Where did all the Brahea Claras come from?

[Mandrew968]

Oh and the Tejas tropicals website is not working--for some reason, I cannot get to it, after a number of tries...

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Will, that's awesome. You have the greener version which is probably the fastest brahea there is. The leaves still look glaucous but it makes much more photosynthesis.

The same freeze hit Dale's nursery with a vengeance, much worse than your place. I bought some aculeata from him that had damage. All his Livistona were completely defoliated.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Oh and the Tejas tropicals website is not working--for some reason, I cannot get to it, after a number of tries...

Tejas no longer sells palms.

[Mandrew968]

Oh and the Tejas tropicals website is not working--for some reason, I cannot get to it, after a number of tries...

Tejas no longer sells palms.

Sounds like it just got harder to get one...

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Oh and the Tejas tropicals website is not working--for some reason, I cannot get to it, after a number of tries...

Tejas no longer sells palms.

Sounds like it just got harder to get one...

Andrew, since "brahea clara" is not a recognized species, a lot of folks have taken the liberty to call what they have "brahea clara". The specimens I've taken photos of, and Will's clara all seem like they come from the same parent tree, not sure when these seeds flooded the market, but there aren't many of these types to be found anymore. It's not clear this is a stable species. I saw all the clara offsprings that Island Palm nursery in Vacaville, and none look like the classic brahea clara. They looked incredibly variable.

I will take some pictures later this afternoon of the many different claras I have.

[Mandrew968]

Thanks Axel--you have basically come out of nowhere to become a great source of palm knowledge. I am appreciative and delighted to have you as a friend and resource!

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Thanks, Andrew, glad to help, but I am only of use for those palms I grow myself. I am not much into reading books, so I don't really know much about the thousands of palms I cannot grow.

[Mandrew968]

Thanks, Andrew, glad to help, but I am only of use for those palms I grow myself. I am not much into reading books, so I don't really know much about the thousands of palms I cannot grow.

That is presumably true for all of us.

[Mandrew968]

Hey--Where did this Brahea clara come from?!

[Alicehunter2000]

That's a nice one....looks like a good color and maybe more weepy when it gets larger.

[richtrav]

Mandrew, that looks like Brahea coperniciaekmanioides.

This is the brahea that grows in Nacapule Canyon, Sonora. Not all in the canyon are silver

[Mandrew968]

Good call, Rich!

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

I looked at that ekmanii picture myself Friday Morning, and I wanted to call it out, but was on my way out of town, I hate posting from my phone, too tedious. Rich beat me to it. The petioles on that thing are way, way too thick.

I wanted to post a picture of my very own "brahea ekmanii": instead of being a copernicia that looks similar to a brahea, this is a brahea clara seedling that looks amazingly like a copernicia ekmanii. It's overcast here now, so I'll wait until this afternoon to take a picture.

Richard, that brahea elegans picture is fantastic, my absolute favorite "brahea picture in habitat". This begs the question, is clara actually an elegans? I would guess that this brahea "Nacapule blue" is actually an aculeata x armata, also known as brahea "nuri". It looks a lot like the brahea "nuri", which comes in a variety of colors from pure blue to metallic green. I'll post some pictures of mine later as well.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

As promised, here are pictures of the two "brahea ekmanii": the first one is actually a "F2" clara, i.e. it's a seedling from a brahea clara seed bearing parent from Santa Rosa, looks like the parent pollen donator might just be an armata. The second one is a pure brahea aculeata from seed collected from silver colored brahea aculeata in the State of Sonora, Mexico near the town of Nuri. This is not a brahea sp. nuri, it has a very small base and will eventually form a thin trunk.