Talk:Ptychosperma elegans

Alexander Palm vs Solitaire Palm
Trade names often confuse various species. It appears that both ptychosperma elegans and archontophoenix alexandrae are called "Alexander palm". Based on photos and the scientific nomenclature, these do not appear to be the same species, but I await second opinions. Ryoung 122 03:18, 2 October 2011 (UTC)

Greetings, while it seems that this article has generated little interest in several years, I note that there are better pictures of ptychosperma elegans (alexander/solitaire) palms, such as:

https://www.south-florida-plant-guide.com/alexander-palm.html

https://www.south-florida-plant-guide.com/images/xalexander-palm.jpg.pagespeed.ic.4H8j4x3g3z.jpg

Viewed from afar, or even close up, these can be confused with adonidia, but an experienced look shows some differences.

Adonidia tend to have gray trunks with tight ring marks (leaf scars), dark green leaves, red berries, and a slightly enlarged base. They are also sometimes paired in doubles, triples, or quads. Alexander palms tend to have green-gray trunks with slightly wider-spaced leaf scars, brighter green leaves, red berries slightly larger, and a slightly enlarged base...very similar in many ways but a few differences are apparent. Also, adonidia are native to the Philippines, whereas the solitaire palm comes from Australia. However, given the very close similarities I do wonder if a DNA profile were made of both species, how close are these plants genetically? Ryoung 122 02:08, 11 February 2018 (UTC)

Name Confusion
Currently, the scientific name for this palm in this article is spelled "ptychosperma elegans". But at least one source gives it as "ptychosterma elegans":

http://www.palmco.com/alexander-palm.html

However, the above is a for-profit website and we see that the scientific name is "ptychosperma elegans":

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fr313

Dave's Garden also spells it correctly: https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/32011/

Ryoung 122 02:17, 11 February 2018 (UTC)