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Products > Beaucarnea 'Gold Star' PP14,650
 
Beaucarnea 'Gold Star' PP14,650 - Variegated Bottle Palm
   
Image of Beaucarnea 'Gold Star' PP14,650
[2nd Image]
Habit and Cultural Information
Category: Succulent
Family: Nolinoidae (Asparagaceae)
Origin: Central America (North America)
Evergreen: Yes
Yellow/Chartreuse Foliage: Yes
Flower Color: Creamy White
Bloomtime: Infrequent
Synonyms: [Nolina 'Gold Star']
Height: 4-8 feet
Width: 4-6 feet
Exposure: Full Sun
Deer Tolerant: Yes
Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs
Winter Hardiness: 30-32° F
Beaucarnea 'Gold Star' PP14,650 (Variegated Bottle Palm) - This variegated Bottle Palm, or Pony Tail Palm as it is commonly called is not a palm at all but is actually a woody lily, more closely related to the agaves and yuccas. It is a stunning plant with a swollen base that develops over time and has a tuft of narrow green leaves with creamy yellow margins that have red tinges. We are not sure of the ultimate size of this plant (our tallest in boxes are about 5 feet) though believe it should prove considerably smaller than the typical non-variegated Bottle Palm, Beaucarnea recurvata. Plant in full sun outdoors and good light indoors, water deeply and infrequently. Protect from frost - we have had this plant outdoors over winter without protection that have not been damaged at 30°F. A great plant for a specimen in the garden or in pots that looks much better in full to part sun than it does in shade or indoors. The first crops of this plant tried in the US were for interior plantings and in this situation the plants are floppy, week and etiolated but when grown in full sun they are compact and have good color, though care needs to be used to protect this plant from anything more severe than a mild frost. This plant was discovered in 1996 and described as a plant mutation of Beaucarnea recurvata in the greenhouse of Cornelis Johannes Janssen in Honselersdijk, The Netherlands. It is marketed by Fachjan Project Plants as "Variegated Ponytail Palm" or Beaucarnea 'Yellow Star' though it holds US Plant Patent 14,650 that it received using the name Beaucarnea 'Gold Star' in March 2004. Beaucarnea is a genus of plants distributed only within Mexico and central America (Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and possibly Nicaragua) . Some have combined Beaucarnea into the related genus, Nolina, but we follow the treatment noted by Colin Walker in “Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Monocotyledons” (edited by Urs Eggli, Springer, 2001) who notes that "Rowley considered Beaucarnea and Calibanus to be synonymous with Nolina. However the cpDNA data strongly indicates that Beaucarnea and Calibanus are closely related but distinct from Nolina … Nolina, with 3-locular ovaries, is considered basal to the other genera. Like Dasylirion, Beaucarnea has 3-winged 1 locular nutlets.". There is speculation that that this plant may actually be a selection of Beaucarnea guatemalensis, which is slower and smaller growing and often has red in its new growth. This may also explain why this plant is more cold sensitive than typical Beaucarnea recurvata. The name for the genus honors Jean-Baptiste Beaucarne, a 19th century Belgian plant collector and horticulturist who first collected a flowering specimen of this plant. The French botanist Charles Antoine Lemaire reconstituted this name when he described Beaucarnea recurvata in L'illustration horticole in 1861 from plants already in cultivation that he had called Pincenectitia (also Pincecnitia. Pincinectia and Pincenectiua).  The information about Beaucarnea 'Gold Star' PP14,650 displayed on this page is based on research conducted in our nursery library and from online sources we consider reliable. We will also relate those observations made of this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and in other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has additional information, particularly when they share cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
 
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