Methusela - Revival of ancient (2000 yr old palm)

[BigFrond]

This is a very interesting read.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin....5T1.DTL

[quaman58]

Fascinating stuff. Thanks for passing it along!

Bret

[pogobob]

I have parajubea cocoides seedlings germinating in my garden 5yrs after removing the tree.

[Wai`anae Steve]

That was a year ago.  Anyone know what has happened since??????

[Zac in NC]

Yeah I remember hearing about this a while back too. I think I will bump this up again.

Zac

[Urban Rainforest]

(pogobob @ Aug. 28 2006,20:22)

QUOTE

I have parajubea cocoides seedlings germinating in my garden 5yrs after removing the tree.

Bob, Just crious why you removed your Parajubaea? It looked healthy when I saw it on the PSSC tour. Was'nt it a Coccoides? Did it have crown rot. I'm hoping they survive for the long haul as I have all 4 species planted for canopy. BTW your garden is awesome! Steve

[pogobob]

Steve, we removed the parajubea because it was in fected with "pink Pennicilin". As it grew taller it became harder to treat. The tree would look ok for a year or two and then it would push several moldy stunted leaves again. I have seen other Paras do the same in so. cal. My guess is the palm does not cope well in humid conditions, as they are very thickly covered in fiberous matted leaf basses. Also consider that they naturaly occur at very high altitude where the atmosphere is dryer, and the suns rays are much stronger, Keeping the palms top dryer. The palm was damp at the top even though it was our dry season. It was a difficult decision to chainsaw a rare palm that drew a lot of attention. I am growing a few seedlings for possible future planting. It's my guess that they are better suited for dryer inland coastal valleys, away from the fog and marin layer.

[Urban Rainforest]

Bob, Sorry to here about your loss   . My Coccoides is about 15 ft. tall in my front yard facing north and so far so good but I am about 5 miles from the beach so it's a little hotter and dryer climate. At one time I had many 15 gal. Coccoides and lost a few to pink rot and mites. I am growing The Para Torallyi, Sunka, and Microcarpa in my backyard which is much hotter south facing on a canyon And so far they seem bullet proof and a lot less problematic than the Coccoides. Thanks for the info! Steve