I hope this isn't too nosy, but I am intrigued about this. When did you plant the seeds ? Did you do anything special when germinating ? How did you get the seeds home (customs did not give you a hard time ?) Do you over winter them inside ? I'm sorry that I don't have any help to offer with identification. It's a beautiful palm.

I don't know what this palm is but i brought some seeds of a saw palmetto home from mexico. I just scattered them in a towel. No one noticed

I wonder what the penalty is for attempting to bring seeds into the U.S. is or if there are penalties from the country of origin too ?

Also, seeing as they are seeds, I wonder if a good way to bring them into the country wouldn't be to slip them into a snack mix of granola or trail mix, probably wouldn't raise any eyebrows... although if a towel roll works, that is far easier...

Guys. Just a suggestion- you might want to make sure you know what the species is, prior to pilfering the seeds from another country. There are CITES permits required for the international exchange of many species. Not to mention, this is exactly how devastating diseases like PLY are transmitted from one location to another. If it is classified as an endangered species, and you are caught taking them across international borders, the penalties are very severe. It is a crime, under any circumstance, to remove seeds, or living plant tissue without a permit from the host country. In fact, depending on the species, it can even be illegal to do so within the country, much less taking it across international borders. If caught, you will most definitely have a bad day at customs, almost definitely end up in jail, if not slapped with a huge fine, and possible imprisonment.

I have travelled to many different countries and never had any difficulties bringing seeds back with the exception of Israel which took them out of my bag without informing me. The other times, including Costa Rica, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Jordan I simply put them in my pocket or in my bag. I have had no problems at least 10 times. I took the fruit off shortly after picking them. Since I live in Canada I will not be planting the seeds outside. I germinated these paticular seeds by placing them in a tupperware placed on a heat pad. I had a 100% germination rate. The reason I chose this palm was because it seemed to grow as an understory palm and therefore may do better indoors with lower light conditions, although it will probably require high humidity.

def. not native to panama but the Macarthur palm looks very similar in the leaves and the skinny size of the trunk! but I don't think it is a Macarthur palm just my closest guess off top of head. would be nice to know the real idntity of the palm. -Justin