Cindy Adair 2,773 Report post Posted July 7, 2020 I have been asked by a Tahina project donor to start a topic listing Botanical gardens world wide that currently grow Tahina spectabilis. I think this is an interesting idea, especially if pictures are added, perhaps even with a Tahina mug or a person wearing a Tahina shirt included for scale. It would be nice to try to see all the public Tahinas, much as I now visit my holy grail Lodoiceas (double coconuts). That is once air travel is safer, as I believe there are no Tahinas (or double coconuts) in Puerto Rico public gardens. Remaining Tahinas in pots or seeds or seedlings (when seed is next available) could be gifted to a garden with an appropriate climate, but lacking this monotypic genus now. Or mailed to me (just kidding). OK up to you all to keep this topic alive with some photos and a list! 1 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cindy Adair 2,773 Report post Posted July 8, 2020 Someone staying inside today please help research this topic. I will start: https://fairchild.gardenexplorer.org/taxon-18589.aspx If I understand it correctly, the link above lists four Tahinas at the famous Miami, FL Fairchild Gardens and locates them on a map. Anyone have a photo whether old or recent or can confirm that four still grow there? If only I could visit today and check it out myself! Please check out the plant inventory on any Worldwide local gardens to see if they grow this species? Phone calls to gardens (if open) would work too. Some gardens may have them under glass just like at last visit two greenhouses in Chicago had one double coconut tree each. Thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
www.dadluvsu.com 226 Report post Posted July 8, 2020 Can't say for certain, never been able to travel there, but palmpedia shows photos of this palm attributed to Nong Nooch Gardens, Thailand... http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Tahina_spectabilis Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kinzyjr 3,782 Report post Posted July 8, 2020 Looks like the Merwin Conservancy in Hawaii can be added to the list: https://merwinconservancy.org/2015/11/featured-palm-tahina-spectabilis/ Supposed to be A few at McBryde and NTBG’s Conservation and Horticulture Center : https://ntbg.org/news/tahina-palm/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cindy Adair 2,773 Report post Posted July 8, 2020 Thanks folks! Some nice photos and information on those links. Keep it up as I'll bet there are more spread around the world.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kim 3,454 Report post Posted July 9, 2020 Singapore Botanic Gardens, photos taken June 17, 2016: 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kim 3,454 Report post Posted July 9, 2020 Gardens by the Bay, Singapore -- for some reason, I don't have a pic of the Tahina group from my 2016 visit, but I do have a few photos from my first visit there, September 9, 2012 not long after the gardens opened. Not to be confused with the taller palms, the Tahinas are the little bitty palms that almost look like ground cover. 1 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kim 3,454 Report post Posted July 9, 2020 Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, Thailand, my one photo taken September, 2012. The Tahina is the small green fan palm just beyond the stone spheres. Fortunately, Bo took several photos the same day. I hope he doesn't mind if I add them here: 3 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kim 3,454 Report post Posted July 9, 2020 Not your typical public garden, but arrangements can be made to visit Usina de Arte and its Parque Artistico-Botanico. It is located outside the town of Xexéu, in the municipality of Agua Preta, Pernambuco, Brazil. This unique location is the former Santa Teresa sugar mill and assorted outbuildings and a wonderful old house and grounds, all converted to a center for arts of all kinds, and a botanic garden where PalmTalk member Gileno Machado has been planting furiously. Visited January 2020. Outside the "Big House" and down the slope toward the pond, is a Tahina! The palm is not situated in the main botanic/sculpture garden, because it would be much too exposed to the searing sun, whereas here, there is some tree canopy and irrigation to give it some relief. J Just to give you some sense of this nascent garden, I'm adding a couple of photos, hopefully not going too far off-topic. The "Big House" Some of the botanic/sculpture garden 3 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bgl 3,130 Report post Posted July 9, 2020 Another shot of one of the Tahina spectabilis in Palm Valley in Singapore Botanic Garden. I took this photo on July 10th, 2017, almost exactly a year after Kim's photo above. There are a handful of Tahinas in this general area but it's conceivable that this is the same palm that Kim has in her photo above. (EDIT a few minutes later - after carefully comparing the two photos I think they are two separate individuals, but definitely in the same area). 1 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bgl 3,130 Report post Posted July 9, 2020 Passing through Singapore in February 2018 on my way to Surabaya I had an extra day to meet some friends and also an afternoon visit to Gardens by the Bay, which is always a great experience. It opened to the public on June 28, 2012, and Kim and I were fortunate to visit in September that year (on our way to the Thailand Biennial), see Kim's photos above. The growth of the palms has been nothing short of spectacular, thanks to Singapore's non stop heat, 12 months of the year. And as can be seen, the Tahina spectabilis group has performed extremely well! Photo taken on February 17th, 2018. