Eye on Bactris

[Gileno Machado]

This Bactris was germinated from seed that came from the Amazon region some years ago. I remember that it took a real long time for it to sprout and the ID label is unfortunately missing, so I'm not sure about the species. Looking at my old notebook for arriving seeds, it could be either B. maraja, tomentosa or setulosa...any guesses? It's the only individual I have...and one of my favs...

I'm growing several Bactris here, including glassmanii, pickelli, setosa, gasipaes, ferruginea, militaris, acanthocarpa, etc...I'll try to post a few pictures soon.

Anyone else growing these needle beauties?

PS: pot size: diameter ~ 30 cm (+ - 12 inches)

[Jonathan]

Gileno,

I've got some seeds of B. setulosa.....in the vague hope that they might have some cold hardiness.

I think their distribution is up to 1800m in the Andes.

Glad you said they take forever to germinate - I was starting to worry!

Cheers,

Jonathan

[Jeff in St Pete]

Gileno, I currently have three species of Bactris that I am trying to germinate from seeds. One of them is the entire leaf Bactris that is pictured in my avatar. This is now believed to be the simple leaf form of Bactris glandulosa. I'm not sure what the other two species are but I think one of them is Bactris gracilior.

Do all Bactris take a while to germinate? These seeds were super fresh and I thought they would germinate quickly, but so far nothing after about 2 months.

[paulgila]

i am enjoying the leaflet arrangement on the plant in yer pic. i am a spiny palm fan(no pun intended) & would definitely plant this palm in my garden if it had any cold-hardiness.

[Jonathan]

Gileno, I currently have three species of Bactris that I am trying to germinate from seeds. One of them is the entire leaf Bactris that is pictured in my avatar. This is now believed to be the simple leaf form of Bactris glandulosa. I'm not sure what the other two species are but I think one of them is Bactris gracilior.

Do all Bactris take a while to germinate? These seeds were super fresh and I thought they would germinate quickly, but so far nothing after about 2 months.

Hey Jeff,

I just checked my B. setulosa seed again and 5 out of 10 are up after about 3 and a half months.

3 days ago none were up.

Cheers,

Jonathan

[Jeff in St Pete]

Gileno, I currently have three species of Bactris that I am trying to germinate from seeds. One of them is the entire leaf Bactris that is pictured in my avatar. This is now believed to be the simple leaf form of Bactris glandulosa. I'm not sure what the other two species are but I think one of them is Bactris gracilior.

Do all Bactris take a while to germinate? These seeds were super fresh and I thought they would germinate quickly, but so far nothing after about 2 months.

Hey Jeff,

I just checked my B. setulosa seed again and 5 out of 10 are up after about 3 and a half months.

3 days ago none were up.

Cheers,

Jonathan

Thanks Jonathan, that's good info. Hopefully mine will start popping up in the next month or so.

[Dewayne in Ticolandia]

Gileno,

I am growing 13 species of Bactris in Costa Rica. Many of these came from the Amazon. Several years ago we were lucky enough to take the New York Botanic Garden sponsored tour of the Amazon with Dr. Henderson and were able to collect Bactris seeds. A really tremendous experience!

We also have a fair representation of Bactris in C.R.

I have a lot of trouble transplanting Bactris. Many times the main stem dies and I have to depend on the suckers to preserve the specimen.

I have: acanthocarpa,baileyana,bifida,caudata coloradonis,gasipaes,glandulosa,gracilor,grayumii,guineensis,hondurensis,macroac

antha,and riparia.

I also have "Bactris in the water" that Dr. Henderson didn't identify at the time and recently I was given B. militaris.

[amazondk]

Dewayne,

Is this the bactris fromt he Amazon you are calling Bactris in the water? This one is growing in the flooded forest area in front of my place in the country.

dk

[Alberto]

Olá gileno!Six years ago I transplanted a Bactris setosa from the lowlands near the sea to my place at 1030m altitude. So far it is growing and thriving and didn´t show damage under canopy from the last freezes.

[Alberto]

Details

Edited October 24, 2009 by Alberto

[Alberto]

More

Edited October 24, 2009 by Alberto

[Alberto]

(it wont upload more then one pic and also don´t want to edite...)

Edited October 24, 2009 by Alberto

[Alberto]

pic

[Alberto]

spines

[Gileno Machado]

Thanks for the comments and photos everyone.

Here's another species, Bactris ferruginea, from Atlantic forest:

[Eric in Orlando]

Nice photos! Bactris is a genus that isn't seen often other than B. gasipaes.

We are growing a few here that have shown some cold hardiness. Also have small specimens of B. glaucescens, grayumii, and setulosa to plant out in the future.

B. gasipaes

B. glandulosa

B. mexicana

B. setosa

[amazondk]

I have a few of what I believe are Bactris maraja on my place in the country. They are nice delicate clumping plam. They were growing naturally in the secondary forest area when I bought the place.

dk

[amazondk]

This little Bactris also is growing in the same area on my lot but closer to the water. I am not sure of it´s identity. It has tiny spines and is a quite delicate small palm.

[amazondk]

Gileno,

Lookin at the pictures again the bactris in your first picture looks a lot like the one in my second set of pictures.

dk

[Jeff in St Pete]

Here's a little Bactris I photographed in the forest. I'm not sure which species this is.

Here's a link to the Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica. There are some Bactris species described here that I never heard of.

MBG - Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica