrina!😞

It’s an awful feeling, especially when you have a lot of time invested in a plant. Is it an expensive plant there? It’s a common plant used as a groundcover here.

A Licuala peltata ‘Sumawongii’ the size that I killed usually costs about $400.00 to $500.00. Small 1 gall size plants are typically $125.00…not cheap. 😞

It wasn't the Tradescantia zebrina that died but the flowering plant, I think it is was a Bacopa.

I threw the Tradescantia in the rubbish bin as a great deal of it was dying. It's cheap plant here but I've never bought any. All my plants have come from cuttings I've taken from my own plants.

That's a big, expensive plant, Andy!

Is Bacopa easy to purchase there?

Yes, Licuala species are typically very expensive because they grow so slowly.

I only can imagine how much these posted Licuala palms cost. Probably $500.00 to $700.00 ea.