Brahea moorei

[kristof p]

i've been searching a long time for seeds or plants of Brahea moorei. a year ago i finily found seeds(Peckerwood gardens), i know they are hard to germinate and so far i had 3 germinated seeds. 2 seedlings died very soon after germination and now i am left with one healthy moorei seedling.

i always thought this Brahea was the best one for climates with wett freezes. i think Nigel has a healthy seedling growing outside in his UK garden?

what are the experiances in the Pacific northwest? the climate up there is similar to my climate...

[Kris]

Dear Friends

Any stills of this palm ?

Love,

Kris

[Tad]

Heres one in habitat., look thru my mexico travel thread there are some more pics there.

[Kris]

Dear Tad

Thanks for the visual,and i will go through your mexican thread again...

lots of love to you,

Kris

[ghar41]

what are the experiances in the Pacific northwest? the climate up there is similar to my climate...

I bought these plants as one gallon size from Cistus Nursery, which is in the Pacific Northwest, (Portland, Oregon) awhile back. They were very healthy and resumed growth here almost immediately. My climate is cold/wet also.

[Davidl]

Nice looking palm. The two palms in the pic's don't look the same but I guess they are.

Edited November 24, 2008 by Davidl

[kristof p]

Tad,

very nice pics! i would love to make a trip to mexico and see al of its natural treasures ...

it looks like it is quite a humid and cool day on the picture you posted in this thread. can you discribe in what kind of climate the grow? do they grow at higher elevations than the other Brahea's in the shadow of moist oak forests?

sory for al the questions but i am always very interested in what kind of conditions a palm grows in their natural habitat. and since you've seen them in their natural habitat their is no better person to ask this

Ghar41,

those are already beatiful mooreis! i think they wil soon start producing the adult leaves with the lovely white undersides it looks like you also grow them in the shadow? in my climate it is a bonus if a(marginal)palm is able to grow good in the shadow of an evergreen canopy. this gives a good protection to (radiaton)frosts which i found to be the most destructive...

[Gtlevine]

You can get me going with this species, my favorite Brahea by a long shot. I have four of them in the ground and one has finally turned white on the back side of the leaves. They are painfully slow but well worth it.

Gary

[JD in the OC]

they don't like ANY root disturbance whatsoever. i just planted a 3gallon in the ground here in FL and it is a happy camper!! likes filtered sun.

[ghar41]

they don't like ANY root disturbance whatsoever.

likes filtered sun.

I agree JD...I found this out the hard way. Dick Douglas and I tried a couple of large B. moorei's that were previously dug for us...neither one made it. If I had to do it on my own, I would definitely try root pruning it first.

I've seen this plant in full sun and I don't think it is near as beautiful as those grown in morning/ filtered sun. They sure do seem to throw heavy, multiple spike inflorescence in full sun though.

I'm crazy about this palm. It is so attractive, has no spines, can be grown in a small area, and has a great deal of cold/freeze tolerance. This is a top tier palm for cold hardy growers. I'd put it in my top 3 of all palms that can be grown in USDA Zone 9.

[ghar41]

Nice looking palm. The two palms in the pic's don't look the same but I guess they are.

The small palms are two different plants (one on brown bark, the other on black), both are the same size.

[kristof p]

it looks like B. moorei is not so rare anymore in the usa? in europe it is still impossible to find seedlings or small plants of this palm. a real shame because i think it would be just fine in parts of northwest europe (incl. here) and ofcourse in the south of europe. it would also make a very atractive addition to the range of palms that can be grow in northwest europe!

which of following Brahea species would be the best choice for the kind of climate i have with cool summers and long, cold and wett winters with an occasional low around -6°C? B. armata, B. edulis, B. decumbens or B. moorei???

many thanks in advance,

Kristof

[HKO2008]

Hello all,

i am reading this thread with great interest.

However, can somebody comment anything on the moist tolerance of this species in relation with frost hardiness. I read somewhere that they do take a lot of frost, but only in dry conditions and that the frost tolerance is less when humidity is higher. Anyone?

