Brownea

[Daryl]

Saw these growing all over Cairns recently. How do they do in your climate?

Daryl

[Jeff Searle]

Here in South Florida, we can grow them beautifully and get many flowers. I now have, many B. grandiceps that I sell. The ones planted here in my nursery have been planted about 4-5 years now. Their only about 8-10' in height and has bloomed already. A really nice tree that should be grown more often. I also grow a few Saracca and have another closely alligned genus, Browniopsis. The latter genus is really uncommon and rare to find. The new flush of leaves are very soft also, but the pretty thing about this is the blood red colors in the new leaves and reportedly has white flowers.

Jeff

[Peter]

Jeff, how is your Browneopsis going?  Is it in the ground yet?

[Jeff Searle]

Hey Peter,

      YES!! I planted the best one earlier this summer and it dosen't seem like it's grown much. I have two smaller ones that I will try and plant out next summer. The new growth on these just "Blow" you away. I'll have to try to get a picture the next time I see a new flush comes out.

Jeff

[metalfan]

I have a Brownea grandiceps and a Brownea macrophylla in my greenhouse. They were both given to me by a pal in So FL as small seedlings about 10" tall. The Grandiceps is the larger of the 2 now, its almost 3 feet. No blooms yet, but the "handkerchief" look on the new leaves is really cool! Can't wait til I get blooms.

[metalfan]

This is my Grandiceps, photo taken last month

[Peter]

Jeff, how much sun do your Brownea's get?  I had a grandiceps in Florida that didn't make it; I think it was perhaps in too much sun as much of my canopy blew away with the hurricanes.  Ditto my S. thaipengensis.  And bring on the photos of that flushing Browneopsis!

[Jeff Searle]

Peter,

   I have found that Brownea's just don't like full sun when their small. My largest tree in the yard gets some full sun, but probably only a few hours now. I have another small one in the front yard(5') out in full blazing sun and it dosen't grow at all. I'm going to pull it out and relocate it.

    And I'll try to remember to get a pic. the next time the Browniopsis throws a flush. Also, my Sarraca declinata's are doing great, but they to are in good amounts of shade during the day.

Jeff

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Jeff,

I planted both a Brownea and a Saraca (which I got from you) right after your spring sale.  They are in Coconut Creek, not by the beach, so the rain and soil is much better.  The brownea was planted in full sun and has doubled its mass but has gotten shorter.  Even though we got lots of great rain since then, the tallest shoot died back and there has been a great profusion of lower branches.  It is bushier but still growing well.  We will have to see how it likes full sun when the weather gets drier.  The sun will be lower in the sky and it should get some more shade then.

The Saraca is in almost full sun, only the paltry shade of a spindly old dahoon holly to give some relief.  The leaves get washed out looking but the plant seems to be growing well and has flushed new growth several times.  It would look great if those darn Sri Lankan Weevils would leave it alone.

In the Arboretum, our Brownea was in shade until Wilma.  Now full sun but it still blooms well.  It is in well draining dark sand with an irrigation head only a couple yards away so it gets lots of water.  We have 3 different Saracas in the ground.  I believe a S declinata and a S indica are in good shade under an old laurel oak.  This particular laurel is crossed with a live oak I believe, because it does not go bare as long as most do.  These two are big and green but have not bloomed well, only a couple very small flowers this past spring.  On the other hand, we have a small S bijuga in full sun at least half the day.  Its leaves are yellower than the other two and is much smaller than the other two (all planted at the same time and were the same size ) but it blooms it's head off in the spring.

Jerry

[ariscott]

(metalfan @ Oct. 19 2007,12:23)

QUOTE

I have a Brownea grandiceps and a Brownea macrophylla in my greenhouse. They were both given to me by a pal in So FL as small seedlings about 10" tall. The Grandiceps is the larger of the 2 now, its almost 3 feet. No blooms yet, but the "handkerchief" look on the new leaves is really cool! Can't wait til I get blooms.

Do you find your B. grandiceps a lot slower than B. macrophylla? Mine did not seem to do much in a year I have them. In the mean time, B. macrophylla has grown twice the size. Unfortunately, the new growth on B. grandiceps is more spectacular.

Regards, Ari

[Really full garden]

I would like to try these.Are there any sources for seeds?

                                                                                          Scott

[Carlos Simón]

Hi,

Here I do not have Brownea because the only one I had did not like much the salt spray and I gave it to a friend. Saracca, I have three species and two of Browneopsis. I have look to my plants and only I have seen a seedling of Saracca thaipingensis with new pink leaf. I have looked in old pictures and have found a couple of them that can serve to illustrate. I hope you enjoy them.

All are slow plants and very sensitive to direct sunlight when they are young. One meter high plants need three or four hours of sunlight.

Daryl, do you have Maniltoa lenticelleta? I think it´s native from your country!

Schott, you can order seeds of Brownea and Browneopsis from Guaycuyacu, Ecuador. If you don´t know this web page, have a look in Google and if you don´t find it I´ll send you a link. J. West is a very good person and I´ve ordered seeds from him for many years. Saracas, you easily find in ebay.

Saraca thaipingensis

Browneopsis ucayalina

Saraca palembanica ( three years old )

Regards,

Carlos

[ariscott]

Carlos,

I like that Saraca palembanica, very large leaves. I have saraca, brownea and maniltoa, but browneopsis is very hard to find. I know some people have them here, but very protective of them.

My favourite is still the native maniltoa (Maniltoa lenticelleta).  They are very tough... unlike the others who could not take sun when young!! This one, I accidently slashed one and came back strong. Also, it is a lot faster than the rest. Can't complain!! And the new growth is so pretty with dark pink tinge to some of them.. Unfortunately, mine are not big enough to take photos of... my garden is only a few months old.

Thanks for posting the browneopsis, carlos... it is a bit of a dream tree for me.

Regards, Ari

[Carlos Simón]

Hi,

Today I realized that one of the Browneopsis ucayalina is opening a couple of new leaves and I thought that it was a good opportunity to take a few pictures and share them with you all.

Ari, I hope you enjoy the pictures  :: . By the way, I tried to order one seedling of Maniltoa lenticelleta from a nursery in North Queensland and I never received an answer   . Maniltoa is unknown here in the Canary islands!

Regards,

Carlos

[ariscott]

Carlos,

How easy is it to send plants to the canary island? There are heaps of Maniltoa in Darwin as well, not sure about seedlings though. I have to check it out. BTW, is it easy to get browneopsis seeds over there?

Here is my young tree with the new flush. Not as amazing as the browneopsis, but still nice.

Regards, Ari

[ariscott]

The close up of the new leaves

[Carlos Simón]

Ari,

Your Maniltoa is really nice!. Wait a few years more and you´ll have an  impressive tree, be sure!

To send alive plants to Canary islands is really difficult and the bureaucracy is enormous.

To find Browneopsis seeds here is very difficult but I´ll do my best!

Thank you for the pictures.

Regards,

Carlos

[Johnston]

Hi i have a Brownea tree and have had it for 2 years and its not grown. I have it in not so much sun cause the place i got it from said not full sun. I have it in good soil and sand mixture. I dont know what to do