Remarkable palms of Tampa Bay

[Zeeth]

Not "remarkable" per se, but this coconut on the beach dunes on Lido key has always caught my attention. It gets some extra water by being right next to a foot washing station so it always looks super healthy. It seems to be the result of someone tossing a coconut back into the dunes that had washed ashore

[Tradewinds1971]

I was amazed at the abundance of seed pods on this Beccariophoenix Madagascarensis at the Kopsick Arboretum this past weekend.

[cocoforcoconuts]

https://www.google.com/maps/@27.3046293,-82.5559791,3a,75y,116.55h,100.17t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1smVYkCwbDZ2-sXzYUuPA5_w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

Check out this cool strangler fig on Siesta Key with the remains of its "strangled" host still in it!

Does anyone know which species of Ficus this is?

Edited November 15, 2023 by cocoforcoconuts

[kinzyjr]

9 hours ago, cocoforcoconuts said:

Does anyone know which species of Ficus this is?

Maybe Ficus microcarpa?

[Silas_Sancona]

Checking on a few things at the old house in Bradenton via street view, noted a little something local folks might be interested in checking out if / when passing through the area..

Remember all the buzz about plans for major development of the Ag fields within the.. and southwest of.. 53rd Ave West / El Conquistador Pkwy Corridor  shortly before leaving the area.. 

Appears that is finally starting to oocur, ....at least south / southwest of El Conquistador,  and includes a giant, artificial Lagoon.


Bird's eye views..





From what i can see from the road ..and zooming in from the vantage point of where street view stops ( shot #2 ), appears they did not skimp on use of Veitchia, Royals, a few Foxtails, and Coconuts for this development.





Couple years from now, this should look pretty amazing.

[RedRabbit]

I came across a few older coconuts in the middle of Pinellas Park today. Previously, I didn’t think this area was warm enough since it is far from the Gulf and the Bay. Evidently, it still has a pretty solid climate. 
 

Two are pictured here, then there was one more on the other side of the street.

[kinzyjr]

It's finally visible now that it's had a few good years.  A fruiting Malayan Dwarf coconut on the north shore of Scott Lake ~210 feet of elevation.

 

[RainforestCafe]

On 12/16/2023 at 12:20 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

From what i can see from the road ..and zooming in from the vantage point of where street view stops ( shot #2 ), appears they did not skimp on use of Veitchia, Royals, a few Foxtails, and Coconuts for this development.

I know this post is a few months old, but that area is actually exactly where my old house is so I felt inclined to post. I still have it, but moved about 30 minutes east, and just rent it out so my garden continues on! That whole area is one of the best microclimates that I've seen. As I'm sure you know, there's extremely large mango trees, old royals, veitchias, and coconuts, etc. Especially when you drive back in the old neighborhoods around there, you'll see towering archontophoenix, royals, all kinds of stuff. Very obviously zone 10. My neighbor had been there since 1999 and said she'd never seen frost.

It would always kill me when I'd see somebody planting something like queen palms in that area 😂 I'd be like "really?! You can plant anything you want here!" Lol my palms never saw any cold damage there and I even had coconuts, dictyosperma, and archontophoenix out in the open.

I think one of the unique things about that area is that the proximity to the ocean keeps it from getting too cold overnight, but because you're a mile or two inland, it has a lot better daytime heat in the winter than when you drive across the bridge to Anna Maria Island. The best of both worlds. I'll have to go get some pictures sometime of some hidden gems I've found in my drives around there and post them here.

 

[Silas_Sancona]

5 minutes ago, RainforestCafe said:

I know this post is a few months old, but that area is actually exactly where my old house is so I felt inclined to post. I still have it, but moved about 30 minutes east, and just rent it out so my garden continues on! That whole area is one of the best microclimates that I've seen. As I'm sure you know, there's extremely large mango trees, old royals, veitchias, and coconuts, etc. Especially when you drive back in the old neighborhoods around there, you'll see towering archontophoenix, royals, all kinds of stuff. Very obviously zone 10. My neighbor had been there since 1999 and said she'd never seen frost.

It would always kill me when I'd see somebody planting something like queen palms in that area 😂 I'd be like "really?! You can plant anything you want here!" Lol my palms never saw any cold damage there and I even had coconuts, dictyosperma, and archontophoenix out in the open.

I think one of the unique things about that area is that the proximity to the ocean keeps it from getting too cold overnight, but because you're a mile or two inland, it has a lot better daytime heat in the winter than when you drive across the bridge to Anna Maria Island. The best of both worlds. I'll have to go get some pictures sometime of some hidden gems I've found in my drives around there and post them here.

 

No worries, feel free to post whatever goodies you know of from that area..


Maybe not in my specific neighborhood ( ..Other than what i'd left , if any of it is still there ) definitely lots of uncommon stuff in that area for sure..  Good - sized Copernicia macroglossa next to an eye doctor's office, Pink Pseudobombax,  Plumeria  ....galore.. 

