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Hunting for dypsis ambositrae

bruno

By bruno
in DISCUSSING PALM TREES WORLDWIDE

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bruno Experienced

bruno

Posted
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I went to Ambositra from tuesday to friday with a friend, looking for D. Ambositrae. We went into some of the last remnants of the primary forest of the high central plateaux. Here is what it looks like at sunset.

SANY00021.jpg

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antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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After a few minutes of walking we reached our first palm. I had already seen it in 2006, and I showed it to Gary also, but neither he nor me could put a name to it.

This the picture of it this year:

SANY00111.jpg

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antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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BS Man about Palms Grand Master

BS Man about Palms

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More, More Bruno!  I love your posts!

Zone 10a at best after 2007 AND 2013, on SW facing hill, 1 1/2 miles from coast in Oceanside, CA. 30-98 degrees, and 45-80deg. about 95% of the time.

"The great workman of nature is time."   ,  "Genius is nothing but a great aptitude for patience."

-George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon-

I do some experiments and learning in my garden with palms so you don't have to experience the pain! Look at my old threads to find various observations and tips!

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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The crownshaft and notice how the rings are rather far apart. I noticed on an older one, seen later, those rings are much closer.

SANY00221.jpg

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antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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The trunk is very green too!

Unfortunately, one of the two palms that was there on my last visit had been cut down! Sad when one knows how few are left in nature.

SANY00171.jpg

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antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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This last visit solved one of my mysteries: the palm that my young guide had taken out of the forest was a young "ambositrae", which explains why Doc did not know it. (please do not start another sh... blowing when you see him!, please. This pic was taken in april 2006)  It is not similar in appearance to when it is older. The extremity  of the leaflets is "straight" when young and "curly" when fully grown it seems.

30kmausuddambositra.jpg

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antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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After this visit, we went to see a tourmaline mine where our young guide works occasionnally, looking for small stones. here is a view of it from a distance.

SANY00271.jpg

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antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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A closer view of the site. But I will not not show you closer pics because when we were on site, I saw a few hostile eyes, so i did not take any pictures then. Most of the people were nice but we were the first white men to come there. The site is only about two months old. The golddiggers dig down about 20 meters then start a horizontal gallery. Luck brings the vein where, maybe, they will get a stone. It really sounds like the gold rush in the US... There are many sites like this one in Madagascar for emeralds, spphires, beryl, and lately, kimberlite has been found, so that means diamonds maybe!

antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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On the way out of the mine, I can't help it, I take pics of plants. Here is one with red young leaves. They are all over but I don't know its name. Anyone?

SANY00071.jpg

antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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We were hungry by then and stopped on top of the world with the guide who had never tasted any food like ours. He was very pleased to to try.

SANY00761.jpg

antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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deezpalms Grand Master

deezpalms

Posted
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Great story and pictures Bruno! Is there more?!!  ???  :D  :o

Dave Hughson

Carlsbad, Ca

1 mile from ocean

Zone 10b

Palm freaks are good peeps!!!!!

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Kim Grand Master

Kim

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Hi Bruno-  You know I love seeing all your photos!  I'm hoping someone here will identify the palm for you.

I wonder if the flowering shrub in post 14 is some kind of Protea? Wonderful flowers, whatever it may be.

Is the tourmaline pink?

Kim Cyr

Between the beach and the bays, Point Loma, San Diego, California USA
and on a 300 year-old lava flow, Pahoa, Hawaii, 1/4 mile from the 2018 flow
All characters  in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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Tyrone Grand Master

Tyrone

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Awesome pics Bruno. Some pictures really look like Australia, like the bush from a distance. I love all of your pics and travels. Feel free to continue clicking and posting pics.  :)

regards

Tyrone

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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fiji jim Veteran

fiji jim

Posted
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I fully agree with Tyrone.

More pics please !

It does look like parts of Australia.

Seeing as history and geology tells us that western Australia was once joined to Madagascar it is not at all surprising. I see many similarities to the coastal areas in particular.

Jim

Located on Vanua Levu near Savusavu (16degrees South) Elevation from sealevel to 30meters with average annual rainfall of 2800mm (110in) with temperature from 18 to 34C (65 to 92F).

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Matt in SD Veteran

Matt in SD

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Great to have you back Bruno!  Thanks for posting.  Maybe it's just me but your mystery pam looks a lot like the true Dypsis ambositrae.

Matt

San Diego

0.6 Acres of a south facing, gently sloped dirt pile, soon to be impenetrable jungle

East of Mount Soledad, in the biggest cold sink in San Diego County.

Zone 10a (I hope), Sunset 24

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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The following day, we went a little further down the road, to a small village where I stopped with Gary last March. I bought then three palms that we had not identified .I wanted to walk up to the palms in nature so that I could see adult ones and try to take pictures and post them here for identification.

This is the first sighting of one; no primary forest, just a small patch of trees.

SANY00572.jpg

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antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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We all went in that bush, a pine tree was shading the palm and plenty of vegetation had to be cut before we could reach the trunks.

SANY00451.jpg

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antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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A close up of the trunk. I still had no idea what this palm was. Do you have any clue? Now I think I know but maybe you have your opinion?

SANY00461.jpg

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antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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A few meters away from the four seen at first was a smaller one, very gracious.

SANY00412.jpg

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antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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Here is a close up of the foot.

By the way, Kim, tourmaline is black or dark pink.

SANY00421.jpg

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antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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Another shot with my friend on it for scale. He is the grandson of a french botanist who gave its name to two mad palms: dypsis and ravenea Louvelii. Mr Louvel was his name. But my friend knows nothing about palms, nor plants for that matter...

SANY00531.jpg

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antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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BS Man about Palms Grand Master

BS Man about Palms

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BEAUTIFUL!!

Zone 10a at best after 2007 AND 2013, on SW facing hill, 1 1/2 miles from coast in Oceanside, CA. 30-98 degrees, and 45-80deg. about 95% of the time.

"The great workman of nature is time."   ,  "Genius is nothing but a great aptitude for patience."

-George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon-

I do some experiments and learning in my garden with palms so you don't have to experience the pain! Look at my old threads to find various observations and tips!

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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It had taken us about two hours of pleasant walking to reach that palm. According to our guide there was another large palm some distance away, we could see it with binoculars. So here we go, but while crossing a rice field my friend went upside down, into the mud. Look behind him on what we had to cross. One cannot walk with straight feet, always sideways and hop... We had a good laugh though.

SANY00621.jpg

antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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You can see again how the rings are close when it is an old subject. The malagasy called it "sihara" and the ones we had just seen also. We objected that the leaflets had not the same shape, it could not be the same palm? But after long discussions, our conclusion was that all the palms we had seen were d. ambositrae. With your experience, what do you say?

 SANY00711.jpg

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antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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The crownshaft looks like the young ones just above. And at the bottom of the trunk, the rings are far apart.

SANY0072.jpg

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antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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paulgila Grand Master

paulgila

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this is so exciting!thanks again for sharing with us,bruno!

the "prince of snarkness."

 

still "warning-free."

 

san diego,california,left coast.

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bruno Experienced

bruno

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Well, I'm just waking up on madagascar soil and no one has said anything!? what a strange situation...

antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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BS Man about Palms Grand Master

BS Man about Palms

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Its a  Sunday in the USA Bruno, you may see more replies in the next 24 hours.  I'm just amazed. :D

Zone 10a at best after 2007 AND 2013, on SW facing hill, 1 1/2 miles from coast in Oceanside, CA. 30-98 degrees, and 45-80deg. about 95% of the time.

"The great workman of nature is time."   ,  "Genius is nothing but a great aptitude for patience."

-George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon-

I do some experiments and learning in my garden with palms so you don't have to experience the pain! Look at my old threads to find various observations and tips!

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