Iconic Palms

[John in Andalucia]

There are undoubtedly some iconic palm trees on our planet. Perhaps the palms at Canaima Lagoon, near Angel Falls in Venezuela, are a suitable contender. It looks to be a popular holiday destination for nature-loving explorers, yet I'm surprised from the numerous "web blogs" by the lack of enquiring minds. Can anyone shed light on the species?

Palms at Canaima Lagoon:

[Tulio]

Mauritia flexuosa?

[sur4z]

[bgl]

Yes, Tulio is correct - Mauritia flexuosa!

[KPL]

Dubai is a great choice. That image of a palm was extremely well done.

Very expensive island!

Karolyn

[LJG]

I can see my vacation home from this view. Third from left around circle.

[John in Andalucia]

Thanks Tulio, and Bo!

Len, did you check out the Google map view? You can drag and drop the little orange man onto the map and explore. Don't forget your umbrella - I mean hard hat!

http://maps.google.c...n&sll=24.389629,55.582581&sspn=0.791707,1.977539&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Al+Ain+-+Abu+Dhabi+-+United+Arab+Emirates&t=k&ll=25.109539,55.144844&spn=0.204558,0.363579&z=12

[amazondk]

John,

As others have said that sure is a Mauritia. The native habitat stretches up through Venezuela and the Guyanas to Trinidad. Even though it is very common here it is still one of my favorite palms.

Since you brought up the subject I went and dug up some old Mauritia (Buriti as known here) pictures. These are from an area flooded by a hydroelectric project where I go fishing for peacock bass from time to time. They were taken in July of 2006 the last time my son Dylan was here. We did not catch many fish, but it was a great day. Since they are such a common palm around here I have accumlated a large group of pictures. They are still one of the most beautiful stately palm trees around in my opinion. Even the ones scattered around town are beautiful. The burned trees are from a fire in the late 90s when the lake was very dry and the dead trees from the flood of the reservoir burned all over the place. The great thing is that you are in the middle of an enormous wilderness with macaws flying all over the place, monkeys, etc.

dk

[John in Andalucia]

Beautiful, Don! I have a video clip of Angel Falls, and they appear to grow on the rock outcrops way up there, too. Thanks for posting those shots. The trunks are reminiscent of Ceroxylon, if I'm not mistaken.

[sarasota alex]

Have to mention the Big W from It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World when talking about iconic palms - http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GzFjqUw-Ark/Rsny5f8dhfI/AAAAAAAAABs/gO5tP-DHb_c/s1600-h/Big+W+470.jpg

Even though all four of the trees are now dead