Brahea edulis

[PalmGuyWC]

One of the nicest of the Braheas is often neglected by palm growers. B. edulis is realatively fast growing for a Brahea, and they seem to grow under cooler conditions than the other Braheas. It does nicely near the Calif. coast while the others require summer heat to grow. It is one of the larger of the Braheas and it self cleans, unlike the others. It also grows sheets of fiber around the base of the petioles much like a coconut and these can be used to line hanging baskets.

Brahea edulis is not as cold hardy as some of the others, but the two I have survived the great freeze of 98/90 even though the fronds were about 50% burned. The temps dropped down to 14F (-10 C), but there was no permanent damage and they had grown full crowns by the end of the first summer. I was surprised how fast they recovered. I would say they will take temps. down to 22F or about (-6 C) with no damage.

Some say they look to much like Washingtonias, however the large black marble sized fruit distinguishes it from a Washingtonia and the fruit is eatable, but it's very thin covering a large round seed. It has a sweet taste sort of like a raisin. They have large glossy fronds that can grow to 6 feet across, and they will take part shade to full sun. They grow much more compact in hot inland sun. An Oakland type climate is perfect for them but they will grow in San Francisco, but very slowly. The large fronds overlap and when it's raining, I can stand under the fronds and stay dry.

They grow nicely in Calif., but I don't know if they grow in the SE USA or warmer humid climates. Is anyone growing any?

Dick

[malcthomas]

Dick...

I totally agree with you...it is a lovely palm that is under used in favour of Washingtonia, which in NZ, are being  grown on  city properties that are far too small for them.  Being faster growing,  Washingtonia soon out grow these yards, and B.edulis or even Livistona australis would have been a far better choice.

Another plus in favour of B.edulis over Washingtonia here is that it is not as susceptible to Phytopthora.

I would also like to put a plug in for L.australis.  Its petiole armature might be a little more severe than Washingtonia but it thrives in wet conditions, is just as cold hardy and is an attractive palm with its deep green shiny leaves, matted leaf bases and dark brown petioles.

Dick, as to the fruit being edible, and I know the epithet suggests that it is, I would put them on the same menu as cooked Trachycarpus flowers that would be eaten only in times of famine or starvation.

cheers...Malcolm

[Kris]

very intreasting topic,since my washy filifera just recently rotted due to constant rainfall...

thanks for the suggestions,

And can someone put in a still of a beautiful B.edulis for sake of better undersatnding for those visiting this thread...

lots of love,

Kris  

[merrill]

Here in North Florida, Brahea edulis and Brahea armata suffer from sudden death syndrome, where in the middle of the summer, very healthy plants die inexplicably.  The hybrids of either with Brahea brandegeei are attractive, vigorous and don't suffer this malady.  Just for fun, after many failures, my last B. armata is planted on a berm.

merrill

[JasonD]

I agree with Dick -- I just saw last weekend perhaps the best sun-grown specimen I know of at Tim Gregory's former property in Hillsborough, a suburb 20 or so miles south of San Francisco. (The best shade-grown specimen is a spectacularly broad-crowned tree in a courtyard in Jackson Square, in downtown San Francisco.) The rustling sound it makes in the wind and the robust green leaves, stout trunk, and abundant flowers and fruit combine to make a perfect palm for our mediterranean climate. Plus, it never grows out of scale with residential gardens. Being native to an errant chunk of the California Floristic Province, where it grows amidst Pinus radiata var. binata (Monterey Pine), Cupressus guadalupensis, Quercus tomentella (Island Oak), Polypodium scouleri, Ribes sanguineum, and other classically California native plants, it fits perfectly into native or mediterranean-climate gardens. It appears to even suffer from frequent summer irrigation, as in lawns, where it can be seen with unsightly trunk gouges and weak crowns. Next to Jubaea, it is my favorite of the five or so mediterranean-climate palms. Native to an island where only summer fog drip significantly adds to the paltry winter rainfall, it will endure indefinitely with no care here in coastal California, unlike so many of the gorgeous species we must irrigate for the rest of their lives. It's almost like a Pritchardia for our harsher shores. The photo on this webpage captures some of the romance of this palm in its habitat (now given new life with the recent removal of feral goats, by the way): http://www.oceanoasis.org/fieldguide/brah-edu.html.

[JasonD]

Let's see if this works: http://www.oceanoasis.org/fieldguide/brah-edu.html

[chris.oz]

As to Guadaloupe Island,  maybe if you have google earth you can see if you can find the palms.  Maybe its even possible to count them ? Ever tried that ?   I wonder is it possible to count the Pritchardia on Huelo islet off the oast of Molokai

I can certainly pick out the larger trees on my own house block using google earth.

[feef706]

I have a small brahea edulis growing here in the panhandle of florida and it has suffered after both winters it has seen so far.. Last spring I had a spear pull but I was able to revive.. This past winter I covered it in hopes of it doing better. It opened a frond through the course of the winter and then after a bunch of late winter/early spring rain i noticed the new frond starting to brown at the point of growth so I treated it early and it looks like its going to pull through.. So far it has thrived through the summer but is till not much bigger than when I planted it 2 Falls ago.. Guess we'll see what happens

[merrill]

!

Hi, Jason:

That's wonderful that someone removed the goats, which were extremely destructive when I visited the Island years ago.  We'd be very interested in the details.

Best Wishes, merrill

[PalmGuyWC]

Jason,

Thanks for the picture and your nice description of the habitat and flora of Guadalope Island. I had not thought about the resemblance of B. edulis to Pritchardia, but they do resemble a giant Pritchardia.

A footnote I should add:  When I moved to Walnut Creek, two of the first palms I planted were nice 10 gal. size B. edulis. The palms were the picture of health and I planted them in my lawn area in the spring and watered them in well as I would any other palm.  The roots were not disturbed, but almost immediately the palms went into rapid decline and died. As it turned out, I planted them to close together and not in a suitable location, so it's just as well. After the palms died, I dug them up and planted a Butiagrus in one of the same holes. It has thrived over the years.

I was told later that it's best to plant B. edulis in the fall, and not to water them, but only backfill with the simi moist soil dug from the planting hole, and then wait for the winter rains for moisture. Later, when I obtained 2 more B. edulis, I tried this method, and planted them away from sprinklers and they never missed a beat. They are now huge palms.

Once the palms are established and growing, to much moisture doesn't seem to affect them, but I've noticed the large fronds tend to shed rain and unless there is very hard rain, the soil will remain on the dry side under the palms.

Mine bloom profusely, but the squirrles usually chew off the bloom spikes before they can set seeds, and if they do set seeds, they eat the green fruit before it ripens.

Dick

[realarch]

Took these pics in Balboa Park, many B. edulis in and around. Actually quite a few planted in my neighborhood too and yes they are a great substitution to W. robusta or filifera especially in size over the long term.

Tim

[Kris]

Dear Tim Brian  

thanks very much for the images,since its nice to read a post with visual assistance...! As it give an idea as to what palm is in discussion.

Love,

Kris  

[fastfeat]

Tim--

Those trees look like they may be hybrids with B. brandegeii--fairly slender trunks, retention of old leaf bases, both characteristics of B. brandegeii. They hybridize readily if grown in close proximity.

[PalmGuyWC]

Tim,

If those pictures were taken near the entrance to the San Diego Zoo, they are most likely hybrids as mentioned. I know there are some growing there.

I have an edulis X brandegeii and I just went out to look at it, and the leaf bases do adhear, unlike pure B. edulis. The trunk and the entire tree is somewhat smaller than B. edulis. It is much more cold hardy than B. brandegeii but a little less than pure B. edulis. B. brandegeii shows foliage tip burn when my temps. fall below 25F (-4C), and I really wouldn't recommend it where temps fall below 25F. as mine looks ratty half the time.

