Roystonea Species, Cuban Royal Palm, Florida Royal Palm, Royal Palm

this plant is alot more hardy than it says it survived 26 degrees and most coconut palms did too. thls winter was very abnormal. from palm bay

I have just planted a number of Florida royal palm seeds on New Years day 09. I just dont see why they wouldn't grow in the southbay. Our...Read More winter nights don't reach into the 20's rarely do we have a 32F,and even a year or two can go by without frost. Summers are 75-85F degrees. How fast the Florida Royal will grow is the question.

I have grown royal palms with easy success on my land in the Yucatan Peninsula - both in Quintana Roo on the beach in Tulum and also in Y...Read Moreucatan at my place in the jungle near the town of Valladolid. Many nurseries have them available and they are increasingly being used as parkway trees - just visit Playa del Carmen or Tulum. It is difficult however to source fertilizer thereabouts. I have found only 17-17-17 available from verteranary supplies. That seems to be the place to buy growing supplies - nurseries may sell from their own supplies but many are reluctant to do so. Also have grown many other palms easilly: pritchardia, carpentaria, licuala, hyophorbe and others. Hey, they love the tropics!

beautifull palm, i see these growing every where when we vist south florida. (not exactly a common sight in ohio, if u know what i mean)...Read More the only down side is that its under planted, so if u can afford it, plant it :)

This is one of my favorite palms, With fertilizer and some watering in the dry season here, my Royal has grown from about three feet to h...Read Moreeight of fifteen feet in a little over four years, I cannot believe how fast these palms grow.

IF you have trouble keeping it green, water it more, and give it fertilizer with a lot of manganese potassium and definatley nitrogen. Th...Read Moreese palms love it, and unfortunatley, southern California does not have the right soil for it, but there are great specimens there as you can see.

I have a few young Cuban Royals growing around my pool here in NE Phoenix. We have a gigantic one on the south side of the state capital ...Read Morefor 20 years that is nice and fat and looks incredible. Love the green crownshaft. Here in Phoenix I do need to protect them in the winter on occasion, but since they are hardy to 28 degrees that really isn't very often.

Surprisingly, they take our sun very well from my experience. A little fading on the fronds but nothing earthshattering. What a wonderful alternative to Queen Palms here in Phoenix but they get REALLY big eventually so that must be considered when planting. Give them lots of water with small monthly fertilizing in the warm months and they reward you with fast new spear growth. They revel in heat.

Nice palm. But the Cuban royal is far more interesting. Bowl-like base, which is a big part of any royal's beauty.

So far the Royal Palm I have in my front yard is growing well. At first I thought we were going to have to replace it because it looked ...Read Morevery much like it was dying (the fronds were brown and shriveled, and new shoots kept turning yellow and brown on the leaf tips; there were also white blotches on the base of the fronds) but after we cut off all the fronds except the newest shoot that was coming in it recovered. Now we water it most of the time every day which keeps it green and fresh; I think if we stop it might get hurt. We hav'nt watered it recently but it is still growing nicely, with shoots coming in quickly; all the new leaves are now green!

MORE INFORMATION:
The Florida Royal Palm is native to the cypress swamps, tropical hardwood hammocks, keys, sloughs, and prairies of the South Florida Everglades. It is a great native plant that provides some shelter for wildlife and birds. It's close relative, the Cuban Royal Palm (more often seen in cultivation, nurseries, and plantings than the native Florida Royal Palm), is native to the Caribbean. Many of the beautiful Royal Palms in South Florida, notably Miami and Homestead, were destroyed in 1992 by Hurricane Andrew. Since then, they have recovered nicely and are now continually planted along streets and in the front entrance of homes, mansions, condominiums, and townhouses as well as duplexes. Many of these palms line the street and pathways in the center of Mizner Park in Boca Raton, FL. Mulching around the palm and creating a domed ridge of sand around the palm helps prevent required moisture from escaping. I rate this plant a 10 out of 10 for its use as an attractive, stately landscape palm (up to 80 ft. tall) and its value to native wildlife.

I dont think one could find a more beautiful palm tree, they are just simply striking, my Grandparents live in Bonita Springs Florida, an...Read Mored Royal Palms line the Boulivards of the cities down there.

I have one in Los Angeles County, and it has not trunked yet but I am having trouble keeping a healthy green color to it.

The true species name for this palm is actually Roystonea regia - R. elata is a defunct synonym. This is also turning out ...Read Moreto be a great street palm in warmer areas of Southern California, though getting it to the 'hardy' size requires an excellent climate. Usually they are grown up large in San Diego County, and then moved north when they have several feet of trunk at least. They tend to move pretty well for large palms.

These are truly heat loving palms. They can survive in climates that are cooler, but they rarely do very well. They love humidity, too, but surprisingly seem to do pretty well in the desert climates (thanks to the high heat) though at risk of looking bad if dry winds kick up, or a cold snap hits. These palms really do best in hot, humid tropical climates and that is what one sees them all over southern Florida, but rarely in southern California. But they perform better than most have expected in California so they will probably become more popular over the years.

This is a fast growing palm, one of the fastest there are. But in cooler climates the rate is not quite so impressive. In southern California it is considered a moderately fast palm, but grows about 10x slower than it does in Florida (almost everything grows faster in that sort of climate).
There are much more striking and impressive/beautiful palms for avenue planting in the tropics, but for the mainland US, this is probably the best avenue palm there is (for those few areas in which it can survive). Their straight, cement-pole like trunks are striking, and the deep green crownshafts make for a very tropical, elegant look.

The Florida Royal Palm is native to the cypress swamps of south Florida. They are not particular about soil. They like full sun and plent...Read Morey of water to look their best. At home in cypress swamps, the Florida Royal Palm tolerates occasional flooding. It can survive cold spells down to 28 F if short in duration. There is not a more impressive palm with which to line a boulevard. The beautiful Royal is readily available in areas where it can be grown. With a little care (water and fertilizer) this palm will reward with fast growth that is rare for a palm. Being tolerant of salt drift, Royal Palms will grow near salt water and on the beach if set back from the first line of dunes.