Macaranga grandifolia- giant leaves

[Eric in Orlando]

Macaranga grandifolia, the Philippine Coral Tree (Euphorbiaceae), is flowering now. It blooms on and off during the year. The leaves are huge and this tree has tolerated low 30sF with just some leaf drop.

[Peter]

Nice Eric. A friend of mine was just in the Philippines and saw another Macaranga species with leaves much bigger than one pictured; unfortunately no seeds though. The locals use the leaves as an umbrella.

[chris78]

Hi Eric..... nice plant.... I got one this past summer from Top Tropicals.... can they grow in part shade or shade or do they do best in full sun?? I had it in mostly sun all summer and it looks like it wants more sun....

Edited December 20, 2008 by chris78

[LJG]

Hey me too. And now it is dead. It was too small to plant out and did not like last winter.

Hi Eric..... nice plant.... I got one this past summer from Top Tropicals.... can they grow in part shade or shade or do they do best in full sun?? I had it in mostly sun all summer and it looks like it wants more sun....

[chris78]

Hey me too. And now it is dead. It was too small to plant out and did not like last winter.

Len, Mine is still in a pot, so I took it in for the winter because it stsrted looking stressed....

Edited December 20, 2008 by chris78

[LJG]

Next time I will really grow this guy up before planting like you are doing.

Hey me too. And now it is dead. It was too small to plant out and did not like last winter.

Len, Mine is still in a pot, so I took it in for the winter because it stsrted looking stressed....

[ThunderSRQ]

Eric,

Like Chris & Len, I'd like to get some more input from you on where this plant will do best -- I also just got one (from Gardino's Nursery) and hearing that yours has done OK through low 30's temps is definitely encouraging re: me being able to put mine in the ground here. How long has yours been in the ground there?

Also, in addition to the habitat/sunlight recommendations, how big would you suggest we let ours get before planting them out?

Thanks...

Tim

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Tim,

I put mine in the ground late last Spring at about 18"-24" tall. The leaves were only about 6" wide, if that and the stem was about pencil thick. It is now about 6' with 18" leaves. I recommend you wait until mid February or so and stick it in the ground.

Jerry

[Eric in Orlando]

I agree, I would wait until spring to plant it out. Ours was planted in spring 2005, about 2ft tall.

It gets partial sun in the moring, full sun mid day and then bright shade by afternoon as there is a Erythrina variegata growing on the west side of it that shades it. Once we get some temperatures in the upper 30sF it sheds some leaves but never gets totally bare.

here it is in 2006

[ThunderSRQ]

Thanks Jerry & Eric -- however, mine is VERY small (less than 12'' tall in a 4" pot) so do you think it would still be OK for me to plant it once the frost danger has passed or should I grow it in a (larger) pot for a year and then plant it out? (after it's achieved a 24" or better size range)

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Tim,

that is a bit small to plant out. If you have good soil and reliable irrigation and it won't get overgrown by weeds (like it would at my place) go for it. If you don't have optimum conditions, you might leave it in a (bigger than 4") pot. Feed it like Hell and you might want to put it in the ground in a few months.

Jerry

Edited December 22, 2008 by Jerry@TreeZoo

[fastfeat]

Thanks Jerry & Eric -- however, mine is VERY small (less than 12'' tall in a 4" pot) so do you think it would still be OK for me to plant it once the frost danger has passed or should I grow it in a (larger) pot for a year and then plant it out? (after it's achieved a 24" or better size range)

Tim--

There is one here at my place that grows well under partial canopy. You might do best if you can plant under a large, high-branched oak or pine (if you have one on your property). That way you could get a little frost protection when the cold comes.

[junglegalfla]

Tim,

I just picked one up from Gardino's too. Let me know how yours does in the ground~

[Morabeza]

This species may be great fun in climates where it doesn't pose an invasive risk and certainly has attractive aesthetic qualities. However I feel duty-bound to put out a warning of this species' detrimental potential.

A word of caution to Hawaiian gardeners and those who live in similar climates, species from this genus have proven to be highly invasive and a serious threat to native ecosystems of low elevation mesic to wet areas and disturbed mesic valleys.

The international collaborative effort to assess the threat of non-native species known as Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER) project coordinates data from universities and ecologists from Hawai'i, Australia, New Zealand, the Galapagos and many other Pacific island groups, has classified this species with a very high score of 11. This is from a scale from -13 to 13! For more information please see: http://www.hear.org/Pier/wra/pacific/macar...ppa_htmlwra.htm

Plants that garner such high scores of invasiveness have to potential to disrupt essential natural hydrological systems and cause the extinction of native and endemic species of plants, insects and other irreplaceable biota among other dangers.

Species of this genus have become firmly established on Hawai'i and O'ahu. And while no battle against highly invasive species is easy or simple, the least we can do as responsible gardeners in high risk parts of the world is to eradicate them from our properties and encourage our neighbours to do the same. The ʻāina thanks you.

Also for Hawaiian residents, pitching in even a day of volunteer work with any of the individual islands' Invasive Species Councils in their many eradication programmes can be very rewarding and fruitful.

[ThunderSRQ]

Tim,

I just picked one up from Gardino's too. Let me know how yours does in the ground~

Will do Bren -- I plan to get it planted within the next couple weeks.

Tim

[outerfringe]

Hi Eric- I love anything GIANT size....do you know of anyplace in the Orlando area that would have this...maybe Leu plant sale?....Don

[Eric in Orlando]

Yes, there was some for sale at the Leu Gds. Palnt Sale. Gardino's had them. They do online sales so check and see if they still have some.

[junglegalfla]

Tim,

Did you plant yours? I'm getting ready to stick mine in the ground soon. The plant has shot up to about 2' and the leaves are about 10" across already.

Eric,

How about an updated pic?

Thanks

[ThunderSRQ]

Tim,

Did you plant yours? I'm getting ready to stick mine in the ground soon. The plant has shot up to about 2' and the leaves are about 10" across already.

Eric,

How about an updated pic?

Thanks

I'm actually/finally going to get mine planted this weekend -- I had to do a major re-organization of most of my container ranch and plant shelves to clear up the spot I had in mind for this plant (a very protected location directly adjacent to the east wall of my house and under oak canopy). So...ours will probably be "crash test dummies" simultaneously!

This plant could possibly challenge my Ficus dammaropsis for biggest leaf in the yard -- I also have a Ficus kingii and a Ficus pseudopalma -- both of which have very nice/attractive extra-large leaves (although not huge/monstrous) and I'm currently germinating some Anthocleista grandiflora seeds to add to the "big leaf team".

And Eric -- I would also like to see an updated picture...

Tim

[Eric in Orlando]

Well, nothing much to look at, it is only about 2-3ft tall right now. It survived the winter fine, lost about 3/4 of the leaves after the one night at 30F but its in a protected spot so probably saw a few degrees warmer. In spring the new growth started but then shriveled as borers moved in. The trunk started dying back but had a couple strong shoots from the base so I cut it back and am letting it regrow. I got another small plant to put out in another location. I might keep one cut back on a periodic basis as the leaves seem to shrink a bit as the tree matures.

[peachy]

I planted two macarangas years ago one with red veins and one with white veins. Neither has the ruffled leaves or has ever flowered. The red veined species has seeded everywhere and I spend as much time pulling up seedlings as I do with the queen palms. However they are very fast growers and make great canopy trees for the other plants. They defoliated in the big frost 3 years ago but were back in full leaf in a few weeks. I found the roots to be quite invasive and close to the surface too making the larger ones difficult to plant underneath. There are a couple of the red veined trees in a local park and are both massive things, luckily mine seen to have topped out at about 5 metres or so.

Peachy

[Austinpalm]

Found one of these for sale and really like the look. Found this thread and decided to bump it to learn how these have handled some of the recent cold winter temps across the US. Will these fry and come back from the roots?

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Mine got burned in some of the past winters. It killed the stems back almost to ground level and has now regrown to about 12' tall with many stems. I just took a measurement of one leaf, without trying to find the largest leaf. It measured 30 inches long and I know some are bigger than that. The blooms are attractive but somewhat hidden. As far as being invasive, I would say only in tropical or near tropical conditions. They are dioecious so it takes at least two to tango and that further cuts back the likelihood of invasiveness.

[Austinpalm]

Any new information concerning cold hardiness to share about this species? I purchased one last year and have it potted on the enclosed back patio. Never went below 40F. Kept growing slowly all winter and is now about 12-18 inches tall and growing. Was thinking about trying to plant out next spring in a sunny location if it could be expected to return well after defoliation and possible burn to the ground.