Lord Howe Island

[bubba]

I have Googled this location that figures in over and over again in connection with Palms.Can anyone fill in any blanks?

[Pivi]

of course. 4 palm species originally come from there:

Howea forsteriana

Howea belmoreana

Hedyscepe canterburryana

Lepidorrhachis mooreana

Edited November 15, 2008 by Pivi

[Tassie_Troy1971]

HI Bubba

LHI is one of the most unspoiled islands in the world and is roughly crescent-shaped, about 10 km (6 miles) long and 2 km (1 mile) wide ,it has the worlds most southern coral reef i believe ,and is 373 mi) east of the Australian mainland.

as mentioned by piviti its home to the howea species of palms and hedyscepe they grow well down here in Tasmania.

LHI climate is perfect record low is 8 c and record high is 29c averages between 18- 27 c .

www.kentia-elite.com

[Bennz]

Lord Howe Island, a picture says a thousand words. I want to go back there....!

[bubba]

Wow!

[newtothis]

if those are golf balls i am SO moving there

[chris.oz]

I have Googled this location that figures in over and over again in connection with Palms.Can anyone fill in any blanks?

Go on google earth first. Sus it out.

[bgl]

Don Hodel was in Hilo a couple of years ago and gave a power presentation, which partly was about a trip he made to Lord Howe Island. The photos he showed really impressed me. This is a VERY scenic little island. The two mountains, Mt. Lidgbird and Mt. Gower is where Hedyscepe and Lepidorrhachis grow. Howeas grow at the lower elevations. Don had a guide and they climbed (I believe) Mt. Gower, which apparently is quite a challenge and also quite an experience, with a little cloudforest on the top with lots of Hedyscepe and Lepidorrhachis...! Here are two photos I got off the internet. In the second photo the airport, with its single runway, is visible in the center of the photo. Mt. Gower is the mountain to the right. Sorry about the small photos...

[Bennz]

An aside (which will forever destroy my palm growing credibility), I REALLY wanted to go to LHI not to see the palms, but to get seeds of my favourite tree, this little beauty here;

Ficus columnaris is a totally outlandish banyan form of Moreton Bay Fig from the Aussie East Coast. It is the only banyan I know of that thrives in a temperate climate. The largest one on the Island covered 5 acres, with over 1000 trunks. It is very rare to see them without Kentia as the primary understorey... very nice indeed.

A typical scene on the Island (taken from the net);

[elHoagie]

Awesome, pictures of Lord Howe have been inspiring me for a long time. As of a few weeks ago I'm booked to visit at the end of April. I can't wait!

[Kris]

Yes,that place looks like paradise...

Love,

Kris

[bubba]

Ficus columnaris may be a form of Moreton but it looks incredible.It seems to have every aspect of a Banyan.Sweet!

[Lauriek]

Ficus macrophylla f. columnarus of the family Moracea can grow into a massive tree, in time over 200 feet in height. It is strangler fig until roots reach the ground. You can find them in some school grounds here in Australia. Moreton Bay Figs are not suitable for ordinary suburban sized gardens!

[Tyrone]

In older parts of Perth they were planted as street trees. I grew up in a suburb called Gosnells which was the first stop on the stage coach run from Perth to Albany in the 1800's, and back then it was a bunch of farmlets. Down the middle of Fremantle Rd in the huge median near the pub there is half a dozen huge Moreton Bay's with roots going everywhere. I'm glad the oldies planted them way back then because they're so beautiful. No modern council over here would ever entertain growing such massive things near a road now. It's hard to believe these trees which are 100ft wide are just in puberty and will get larger and larger. Bring it on.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Ken Johnson]

Bub,

A while back a guy I was dealing with got hooked on the idea of growing Howia. He got in tight with the government agency that runs the seedling distribution from LH. They only sold sprouted seed at the time and may still. He was a photographer and has some famous pix from his trips. His photo of a seed collector climbing a "kentia" is on the inside cover of Betrocks Guide

The people have tried to keep the place natural but some of the restoration is tough as early inhabitants introduced some bad plants and animals, as usual. New Calidonia is another example of how we screw things up. In the long run the place is pretty well controlled now. Islands are fun but this one is so expensive to get to you may just want to look at pictures and then spend a week in Key West, if islands are your thing.

BTW the sea life there has many endemics and are well worth a dive in to see.