Henri

[kristof p]

Hi Henri,

glad you tuned in on this treath. like with all plants, cold tolerance decrease when wet but i can not see why it would decrease much more with B. moorei than with other Brahea species. in fact, i think it decreases less with B. moorei because it comes from a more humid and colder climate than the other Brahea species...

Kristof

[SubTropicRay]

Hi JD,

Please let me know how that Brahea works for you. Until now, only Brahea brandegeei has done well long term here. Dr. U.A. Young planted a B. armata here in the 1970's but already had good size. Even now, it looks best in winter when the humidity is lower. Brahea may be an even bigger challenge in your area with the slightly warmer winter temps.

thanks,

Ray

[HKO2008]

Hey Kristof,

i hope that will be the case. I am also waiting for more people with experience to tune in. The main question is; what is the freeze tolerance of Brahea Moorei in a humid climate.

Henri

[ghar41]

Here is a comparison showing an example of a Brahea moorei grown in morning sun (top) (Los Altos, CA; USDA Zone 9, wet winters) and one grown in full sun (bottom) (Berkeley, CA; USDA Zone 9, wet winters.)

[ghar41]

The plants in full sun do bloom profusely every year.

It's my understanding that feral goats are eating the flowers as soon as they appear, in habitat. Seed from this plant is understandibly very scarce.

[ghar41]

Heres an unusual plant. It originally pulled a spear, I thought it was dead. My only guess as to why it happened was that it was getting too much overhead water during the summer, as a seedling.....

[ghar41]

The dead stem slowly bent to the side and another plant grew off the main.....

[ghar41]

Nothing pretty about this plant right now...but at least its alive.

[JasonD]

The plants in full sun do bloom profusely every year.

It's my understanding that feral goats are eating the flowers as soon as they appear, in habitat. Seed from this plant is understandibly very scarce.

The flowers are as beautiful as the foliage on this species. Its foliage resembles a Coccothrinax more than a Brahea. Glen, you've captured a Ceroxylon parvum in your UC Berkeley photo, as well.

The species seems to thrive in my chilly, foggy conditions, but it does not get a ton of rain or summer irrigation.

[Charles Wychgel]

Here is mine bought as a seedling from Phil Bergman some years ago, still kicking myself for buying only one plant

[Tad]

goats, pigs root the trunks up to from what I can see.

[mjff]

I have two of these. I got them recently as 5 gallons from Cistus. The one in the photo gets a lot of sun during the winter, morning sun/afternoon shade during the summer. I'm debating about where to put the other. I'll try to keep the goats away from them.

If I'm not mistaken their natural habitat is the Sierra Madre Oriental in NE Mexico where it can be found at high altitude on dry, rocky limestone slopes in oak forests.

[kristof p]

yesterday these 3 baby mooreis arived at my home ...within a year or 10 i hope they turn in those beatiful little palms on the pictures i've seen of adult mooreis .

looking at the habitat of this dwarf palm this one should be the best one for a more humid climate without much summer heat.

according to this article it grows in a more wett and cool climate than the other Brahea species.

any updates of this palm after this very cold winter?

[Exotic Life]

Great ones Kristof, and now let them grow....

I'm still waiting if there are some seeds going too germinate, i have got some good experience with Brahea seeds germinating after a cold period... So let's this will be also with the Brahea moorei, and not only with armata and edulis...

Robbin

[LJG]

Nice score Kristof.

Charles, yours is really white. I had to check and make sure it was not frost.

[freakypalmguy]

I just bought some seeds from RPS so hopefully I can get a plant or two. Where did you purchase your seedlings from Kristof, they look nice and healthy.

Matt

[NCpalmqueen]

My small armatas have been through two winters here in N.C., which obviously has wet and COLD winters. I put rain covers on them, but no supplemental heat or other protection. They are one of the best looking palms right now in my yard, while other more cold hardy palms have lots of burn after this winter's low of 9F. Wish I could find even larger specimens. By mid summer, the humidity does a number on them and they look ratty, but they look very blue and very nice now.

