Brahea Clara

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

The big bruiser on the left is flowering. It was planted 3.5 years aga from a 24" box (but really should have been a big 15g)

I count 6 flower stalks...

Praying for seeds...never seen a cultivated one flower...seeds will be the real deal.

[PalmGuyWC]

Steve,

Lovely drooping fronds, but I thought yours was more silver.  Is the color right on those pics?

Dick

[tropicalb]

who would want seed from such an ugly palm.

[Kris]

Dear Steve  

very beautiful breha's...

Thanks & love,

Kris  

By the way they have grown big,i remember your last year's still.

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

Dick...the "Super Drooper" is more silver. It's behind the Para Tortor in that other thread I just posted.

Nice Burt...you made my feel bad hurt. I'm amazed my computer is still operational after you worked on it... (take that)

[freakypalmguy]

It is also the overcast skies that makes them look more green. On a sunny day they look quite blue.

Very nice Steve

[PalmGuyWC]

Steve,

Well Duhhhh!  It may be be behind the Parajubaea, but I can't see it. How about a pic of your silver, drooping B. Clara? You published one of it before, and it's spectacular. Wish I had one like that.

Dick

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

(PalmGuyWC @ Apr. 04 2008,10:46)

QUOTE

Steve,

Well Duhhhh!  It may be be behind the Parajubaea, but I can't see it. How about a pic of your silver, drooping B. Clara? You published one of it before, and it's spectacular. Wish I had one like that.

Dick

Ask and ye shall receive...but later...gotta get to working on the remodel.

[Cycadcenter]

You made me go out and look at mine and no sign of flowering yet.

But now I'm hoping this year.

[sonoranfans]

(freakypalmguy @ Apr. 04 2008,10:45)

QUOTE

It is also the overcast skies that makes them look more green. On a sunny day they look quite blue.

Very nice Steve

This is in contrast to my experiences.  Water(clouds) absorb red, leaving blue light.  An ambient blue light would lead to more blue color.

[sonoranfans]

(Cycadcenter @ Apr. 04 2008,11:08)

QUOTE

You made me go out and look at mine and no sign of flowering yet.

But now I'm hoping this year.

These palms are very nice in either color, the wilt is fantastic. I would gladly buy one in any shade.  I wonder if palms that see cold temps turn a little green and then "blue up" in the heat.  My silver bismarckia are now greenish, but I can show you very blue pics from last summer in the heat.

[freakypalmguy]

(sonoranfans @ Apr. 04 2008,14:53)

QUOTE

I wonder if palms that see cold temps turn a little green and then "blue up" in the heat.

I think you are right Tom, mine look a little greener right now, but all the new growth is a nice blue. I think lighting has a lot to do with it as well. On overcast days none of my blue palms look as blue.

This is also a great grower. It was pushing all the way through winter. When it's warm it really pumps them out.

Take care,

Matt

[realarch]

Those palms are spectacular!

Tim

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

As promised....the "SUPER DROOPER"

I disagree with anyone who lumps these in with Br Armata...sorry, they're just too different. WAY faster, long clean petioles.

[Urban Rainforest]

Stevo, Those Claras look awesome! At what size do they start drooping? I have a 15 gal. that I grew from a one leaf seedling. The tag said Brahea Clara and It is for sure Clara as it has clean petioles and grows twice as fast as my Armatas. Also it does not get beat up looking in the winter like my Armatas. So what gives... wheres the nice droopy fronds like yours? I feel like the guy that bought the Chambeyronia that did'nt throw a red leaf.

Steve

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

(Steve from San Diego @ Apr. 04 2008,20:13)

QUOTE

Stevo, Those Claras look awesome! At what size do they start drooping? I have a 15 gal. that I grew from a one leaf seedling. The tag said Brahea Clara and It is for sure Clara as it has clean petioles and grows twice as fast as my Armatas. Also it does not get beat up looking in the winter like my Armatas. So what gives... wheres the nice droopy fronds like yours? I feel like the guy that bought the Chambeyronia that did'nt throw a red leaf.

Steve

Steve...I've learned that they have varying degrees of droop. In young plants look for leaves that are deeply divided, as well as thinner. I had a companion Clara next to this one that didn't droop hardly at all, so I got rid of it. I've got a drooper in the nursery that will come up to the pool area this spring for a permanent home (shading my BBQ area).

Bring Steph by and visit your plants (the Whitelockii I got from you is between the two Claras, and the Juaea is growing like a weed), and I'll show you how to pick a droopy Clara.

[Urban Rainforest]

Thanks Stevo, Mine does have thinner leaflets so I'll hope for the best. Good luck with your bloomer and I hope you get seed. Why don't seed of these come around more often?

Steve

[DoomsDave]

They're sure not armatas!

But they're lovely and thanks for sharing the pics!

Hope you get oodles of loverly seeds . . . .

dave

[ghar41]

I planted this Brahea about 10 years ago.  I don't think it is clara...might be an armata x edulis....(?)  Its attractive.

[Kris]

Dear Friends  

Stills of a beautiful fan palm...& my eyes are just feasting ! ???

 

Love,

Kris  

[Exotic Life]

I like the clara very much, drooping leaves are great on this palm... good luck with the seeds that maybe are coming...

Robbin

[FRITO]

big bruiser looking good!

[iamjv]

Here is a nice blue clara in Las Vegas...

A closer look...  notice the "stiffer" armata next to it (on the right)

Jv

[Kris]

Dear Jv  

thanks for those lovely stills of many loved palms in it...and i sorry to say that the trunk of that matured CIDP was simply diverting my attention from those sexier B.Clara's...

Ho what is happening to me...the addiction for the heavy trunking species have grown in leaps & bounds over the years...

thanks & love,

Kris  

[nomolos]

This palm has now gone on my must have list!

[PalmGuyWC]

JV,

I wonder if that is the same B. clara that I saw in Las Vegas recently? The one I saw was growing along the side entrance to the garage of the Marage hotel. It was the most silver and droopey one I've ever seen. It was absolutely stunning and put B. clara on my want list.

Dick

[iamjv]

Dick, that would be the one!  I took that shot a few years ago and have wondered how the palm has faired since then.  Good to hear that it's still stopping traffic!  I still remember walking around taking palm pictures and then heading down that side street... as soon as I saw it, it stopped me in my tracks.  Jv

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

This pick from JV was posted years ago on Palmtalk, and Brahea Clara was put on my want list then.

The pic shows he variability re droopiness. The palm on the right is a less droopy Clara, not an Armata. Note the long petioles, indicative of Clara.

[PalmGuyWC]

Jv,

The palm not only stopped traffic, it almost caused an accident. I was not driving and when I saw it, I yelled "STOOOOOP!!!!," and we almost got rear ended. Since you took the picture it seems green has filled in behind the palm and it really shows off. Unfortunately all the palms around the hotels are manicured, and I expect the gardeners cut all the fruit off.

Las Vegas is really worth a visit just to see the beautiful palms planted along Las Vegas Blv. and around all the hotels. The Marage has one of the nicest palm plantings, and not only palms, they have a volcano that erupts every 30 minutes in the evenings. Only in Las Vegas, and the rumbeling sounds effects rattle your eye balls, even across the street.

Dick

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

I took this shot after the 2007 freeze. Note the blue color. Really varies with lighting...

[Kris]

Dear Steve  

your above still of the clara are stunning...

thanks & love,

Kris  

[PalmGuyWC]

Jv,

I bet thousands either walk by or drive by the B. clara in Las Vegas, and I bet you and I are the only palmophyles that recognized the palm for what it was. The general public would only recognize it as another pretty palm tree.

I've been told that B. clara differs in another respect from B. armata. B. armata has huge inflorescences that hang down, while I'm told that B. clara has inflorescences that point upward and are erect. It will be interesting to see what Steve's do when they bloom. Also, is it really true that B. clara grows much faster than B. armata?

I was told years ago by the taxonomist that the two are one and the same, that B clara was only another form of B. Armata, so I never planted a B. clara. I wish I had now.

I was also told by another "palm expert" not to bother planting Sabals, as they all look alike and are so slow growing that I would never see them grow to any size. That has proven not to be true, and even in frigid N. Calif., I have some Sabals that have grown to a respectable size. I've found even the "experts" have some preconcieved notions, and that probably includes me.

Dick

[iamjv]

So agree with you Dick regarding opinions....  I find sabals to not only be interesting but also very diverse.  As for clara, I'm still in search for the blue variety, I have a green form much like Steve's, only smaller.  Hard to believe that some think clara is the same as armata...  kind of like saying W. filifera is the same as W. robusta...  Jv