Two weeks ago there was a holiday here and i got two more days vacation. My family, my parents and all my sisters families,went to a warm water resort in Jurema , Central Paraná. The climate there is a lot warmer than here on the second tableland, because of the low altitude and it´s also located northern from here.

  The distance from Carambeí to Jurema is +- 300 km.

I didn´t saw so many palms on the road,(mostly queens) but I photographed some of them. I saw Acrocomia totai,a Butiagrus,a Sabal species(?) and most interesting of all: Euterpe edulis growing in the warm region of Jurema but also a few trees in the araucaria forest ,in a region that officialy isn´t the home of this species!!! In fact I saw only a few specimens in the county of Reserva,+ - 120 km from here.This region is a little bit warmer than my region,but this trees probably saw several frosts in the past!

 I want to return this saturday to Reserva to see if i can find seeds or seedlings of this palms..... (a crazy palmnut)

State Paraná  in Brazil:

" target="_blank">http://www.iapar.br/Sma....MG]

Acrocomia totai (non native tree in my region-2nd tableland)

XButiagrus ( B.eriospatha x Queen)

Fronds

Trunk detail

Vieuw.

Sabal species(???) - very rare here!

Big fronds.

Crown with inflorescences

Native Euterpe edulis at the Jurema resort

More palmitos:

Warm water pools-Dyppis lutescens

Another vieuw

Climate regions in Paraná.

I live near Ponta Grossa and Jurema resort is near Campo Mourão:                                                                        

Map showing the regions were Euterpe edulis is native:Light green ( very abundant at dark green-region near the sea)

(I found some native growing in the ´´central white region´´between -25 / -26 and -51 / -50, in Araucaria angustifolia forest,that means higher altitude,fresher and with frosts in winter)

Wow!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing those photos, Alberto. It is nice having a member in the area that Araucaria angustifolia grows wild.  I loved seeing a few in those pics. The XButiagrus looks nice as well, as does the Sabal. Not sure which one that is.

Zac

Yes, thanks for sharing these photos from your area of Brasil.  I remember seeing a few Euterpe edulis in the wild in the forest near Foz do Iguasu when my wife & I visited those incredibly beautiful waterfalls some years ago.  Hopefully you might be able to find a form of Euterpe edulis that can grow for you and can even survive some frost.  It is a handsome palm.  Keep us informed on your experience with it.

Hai Alberato  

those pictures were very nice. and i often said

that this forum has the reputation of beaming

stills & lovely pictures from around the globe_

as seen in national geography channel,discovery

channel & at times giving information like_BBC(

panaroma or Earth file).

so your pictures just proved my point right !  

thanks/love,

Kris.

Alberto, as always I really enjoyed those pics.

A Euterpe edulis that can take a little frost is very interesting. It was particularly noticeable the way they disappeared as you climbed the tableland, so if you found some with hardiness then thats amazing.

If you find a few seeds dont forget me !!

muito obrigado e ate logo meu amigo

Hi,

Euterpes are really nice and elegant! Thank you very much for the photos and the information. I have a doubt, is Butiagrus a natural hybrid?

Regards,

Carlos

A hardy Euterpe really would be a find.  I always thought of them as very tropical looking, so a hardy, tropical looking palm would answer the dreams of many colder climate growers.

All, you can find Foz do Iguaçú at the West of the of the climatic map. The climate there is frostfree ,so Euterpe can be seen in big numbers at some places.

   Carlos,this palm is a natural hybrid since I have never seen one in a nursery.

    For all the brits,I´ll not give hope..... I think that at least it will grow here.... I cannot imagine them growing outside in the UK.....! Nigel,your portuguese is very good!

(I hope you can always understand my poor English)

    Thank your Kris for your kind words.

  If it´s not rainy this Saturday, I will return to Reserva county!!!!!!

   On this brazilian sites I found intersting info (in portuguese     ) Min.temp.:-5.8 in Orleães!....

http://www.ckagricola.com/ckagric....ara.doc

http://geodesia.ufsc.br/Geodesi....116.htm

Cool pics Alberto! Thanks.

Thanks for the photos.

Do you have any of the Araucaria forest?

Today i finally returned to this place (850 m altitude!)with a cousin and his wife. We collected some seeds and seedlings. The following days I´ll post photos and show you this very interesting trip!

Alberto,

    Thanks for all the nice pictures!  I especially enjoy the Euterpe edulis.

 Jeff

Thanks Alberto. I can't wait to hear all about that one too.

Zac

Alberto,

Thanks for the pictures of life down south.  It is a long time since I have been around your neck of the woods, and when I was I really was not paying much attention to palm trees.  Your Euterpe looks great, they look a lot like their cousins around here.

dk

That Koppen Cfa climate is a reasonable match to Florida.

I wonder where my E.edulis came from ???   I am  a cool 10a and they have grown quite well,  if slowly in pots .   4 leaves a year maximum.  I think its time to plant them.   So they will be going in as a group.   Unfortunately,  its only after I bought the 4 palms 3 years ago that I heard there were clumping forms and saw my first E. precaroria.   Alberto.   Is the E. precaroria more tropical in its requirements,  or are there also varieties with high elevation   provenance ?

The only Euterpe that sees frost in habitat is E.edulis!

This one that I found growing in Araucaria angustifolia forest (something that don´t match in my brain....Araucaria and palmitos growing together!)  at 850m altitude, probably are one of the cold hardiest strains(?) The palmito is very common near the sea (west)in a humid practically frostfree region,and also around the tablelands (North and East> Foz do Iguaçú) in warmer lowlands.

Pines grow in frost free areas of the Caribbean and the Florida Keys, so it figures that their southern hemisphere (actually, Gondwanan) counterparts the Araucarias do, too.

In south Brazil ,Araucarias only grow at elevations above 700 m. (in southeast only at higher altitudes: +-1000-2000m)They need a colder and fresher climate to look a ´´normal´´tree. Sometimes I see cultivated trees near the sea but they generally look strange and sick.

  Araucarias with Euterpes........STRANGE!

Chris,

I would say that the E. precatoria is strictly an amazonian palm of the humid tropical forest region.  It would be interesting to see where the palms limit is as regards to mountains though.  The highest point in Brazil is here in Amazonas, 3014 meters (Pico da Neblina) and a lot of the area that leads up to the peak is covered in forest.  As the elevation rises  there would undoubtedly be  changes in species composition.  It is a 2 to 5 day hike (depending on the persons ability) through the forest to get to the peak. To get to the trail head it is a trip of 125 kms by road and 2 days by boat. This is one of the most isolated and wild places in Brazil and would probably be an interesting trip.  Although the E. precatoria is very common around here I still find it one of the most attractive native trees.

dk

Hey Alberto- How bad are your regulations for sending seeds out of there? I was wondering as I would like to try some of both the Euterpe and the Araucaria.

Zac

I ´ve sent seeds several times to USA. No problems!

Oh ok. I have the small lots of Seed import permit thingy so I can get up to 50 seeds per plant. I am glad you dont ever have issues with sending things here.

Zac

The provenance of this ´´palmitos´´(Araucaria forest) suggests  it is hardier than the ´´regular´´ palmitos that come from the Atlantic Forest. I´ll plant a lot of this seeds in my araucaria forest!!!.... And I´d like to swap seeds of cold hardy palms.....

PS generally there is little interest in Swaping seeds....I don´t know why?

Last year I cleaned a lot of Attalea dubia seeds ( a very tough work) that I found in a neighbor county and didn´t receive an E-mail of somebody interested..... Why??......................?

The pictures were great Alberto Iwas aroud the same area last year traveling from Argentina to Rio. I live in Loma Linda California and the Wintee rnights can get quite cold. my friend Bill and I are both into palms and we will love to swap some seeds with you.Take care SHALOM

Alberto,

Thanks for posting.  It is hard to find a more rewarding palm to grow than Acrocomia.  It grows so quickly that the rewards come sooner than later.

Ray