Lakeside Palmetum

[ghar41]

We held a work day and board meeting at the palmetum in Oakland today. The mediterranean garden is filling in and is making a nice entrance to the collection.

[ghar41]

This is Brahea elegans.

[ghar41]

Cool Butia. Maybe Darold Petty can help w/ the species.

[ghar41]

Brahea aculeata

[ghar41]

Juania australis grove

[ghar41]

Trithrinax campestris

[ghar41]

Both Ceroxylon vogelianum trees have now bloomed

[John Case]

Glenn,

Has my donation of the B. alfredii made it to the collection yet?

[paulgila]

looks great! i especially liked the juania

[PalmGuyWC]

Great shots, Glenn. Are those seeds forming on the Ceroxylon? If so, that may be a first for the USA.

Dick

[Shon]

Great shots Glenn. Have got to get there one of these days. Terrific specimens in that garden.

[Darold Petty]

Hello to all,

I don't know the Butia ID but I will ask Bob Fowler, who planted it.

The Juania grove is now only 3 plants, one was destroyed by vandals who ran over it while joyriding on a small utility vehicle. The other died from the typical Juania "sudden decline death syndrome".

The small nodules shown on the Ceroxylon are suspicious, as the flowers are typically much smaller. I will take a large extension ladder, binoculars, and camera to the Palmetum for a closer look. Will try to do this within a week or so, ... stay tuned for further developments.

[ghar41]

Glenn,

Has my donation of the B. alfredii made it to the collection yet?

Hi John,

Your generous donation plant is doing well, still in a 5 gallon pot here at my place. All of the B. alfredii's here at my place made it through the winter just fine. These are very slow growing so far. I am always eager to hear more information about it...can't wait to see how they do in the ground. Hopefully the growth "speeds" up once it forms trunk...

[ghar41]

Great shots, Glenn. Are those seeds forming on the Ceroxylon? If so, that may be a first for the USA.

Dick

I finally bought a new camera...it makes a big difference, thank you. Strange formations on the Ceroxylon, many different sizes...I don't know anything about it.

[ghar41]

Great shots Glenn. Have got to get there one of these days. Terrific specimens in that garden.

Thanks! Come on the third Saturday of the month and there will almost certainly be NCPS members there that can give you a tour.

[John Case]

Glenn,

Has my donation of the B. alfredii made it to the collection yet?

Hi John,

Your generous donation plant is doing well, still in a 5 gallon pot here at my place. All of the B. alfredii's here at my place made it through the winter just fine. These are very slow growing so far. I am always eager to hear more information about it...can't wait to see how they do in the ground. Hopefully the growth "speeds" up once it forms trunk...

Glenn

All of mine also made it through the winter. Some better than others as I placed them in various spots arount the place. Initial observations are that the cold dry winds in the winter do affect them negativelty, as I have some leaf burn; we will see if they recover over the spring and summer. The one on the east sdie of the property, protected by the house have actually frown a new leaf or 2 overthe winter and they are over 2 feet tall over the pots. 1 in the ground did not move much but survived. I am expecting some big time resulte for this one this season. I must credit Jeff Marcus for providing such healthy stock, of course.

See you on the 18th.

[Kris]

Dear Glenn

Beautiful visuals...and the stills look great !

Love,

kris

[Gtlevine]

Love the Mule Palm, nice specimen.

[ghar41]

Love the Mule Palm, nice specimen.

There are two....the one on the left is throwing a spathe.

[Darold Petty]

I returned to the Lakeside Palmetum in Oakland last Saturday to investigate the Ceroxylon vogelianum palms.

We disected a few of these immature seeds, and Patrick Schafer confirmed the presence of an embryo. These seeds are now about 1 cm diameter and should grow to 1.5 - 1.8 cm diameter at maturity. They should color up to a red or reddish-orange epicarp.

We have two young adults of this species with no other Ceroxylon palms flowering yet, so these seeds will be pure C. vogelianum. To my knowledge this will be the first seed production of this genus in California.

The Palmetum has a large population of hungry squirrels. I will cage this spadix with wire cloth, a difficult job because of the height above ground, but an important one!

[garrin]

What a thrill for me especially. The C. vogelianum seeds from which these trees came, along with other palm species, were collected by Dale Motiska and I in the mountains of Colombia years ago. I remember thinking then, and especially when I helped plant those vegelianums (then C. hexandrum), that I might not live to be old enough to see them ever fruit. I am not really that old yet; the trees grew much faster than I expected they would. The mother vogelianum was standing magnificently in an open area on a gentle hillside surrounded by forest. When we saw it we literally jumped up and down. There it stood about 40 feet tall, looking like an especially well grown queen palm with a white trunk and bunches of bright orange-red fruits hanging below the leaves. Dale shinnied all the way up the trunk to knock down seeds, and I still remember how scraped up his arms, legs, and chest got when he slid down a little too rapidly. He was the hero that day; he got so tired climbing up and hanging on the trunk getting seeds that the slide down was almost a fall.

Garrin

[Sabal Steve]

Trithrinax campestris

I want one!

[Sabal Steve]

Trithrinax campestris

I want one!

Looks like C. Humilis but better

[Darold Petty]

I visited the Palmetum yesterday, and the T. campestris has flowerstalks now, for the first time.

[Gileno Machado]

Amazing Trithrinax campestris clump

[Pedro 65]

Amazing Trithrinax campestris clump

I 2nd that Gileno Pete

[MMerville]

Juania australis grove

Might there be recent photos of these?

Michel

[Darold Petty]

Michel,

I'm sorry to report that only one plant of Juania survives today. Two died from the typical Juania 'sudden death syndrome'. By this I mean that they appear normal, and without warning die suddenly. One died from a fungus infection of the new spear and meristem. The fourth one was destroyed by vandals who crushed it, riding about in a small, electric service truck after the evening closure of the park.

The surviving individual is quite robust, and may show ringed trunk soon.

This is to no avail, without a second palm of the opposite gender seed production is impossible. I grew these five Juania palms from seedling size with the ambition to establish a seeding pair. This goal will not be realized.

[sarasota alex]

Michel,

I'm sorry to report that only one plant of Juania survives today. Two died from the typical Juania 'sudden death syndrome'. By this I mean that they appear normal, and without warning die suddenly. One died from a fungus infection of the new spear and meristem. The fourth one was destroyed by vandals who crushed it, riding about in a small, electric service truck after the evening closure of the park.

The surviving individual is quite robust, and may show ringed trunk soon.

This is to no avail, without a second palm of the opposite gender seed production is impossible. I grew these five Juania palms from seedling size with the ambition to establish a seeding pair. This goal will not be realized.

That is pretty sad Darold!

Are the two at the SFBG you showed me in 2010 still doing ok?

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

I don't get what causes these things to die suddenly.