BIG Mangoes, and some of the bigger Guamanchil i've seen anywhere in some f the neighborhoods not far from the house as well.

...Silver Tabebuia ..and a Brachychiton, ( possibly a cross between bidwillii and acerfolius, about a block from the house ), 

....and possibly the rarest thing i'd see fairly often when driving to / from work,  this Cassia afrofistula  pictured below, Possibly the only specimen around since it appears the one at Selby has been removed for their expansion.



I'd had a light frost on a morning or two when we lived there but, beyond that ..never got cold.  Lay of the land in that corner of Bradenton seemed to influence things very nicely.

Agree ..beyond  100% ( if that's possible )  WHY anyone would plant Queens there, when much better things can be grown? ...so far beyond my comprehension i don't even care to wonder.  Bad enough they're planted here, lol

Aside from watching that Cassia for seed, do wish i could access the trimmed Gumbo Limbos planted in front of the Oyster Bar at 14th ( Hwy 41 ) and 69th W.   Should have tried to start a bunch of cuttings from them when i had the opportunity.  

[RainforestCafe]

@Silas_Sancona I think I know exactly the Copernicia Macroglossa you're talking about, it's over there kind of by SCF, right?

It was funny living there because I was unknowingly (at the time) spoiled. I took it for granted that there were huge, mature sea grapes, buttonwoods, and silver tabebuia all over. I thought those were just things that grew easily all over Florida when I first moved there. And then I started getting into gardening and explored further inland and found out that those things can actually defoliate and/or die fairly easily when you get away from the coast 😂

Did you ever see the massive gumbo limbo up at DeSoto monument? Wasn't it one of the biggest in the state or something like that? I remember it being there but it's gone now.

And yeah Selby had several cool things removed for the expansion. I remember a really cool Dictyosperma Album var. Conjugatum back in an old, forgotten corner I'd always go check up on... gone now. I actually liked the look and feel better when it was the dirt parking lot. Now it seems so modern.

[Silas_Sancona]

6 minutes ago, RainforestCafe said:

@Silas_Sancona I think I know exactly the Copernicia Macroglossa you're talking about, it's over there kind of by SCF, right?

It was funny living there because I was unknowingly (at the time) spoiled. I took it for granted that there were huge, mature sea grapes, buttonwoods, and silver tabebuia all over. I thought those were just things that grew easily all over Florida when I first moved there. And then I started getting into gardening and explored further inland and found out that those things can actually defoliate and/or die fairly easily when you get away from the coast 😂

Did you ever see the massive gumbo limbo up at DeSoto monument? Wasn't it one of the biggest in the state or something like that? I remember it being there but it's gone now.

And yeah Selby had several cool things removed for the expansion. I remember a really cool Dictyosperma Album var. Conjugatum back in an old, forgotten corner I'd always go check up on... gone now. I actually liked the look and feel better when it was the dirt parking lot. Now it seems so modern.

Real bummer to hear about the Gumbo Limbo up at DeSoto.. Remember it very well.  Do recall talk regarding it's declining health, but figured maybe they'd figured out how to save it. I hope someone was able to start some cuts off it ..to replant there later. 


If you hadn't been out there yet,  some good sized Gumbo Limbo specimens at Emerson Point, growing on one of the bigger Shell Mounds w/ Ficus aurea  and a bunch of other stuff some might not expect to find that far north. 

Idea of a Ficus / Gumbo Limbo " Woodland " that resembles the Oak Woodlands i grew up around back in CA was pretty eye opening. Actually liked the look, lol.   Some Tropical Almonds over there as well, ..Assuming they're still there of course.


Agree, liked the old dirt parking lot rather than what it looks like they're putting together now.  Of course they'd remove something rare like the Dictyospermas, lol 🤦‍♂️ Did notice the tree ferns near the entrance are still growing though.  The big Bombax ceiba still there?


Yep, that's the same Cuban Petticoat. If my memory is right, pretty sure i'd stumbled upon it while wandering around the neighborhood one day not terribly long after moving there. Only one -that i recall seeing-  outside Kopsick's specimens. Has been mentioned a few times thru the years by other PT members who lived in the general area.

Some decent -sized FL. Thatch palms in front of a house a few blocks down from where i'd lived as well.

Actually worked out by Lakewood Ranch for a few months when i first moved there and agree, there was a pretty obvious gradient between what you'd see west of the 75, vs. what was growing east of it. Same idea whenever i'd head to some of the nurseries located east of Sarasota. 

Looks like that whole area near where i'd worked out there has been developed quite a bit since i moved in '16.  See the Tropical Crepe Myrtle ( Lagerstroemia speciosa ) in front of the CVS at the 70 and Creekwood Blvd. is still there.