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Costa Rica - native palms


mike in kurtistown

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Starting this topic takes a little guts - because some of my pics are not the best. I invite others to post better pics of these species (they might even end up in my library). Andrew Henderson was with our group a couple of days, and helped with identification.

Here's Astrogyne martiana and a closeup of a new, developing multi-branched inflorescence:

post-279-1211691227_thumb.jpgpost-279-1211691212_thumb.jpg

I thought I had a good photo of a large Astrocaryum alatum, but my camera must have malfunctioned. Here is a juvenile:

post-279-1211691247_thumb.jpg

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Here are two of Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana:

post-279-1211691676_thumb.jpgpost-279-1211691691_thumb.jpg

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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The second C. ghies..... above shows two of the spicate inflorescences that separate the genus from Asterogyne. Here's another Astrocaryum alatum, rather small:

post-279-1211691930_thumb.jpg

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Here are a couple of my favorite shots. Can always post more if anyone is interested...

post-1659-1211698573_thumb.jpg

post-1659-1211698584_thumb.jpg

Mike Lock, North coast of Maui, 330 ft/100 m elevaton, 80 in/2000 mm average rainfall

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Mike, I love the Geonoma photo. Good job.

Robert

Trinidad!  Southernmost island in the Caribbean.

So many plants, So little space.

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Good pic of the deversa leaf. Now, here are some Bactris spp.

These three are of B. coloradonis, a clustering species. First, a group seen along the forest trail:

post-279-1211744256_thumb.jpg

Now, this fascinating photograph of another cluster seen from the aerial tram car.

post-279-1211744275_thumb.jpg

Seen from the trail, these palms might be considered unimpressive. But from above, they seem to open to the sun like sea anemones on the reef. This pic, BTW, is "borrowed" from BGL's earlier posting.

Finally, the impressive spines on a stem of this species:

post-279-1211744292_thumb.jpg

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Some more Bactris spp. This is the only pic I could get of B. gracilior:

post-279-1211744669_thumb.jpg

Here is B. hondurensis (furry leaf undersides):

post-279-1211744682_thumb.jpg

And this is B. maraja:

post-279-1211744709_thumb.jpg

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Mike, super pics...post more if you've gottem!

Rusty

Rusty Bell

Pine Island - the Ex-Pat part of Lee County, Fl , USA

Zone 10b, life in the subs!...except when it isn't....

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Responding to popular demand, here are some more. Unfortunately, several Chamaedoreas were not identified. Of the two that were, here is C. deckeriana in a slightly blurry pic:

post-279-1211779602_thumb.jpg

And the well-known C. tepelijote in another not-so-great pic:

post-279-1211779639_thumb.jpg

Here is a pic of the aerial roots (correct term?) of C. tepelijote:

post-279-1211779620_thumb.jpg

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Working our way to Geonoma, here are three more. First, Cryosophila warscewiczii:

post-279-1211780013_thumb.jpg

Andrew Henderson used the species name albida, but this is synonymous with warscewiczii. "Albida" is easier to spell, though. Now, here is Desmoncus costaricensis:

post-279-1211780027_thumb.jpg

Euterpe precatoreas were common and I didn't photograph one, but here is a fascinating pic of the aerial roots they developed in the forest environment:

post-279-1211780047_thumb.jpg

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Well, its time to do Geonoma. Here's G. congesta, which we usually found as large clumps of relatively tall stems within the forest:

post-279-1211872137_thumb.jpg

And here's G. ferruginea:

post-279-1211872154_thumb.jpg

mm

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Now, here's three views of G. cuneata:

post-279-1211872334_thumb.jpgpost-279-1211872350_thumb.jpgpost-279-1211872362_thumb.jpg

The last one, though a little blurry, shows the long brownish-purple spicate inflorescence that cuneata produces.

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Here are a couple of views of G. interrupta, a rather tall, robust forest dweller with a red or purplish-red branched inflorescence that developes below the leaves, as shown in the second of these shots:

post-279-1211872718_thumb.jpgpost-279-1211872738_thumb.jpg

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Forgot to mention that the second pic above was not actually ID'd by Andrew Henderson, but it lookds like a good pick. G. undata is similar to G. interrupta, but occurs at a higher elevation and has different size fruits. Now, here is a palm Andrew ID'd as G. pinnatafrons:

post-279-1211873318_thumb.jpg

Reading his field guide, pinnatafrons is an old name synonymous with interrupta, so this is probably just a juvenile interrupta. There is also a Chamaedorea pinnatafrons, but it is very different from this palm.

