Palms Around Town

[amazondk]

Since I became involved with palms and Palm Talk I have paid much more attention to all the palms around town.  I have put quite a bit of information up about Manaus and Amazonia which is a pretty palmy place.  I thought it would be interesting to do a thread on palms around town.  After thinking about it I decided that this did not really fit into the Travel Logs, as I am not travelling.  And, it is going to be mostly about palms. So I figured Discussing Palms was the best place.  I drive around Manaus a lot during the day for work and have noticed a lot of nice palms growing around.  Most of them are native to our area, but there are a few imports.  I am going to start off with some shots I took on Thursday afternoon at the pool bar of the Tropical Business Hotel which is situation on the Ponta Negra (Black Point).  Ths is one of the most beautiful spots in Manaus.  Manaus is really a city on the Negro River more so than the Amazon River.  To me the Negro is the most beautiful river in world.  At this point the Negro is about 8 kms across and the water at the deepest point of the channel is about 90 to 100 meters deep.  The river rises and falls about 30 meters during the year between low water point in the end of October to the high water point in the end of the June.  The Tropical Business hotel was built on the grounds of the traditional Tropical Hotel Manaus.  When the Tropical Hotel was built some 40 years ago it was out in the country.  Today the city has grown up to it and the area is now where the most exclusive apartment complexs in town are.

So here are some palms.

The pool of the Tropical Business has Bactris gasipaes used all around it.  This palm which is very common here is used more and more of landscaping now.  

To give a good tropical look there are some cocos mixed in with the Bactris.

Looking up the Negro River.  On the far left side is where our country lot in Paricatuba is located.

A rain squal moving across the river.  This is rainy season and this year it has rained a lot.

[amazondk]

A lone Leopoldina looking back at the Ponta Negra Avenue and toward town.

The pool was done in a way to mix into the landscape and feel like you are part of the river.

[amazondk]

Euterpe olearcea fit well into the landscape.  This is a very common palm around town.

The bactris look great and could be used a lot more in landscaping.  Here they grow real fast as well.

[amazondk]

It was a great afternoon.  Sort of a tough day at work.

A lone Bactris agains the sky as evening comes.

[amazondk]

Boats crusing the river always add to the scene.

The sun setting over the Negro is always a joy to experience.  This day did not have a brilliant sunset.  But, it was very beautiful.

[amazondk]

Day turned into night.  We had been enjoying some refreshments and soon afterwards went out for some Sushi.  The nights in Manaus are always great.  The evening air envelops you with its moist tropical feel.  Life in the tropics can be real tough.

[amazondk]

These pictures of some palms on the Tropical Hotel grounds I took a few months ago.

There are some nice plantings of Leopoldina pulchra on the grounds.  This palm is very common along the Negro River. Like many native plants it gets no attention as a landscape tree, but it is very handsome in my opinion.  In spite of the fact that it grows in flooded forest, igapoo, it does ok on dry land if it is keep well watered.  I think that it probably does better in sandy soils as well.

[amazondk]

This little Bactris grows commonly in the forest around here.  But, it is never used as a landscape plant that I know of.  Here it looks very attractive.

A clump of Euterpe olearcea with a Oenocarpus bacaba behind.  The bacaba is also a common forest tree that is not used in landscaping locally.

[amazondk]

There are a few Astrocaryum tucuma trees growing on the grounds.   These pop up all over town but are never planted purposely from what I can tell.

[bgl]

Don,

Always enjoy your photos! Your commentary and the pics really give us a great sense of what Manaus is like. I think you and I may both have a bit more appreciation for the tropical ambience - you growing up in Montana and me in Sweden!

Bo-Göran

[amazondk]

Thanks Bo,

I think you may have a point as to appreciation of the tropics.  The world is full of wonderful places tropical and non tropical.  I really think I would have a hard time adjusting to a cooler clime at this time though.  I really enjoy your pictues of Hawaii too.  I think that when you feel a passion for where you live it shows up in what you present to others.  The area I live has it's problems and down side like everywhere does.  But, it is a place of great beauty and abundant tropical nature.  During the rubber boom in the late 1800s and early 1900s Manaus was called the Paris of the Tropics.  Some of this still can be found.  It is a unique place in a unique part of the world.  I get a lot of ideas from looking at your posts and those of others around the world.  I hope that maybe some of my posts give others some ideas.

dk

[Jason in Orlando]

Don,

Thank you very much for sharing your area with us.  The O. bacaba pictures were a particular treat as I have some 8 month old seedlings, already showing a nice purple-red color to the new bifid leaves.  What a beautiful species.  It's nice to see some of these palms in their native lands where they belong; just doing their thing and popping up wherever.  Even hammocks of Sabal palmetto in habitat along the St. John's River here are almost breathtaking...because they belong there.

