Who wants to go to the SD Zoo on Wednesday??

[paulgila]

good one,matt.when yer finished with MY narration style i'd like it back.

it was great to meet kyle & matt.total strangers until just now.

[kylecawazafla]

It was super great meeting all of you, Paul, Kim and Matt! Thanks so much for making the zoo experience turn into an 'official' PRA!! I really appreciated the company and entertaining commentary throughout the PRA experience as well as the exchange of knowledge. I definitely learned a ton! I just finished the drive to Florida, so now I'll upload pictures as soon as I can!

[kylecawazafla]

OK! Photo time. It was so much fun going through San Diego.... I want to become kylecawazaflaca now! I felt like I was collecting pokemon cards at the Zoo.... gotta catch'em all.... on camera.

La Jolla cove in San Diego... This is probably one of the most beautiful parts of the CA coastline, except for maybe McWay falls.

Dracaenea draco.... These made me feel like I was in Tenerife again!

Beautiful "banyan" tree in La Jolla. I love the aerial roots... (As Kim stated )

Jubaeopsis caffra at the catamaran resort in Mission Bay

[kylecawazafla]

Roystonea regia at the Catamaran Resort

Veitchia at the Catamaran Resort! I think they're all V. arecina, but I am probably wrong.

[kylecawazafla]

Some more shots of the Jubaeopsis

[kylecawazafla]

Dypsis lutescens

Arenga engleri

Green bizzy (Bismarckia nobilis)

[kylecawazafla]

Ravenea rivularis. These have grown a ton!

Pandanus utilis

[kylecawazafla]

Sabal mauritiiformis

Dypsis leptocheilos

Phoenix reclinata for Matt

Ficus macrophylla

[kylecawazafla]

Jubaea chilensis

Hyphaene coriacea

Phoenix paludosa

[kylecawazafla]

I don't know what this is. It might be a Dypsis lastelliana or a Dypsis leptocheilos x decaryi

Is this a Sabal blackburniana? It is HUGE! I'm in this picture. Can you see me??

Trithinax brasiliensis (I think so, but it's a little skinny)

[kylecawazafla]

Brahea armata

Another green Bizzy

Rhapis humilis?? I think this is what it is

[kylecawazafla]

Is this a Gaussia maya?? It was labeled that way. It looks a lot like a Hedyscepe!

Sabal rosei

OMG!! It's going to eat someone

[kylecawazafla]

Raphia farinifera.... I love these palms!! They aren't cultivated enough.

SUPER Ravenea. The leaves were probably 15 feet tall. One day this will be a monster!

[kylecawazafla]

OK! So I took a picture of this Pritchardia in 2003 and no one was able to identify it. It's gigantic. The leaves are probably 7 or 8 feet across... I think it MIGHT be a Pritchardia pacifica, but I don't know if those get that big either. This is at the Catamaran Resort in Mission Bay for anyone who is curious to check it out. The leaves are robust, but the trunk is lanky.

[BS Man about Palms]

Great pics Kyle!! I think the mystery in post #50 is supposed to be a D. lasstelianna. I also think that Gaussia is a Hedy also....

[paulgila]

that raphia was only half as big when i saw it a few yrs ago!

great pix,kyle! the la jolla cove pic looks like a postcard(in a good way)!

[epicure3]

OK! So I took a picture of this Pritchardia in 2003 and no one was able to identify it. It's gigantic. The leaves are probably 7 or 8 feet across... I think it MIGHT be a Pritchardia pacifica, but I don't know if those get that big either. This is at the Catamaran Resort in Mission Bay for anyone who is curious to check it out. The leaves are robust, but the trunk is lanky.

I don't know what variety of Pritchardia it is, but I am almost sure that it is not P. Pacifica. If is was, you would also see a row of coconuts next to it.

Beautiful shots, Kyle. That Raphia is nice. So is that Pandanus. I wonder how old that one is? The green Bizzies don't look very well taken care of. I have a Gaussia Maya and that palm is surely not that. Hedyscepe is probably the right call.

[kylecawazafla]

I also didn't think it was a P. pacifica, since they are very tropical palms. It's such a beautiful palm though when you see it in person that it really deserves to have an identity! I also loved the Raphia farinifera. To me, Raphia australis is slightly more attractive and I am sure they are hardier since I saw a row of fruiting ones in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town, South Africa and they were HUGE!! In habitat they are even more impressive! I had a really good time in San Diego!

Here are the pictures now of the zoo. It is really an amazing place! MattyB also noted that some of the palms weren't watered enough (especially some of the caryotas along the peripheries), and they seemed to be doing quite well despite the draught. I still don't understand Snarky all the way, but I have a better understanding of it now.

Coccothrinax argentata

Coccothrinax proctorii

Clinostigma savoryanum

[kylecawazafla]

I don't know what this palm is. Does anyone know what it is?

Jubaeopsis caffra... almost unchanged from 2003!

A "mess" of Pritchardia

My favorite dicot at the zoo! Ficus macrophylla!

[kylecawazafla]

Attalea phalerata (Cold hardiest Attalea)

Ravenea hildebrandtii

Licuala spinosa

[kylecawazafla]

The Monstera are also beautiful... I don't think I'm capable of snarky commentary.

Arenga engleri

Archontophoenix purpurea

[kylecawazafla]

Foxy Lady

Clinostigma harlandii

[kylecawazafla]

Dictyosperma album

Dypsis leptocheilos

[kylecawazafla]

Paul and Matt were kind enough to sit in front of the coconut tree so it wouldn't look like I was taking pictures of children walking out of the bathroom.

Which type of Coccothrinax is this?

Aiphanes aculeata

Trachycapus martianus

[kylecawazafla]

Aiphanea lindeniana (world's most attractive palm contender, coupled with world's best photo!!)

Hyophorbe indica

Caryota ochlaranda?

There is a Pritchardia in here with a "shuttlecock" crown. The anomaly reminded me of one of Carlo Morici's photos of Copernicia macroglossa doing the same thing. Sorry that it's not a good photo.

[kylecawazafla]

I think these are the Pritchardia minor Matt identified.

Dypsis lutescens!

[kylecawazafla]

Dypsis baronii

Beccariophoenix madagascriensis

Another Dypsis... utilis? They were labeled, but I forgot this one.

[kylecawazafla]

Ptychoccocus lepitodus

Arenga pinnata?? or westerhoutiii??

What Chambeyronia macrocarpa look like after taking performance enhancers.

[kylecawazafla]

Archontophoenix galore!

Caryota galore!

Maybe a Sabal bermudana

[kylecawazafla]

Phoenix for Matt!

Ficus thonningii (These are the best at producing aerial roots in Mediterranean climates!)

[kylecawazafla]

Ficus macrophylla

[kylecawazafla]

Clusia rosea... another aerial root producer, but very different from ficus!

More photos to come!!

[epicure3]

Excellent shots, Kyle. You can tell that the lack of water has impacted at least some of the palms and not others.

[MattyB]

Great shots Kyle! Your comment in post 65 about the worlds most attractive palm is great snark form.

I'm gonna take a guess at a few of these:

Post 54 I'm almost sure is P. beccariana.

Post 59 looks like a Brahea of some sort, either edulis or brandegeii probably.

[bubba]

Great PRA! Thanks for taking us along.

[Cristóbal]

kyle,

thanks to put the fotos of these palms !

the zoo of san diego is some very fantastic place it show the very large variety of tropical and sub tropical palms you can grow in the area but also many other plants.

in this area of the world, very special, you can grow very good almost any plant less the most very tropical that need much heat and plants that need the cold. the only problem for many, is water.

my cocos nucifera now 2 meters high is only 50 meters from a 8 meters japanese maple !

is this some combination very crazy ?? !!

Edited May 14, 2009 by Cristóbal

[Gbarce]

great thread.

Was that a zoo or a botanical garden?

Nifty t-shirt Paul

[MattyB]

Gene, the SD Zoo has one of the largest botanical collections in the world. And not too shabby of an animal collection too.

[kylecawazafla]

Thank you for the comments. Cristobal, that's definitely an interesting combination of plants! I'd love to see a place where Manicaria saccifera and Juania australis are growing side by side!! You'd probably need to refrigerate the Juania and heat the Manicaria.

Gbarce, I think it's actually a Zoo. I don't know for sure though, since I don't think I saw any animals... I'll look it up online to make sure it's a zoo.

[kylecawazafla]

I don't know how I missed so many photos, but I still have a ton left to post!! Here they are:

Here is some sort of Chamaedorea.... anyone have an idea??

Caryota rumphiana

Ptychosperma __________?

Euterpe