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cindy Adair 2,773 Report post Posted July 9, 2020 Great additions Kim and Bo! Photo journals second best to being there. Plus a reference for the future. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeff Searle 1,060 Report post Posted July 9, 2020 Great! Much more than I was expecting to see at these gardens. Jeff Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PALM MOD 513 Report post Posted July 9, 2020 It is so rewarding and a testament to PalmTalk and the IPS that a palm unknown 14 years ago, with so few individuals left in precarious habitats, and that only produces seed once in its lifetime is already growing happily in so many public and private gardens around the world. I have always wondered how many palms have never made it outside their natural habitat and succumbed due to their habitat destruction - never to be seen and appreciated - not even in photographs. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gileno Machado 200 Report post Posted July 9, 2020 17 hours ago, Kim said: Not your typical public garden, but arrangements can be made to visit Usina de Arte and its Parque Artistico-Botanico. It is located outside the town of Xexéu, in the municipality of Agua Preta, Pernambuco, Brazil. This unique location is the former Santa Teresa sugar mill and assorted outbuildings and a wonderful old house and grounds, all converted to a center for arts of all kinds, and a botanic garden where PalmTalk member Gileno Machado has been planting furiously. Visited January 2020. Outside the "Big House" and down the slope toward the pond, is a Tahina! The palm is not situated in the main botanic/sculpture garden, because it would be much too exposed to the searing sun, whereas here, there is some tree canopy and irrigation to give it some relief. J Just to give you some sense of this nascent garden, I'm adding a couple of photos, hopefully not going too far off-topic. The "Big House" Some of the botanic/sculpture garden Thanks for your pictures Kim, that Tahina has grown a bit since then. We have actually planted a second Tahina there, in the open area. Now we’re having a nice mild (and wet!) winter here. Let’s see how it performs through our long summers though. You and Bo visiting here was great. Come back next year. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kinzyjr 3,782 Report post Posted July 10, 2020 Guess we should include this link since it has information about this palm as well as photos of various specimens in public and private gardens: http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Tahina_spectabilis Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cindy Adair 2,773 Report post Posted July 10, 2020 I am so appreciative of all the posts, even as I step back on my comments due to other commitments. Keep them coming and they will be searchable on PalmTalk for years. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mandrew968 1,605 Report post Posted July 11, 2020 Montgomery Botanical Center. My father for scale... 3 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
realarch 4,537 Report post Posted July 13, 2020 Good Grief! Speechless. Tim 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dypsisdean 1,108 Report post Posted July 13, 2020 4 hours ago, realarch said: Good Grief! Speechless. Tim Second that - thanks for the pic Andrew. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Merlyn 1,181 Report post Posted July 17, 2020 Here is a photo of the small one in part shade, taken in November 2018. It's in the Leu Gardens palm area, just North of the Phoenix circle. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Merlyn 1,181 Report post Posted July 17, 2020 And here's the larger one, just around the corner. Also taken in November 2018 at Leu Gardens: 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eric in Orlando 3,970 Report post Posted July 17, 2020 We have 7 planted out at Leu Gardens. The biggest is maybe 6ft overall. 3 are in the Palm Garden, 3 in the Tropical Stream Garden and 1 in the Idea Garden. One of them in the Tropical Stream Garden is growing in moderate shade and growing fine. I will get current photos in the next couple of days. These were all grown from the first batch of seed that was available. 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rick Kelley 166 Report post Posted January 29 To the best of my knowledge, Hilo has two Tahinas in free, public gardens. The one at the zoo is well hidden and will not become visible to the public until it gets considerably larger. However, the one growing in the University of Hawaii at Hilo Palm Garden is going gangbusters. Not as fast as those in hotter climates like South Florida or Singapore, but pretty fast by cooler Hawaii standards. It is roughly ten ft (3 m) tall. It seems to have a new giant frond every time I stop by. Just a few years ago it was much, much smaller. Looks like it might swallow its neighbors in a few more years. The UHH Botanical Gardens were planted and are maintained by retired biology professor Don Hemmes. If visiting Hawaii, it is certainly worth a visit. Besides palms, there is a comprehensive cycad collection and a large bromeliad collection. Currently the campus is closed due the pandemic, but will most likely reopen in the summer of 2021. So was this photo taken by an unmanned drone? I'm not sayin. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites