Aphandra natalia

[Gileno Machado]

A friend of mine who has some contacts in the western State of Acre has received some seeds of this species and shared a few with me. I'm absolutely fascinated with them, densely heavy and prismatic in shape. I've read that the endosperm is like its cousin Phytelephas macrocarpa and used like vegetable ivory for articrafts. I read in RLF and Craft's Encyclopedia that this monotypic Genus was named after Natalie Uhl, so maybe Dr. Dransfield has some more information about this palm. Since I only have a few of these rare seeds and I decided not to crack open any of them to check the ivory inside, I wonder if anyone would give me any tip about germination. One of my friends here has managed to germinate Phytelephas in a ziplock bag but it took him over a year.

Any help?

[Kamipalms]

Sorry G,

Not much germination help but I did find this:

Morphology: Stem solitary, to 10 m tall, ca. 20 cm in diameter. Leaves to 6 m long, sometimes with the axis twisting and the distal part of leaf blade held in a vertical position; sheaths with numerous dark-brown fibres at their margins; leaf axis with numerous black scales, especially below; pinnae 90-120 on each side, regularly arranged in one plane, the central ones to 1 m long, 4-6 cm wide. Male inflorescence pendulous, to 2 m long, yellowish brown. Female inflorescence compact, ca. 25 cm long, cream coloured at anthesis. Infructescence 30-45 cm in diameter, borne on a 20-30 cm long peduncle; fruits 30-50 per infructescence, brown.

Distribution: W part of the Amazon basin in Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil, on terra firme and on periodically inundated river banks.

Infructesecences....some big hairy ones!!

[Gileno Machado]

Jay: These photos look amazing...Am I missing this source of palm information you just brought along?

These infructescences really look like big birds nests...I'll try to take pictures of my seed later...they're bigger than Phytelephas anyway...Is there a nice spot in the new home for one of these beauties in the frontyard (the one you've reserved for a special...Syagrus romanzzz) ?  

[paulgila]

those ARE very cool pix!

is aphandra closely related to attalea?

[Gileno Machado]

Hi Paul:

I guess these palms are closely related to Phytelephas and Ammandra. Like Parajubaeas and Ceroxylon they are probably a bit cold tolerant too, thriving in premontane rainforest of eastern Andean foothills...who knows?

[Kamipalms]

(Gileno Machado @ Apr. 25 2007,04:01)

QUOTE

Is there a nice spot in the new home for one of these beauties in the frontyard (the one you've reserved for a special...Syagrus romanzzz) ?  

a special spot for a Syag- romanzoff.....       Um......  does this answer your question?

   

http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fsmileys.smileycentral.com%252Fcat%252FF%252Ftransport.swf%253Fcode%253DF%252F1%252F437%2526partner%253DZSzeb110%255FZNfox000/transport.swf

( click the play button only- not the image)

[Kamipalms]

Seriously....

One of those would defiantly have a place in my yard....

Heres a link to the site where the info came from http://www.palmbase.org/

They even have these...

[Orlando]

Gileno, I did manage to sprout a few of them over the years from a batch of 10 I got from RPS.

Ziplock bag method in slightly moist perlite at room temps and I remember the first one did not take long to germinate (a few months only).

As I lost that one to mites after the second leaf, I sent the others to Carlos Simón, in El Hierro, where he has told me that are doing well.

Boa sorte, Gileno!

Here is a pic from that first seedling (amazingly huge and already pinnate first leaf):

[deezpalms]

Sweetness! Now where can we get some of these guys??!!!    ???  ???  ???

[Gileno Machado]

(Orlando @ Apr. 25 2007,17:59)

QUOTE

Gileno, I did manage to sprout a few of them over the years from a batch of 10 I got from RPS.

Ziplock bag method in slightly moist perlite at room temps and I remember the first one did not take long to germinate (a few months only).

As I lost that one to mites after the second leaf, I sent the others to Carlos Simón, in El Hierro, where he has told me that are doing well.

Boa sorte, Gileno!

Here is a pic from that first seedling (amazingly huge and already pinnate first leaf):

Thanks a lot for the information Orlando. I didn't know RPS had offered this species for sale in the past...I haven't seen them listed in the last 3 years or so...

BTW, did you crack open any seed trying to expose the endosperm? What medium have you used with it?

You mean Carlos Simon who posts here? It would be great to see the photos, for some strange reason I cannot open the photo you posted, infelizmente, could you please e-mail it to moi?...gratíssimo.

Dave:

If the seeds were smaller I'd try to send you a couple. I only received some twelve seeds of those and still shared them with another local collector, Acácio.

PM me with your address and I'll try to send you seeds of another local species, ok?