[elHoagie]

I had a good sized one in a 5 gallon container that died two winters ago for no reason. I'm more frustrated every time I see a picture of what this palm looks like... Anyway, I split 100 RPS seeds with palmazon about 12 months ago - so far 3 of my 50 have germinated.

[Charles Wychgel]

Charles, yours is really white. I had to check and make sure it was not frost.

In my climate full sun will make them look more silvery just like Glenn's pix show

[PalmGuyWC]

Brahea moorei has become very scarce in the USA. It seems everyone wants one now. I don't know of any nursery that has any for sale.

A suggestion for those who live in Europe and don't get colder than -6C (21.2F), B. edulis would be a good choice. They seem to grow better in cooler climates than some of the others. There are even some growing in San Francisco, but they do look a little stunted in that cool climate. I have 2 B. edulis and they have been the fastest growing of the Braheas. Mine were foliage damaged in the '89 freeze when it got down to 14F, but I was surprised how fast they recovered and grew new fronds. They looked nice again by the end of the summer of the bad freeze. B.edulis will even take some shade, and they grow to be a large palm.

Dick

[mppalms]

Brahea moorei has become very scarce in the USA. It seems everyone wants one now. I don't know of any nursery that has any for sale.

There is one source, and I make no comment about them other than that I have been very happy with them in the past. It is Cistus Nursery in Oregon -- not the first place I'd look for palms, but I ran into a listing for Brahea moorei by accident. I ordered a few of them to line a path. I believe they have a few more.

Jason

[PalmGuyWC]

Jason,

I was told they sold all of them.

Dick

[iwan]

Glenn,

I do not think that is damage. It appears they are tillering. Mine are from the same source as yours and two are tillering. I suspect the other two are also, but the pots are full of weeds. Mine have received no damage (aside from the partial bare-rooting when shipped).

Growing towards the left. At first I thought it was splitting, but there is no growth point on the right.

Another one, shows tillering more clearly.

I love these palms. I am hesitant to plant them, since it is pretty much a one-shot deal and I haven't decided where I want them. They did handle being partially bare-rooting when shipped, and two had rooted into the ground through the pot. I tried to be careful digging to not break any roots, but I did, and no damage appears evident two months later. Here they are. They will go up to 15g this spring.

The dead stem slowly bent to the side and another plant grew off the main.....

[mppalms]

Dick,

That's really a shame. Seems like a great palm for shade. Maybe it's hard to propagate?

Jason

[PalmGuyWC]

Jason,

I think the seeds are very scarce and hard to germinate and then they are slow to grow. I could kick my own butt for not getting one years ago, but I never paid much attention to it as it didn't sound very exciting to me. When I finally saw one I realized what a nice palm it is.

Dick

[ghar41]

Glenn,

I do not think that is damage. It appears they are tillering. Mine are from the same source as yours and two are tillering. I suspect the other two are also, but the pots are full of weeds. Mine have received no damage (aside from the partial bare-rooting when shipped).

Growing towards the left. At first I thought it was splitting, but there is no growth point on the right.

Another one, shows tillering more clearly.

I love these palms. I am hesitant to plant them, since it is pretty much a one-shot deal and I haven't decided where I want them. They did handle being partially bare-rooting when shipped, and two had rooted into the ground through the pot. I tried to be careful digging to not break any roots, but I did, and no damage appears evident two months later. Here they are. They will go up to 15g this spring.

The dead stem slowly bent to the side and another plant grew off the main.....

Yes, I think you're right Robert. I looked at the plant in question again, closely. It looks like it just had a tough episode and there is a "dead" spot where it had been tillering.

[ghar41]

Jason,

I think the seeds are very scarce and hard to germinate and then they are slow to grow. I could kick my own butt for not getting one years ago, but I never paid much attention to it as it didn't sound very exciting to me. When I finally saw one I realized what a nice palm it is.

Dick

Hi Dick,

Apparently feral goats find the flowers tasty in NE Mexico. However, seeds have appeared on the market in the last couple of years.

I've had 100 seeds for about a year now, 3 have germinated so far. The one leaf seedlings are, as you would expect, coming along very slowly.