Delilah
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Location: Coastal Australia, warm-temperate climate

Ponytail Palm with long CURLY locks - what is it?

Hi

I saw a beautiful Ponytail Palm today. It wasn't a 'regular' Ponytail, but had really long fronds that fell in loose curls all the way down. It looked like long hair that had been in big curlers then let loose! Quite beautiful.

Does anyone kow what this variety is called please?

Thanks :)

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BewilderedGreenyO.o
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Hi There :D

I really don't know much about ponytail palms. I've never grown one, or even seen them in any local garden centers here. However I did a quick search to see if I could possibly help you.

I'm really not sure if this is an actually variety of the pony tail palm or if it is just grown differently. But from what I found if this photo is similar to what you saw then they are called "Bottle Ponytail" or "Pullojukka"

[img]https://kuvablogi.com/nayta/prev/img1816991.jpg[/img]

[img]https://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/2001/11/10/Evert/11f76f.jpg[/img]

Now this is only my guess and may not be correct but at least its a start :) G'luck with your search. :D

Delilah
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Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:05 pm
Location: Coastal Australia, warm-temperate climate

Thank you, that looks like the one. You obviously have Google fingers (or something like that :) ).

The only problem is that the sites these pics come from give the name of the regular Ponytail/Bottle Palm, which has straight fronds, and do not mention the cultivar/variant with the curly fonds which is the one I want to know about...

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BewilderedGreenyO.o
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Well I can't seem to find any other variety of the ponytail palm... It seems as though its the only one. They may just look different due to age, or perhaps the environment its growing in, or even how much light it is getting. Once again I may be wrong :lol: but from lack of variety information on google that seems to be the case :wink: Be sure to let me know if you find out any different. I'm always fascinated with plant variation.

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BewilderedGreenyO.o
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I just found a website that has *TONS* of info on Ponytail palms. I've come to find... simple as it may seem that the plant you are looking for is actually commonly called the "Curly Ponytail Palm" LMFAO Here is the website. All you could possibly want to know about ponytails should be on this website :wink: [url]https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/261/[/url]

Delilah
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Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:05 pm
Location: Coastal Australia, warm-temperate climate

Ah, so nearly there!

The "Curly Bottle/Ponytail Palm" is a good description of the one I saw with the exception that there was no red at all; it was all dark green just like BewilderedGreeny's photos:
"Beaucarnea guatamalensis, sometimes called the curly bottle palm... The leaves are similar in shape to those of B recurvata, but are a bit thinner, shinier and have more red at the base of each leaf where it sticks to the tree. And the leaves are 3’-4’ long and usually twisted. ...This species seems to branch from the base commonly..."

...BUT, oddly, the photos in the article, and elsewhere on that site, and everywhere else I've looked, are of straight-fronded plants which do not match the 'twisted' or 'curly' description at all!

When I enter "Curly Bottle/Ponytail Palm" into Google I get only that one site. No-one else mentions it, which is pretty surprising.
(Do NOT click the second copy site; it will download a virus :evil: .)

This is proving much harder than I expected!

MariaM
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Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2021 8:33 pm

I wondered the same as mine was light colored and straight. Poor baby just needed a repot as it was cramped in the roots! It’s a bit curly and happy again and I just repotted it yesterday! Yes I feel like a horrible palm mom!!! He is a much more lush green and so very happy! Check on your babies roots!!!



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