Geonoma

[realarch]

Been pretty happy with the few Geonoma growing in the garden. This genus doesn't get much air time probably because they are typically hard to 

ID and often you really don't know what you're looking at or what you have. It is also one of the largest genera. Here are some photos of three species, G. 'entire leaf', G. longivaginata, and G. interrupta,(I think)

The G. entire leaf has been slow, but this little palm is really starting to show some good growth. The color of green is outstanding, especially the emergent leaf. Medium shade, planted in mid 2011 from 4" pots. Sweet little guys.

Tim 

[realarch]

On to the G. longivaginata rescued from a throwaway pile. Languished for awhile trying to decide wether to live or die, but it made the right decision. 

New leaf is nice and the scale of the palm is perfect. Again, medium shade, planted in mid 2010. 

Tim

 

[realarch]

And the last one, G. interrupta. Fast grower and crazy inflorescence. Sort of on the fence about this one, ummm, it's ok. might be better looking 

if were more isolated. I've got it crammed in there amongst other things and it's grown faster and larger than I expected. 

Tim

 

[knell]

Darold Petty introduced me to this genus with his specimens and i have been hooked ever since, absolutely fantastic palms. 

[smithgn]

I think the interrupta looks awesome; var: "Super leafy", should be its nickname lol Any Geonoma schottianas? I know they're fairly ho-hum looks wise, but it's the most cold hardy of the group. Like most Geonomas I assume, they're pretty difficult to locate and purchase.

[colin Peters]

Tim great looking geonomas. You just need a few of the black atrovirons to go along with them. 

aloha

[realarch]

Oh yeah Colin, what I wouldn't do for a couple of those. 

Tim

[nitsua0895]

4 hours ago, realarch said:

And the last one, G. interrupta. Fast grower and crazy inflorescence. Sort of on the fence about this one, ummm, it's ok. might be better looking 

if were more isolated. I've got it crammed in there amongst other things and it's grown faster and larger than I expected. 

Tim

 

Do you happen to know how tall these get when mature? I really like the look of it but I could only grow it here if I could protect it form the cold. 

[realarch]

Austin, I think they only get 12' tall give or take, so not huge. Nice spreading crown though.

Tim

[fan palm]

Love the sp. Entire leaf tim!

[sgvcns]

Tim

In mid 2013 I went to Colombia for a palm exploration.

I saw a dozen different species in various locations.

They were  Machrostachys var atrovirens,camana,deversa,longepedunculata,leptospadix,oligoclona,undata,interupta,lehmanii,triglochin,frontinensis and calyptrogynoides.

I was not 100% certain on all but I think I was pretty close using Palmas de Colombia field guide.

Growing the collected seed has been problematical however. In habitat they would be constantly moist and with little temperature range.

I have var atrovirens , pohliana and "brazil" in the shade house. Of these "brazil" seems good in the Brisbane climate with steady growth and no browning etc.

It is still entire leaf and very plicate. The other 2 brown in winter for me but hang in there.

Now I go collecting in areas with a dry season and altitude. So far all collected in the last few trips are real "goers" in Brisbane.

That doesn't mean I wouldn't try again but they are very rare in Australia.

Maybe a future trip back to Colombia will be on the cards( would be 4th time). A friend is very keen and has some contacts with locals but t would not be concentrated on understorey palms unfortunately. I suppose anthuriums and cycads would be good fun with palms when I can.

Steve

[realarch]

Hi Steve, so how's the intrepid traveler? 

I did see many Geonoma on my travels to Ecuador and Peru, but ID'ing can be problematic. There were lots of

macrostachys though, carpets of them.

The Geonoma I've seen here in Hilo do well, not too hot or cold and regular moisture. 

On our recent trip to Madagascar many of the small Dypsis reminded me of small Geonoma in South America, red leaves and all.

Tim

[sgvcns]

Tim

Doing fine but not sure if intrepid comes to mind.

I'd recommend Palmas de Colombia just for the photos of all the palms. Not a common resource.

In the early stage of planning a trip to what is meant to be pristine forest in Laos ( Nam Tha protected area ).

There is very little info on palms in this area near Myanmar and China, Who knows what may be there but should be an interesting trip regardless.

I take it you had no luck with the atrovirens seed we swapped?

Cheers 

Steve

[realarch]

Aloha Steve,

sounds like a great trip.......best of luck!!!!

Unfortunately, I didn't have luck germinating the seed you sent. I was very patient and kept the faith for almost two years. Oh well

the anticipation was worth it.

Tim

[sgvcns]

Tim

Hope you still have the seed. Someone else who got seed from the same batch reports germination now after 30 months.

#never give up

Steve

[tim_brissy_13]

Hey @sgvcns, From your experience and observations in habitat, which Geonomas would you say are most likely to cope with seasonally drier conditions and cooler weather? I’ve found G interrupta and G mooreana somewhere between tricky and impossible in Melbourne (no surprise) while it seems G undata subsp undata (weberbaueri type) has some promise so far. I think I’ll be looking out for higher altitude Geonomas only now and possible schottiana unless there’s any others you think may have some hardiness relative to the lowland and mid altitude species that seem to need constant moisture and narrow temperature range. 

[realarch]

Hey Tim, good timing as I was just sending a Geonoma photo to Perito here on PT. 

The Geonoma in the first few photos of this thread perished years ago and I’d forgotten all about them. They petered out as they got about 3m tall. 

John Hovensek gifted me a little Geonoma seedling about 18 months ago, species unknown, and it’s finally growing into a nice specimen with the salmon colored new leaf. Here is a photo of the ‘unknown’ Geonoma and one of the grouping of three G. atrovirens. 

 

Hopefully Steve will chime in, but G. undata might be a good choice for you based upon Darolds experience in the Bay Area that we’ve been swooning over for years now. Many Geonoma don’t take up too much space and would fit nicely in your garden. You might have to keep experimenting with cold hardiness though.

Tim

 

[Foggy Paul]

This is our G. undata. It was slow at first, but lately became one of our best palms in terms of leaf production. We are getting about one leaf every two or three months. I got it from Phil at JM and he wasn't sure of the geographic origin, but it's definitely nothing like Darold's and doesn't have the red new leaves (but does have red petioles). Still an attractive palm that seems to enjoy the local climate.