Palms in Quito

[richnorm]

I think the palm in the picture you named as Euterpe precatoria is not that palm if not an Ceroxylon maybe parvifrons or parvum.-

Really? I thought (only from books) that parvum was a short and plumose palm and parvifrons had leaflets arranged in a "V" and a pseudo crownshaft. Quite different plants.

It is interesting that you put these two in the same basket because I have bought parvifrons three times (from at least two different seed sources) and they all turned out to be parvum (to my eyes at least). I have just got my fourth lot of seed so hopefully I will at last have this species!

Cheers Richard

[iamjv]

This thread and the pics within made me curious about the kind of weather Quito has.... I figured it must be very dry from the pictures, seems I was wrong....

Here is an excerpt from http://www.ecuadorexplorer.com/html/quito_overview.html

Quito's Altitude, Climate and Weather

Quito's altitude, at 2820 M (9252 feet), Quito is almost twice as high as Denver, Colorado. Though because it sits only 25 kilometres from the Equator, Quito does not suffer through long winters like the Mile High City. On the contrary, Ecuador's capital enjoys mild days and cool nights almost year-round. The climate in the Andes varies according to the altitude and the time of the year. In Quito the temperature ranges from 7 degrees C (55 F) at night to 26 C (78 F) at noon, and averages 15 C (64 F). There are two seasons, wet and dry. The wet season is called winter and the dry is considered summer. Quito's summer lasts about 4 months, from the end of June to September. Quito sees its fair share of rain from October through May, though even during this period the climate supports a multitude of diversions. There are enough sunny days during the rainy season to accommodate all but the most insatiable sun worshipers, and when the sun hides, Quito has plenty to offer indoors.

Jv

[plamfrong]

That's very exciting news if a wild population of p. cocoides has been found. It's been lumped with P. TVT, but I always thought it was a seperate species. I wish someone would translate so we can all read the article. I'm curious, are there any other species of Parajubaea found growing in Quito? I've often wondered if there might be another species of Parajubaea growing in some romote valley, hidden away in S. America.

Dick

I've never understood the push to lump P. cocoides with the other species, especially not TVT as PC has seeds half as big and much smoother. If anything it could be lumped with microcarpa but I don't think that makes sense either. (For that matter I don't really get why sunkha gets to be its own species and microcarpa doesn't... anyhoo...)

I would hardly be surprised if more cocoid palms were found in the Andes. Seems to me like Peru and Bolivia are the final frontier in botanical exploration.

Thanks for bringing up this thread; it looks like I missed a lot in my multi-year absence from IPS forums.

[realarch]

Gaston, the palm in the photo is C.echinulatum and I just commented that it has an E. precatoria look to it with it's pendant leaves. Both are such beautiful palms.

Richard, so how are your Ceroxylon doing in NZ? Making a good go of it? Too bad I wasn't able to get to the part of the country with great stands of Ceroxylon, but wasn't too disappointed once in the Amazon basin.

Jv, Quito was a very interesting place and I was quite amazed with the climate as well. At almost 10,000 feet and such a mile climate. Huge banks of clouds would ring the mountains, (15,000 ft plus), that surround the city every afternoon then drop into the valley and drizzle and rain in the evening. It had a San Francisco feel to it.

Tim

[richnorm]

Gaston, the palm in the photo is C.echinulatum and I just commented that it has an E. precatoria look to it with it's pendant leaves. Both are such beautiful palms.

Richard, so how are your Ceroxylon doing in NZ? Making a good go of it? Too bad I wasn't able to get to the part of the country with great stands of Ceroxylon, but wasn't too disappointed once in the Amazon basin.

Jv, Quito was a very interesting place and I was quite amazed with the climate as well. At almost 10,000 feet and such a mile climate. Huge banks of clouds would ring the mountains, (15,000 ft plus), that surround the city every afternoon then drop into the valley and drizzle and rain in the evening. It had a San Francisco feel to it.

Tim

Hi Tiom,

Yes, I agree with that ID. I wish I had one (and also weberbaueri and sasaimae) but seed is so hard to find. Fortunately I have located the other 8 species and am having modest success with my young plants. I spent about a month in Quito and met my wife there!

cheers

Richard

[JasonD]

This is the best repository of inspiring Parajubaea and Ceroxylon photos on Palmtalk! Bump!

SF Botanical Garden just installed a number of seedling Parajubaeas and Ceroxylons donated by Palmtalk members Dick Douglas and Darold Petty (and me). They will eventually form the best public Andean palm collection in North America.

[PalmGuyWC]

This is the best repository of inspiring Parajubaea and Ceroxylon photos on Palmtalk! Bump!

SF Botanical Garden just installed a number of seedling Parajubaeas and Ceroxylons donated by Palmtalk members Dick Douglas and Darold Petty (and me). They will eventually form the best public Andean palm collection in North America.

Jason,

I'm glad to hear the palms finally got planted in the SF Botanical Garden. Don't forget there are some good sized P. cocoides and Ceroxylons growing in the Palmatum in Oakland.

Dick

[JasonD]

Dick,

I wouldn't want anyone to forget the Oakland Palmetum. I'm just highlighting what's new, and that includes the SFBG's ambition for its Andean collection.

Keep in mind that the recent planting is phase I. Two or three phases to go til everything in the nursery gets put out there.

Jason

[Takil-Explorer]

The palm on picture 16 looks to me like a Washingtonia.

Nice palms and city!

Alexander

[MattyB]

bump

[DoomsDave]

Is my math bad, or is Quito at 8,000ft elevation? I know it's all relative being at the equator, but that's 2000 ft higher than Lake Tahoe.

I do not regret planting any Parajubaea. What a great palm for my area. I'm still on the fence on the Ceroxylons though. Besides that nice one in Ventura, I'm just not seeing them tried with success here. That is worth thread of it's own.

Actually, it's about 10,000 feet.

La Paz, Bolivia, is even higher, I think, around 12,000 feet.

[Tropicdoc]

Why, in Quito are the parajub trunks so slender and elegant, but in California, they are thick and hairy?

[Darold Petty]

Same effect as Washingtonia robusta. The base is quite flared out and larger in diameter relative to the higher trunk diameter. This causes the overall profile to change a lot as the trunk becomes taller.

The hairy fibers do detach on Parajubaea in California. I left the fiber coat on the trunk of my deceased P. coccoides to prevent juvenile delinquents from 'tagging' the smooth trunk. Also, Quito is not a Mediterranean dry summer climate, and the increased duration of the rainfall season will accelerate the fiber loss.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

They loose the hair after a while and when they gain height, the ratio of trunk to crown adjusts. I don't like the hair either, but I am going to let mine loose their hair on their own.

Kyle from Miami took this picture of one growing in Berkeley that is beginning to loose all the shag. Maybe that will help clear things up. They do turn into coconutty things.

[Tropicdoc]

That's a very nice one! A little lean to it. I appreciate yalls comments. Was just curious since I have 2 hybrids with P. cocoides genes.

[JasonD]

IMO, Parajubaea cocoides looks great as a seedling and then from pre-adolescence (entire crown of fully divided leaves) into its first years of flowering. From there it looks really gawky until I suppose the leafbases are shed and the trunk-crown proportions change, though the tallest ones I know in Northern California (Oakland Palmetum) are not nearly so pretty as those Quito photos show; it may just be a matter of conditions of cultivation.

[Tropicdoc]

Yes, and unfortunately, the hybrid with butia may also have the bulky trunk/ smaller crown of the butia contributing to these proportions. But alas, I live in 9a and my choices are limited.