Even though B. edulis is self cleaning, each spring I remove about a dozen lower fronds to keep them looking neat, as the older fonds want to hang down for quite awhile and look untidy. I suppose this means they grow about a dozen new fronds a year.  Often times I will have several sphers emerging at different stages of growth.

Dick

[realarch]

You know you're probably right, I was going to say in my post I wasn't totally sure, I will from now on.

In  looking at my palm literature, the seeds appear to be orange not black, do they eventually turn black?

The seeds in the photos were green and orange. Is this a characteristic of the hybrid?

Tim

[fastfeat]

Tim==

Both species' fruit will turn black eventually. The fruit of B. brandegeii is only about half the diameter of B. edulis.

[sonoranfans]

Here is a link to a healthy looking specimen.

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/...046846379wBPBSi

they grow very well here in AZ, according to U of A hort dept, but I cannot find one anywhere here.  It would be an ideal palm for those who want a slower growing, more massively crowned alternative to washie robusta.  Unfortunately, nurseries dont carry this one here.

[realarch]

Thanks Ken, it will be interesting to watch the progression of the seed development.

Tom...that is a healthy specimen!

Tim

[Cristóbal]

(chris.oz @ Apr. 02 2008,04:42)

QUOTE

As to Guadaloupe Island,  maybe if you have google earth you can see if you can find the palms.  Maybe its even possible to count them ? Ever tried that ?   I wonder is it possible to count the Pritchardia on Huelo islet off the oast of Molokai

I can certainly pick out the larger trees on my own house block using google earth.

i find in the internet about 1 year ago informations of a university expedition in 2003, i think, to guadalupe island in my state to count the brahea edulis.

in the report they say theres less brahea edulis then before for the goats are eating the small palms before they give fruits. they make a recomendation to the mexican government to eliminate the goats.

i dont have the page saved of the report but the fotos yes, two fotos of brahea edulis on guadalupe island.

sorry they are small the fotos,

foto # 1

[Cristóbal]

foto # 2

[merrill]

Brahea edulis is planted extensively as a street tree in Pasadena, Cal.  There are few if any other Brahea to contaminate the seed.  This made an excellent seed source.

merrill

[edbrown_3]

I grew B. edulis for a number of years here in Jax.  Besides Dicks report I had a report of B. edulis  surviving 15 F in Tuscon or Phoenix I think ..  

A fellow named Henry Miller sold me several mail order in mid 80s when I was a looking for cold hardy palms .  I grew it up to about a meter of trunk.  I had a leak in one of my animal pools as well as lots of rain and the water table drowned it... I cried for a week. or so. It was on a high berm too... I loved the leaves will replant but it takes years for them to grown here in N. Florida.---

Best

Ed

[JasonD]

(warning: pitch for a non-profit below!   )

Here's a link to the Guadalupe Island restoration project. The US-based organization that is collaborating with the Mexican authorities in the project is called Island Conservation. They deserve support from those folks who place this work to preserve island ecosystems high in their priorities for charitable giving. They have done work in Hawaii and Mexico as well as California.

http://www.islandconservation.org/guadalupe.html

[Tomsky]

Mine bloom profusely, but the squirrles usually chew off the bloom spikes before they can set seeds, and if they do set seeds, they eat the green fruit before it ripens.

Dick

[kahili]

I have a small one that I grew from a seedling that I planted a year ago. We had a few nights at 17 degrees last winter and I covered it during those nights. Came through the winter with flying colors-no spear pull, no damaged leaves and it looks great so far.... I thought it grew fairly fast from a one strap leaf (in the summer of 2006) to what it is now-starting to put out some real leaves, and having 8 or so leaves on it. I still have some in containers as backups.

Good to know that it does well with dryer soil as I wont water it as much. Now I will just wait and see how it does with our weather-hot and humid in the summer (about the only consistent thing one can say about our weather through the year) and maybe dry/maybe moist, maybe cool/maybe mild winters.

Would really like to try a B. dulcis