At the Herrera Farms, we saw a similar Geonoma (shown below). A Spanish gentleman ID'd it as G. undata. A study of fruits collected from this tree showed them to be intermediate in size and shape between the descriptions of interrupta and undata. Since these palms were cultivated, the elevation provides no information.

post-279-1211873336_thumb.jpg

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Here are two shots of different varieties of Hyospathe elegans:

post-279-1211873821_thumb.jpgpost-279-1211873835_thumb.jpg

The first is the variety I have more commonly seen in CR and a previous trip to the Amazon, with coarsely-divided leaf in three or more segments. The second is the variety described by Andrew as ssp. costaricensis. This palm, BTW, is the same one in the pic posted earlier by fellow bus #1 rider and photo documenter extraordinaire Mike Locke.

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Great photos. Hmmmmm.....Hyospathe elegans is one that I missed.

Tampa, Interbay Peninsula, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10A

Bokeelia, Pine Island, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10B

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Ray's appreciation propels me forward. Here are two shots of Iriartea deltoidea. The first is a juvenile in the forest, and the second is a giantemerged above the canopy as seen from the tram car:

post-279-1211954344_thumb.jpgpost-279-1211954358_thumb.jpg

Andrew Henderson's lesson about Iriartea and Socratea is that vertically (upward) oriented leaflets of Iriartea are straight, whereas those of Socratea droop.

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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A fascinating forest dweller was Neonicholsonia watsonii. Here are two shots of the same specimen:

post-279-1211954677_thumb.jpgpost-279-1211954658_thumb.jpg

The second, closer shot shows, if one looks closely, the long brown spicate inflorescence that characterizes this species. This species is considered to be closely related to the Chamadoreas.

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Another forest dweller was Pholidostachys pulchra:

post-279-1211954993_thumb.jpgpost-279-1211955014_thumb.jpg

Not really apparent in these photos is the brownish-maroon coloration of the petioles which is one of the quick ways to ID this species in the forest.

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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And here are a couple of shots of Prestoea decurrens. These palms were not easy to photograph because they tended to have long stems with relatively horizontal crowns that were hidden in the trees. The typical white Prestoea inflorescence (maybe drooping a little more here than is usual) is shown in the first photo. The second photo is a leaf detail showing, if one studies it carefully, the long, pointed leaflet tips that look almost like spines:

post-279-1211955433_thumb.jpgpost-279-1211955453_thumb.jpg

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Mike,

Your pictures of Geonomas are really fantastic :blink::mrlooney:

Thank you for sharing them.

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Next, here is a pic of a plant in a cultivated setting that a park official at Braulio Carillo NP said was Reinhardtia gracilis:

post-279-1212042919_thumb.jpg

Back in the forest, I can offer a picture of the root system of Socratea. (I missed getting a pic of a mature Socratea.) The instruction from Andrew Henderson was that the root system of Socratea was sparse and easy to see through, but the root system of Iriartea (no photo available from me) was very dense and formed a mass that could not be seen through. The Socratea roots:

post-279-1212042937_thumb.jpg

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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One of the climax trees of the forest at Braulio Carillo NP was Welfia regia. It's tough getting pictures of large palms in the forest, but here are some attempts. The first is a massive specimen in the forest:

post-279-1212043225_thumb.jpg

Here is a pic of a "seedling":

post-279-1212043268_thumb.jpg

Apparently Welfias keep getting red new leaves at the "seedling" stage:

post-279-1212043252_thumb.jpg

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Finally, an interesting cycad was found in Braulio Carillo NP:

post-279-1212044028_thumb.jpg

This is one of the pleated-leaf Zamias. I thought it might be Z. neurophyllidia rather than Z. skinnerii, but an inquiry to the cycad list brought the expert-level response that "much work still needs to be done on the pleated-leaf Zamias in Costa Rica". Apparently, most of the work done to date on this confusing and variable family has been in Panama. Here is another plant with what loooks like a female cone:

post-279-1212044015_thumb.jpg

This concludes my presentation of Costa Rica indigenous/endemic palms pictures. As said before, I invite anyone else to join in. I know that there are others who have better pics than mine, or who got pics of ones that I missed. Let's see them! They don't have to be great. Just images that show what no one else has yet shown.

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Mike

Thanks for the great coverage of the Palms of Costa Rica.

Regards

Clayton

Sunshine Coast Queensland Australia

Minimum 3.C -------- maximum 43.C Average Annual Rainfall 1700mm

IPS Membership since 1991

PLANT MORE PALMS TO SOOTH THE SOUL

www.utopiapalmsandcycads.com

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The variety of palm species is staggering, just one right after another. For those of us still learning it's mind bending. Pretty exciting stuff seeing all the palms in habitat, looking forward to the next biennial.

Tim

Tim

Hilo, Hawaii

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Mike, thanks for posting your pics! I really enjoyed them although I can't find much info on B. coloradonis. There are some similar palms growing here on the property that I have not been able to identify. I was looking it up on the internet to find more pictures but there is not much out there.

Formerly Jeff in Costa Rica
 

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Jeff,

Andrew Henderson identified this numerous times on our Braulio Carillo walk, but in the first several ocasions, this was followed by an emphatic "I think". B. coloradonis is included in his field guide, but there it is described as solitary or clustering and having leaflets "irregularly arranged and spreading in different planes". The ones I imaged have the leaflets regularly arranged and spreading in the same plane and were always in clusters. This fits Andrew's description of Bactris major, which is also found in Costa Rica. B. coloradonis leaflets are supposed to usually have prominent cross veins, but I don't see this in my pictures. So maybe it is just Bactris major?

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Jeff,

Andrew Henderson identified this numerous times on our Braulio Carillo walk, but in the first several ocasions, this was followed by an emphatic "I think". B. coloradonis is included in his field guide, but there it is described as solitary or clustering and having leaflets "irregularly arranged and spreading in different planes". The ones I imaged have the leaflets regularly arranged and spreading in the same plane and were always in clusters. This fits Andrew's description of Bactris major, which is also found in Costa Rica. B. coloradonis leaflets are supposed to usually have prominent cross veins, but I don't see this in my pictures. So maybe it is just Bactris major?

MM

Mike, I think it is B major then because the leaflets are on one plane. Thanks for the info!

Formerly Jeff in Costa Rica
 

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Jeff, received a response from Andrew Henderson on this issue, to wit: "Bactris major usually grows in dryer areas, often at low elevations. If you look at the bases of the leaves you can see that the leaflets are slightly irregularly arranged, not regularly as in B. major. Having said all that, it is difficult to identify any Bactris just from a photo, but I think these are probably B. coloradonis."

Looking at the overhead photo, I can observe some leaflet grouping, and some leaflets in two planes.

However, your palms could be the true Bactris major.

MM

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Thanks again Mike for the info! I will have to take some pictures of the palms in question and post the pics.

Formerly Jeff in Costa Rica
 

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  • 14 years later...

Hi Mike. We are in Costa Rica now and are wondering if you can help us identify a plant. Unfortunately we don't have a picture. Our friends 1st home here had this planted and we'd like to get one from our nursery. So it has very large leaves, we thought it was xalled an elephant palm. It was around 8 feet tall. The interesting part was it moved in the breeze and gave so much interest. Anything helps, thanks in advance. 

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I forgot all about this topic and that I had developed this presentation.  My ID's were based on Dr. Henderson's. I have no idea what your palm is from the information above. I would need a picture and any info about petioles and leaves, etc., and maybe no certainty even then. Sorry.

I am currently puzzling over some Bactris that I grew from seeds sent out from Rare Palm Seeds some years ago. The seeds were labeled Bactris coloradonis, but published pictures look nothing like them, or like the ones Dr. Henderson identified. Possibly, there are regional forms. Here's my Bactris puzzle:

1664687122_Bactriscoloradonis_MLM_110922.thumb.jpg.3d1a9c572f73d708a80fc9b8637b5c0d.jpg

 

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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On 1/5/2023 at 4:42 PM, Ajax said:

Hi Mike. We are in Costa Rica now and are wondering if you can help us identify a plant. Unfortunately we don't have a picture. Our friends 1st home here had this planted and we'd like to get one from our nursery. So it has very large leaves, we thought it was xalled an elephant palm. It was around 8 feet tall. The interesting part was it moved in the breeze and gave so much interest. Anything helps, thanks in advance. 

I am a little south of you and could help with a picture.

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