Palmy places in Brevard county

[Zeeth]

I'm in Brevard county for the weekend, and I made some stops at palmy places. Here's some of what I saw.

 

 

[Zeeth]

This enormous oil palm was here

They were naturalizing throughout this swamp.

 

[Zeeth]

There was a big one in the swamp too.

 

[Zeeth]

 

Here's the stump of the other big oil palm that didn't survive 2010

[Zeeth]

Astrocaryum

Coccothrinax 

Dypsis lutescens

 

Thrinax

Leucothrinax and Copernicia

Attalea

[Zeeth]

Bottles

Tall Dypsis leptocheilos

Hyphaene

Bismarckia

[Zeeth]

Sabal causiarum

Wimpy Borassus aethiopum

Monster Borassus flabellifer

It's flowering! (it's male)

[Zeeth]

Nice petiole color

Sabal mauritiiformis

 

[Zeeth]

I felt dwarfed standing next to this thing. I'm 6'4 for reference.

 

[Zeeth]

There were a lot of coconuts Beachside. 

 

[Zeeth]

Royal palms weren't very common beachside. The salt spray is too much for them. This group was the healthiest that I saw.

 

Driving over Mather's bridge onto the southern tip of Merritt island. Royals were more common here.

Another royal on the southern tip of Merritt island

Found this nice yellow Malayan coconut

This yard on the south tip of Merritt island likes coconuts

[Zeeth]

Found a few P. sargentii here too.

This house was pretty palmy

Looks like a nice place to relax

[Zeeth]

The size of the plumeria trees was a good indicator of the excellent microclimate here

This one was even bigger

These mango trees have been here for a long time

 

 

[Zeeth]

Here's the climate chart for the nearby Patrick Airforce Base. It's definitely a warm spot

[Zeeth]

More coconuts

 I had a hard time photographing this. These coconuts appear to be growing wild in this spot.

[Zeeth]

A nice Maypan

Stumbled across the HGTV dream home for 2016

Stopped by the beach. Waves like this never happen in the Gulf. I'm a fan of the bathtub like water you see in Anna Maria Island, but this place is a haven for surfers.

That all! Thanks for stopping by. There's a large Borassus flabellifer somewhere around in Brevard off of 192, but I didn't end up finding it. 

[Palmaceae]

Looks great, thanks for the pictures!

[swolf]

Thanks for posting Zeeth.  Amazing how tropical potential one gains as they head south in Florida.  I'd like to check out Dent Smiths old place in Daytona area but it's probably privately owned at this point.

Impressive Sabal Causariums you photographed.  More of a blue cast than usual.  Is that one on the right also Causarium?  I probably don't have the sharpest eye when it comes to fan palms but it even resembles Bismarkia to me.  Where is that group located?  That Borassis is indeed a monster!

Steve

 

 

 

[User00]

thanks for posting great pictures , real tropical 

[Zeeth]

8 hours ago, swolf said:

Thanks for posting Zeeth.  Amazing how tropical potential one gains as they head south in Florida.  I'd like to check out Dent Smiths old place in Daytona area but it's probably privately owned at this point.

Impressive Sabal Causariums you photographed.  More of a blue cast than usual.  Is that one on the right also Causarium?  I probably don't have the sharpest eye when it comes to fan palms but it even resembles Bismarkia to me.  Where is that group located?  That Borassis is indeed a monster!

Steve

The Sabal causiarum group was definitely impressive! The one on the right is a causiarum as well. I collected seed from that one, and I took notice of the papery ligules on it when I did. The group is on the other side of the building that the Borassus is out front of. They're pretty easy to spot!  

[Bill H2DB]

8 hours ago, swolf said:

Thanks for posting Zeeth.  Amazing how tropical potential one gains as they head south in Florida.  I'd like to check out Dent Smiths old place in Daytona area but it's probably privately owned at this point.

Impressive Sabal Causariums you photographed.  More of a blue cast than usual.  Is that one on the right also Causarium?  I probably don't have the sharpest eye when it comes to fan palms but it even resembles Bismarkia to me.  Where is that group located?  That Borassis is indeed a monster!

Steve

 

 

 

      Dent Smith's place was sold to new owners recently , and I noticed that a lot of renovations were happening ,( at least as I could

see while passing by on the street ).      I was told that a prominent local Attorney has bought it .

 

[Jeff Searle]

Zeeth, I enjoyed the tour. Nice to see the Pseudo's growing and that Borassus was a beast! Good to see lots of palms around. Thanks!

[Jimbean]

On 12/27/2015, 1:41:27, Zeeth said:

The size of the plumeria trees was a good indicator of the excellent microclimate here

This one was even bigger

These mango trees have been here for a long time

 

 

There are actually some much larger plumeria further north where I live.  There are a number of them that are over the roof of the houses.

[Jimbean]

and there is a mango tree I think a little bigger in our front yard.

thanks for coming out here!

