Pronunciation: prit-CHAR-dee-uh beck-er-ee-ANN-uh
Common Name: Loulu Palm
Pritchardia beccariana is one of the largest of the Pritchardias and a pretty good landscape and specimen palm for many areas of southern California. This native of the Big Island of Hawaii has an exceptionally large crown of leaves that are somewhat droopy. It is not a great species for high wind locations, but it seems to be relatively cold hardy compared to some others.
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Appearance and Biology
- Habit: solitary with a crown of about 30 fan leaves
- Height: 40'
- Trunk: 18" single; clean
- Crownshaft: none
- Spread: 14'
- Leaf Description: palmate to mildly costapalmate; bright green; leaves split less than 1/4 their length; entire leaf tends to droop a bit and ends and side to side; leaves are nearly circular despite being only half a fan (leaves on sides get progressively shorter); 8' long
- Petiole/Leaf bases: mildly channeled; unarmed but still sharp and dangerous; about 4'-5' long arching; unsplit leaf bases
- Reproduction: monoecious
- Inflorescence: 2' long, drooping; from within crown
- Fruit: spherical and dark, shiny green to brown when ripe; 1.5" in diameter
- Seed:
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Horticultural Characteristics
- Minimum Temp: 30F
- Drought Tolerance: low
- Dry Heat Tolerance: moderate
- Cool Tolerance: moderate
- Wind Tolerance: low
- Salt Tolerance: unknown
- Growth Rate: slow to moderate with age
- Soil Preference: moist and very well draining, but somewhat adaptable
- Light Requirement: full sun to partial shade
- Human Hazards: some petioles are sharp-edged- caution if trimming with bare hands
- Disease or Horticultural Problems: leaves get shredded in winds, which tend to be more of a problem the taller the palm gets
- Transplants?: unknown
- Indoor?: unknown
- Availability: rare but often available from palm specialty nurseries
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