Pronunciation: yo-hann-iss-tayz-MAHN-ee-uh mag-NIFF-ih-cuh
Common Name: Silver Joey Palm
Johannesteijmannia magnifica is one of the world's most beautiful palms, and one of the few super tropical, entire leaf palms that can be grown in the perfect microclimates in California. This understory Malaysian palm has large, rhomboid, ornamentally ridged leaves with striking, silver undersides and basically no trunk. This is not a plant for beginners, though, and even many experienced and expert palm growers in very good California climates struggle with this one. It resents low humidity and any large changes in temperature.
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Appearance and Biology
- Habit: solitary to stemless with a crown of 6-10 entire leaves
- Height: stemless to 6" tall; 4' tall overall
- Trunk: single or trunkless; 4" thick; covered with dark brown fiber and retained leaf bases
- Crownshaft: none
- Spread: 4'-6' in California
- Leaf Description: pinnate/entire; diamond-shaped or triangular with convex leaf end; leaflets split only 1" giving the leaf ends an ornamental look of being trimmed by a pink shears; medium green to yellow-green (most often color seen in California); underside of leaf silvery; 3' long in California (longer in the tropics)
- Petiole/Leaf bases: 6"; yellow-green with yellow ventral stipe along midline; armed with closely-spaced, small but sharp marginal teeth; unsplit leaf bases, often retained on short stem
- Reproduction: monoecious
- Inflorescence:
- Fruit: spherical; light brown; knobby
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Horticultural Characteristics
- Minimum Temp: 30F
- Drought Tolerance: low
- Dry Heat Tolerance: low
- Wind Tolerance: poor
- Salt Tolerance: unknown
- Growth Rate: very slow
- Soil Preference: moist and well draining
- Light Requirement: shade to filtered light
- Human Hazards: mild danger from petiolar teeth
- Disease or Horticultural Problems: just all around difficult
- Transplants?: unknown
- Indoor?: very high humidity requirements keep this one from being happy indoors
- Availability: rare but often available through specialty palm nurseries and mail order palm nurseries
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