[swolf]

12 hours ago, Zeeth said:

The Sabal causiarum group was definitely impressive! The one on the right is a causiarum as well. I collected seed from that one, and I took notice of the papery ligules on it when I did. The group is on the other side of the building that the Borassus is out front of. They're pretty easy to spot!  

"I collected seed from that one,"

If you get good germination and don't mind parting with a plant or two please PM me as I'd like to purchase.  I'm sometimes in your area.

Steve

 

[swolf]

Hmm... jokey post, take two:

"I collected seed from that one,"

[Zeeth]

26 minutes ago, swolf said:

"I collected seed from that one,"

 

If you get good germination and don't mind parting with a plant or two please PM me as I'd like to purchase.  I'm sometimes in your area.

Steve

 

Sure! I'll let you know when they start germinating. 

[bubba]

Great shots! There is a great Principes article highlighting Dent Smith and that great palm garden.

[Cocoa Beach Jason]

Great pictures. Central to Southern Brevard, particularly on the barrier islands, has a great microclimate. 10b for the vast majority of winters.

[Zeeth]

1 hour ago, Cocoa Beach Jason said:

Great pictures. Central to Southern Brevard, particularly on the barrier islands, has a great microclimate. 10b for the vast majority of winters.

Yeah, Patrick AFB had an average winter minimum of 35.1˚ F when I compiled all the data from the last 70 years (including the winters of the '80s). The data from the Palm Beach International Airport 100 miles further south had an average of 35.8˚ F for the same time period.

[Central Floridave]

Great photos!  Cool to see my hometown featured! 

[Jimbean]

I did not image he was that tall.

[Eric in Orlando]

There are 3 African Oil Palms growing at Leu Gardens that I grew from the old tree at FIT.

The big Bismarckia there is looking good, it was a little sparse for awhile. And though it doesn't look like it, that one was planted in the 1960s and survived the freezes of the 80s.

A lot of those old mango trees on Merrritt Island are remnants of old commercial groves planted decades ago when the island was more rural. If you drive through there in summer some of the residents sell mangos.

[Xerarch]

Great shots, I was down there in Brevard over Christmas and New Year's, I'm always impressed with the quantity and quality of tropicals down there, especially on the island.  Hard to believe that the record cold in Cocoa Beach is 17F!  That must be rare indeed

[Zeeth]

The 17˚ figure comes from the NWS station in Melbourne though, which doesn't have the advantage of a barrier island location. The Patrick AFB station on the barrier island recorded 30˚ during that event (Jan 19, 1977). The coldest temp recorded at the Patrick AFB station was 24˚ in 1989, with the data going back to 1945. 

[bubba]

Comparisons of low minimum temperatures  between a barrier island  location and a mainland location are apples and oranges. Based upon information from legitimate weather stations located on the barrier island of PB, the minimum temperatures in cold events are 6.3 degrees F. warmer than those recorded at the cold- hole that is PBIA.  Accordingly, for a legitimate comparison, please add 6.3 F. to the PBIA results.

 For the  purposes of legitimate climate comparison and analysis as it relates to tropical vegetation, it is necessary to compute the average mean temperature of the coldest month (Jan.) and if it is above 64.8 F., you are legitimately talking tropical. I believe Heating and Cooling days also need to be taken into consideration.

At the end of the day, it is the vegetation that describes the climate rather than the accumulation of numbers. Show me a 50 foot Areca catechu, numerous 12 foot Licuala grandis, mature Neovetchia storckii, Pritchardia thurstonia and pacifica and even Cyrtostachys renda that have survived over 20 years in one palm garden in PB, and I will happily concede that Brevard County's climate is the tropical equivalent of PB!

[Zeeth]

I didn't say anything about the climates of Central and South Florida being equivalent, just that the barrier island location moderates the lows so much that they're comparable to places much further south that do not have the same advantage.

 

The biggest issue is the daily highs, which tend to not be affected by the island location. The average January low for the barrier islands off of Manatee county and Brevard county is 56˚, but the high is only 70˚. This gives an average of 63˚, so 1.8˚ colder than the Köppen definition of tropical, so coconuts do okay but more tropical palms tend to be badly affected. The rainfall is also significantly less because of the location, with a yearly average of only 34", compared to 62" in Palm Beach. 

[Xerarch]

6 hours ago, Zeeth said:

The 17˚ figure comes from the NWS station in Melbourne though, which doesn't have the advantage of a barrier island location. The Patrick AFB station on the barrier island recorded 30˚ during that event (Jan 19, 1977). The coldest temp recorded at the Patrick AFB station was 24˚ in 1989, with the data going back to 1945. 

I'm glad you brought that up, I wasn't aware where the station was actually located and I had wondered about it. There is a world of difference between 17 and 24.  24 is really pretty warm for an all time low that far north in Florida. Still though, 24 would really shake things up out there today.