Trichilia Emetica (Natal Mahogany)

[Gtlevine]

The Natal Mahogany is absolutely a stunning canopy tree in Africa. I have used it with great success indoors in So Cal because it tolerates very low light. I would love try one outside in So Cal at my garden and wonder if others have tried it and what your experiences have been. I don't get frost but I can get down to the mid 30's in the winter, any opinions?

Gary

[BigFrond]

I've seen this tree sold at HD in the last couple of years but never try it. A very similar tree is the Moreton Bay Chesnut and can stand the CA heat. I had one that was about 18 ft tall but had to get rid of it after its first flowers. I would not have the space for this tree because it cat get quite large.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/56986/

[Gtlevine]

I have three Castanospermum Australe (Moretan Bay Chestnut) growing in my garden, they are also very nice.

Gary

Edited July 21, 2008 by Gtlevine

[LJG]

Gary, after talking to you about this I went and did research. it seems Khaya will grow here. At least some. In fact I saw some nice ones at the Zoo yesterday. Looking at this species you mention here it seems it comes from SA. If this is the case, I think you would be OK. Most that SA stuff grows well here. Even the high rainfall stuff. Just sounds liek you will need to water the heck out of it!

Personally I do not think Castanospermum Australe is similar to Natal Mahogany at all. Also, my Castanospermum Australe is a slow grower. It would take 75 years to get as big as the one in Dave's Garden that Geoff took the picture of.

[Gtlevine]

Len, the Khaya at the zoo were donated by Steve from San Diego. DO you have any pictures of them?

Gary

[LJG]

No. I figured you and I would head down there one day like we discussed. Sans los ninos of course. I had not been there in years and well before I was heavy into plants. I was amazed at what every corner had for a surprise. I even saw a few animals.

How long ago were the donated? Steve. You here? Just trying to gauge growth rate.

[BigFrond]

LJG - I was comparing the compound leaf structure between the two trees. Mine took about 5 years to get to18 feet, plus it was becoming root bound in the pot. I saw the picture from Palmbob and decided not to have this tree in my garden. Funny though, I still have two in pots.

BTW, Gary has just about every type of trees I have in my yard and much more. Gary, do you have a Calodendrum capense? This is a very nice tree for SoCal too. They are blooming on Leucadia Ave and Palomar College.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/65630/

Hehehe... I have two of these.

Edited July 22, 2008 by BigFrond

[LJG]

Hey frond, I have been telling Gary this now for two years. He still does not have one! I have had mine from a 15 gallon. This is the third summer in the gorund and it still has not flowered.

18 feet tall in a pot? That is some good growth.

LJG - I was comparing the compound leaf structure between the two trees. Mine took about 5 years to get to18 feet, plus it was becoming root bound in the pot. I saw the picture from Palmbob and decided not to have this tree in my garden. Funny though, I still have two in pots.

BTW, Gary has just about every type of trees I have in my yard and much more. Gary, do you have a Calodendrum capense? This is a very nice tree for SoCal too. They are blooming on Leucadia Ave and Palomar College.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/65630/

Hehehe... I have two of these.

[Gtlevine]

BTW, Gary has just about every type of trees I have in my yard and much more. Gary, do you have a Calodendrum capense? This is a very nice tree for SoCal too. They are blooming on Leucadia Ave and Palomar College.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/65630/

Hehehe... I have two of these.

I did, but I lost it in the fire last year. I will replace it at some point.

Gary

[BigFrond]

LJG and Gary,

The Calodendrum capense will take about 7 years to flower from seed. I have couple of 2 years old at about 4 ft tall. They are pretty fast. I saw a really nice one at UC Irvine about 4 years and thought back then that it was a must have tree.

[Urban Rainforest]

Gary, I've never posted about these trees before because they are so off the radar that I did'nt think there would be much interest on the palm board but since you asked heres the skinny on Mahogany trees in So Cal. I was growing trees long before I started growing palms and before the internet so it was much harder to locate these rare trees. It started in my old neigborhood and we were having a garage sale and I had a rototiller that my brother had given me that had been on the side of his yard for a year and had completely seized up. Well this guy named Chris pulls up in a 1950's truck and wants the rototiller and says he can get it running again no problem. Then I find out he is a landscaper like me but he starts telling me about Cycads (I knew about the Sago palm )and Mahogany trees that grow in San Diego. It turns out he is a tree FREAK! Well an instant friendship was formed and he took me over to bay park to show me a 40 ft. Mahogany tree in all it's glory with it's new red leaves. Wow! I had to have one. Maybe we could do a stealthy midnight airlayering or two . Well he also told me about Quail Botanical gardens and so I joined and discovered they had a library. Maybe they would have books with information on my new favorite tree. As it turned out they had many and I checked them out over and over again. One of my favorites ( I believe was copyrited in the 50's) was as thick as a phone book and was called "trees of the uganda protecterate". They had the old school black and white photos of 200 ft. Mahogany trees with people standing in the buttresses that look like midgets. I showed Chris the book and he liked it so much he photocopied the entire book . Well after a lot of searching we found a source for the trees on the big island and we both ordered about 20 trees each.They were big enough to put right into 5 gals. and I grew them until they were 15 gals. I was a member of the zoo at the time and in there publication zoo news I read about an African exibit that they were going to build. I asked them if they would like some true African species (Khaya Nyasica) to plant in there new exibit. They were interested but said they would have to research the species. I had called them in the morning at work and by the time I got home there were 3 messages on my phone saying that they would be VERY interested! And the rest is history. They bought the trees grew them out to box size and and planted them out where they grow happily to this day. Sadly I have not been back there to see them but would like very much to. A few facts... Khaya Nyasica is one of about 18 species of Khaya and along with thousands of other Mahogany's is in the Meliaceae family of hardwood trees. We have grown Khaya Nyasica, Senegalensis and Madagascariensis. The Senegalensis is not so cold hardy but the other two are. Most of the Mahogany's we have grown are evergreen never going completely deciduous. They like alot of water but have proven to be drought tolerant as well. Khaya Nyasica comes from savanas and rainforest margins. Other Mahogany's we have grown that are doing well are Entandrophragma Caudatum and Bussei and Swietinia Mahogani and Macrophylla. There are about 33 varieties of Entandrophragma coming from Africa and Madagascar. Swietinia Mahogani is indeginous to the carribean and into the Florida keys while the Macrophylla comes from South America. The fist time I saw the Natal Mahogany it was at a nursery in the interior plant department. Immediately I thought it looked like a Mahogany and sure enough the tag said Natal Mahogany. Well we were able to trace the source and come up with the name Trichilia Emetica. I bought the plant which had 4 plants in one pot. I took it home and quartered it out with a filleting knife and all 4 plants lived and never even went into shock! Two are planted outside at my parents house in Poway and one is at least 15 ft. tall. So there you have it... everything you ever wanted to know about Mahoganys and then some .

Steve

[Gtlevine]

Gary, I've never posted about these trees before because they are so off the radar that I did'nt think there would be much interest on the palm board but since you asked heres the skinny on Mahogany trees in So Cal. I was growing trees long before I started growing palms and before the internet so it was much harder to locate these rare trees. It started in my old neigborhood and we were having a garage sale and I had a rototiller that my brother had given me that had been on the side of his yard for a year and had completely seized up. Well this guy named Chris pulls up in a 1950's truck and wants the rototiller and says he can get it running again no problem. Then I find out he is a landscaper like me but he starts telling me about Cycads (I knew about the Sago palm )and Mahogany trees that grow in San Diego. It turns out he is a tree FREAK! Well an instant friendship was formed and he took me over to bay park to show me a 40 ft. Mahogany tree in all it's glory with it's new red leaves. Wow! I had to have one. Maybe we could do a stealthy midnight airlayering or two . Well he also told me about Quail Botanical gardens and so I joined and discovered they had a library. Maybe they would have books with information on my new favorite tree. As it turned out they had many and I checked them out over and over again. One of my favorites ( I believe was copyrited in the 50's) was as thick as a phone book and was called "trees of the uganda protecterate". They had the old school black and white photos of 200 ft. Mahogany trees with people standing in the buttresses that look like midgets. I showed Chris the book and he liked it so much he photocopied the entire book . Well after a lot of searching we found a source for the trees on the big island and we both ordered about 20 trees each.They were big enough to put right into 5 gals. and I grew them until they were 15 gals. I was a member of the zoo at the time and in there publication zoo news I read about an African exibit that they were going to build. I asked them if they would like some true African species (Khaya Nyasica) to plant in there new exibit. They were interested but said they would have to research the species. I had called them in the morning at work and by the time I got home there were 3 messages on my phone saying that they would be VERY interested! And the rest is history. They bought the trees grew them out to box size and and planted them out where they grow happily to this day. Sadly I have not been back there to see them but would like very much to. A few facts... Khaya Nyasica is one of about 18 species of Khaya and along with thousands of other Mahogany's is in the Meliaceae family of hardwood trees. We have grown Khaya Nyasica, Senegalensis and Madagascariensis. The Senegalensis is not so cold hardy but the other two are. Most of the Mahogany's we have grown are evergreen never going completely deciduous. They like alot of water but have proven to be drought tolerant as well. Khaya Nyasica comes from savanas and rainforest margins. Other Mahogany's we have grown that are doing well are Entandrophragma Caudatum and Bussei and Swietinia Mahogani and Macrophylla. There are about 33 varieties of Entandrophragma coming from Africa and Madagascar. Swietinia Mahogani is indeginous to the carribean and into the Florida keys while the Macrophylla comes from South America. The fist time I saw the Natal Mahogany it was at a nursery in the interior plant department. Immediately I thought it looked like a Mahogany and sure enough the tag said Natal Mahogany. Well we were able to trace the source and come up with the name Trichilia Emetica. I bought the plant which had 4 plants in one pot. I took it home and quartered it out with a filleting knife and all 4 plants lived and never even went into shock! Two are planted outside at my parents house in Poway and one is at least 15 ft. tall. So there you have it... everything you ever wanted to know about Mahoganys and then some .

Steve

Awesome story, thanks for the info,

Gary

[BS Man about Palms]

I like the rare occasions Steve gets wordy. Theres lots of info there.

[LJG]

I am reading it in chunks. I will start chunk 4 tonight.

Actually this is the stuff I like. Good knowledge there Steve! With Bills photographic memory having read this, this story will live on forever now. Or at least until Bill dies of weed asphyxiation.