Does anyone grow Gustavias ?

[Josh]

I have two, gustavia superba and augusta. I'm having a hard time finding info on their growing conditions in their native habitat. I was hoping someone else is growing them and knows what they like. I find they respond best to a lot of water and wondered if they might grow along creeks or rivers and can take being inundated during the wet season.

Heres the superba, I just planted it in a depression:

the augusta:

[Eric in Orlando]

They like moist soil, don't know how much dryness they can take. Also, they are fairly cold sensitive, don't think they would grow up here though I have a Cannonball Tree, Couroupita guianensis growing well for 5 years. I saw G. superba at Fairchild Gd. in Maimi flowering a few years ago. It is supposed to have a fetid odor but I didn't notice any. Hope they grow well for you, they are beautiful trees. Looks like they are growing good so far.

[Josh]

They seem to be cold hardy so far. We had that windy coldfront come through in January. I saw the thermometer in the morning reading 36 degrees, but with 20-30 mph winds. My large coffee arabica turned black after that front. My bambusa lako, which is right next to the gustavia augusta dropped all of its leaves, but the g. augusta didn't even show any burn. I had the superba in the shadehouse at the time, so it was safe. I'm 10 miles inland, so it can get chilly here. I bet you have a chance growing these in Orlando. I read somewhere that some gustavias grow in the flooded forests along the amazon river. I wanted to plant one where my yard floods during the wet season, to see if it can take those conditions.

[Eric in Orlando]

Good to hear, I might try one now!

[Peter]

They are surely beautiful plants, although slow growing. They seem grow just fine in South Florida, with no hardiness issues and seem to like water. You're lucky to get your hands on a G. superba as they are hard to find, and often turn out to be augusta.

[Josh]

They are surely beautiful plants, although slow growing. They seem grow just fine in South Florida, with no hardiness issues and seem to like water. You're lucky to get your hands on a G. superba as they are hard to find, and often turn out to be augusta.

Hi Peter, They sure are beautiful trees. I really like their magnolia like blooms. I worked a short internship at Fairchilds and was given the superba while working in their nursery. So I know its the real deal The augusta I bought from a collector of large leaved plants a few years back. Its new leaf flushes are maroon like a mangos, while the superbas are green with red speckles. The two trees are definitely different in leaf shape too. I hope I can come across some more species.

[Peter]

Nice score Josh. My friend Cris Pielea in Lake Worth also has a G. superba, along with several augusta's and another sp-I think it's angustata but I'm not sure about that. I know he was selling some extra augusta's a while back-per chance was it him that you got yours from? I lost a G. superba in Hollywood, FL, but my augusta's are doing fine, although they sure are slow.

[XYZ]

Josh:

I have a couple of seed-grown Gustavia dodsonii in 2 gls. in a greenhouse, plus a handful of G. superbasprouts that I just started (WC seed ex-Chocó). I am very interested in pachycaul and showy-flowered lecythids and have a few other genera here in the greenhouse. If you like Gustavias you must make an effort to obtain some Grias spp. and some of the "fatter" Lecythis spp. Sachamangos (Grias) produce very nice flushes of new leaves; often a pinkish, café au lait color, and appear to have promise as "big bonsai" for tropical conditions...certainly the trunks of several spp. get bottle-shaped with age. Couroupita is OK - there is a very rare sp. here that occurs on the border with El Salvador. Personally, I don't care for them - more a BG item than a private gardener's toy, IMO.

Most of these plants are quite sensitive to buildup of mineral salts around their roots and, based on bitter experience, would urge you to use caution when fertilizing them during leaf flushes. My experience with Gustavia spp. in the field suggests they favor wet, well-drained clay soils and are often most abundant near permanent water courses. In captivity, they need uniform heat and moisture to thrive. New foliage is somewaht attractive to aphids...imadicloprid drenches works wonders with them.

Cheerio,

Jay

[Josh]

Yes, I bought the augusta from Chris about five or more years ago. I lost his email address and wanted to get in contact with him recently. I had also bought a Ficus dammaropsis from him. It was growing well and looked great until some goats we use to have excaped their pen and ate it to the ground. It never grew back

[Josh]

Hi Jay, Thanks for sharing your experience. I'll read up on these other lecythids. It will probably be hard to find any available in the states though. I do have an import permit. If you have a seed laying around, I would gladly send some money for one

-Josh

[XYZ]

Josh:

No promises, but I'll see what I can do. I have a friend looking for seeds from Grias cauliflora, which is native on the Caribbean coast. Tree looks almost identical to Gustavia superba when not in flower, altho' it may grow taller in nature.

Given the scarcity of seed with good accession data, the other spp. will tend to fall into a horticultural black hole here for the foreseeable future )))

Cheerio,

Jay

[amazondk]

This tree grows in the forest around here and is a relative of the Brazil nut, in the Lecythidaceae family. They call it monkey apricot here, abrico de macaco.

dk

[fastfeat]

From Fairchild, shot yesterday:

Gustavia superba:

Cannonball Tree (Couroupita guianensis):

[Peter]

That Gustavia might be my favorite tree at Fairchild-thanks for the photos Ken.

[Eric in Orlando]

Here is Grias cauliflora at FTBG;

[Josh]

From Fairchild, shot yesterday:

Looks like those Gustavias have grwon a lot since I was last there. I took this picture about 8 months after Huricanes Katrina and Wilma went through. They were not as pretty as they use to be.

This picture is from an internet site and they looked amazing back in the day, before hurricanes . At least there hurricane hardy and did not come uprooted.

Edited May 12, 2008 by Josh

[ariscott]

I didn't realise they get that big !! I find G. superba to be slow... I put mine in full sun, so that might be why?? The ones at George Brown Botanical garden is grown in the shade.

Regards, Ari