Palms For California

Pronunciation: cam-uh-DOOR-ee-uh turk-HIME-ee-eye

Common Name: Potato Chip Palm

Chamaedorea tuerckheimii is one of the more sought after small, understory Chamaedoreas in California having a highly ornamental ovoid/entire leaf with ridges somewhat resembling a ridged potato chip. There are two distinct forms of this plant coming from two different areas of Central America- one from Veracruz, Mexico with blotchy, lime-green leaves and the more classic form from Guatemala which has the more dark leaves and the whitish margins that more closely resemble Ruffles Potato chips. Both plants are very rare and hard to find and struggle with humidity problems, but many California growers have had good success with them.

Appearance and Biology Habit: solitary with a crown of 8-12 entire leaves Height: 2'-3' Trunk: single; 1/4"-1/3" thick; dark green (Guatemalan) or medium green (Mexican); closely ringed Crownshaft: pseudo-crownshaft of leaf bases that partially circle the stem Spread: 4"-6" Leaf Description: pinnate/entire; flattish with subtle 'V' at midrib; Guatemalan form: leaf blade dark, forest green; entire/ovoid with subtle point at distal end; deeply ridged; whitish margin to entire leaf edges; 4" long and 2.5" wide; Mexican form: medium green and lime-green to yellow-green blotches; 4"-5" long and 3" wide; no whitish margin at edge of leaves Petiole/Leaf bases: Guatemalan form: virtually no petiole with leaves arising right off center of palm; Mexican form: short, wide, channeled; 1/2"-1" long; light green Reproduction: dioecious Inflorescence: 5"; unbranched; below leaf crown; orange when older Fruit: spherical; 1/3"; black when ripe

Horticultural Characteristics Minimum Temp: 31F Drought Tolerance: poor Dry Heat Tolerance: poor Wind Tolerance: very poor Salt Tolerance: low Growth Rate: very slow Soil Preference: moist, acidic, well draining Light Requirement: shade to filtered light Human Hazards: none Disease or Horticultural Problems: necrotic leaf tips in low humidity Transplants?: unknown, but probably OK since root ball is pretty small Indoor?: difficult mostly due to lack of humidity- if that can be addressed, suspect would do fine Availability: very rare; only occasionally showing up at specialty nurseries