[Zac in NC]

I can't see the image either and I wanted to see it. Can you post it again, please?

Zac

[Orlando]

(Gileno Machado @ Apr. 28 2007,18:42)

QUOTE

Thanks a lot for the information Orlando. I didn't know RPS had offered this species for sale in the past...I haven't seen them listed in the last 3 years or so...

BTW, did you crack open any seed trying to expose the endosperm? What medium have you used with it?

You mean Carlos Simon who posts here? It would be great to see the photos, for some strange reason I cannot open the photo you posted, infelizmente, could you please e-mail it to moi?...gratíssimo.

De nada, Gileno, o prazer é meu!

I will try to attach it here as Zac also mentioned he could not see it...

I did not crack open the seeds and just went to check the medium (I still have a last one left): it is mostly perlite with a little bit of vermiculite, kept slightly moist.

Yep, it is indeed the very same Tenerife Palmetum designer, Carlos Simón who also posts here.

Abraços.

[Zac in NC]

Ok, I can see it as well now. Neato!!!!!!! Thanks

Zac

[Kamipalms]

When i first saw a pic of these ( post #2) the first thing they reminded me of a Howea.

now seeing the first leaf in Orlando's post ( #12) their a dead ringer for a Howea ( although the eophyll of Howea is bifid)

Orlando,

How big is that pot ?

About 50mm (2")  square?

[BS Man about Palms]

(deezpalms @ Apr. 25 2007,14:24)

QUOTE

Sweetness! Now where can we get some of these guys??!!!    ???  ???  ???

Me!     Just kiddin, but I have a couple.  

[Orlando]

(Kamipalms @ Apr. 29 2007,03:40)

QUOTE

When i first saw a pic of these ( post #2) the first thing they reminded me of a Howea.

now seeing the first leaf in Orlando's post ( #12) their a dead ringer for a Howea ( although the eophyll of Howea is bifid)

Orlando,

How big is that pot ?

About 50mm (2")  square?

The pot is 70mm square and 180 mm tall.

Do notice the semi-hanging large seed on the upper corner as it is a somewhat remote germinator...

If you look at the RPS pic on the page linked below, it definitely has no Howea whatsoever look !

RPS - Aphandra natalia

[Orlando]

Below is another link to a site with info on local usages with interesting pics too:

http://www.aphandra.dk/

[nomolos]

Reminds me of Ceroxylon Amazonicum

Ceroxylon Amazonicum

[Moose]

Gileno - how is the palm doing? Have you had the opportunity to acquire more seeds? Aphandra natalia has intrigued me every since first seeing it mentioned in Riffle and Craft's book.

Best regards,

Ron.

[Gileno Machado]

Hi Ron,

Wow...this is a 2 year old thread I had almost forgotten...

My Aphandra natalia seedlings are doing quite well, still in pots under shadecloth. I've actually received a few more seeds last year and had similar germinating success. Seedlings from this species are very slow growers at early stages and their fragile leaves remind me of Chamaedorea. I'm going to the beach house now, for the labour day holiday and i'll try to get decent pictures of them to post here later.

On a side note, reading this old thread made me miss two great palm affictionates who don't seem to post here in Palmtalk anymore: Orlando from Portugal and Jay (Kamipalms) from Western Australia. I even sent Jay a few of my Aphandra natalia seeds later and I wonder if he had success with them. These 2 guys were great contributors to this forum for many years, when Robert Riffle was the moderator. I wonder if they still lurk our messages here or if they both changed into another hobby. Zac in NC is another one...has he finally moved to Mexico as he's been dreaming of in the past?

[Moose]

Gileno - thanks for the update. I was going through the old threads and this one caught my attention.

Best regards,

Ron.

[Al in Kona]

Gileno, looking forward to seeing some seedling pics of that nice palm, Aphandra natalia, that you germinated. Do you happen to know if there is one growing in the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden?

[Moose]

Is Gileno the only person growing this unusual palm? Is anyone in the U.S. trying it?

This is a very uncommon palm and it may not be in cultivation, why?

Ron.

[Gileno Machado]

Sorry Al, Ron...

I had to switdh back cameras (mine had collapsed) and I've been away and really busy lately but here's a baby Aphandra natalia, over a year old from seed and a bit suffered from end of summer:

[Gileno Machado]

and here's the biggest one I have, maybe two and a half years old from seed:

[Gileno Machado]

I've moved these Aphandra seedlings into this palm shadehouse, under 70% cloth, hand watered when necessary, half protected from salt spray.

[Moose]

Gileno - thnks for the update on this interesting and unusual species.

Kindest regards,

Ron.