Brazilian palms

[Nigel]

I have just returned home from Brazil,( to the worst storm for 17 years)  and I didnt want to come home.

Brazil is a fabulous place, the people are so kind and generous it puts europeans to shame.

I have seen Butia eriospatha forests, walked amongst Dicksonia sellowiana forests, Butia odorata forests, wild Butyagrus groves, Trithrinax brasiliensis in habitat, and on my last day I visited Alberto, who took me to see Butia microspadix and Allagoptera leucocalyx in the wild.

Alberto, has the most wonderful home and gardens with his own little slice of rainforest. He is a very special person,and I just wanted to say thanks for everything he did for me.

[amazondk]

Nigel,

I think you asked about caipirinhas on the food thread.  Did you try any?

dk

[Nigel]

(amazondk @ Jan. 20 2007,10:44)

QUOTE

Nigel,

I think you asked about caipirinhas on the food thread.  Did you try any?

dk

Sim !!! Muito muito muito capirinha`s !!!!

I have the recipe.......

[Zac in NC]

Glad you had fun Nigel. More pics PLEASE!!!!

Zac

[Patrick]

Sounds like a really fun trip, Nigel. I love visiting South America. It's just a nice place- so very different. I visited Uraguay, but really wanted to go to Brazil!

[Alberto]

Thank you for your kind words. Yes,show your photos of all your trips. I´m very curious about what you have seen! BTW You are photogenic, Nigel!

[Exotic Life]

Nigel,

SOunds like a good trip you have got And like the other say, do you have got pics for us

Robbin

[Nigel]

Robbin, I think you will recognise the person in this photo I took......... my business partner from Gardenpalms Holland.

Amongst Gunnera and Dicksonias in deep forest at 1100m altitude.

Alberto, nobody ever called me photogenic before, you should be a politician !!! The picture of me is horrible !!!

[Kris]

Hey guys  

both the stills are great !

the fern tree is fentestic& that giant leafed....its name

i do not remember but i had tried even those seeds from

seedsrack.com but no germination.i love that plant

since it is in gigantic propostions in its grouth.

Thanks/Love,

Kris.

[Zac in NC]

Nigel- That Gunnera picture makes me sick. Thats one plant I really, really, REALLY want to grow badly.

Zac

[Kris]

(Zac in NC @ Jan. 21 2007,11:07)

QUOTE

Nigel- That Gunnera picture makes me sick. Thats one plant I really, really, REALLY want to grow badly.

Zac

thanks Zac, for naming that huge plant seen..

I was unable to remember its name !

Love,

Kris.

[Nigel]

Gunnera manicata is a plant that grows to perfection in the UK, indicating just how similar in climate the tableland of Santa caterina and Parana states are to the south of the UK. In fact I didnt see any Gunneras in Brazil that were bigger than those that grow in the southwest of England !

Here is a pic of me holding my position on the steep slope by hugging a huge trunked Dicksonia sellowiana. This is another plant that would thrive in the UK, but it is protected from export to conserve it, yet conversely, we saw that the majority of the rainforests where Dicksonia sellowiana once thrived had been destroyed for Pinus and Soya plantations.

It amazes me that a government can allow the routine destruction of millions of acres of Dicksonia habitat for agriculture where the flora is literally bulldozed and burned, yet bans the export of Dicksonia for `conservation`.  Those Dicksonias together with several other tree ferns could be valuable exports and saved from destruction.

Pinus is actually a major threat to all of the coastal rainforests , it is self seeding everywhere ,even down to the coast itself, it grows like lightning and is capable of taking over the area completely. I dont quite know what they are going to do about it, because it is a major problem.

[amazondk]

Nigel,

I doubt if those in control of the government know more than you.  With 5 percent of the orginal Atlantic Coast surviving invasive species have a lot of advantages.

dk

[Bennz]

Gunnera manicata is a plant that grows to perfection in the UK, indicating just how similar in climate the tableland of Santa caterina and Parana states are to the south of the UK. In fact I didnt see any Gunneras in Brazil that were bigger than those that grow in the southwest of England !

Nigel, can you give more climate details here? accurate climatic data seems a little hare to find (although I confess to not looking very hard). While I appreciate there is frost there, I would have expected the Tableland areas to be consistently warm by day. My guess would have been that the are would be significantly warmer than here in coastal NZ, and not very much like UK at all.

[Exotic Life]

(Nigel @ Jan. 21 2007,07:40)

QUOTE

Robbin, I think you will recognise the person in this photo I took......... my business partner from Gardenpalms Holland.

Amongst Gunnera and Dicksonias in deep forest at 1100m altitude.

Alberto, nobody ever called me photogenic before, you should be a politician !!! The picture of me is horrible !!!

Hi Nigel,

I don't have see the man from the company in the real life, but i know his name. Herbert riphagen, i think it's the man en the green shirt ?

Robbin

[paulgila]

nigel that first pic doesn't look a bit like i imagined brazil

[Nigel]

(pohonkelapa @ Jan. 22 2007,14:09)

QUOTE

nigel that first pic doesn't look a bit like i imagined brazil

The tablelands in the area where Alberto lives looks more like England than Brazil.

Rolling hills of arable land, cloudy, damp, many of the same plants and crops, looking out of Alberto,s window its hard to imagine its Brazil at all.

For sure its warmer as an average on the tablelands , but summer is similar , and winter is far shorter there.

Many of the `weeds` growing in Alberto,s hedgerows are plants we grow in Europe.

The main point is that because its much cooler than the rest of Brazil ,rarely exceeding 30C, plants that grow on the tablelands do well in Europe because they have a lower heat requirement .

They would surely excel in New Zealand too.

[Alberto]

There is  difference in climate when you climb higher then 1000 m altitude. Gunneras for example prefer to grow in regions somewhat higher then 1000m where its always fresh ,damp and cloudy. My place is at 1030m altitude.Here also grows a lot of tree fern species in the Araucaria angustifolia forests,specially near streams.                                                                 From NZ,I have Chatham nikaus and Akaroa nikaus.The summer,they are taking well.I hope the following winters will be mild......

   Nigel,where did you got that pic of the Guneras?

[Bennz]

Alberto,

You will soon be adding Palmerston North nikau to that Rhopalostylis collection, I collected some seed there for you yesterday, will be sent away as soon as it is cleaned. Average 4 days per year with nights below  -5C.

[Nigel]

(Alberto @ Jan. 22 2007,18:40)

QUOTE

   Nigel,where did you got that pic of the Guneras?

Alberto, I cant remember the place, but the altimeter on the car was 1200 metres and we climbed down a steep slope around 100m.

Here is a pic taken right at the bottom of the slope on the bank of a stream.

[Bennz]

Nigel,

Did you by chance take any photos of Mimosa scabrella (bracatinga) forest? If so, any chance of posting/emailing one? Any palms in natural association?

[Bilbo]

Great that you had a goot time Nigel and hope the business is doing well.

Now its silly question time (you should know me by now!)

Q. Cuban Royals are more widespread than Cuba of course but can you source them mfrom your Brazilian associates?

On a humerous note I recently wathched the film Black Narcissus with  manicata growing in a himalyan valley!¬

Regardez

Juan

[Nigel]

(Bilbo @ Jan. 23 2007,07:10)

QUOTE

Q. Cuban Royals are more widespread than Cuba of course but can you source them mfrom your Brazilian associates?

Regardez

Juan

Sim sim sim Juan meu amigo.

Bennz, I saw interesting bromeliad forest along the coast but no mimosa forest.

[Alberto]

Ben,in a few days ,when i´m back home,i can post pics of a forest with bracatingas...........

[Gileno Machado]

Come on Amigo Nigel...

I can't believe you've visited Alberto and all you post is a single photo of a nice buriti-palito !! We like these ferns, but where are the other palms in the world famous Carambeí collection?

By the way, make sure to stop in Recife next time, ok...caipirinhas here taste best  :cool:

[Peter]

Whoa, what is that tree fern in post #20???

[Nigel]

(Peter @ Jan. 24 2007,10:11)

QUOTE

Whoa, what is that tree fern in post #20???

Dicksonia sellowiana peter.

Gileno, all in good time, have tons of work to put first, so the pics will come...........

[Alberto]

(Gileno Machado @ Jan. 24 2007,09:44)

QUOTE

We like these ferns, but where are the other palms in the world famous Carambeí collection?

``WORLD FAMOUS COLLECTION``

 Gileno,wait some years and I´ll have a good collection,but for now most are seedlings!

[Gaston in Argentina]

(Alberto @ Jan. 22 2007,18:40)

QUOTE

There is  difference in climate when you climb higher then 1000 m altitude.

Gunneras for example prefer to grow in regions somewhat higher then 1000m where its always fresh ,damp and cloudy.

My place is at 1030m altitude.Here also grows a lot of tree fern species in the Araucaria angustifolia forests,specially near streams.                                                                

Nice places.-

Is a rare plant but in Misiones province i saw several of the same treefern (wich name i just can know now) protected sometime with the Araucaria forest, i think is the same "Selva paranaense" that is beeing destroyed quickly.- Impressive but im Misiones province snow fall some winters also in the sierra of the center of the province.-

I was there during the first days of jannuary.-

How many kilometres are you of Iguazu?

Saludo para voce

Gaston

[Alberto]

Holla Gaston,

Foz do Iguaçú is located +-500 km from here ,at lower altitude(+-200 meters),so the climate there is a lot warmer and you will find euterpes growing wild and also cultivated Cocos nucifera ,something impossible here at 1000-1100m.