Jason

[amazondk]

Jason,

I am sure you will enjoy the bacaba.  I don't know anything about there cold tolerence though.  I have a bunch of seedlings that I got from the palm juice guy a while ago.  The seeds germinated with a real force.  I am going to plant a grove of them on our lot.  They are quite common around here and would make great landscape trees if used more.  I agree any palm looks great in it's native habitat.

dk

[amazondk]

Not a palm tree, but the look up in the lobby of the Tropical Business Hotel is quite a sight.

[fiji jim]

As always Don, it is great to read your threads about your chosen home and the areas that you travel there.

Also I really enjoy seeing these palms introduced in the landscaping of the modern buildings as I have otherwise not seen them outside of collections and botanical gardens.

More please,

Jim

[amazondk]

Jim,

Manaus is going through a real building boom.  I will post some pictures of the use of palms in new construction projects.  The Bactris gasipaes is being used quite a bit.  This is good as the palm is pretty, grows fast, and very well adapted to our conditions.  Since it is a truly domesticated tree which grows only where humans cultivate it I guess it is a natural.  There are so many other plants that could be used.  Our ecosystem which is the most diverse in the tropical world surely has a lot of potential for introduction of landscape plants that can be used here or elsewhere.  Do many people grow the peach palm over there in Fiji?

dk

[amazondk]

The Attalea marip is native to our forests and the area where the hotel is located.  They have left them in the landscape to a large degree.  The one in this pictures shows how tall they get.

There is a real nice old Arcocomia aculeata growing near the hotel tower.  This one must have been in the ground a long time judging by it's height.

[amazondk]

I would like to know if anyone recognizes the two palms in the foreground.

[amazondk]

This picture was taken looking out at Ponta Negra beach in November.  The river has risen enough that the beach has pretty much disappeared.  The water at it's high point gets up to the top of the rock wall behind the beach in front of the buildings.  In fact you can swim by jumping into the river off the wall.

[amazondk]

Moving away from the Ponta Negra this is a patch of Mauritia stand in the middle of the city. This picture is taken from one of the main streets near my house.  It is far from a pristine environment and the water quality is not too good.  But, I always like to look over at as I pass by.  The water from the stream washed most of the 6 lane street out last year during a major storm.  They rebuilt it, but it was a real pain for a while as the traffic was horrible.

[realarch]

Pretty dreamy stuff Don. The pictures in post #5 are unreal. The blue of the sky and water with the rain in the distance is such has such a calming affect. When you say a lot of rain, what is the norm for this time of year and have you been receiving more?

Tim

[Peter]

That Acrocomia is stunning.

[osideterry]

Post 19 looks like an Adonidia and an Archontophoenix to me, but I'm less than confident about the second one.

Great photos as usual. I can't even remember what heat and humidity feel like right now. I might have to fire up the jacuzzi tonight.

[amazondk]

(realarch @ Feb. 23 2008,18:16)

QUOTE

Pretty dreamy stuff Don. The pictures in post #5 are unreal. The blue of the sky and water with the rain in the distance is such has such a calming affect. When you say a lot of rain, what is the norm for this time of year and have you been receiving more?

Tim

Tim,

I really do not know the actual rainfall as I have not figured out where to get this data yet.  But, our normal for this month is around 250 mm and I think we have surpased this.  The month that normally has the highest rainfall is March which averages around 300 mm.  The whole Amazon Basin has had a lot of rain this year.  This is attributed to La Niña.  Bolivia has had major flooding.  It will be intersting to see what happens as this water flows downstream.  Flooding from the Negro and Amazon rivers is not a problem here as the city sits quite a bit above the rivers at most points.

dk

[Moose]

[_Keith]

Is that a Moose bump I see.

[WestCoastGal]

I feel like I just went on a tropical vacation. Stunning photos. I just love clean, thin-trunked palms.

I grew up in the cold East and Midwest of the U.S. and probably why I too love the look of palms. They represent paradise to me. You live in a very beautiful part of the world. Thank you for sharing it.

[dan.vagnoni]

Great photos. It's amazing how many great species can be growing around you for years and when you finally start to identify them, they're everywhere!!! At least that's how it was for me. Great stuff, like the others said, I feel like I went on a trip

[brodklop]

Thanks Don for sharing pics of your home area. I would say Archotophienix alexandra on right and possibly the same on the left.