Holy grail Tree, Gigasiphon macrosiphon

[NatureBarbie]

On 8/8/2014 at 6:22 AM, Gtlevine said:

Gigasiphon macrosiphon from Tanzania is almost extinct. Only flowering tree outside Africa is Fosters Botanical Garden where seed usually is eaten by bugs or rots quickly, thus no new plants. I was fortunate to get one and it is blooming now. Flowers are a whopping 9" across and plant has big beautiful leaves that flush red.

 

How is your gigasiphon doing now almost 10 years later? 

[Darold Petty]

NatureBarbie,  Welcome to Palmtalk !    

[PalmsandLiszt]

Beautiful plant and a new one to me.

Is it not possible to propagate them vegetatively via cuttings/air layering etc.? That could dramatically increase the number of them available.

[Plantsman05]

I assume one of the reasons for which this species is literally never available is that so far, almost nobody got to know it. If more people want it, maybe it will become more available in the future, using both cuttings and seeds (upon maturity, I've seen the species begins to produce some seeds quite frequently, at least the tree at Fosters botanical gardens seems to do that based on their videos). I'd really like to know how the trees posted here (the blooming one and the three which were seedlings a long time ago) do at the moment for their growers.

I'm happy to see that more people become aware to how incredible this species is and want it, and I really hope it'll become available one day, as at the moment I've been searching for some seeds for about 6 years with no result.

[Plantsman05]

Can any of those who have gotten some seeds please share an update? 🙃

[Plantsman05]

As it turns out, rarepalmseeds offered some seeds quite recently and I missed on them 🥴

[greysrigging]

I did a quick social media search on the tree ( to see if there were any growing in Darwin... nope, but I'll ask some locals....
But apparently the Cairns Botanical Gardens has one.

[300LW]

I just left Foster Garden and their gigasiphon is blooming now. The ground is littered with petals. Flowers in the tree are hard to see since they’re so high up. 

[Cindy Adair]

Wow! Thanks so much for the post as that is one special tree!

If Foster can grow it maybe I can.
 

So all of us should now ask RPS to notify us when more seed is a available. Easy to do on their website.

[Plantsman05]

I've asked them and they told me it hasn't been available, but that they're hoping to find a source for seeds by posting it as an out of stock species.

[Silas_Sancona]

2 minutes ago, Plantsman05 said:

I've asked them and they told me it hasn't been available, but that they're hoping to find a source for seeds by posting it as an out of stock species.

Being highly endangered,  unless seed is sourced from a Botanical Garden, it is very unlikely you'll see seed readily available  ...for the time being at least. 

Hopefully they'll find enough of a stable population of this species so it can be re-listed as  " Vulnerable / highly vulnerable "  which i believe  place less restrictive restrictions on collecting and distributing seed.


https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/143738-Gigasiphon-macrosiphon

[Plantsman05]

I meant that they posted the plant as unavailable for collectors who do have it to know that they're searching for its seeds. They probably wouldn't get the seeds in-situ. I do know the plant is grown in a few botanical gardens and by a few collectors, so they might be able to get lucky.

[Plantsman05]

To everyone interested - don't say nobody told you, but RPS CURRENTLY OFFERS A LIMITED STOCK OF G. MACROSIPHON SEEDS!!! Lol. I made sure to buy some, you better do so quickly too.

[Silas_Sancona]

5 hours ago, Plantsman05 said:

To everyone interested - don't say nobody told you, but RPS CURRENTLY OFFERS A LIMITED STOCK OF G. MACROSIPHON SEEDS!!! Lol. I made sure to buy some, you better do so quickly too.

2 seeds, for 80 bucks  ..or 5 seeds for ....$352. DOLLARS ( That's $70 bucks, per seed.. Are they wrapped in pure Gold?   Insured,  like Diamonds?, lol ) .. Plus additional fees for U.S persons = Hard  Pass / No thanks.. 

[Hillizard]

Gigasiphon macrosiphon: A Seed That Resembles Mucuna

From 2016 arboretum newsletter: "A Rare African Tree In The Campus Greenhouse at Palomar College" (San Marcos, California) https://www.waynesword.net/ArbNews10.htm

"Horticulturist extraordinaire Tony Rangel recently germinated some seeds of Gigasiphon macrosiphon, a rare leguminous tree known only from moist, lowland and coastal forests of Kenya and Tanzania.... the seeds of this remarkable tree came from a tree at Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu, Hawaii. They have been in a paper bag for the past 16 years. Tony used a metal file to scarify the thick, woody seed coat on both flat sides. He then soaked the seeds in water for 18 hours and planted them in a fast-draining commercial seed mix. This technique also works for seeds of tropical vines (lianas), including seabeans (Mucuna & Dioclea), and sea hearts (Entada gigas). ... Special thanks to the Honolulu Botanical Gardens for allowing us to propagate this magnificent African tree."

Awhile ago I encouraged the horticulture staff at the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers to contact Mr. Rangel and see if he had any seeds to share. I grew a small seedling of this plant once but it was too delicate for my climate, even indoors! But I'd like seeing it in flower at the Conservatory someday, where everyone could enjoy it! I was told birds tend to eat the seeds of the one in Hawai'i, so much so that they now enclose the pods in netting while the seeds ripen.

https://www.honolulu.gov/cms-csd-menu/site-csd-sitearticles/1305-site-csd-news-2020-cat/38276-04-13-20-propagation-of-critically-endangered-tree-continues-amid-global-pandemic.html

[Than]

5 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

2 seeds, for 80 bucks  ..or 5 seeds for ....$352. DOLLARS ( That's $70 bucks, per seed.. Are they wrapped in pure Gold?   Insured,  like Diamonds?, lol ) .. Plus additional fees for U.S persons = Hard  Pass / No thanks.. 

Perhaps RPS people are reading this forum and know what is most sought after... Btw whoever chose this species' name either had a strange sense of humour or his Greek wasn't that good. It sounds very funny in Greek: "Huge drainage hole, long drainage hole" 😅

Edited December 5, 2023 by ego

[Plantsman05]

Lmao, yeah. The name isn't the smartest but it's pretty funny. I reckon they weren't too creative when they named it. 

Yeah, these seeds are definitely very expensive. In spite of that, as far as I can tell, it might be the only offer in the following years, as I've been searching for some seeds of this species literally forever now.

[Plantsman05]

8 hours ago, Hillizard said:

Gigasiphon macrosiphon: A Seed That Resembles Mucuna

From 2016 arboretum newsletter: "A Rare African Tree In The Campus Greenhouse at Palomar College" (San Marcos, California) https://www.waynesword.net/ArbNews10.htm

"Horticulturist extraordinaire Tony Rangel recently germinated some seeds of Gigasiphon macrosiphon, a rare leguminous tree known only from moist, lowland and coastal forests of Kenya and Tanzania.... the seeds of this remarkable tree came from a tree at Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu, Hawaii. They have been in a paper bag for the past 16 years. Tony used a metal file to scarify the thick, woody seed coat on both flat sides. He then soaked the seeds in water for 18 hours and planted them in a fast-draining commercial seed mix. This technique also works for seeds of tropical vines (lianas), including seabeans (Mucuna & Dioclea), and sea hearts (Entada gigas). ... Special thanks to the Honolulu Botanical Gardens for allowing us to propagate this magnificent African tree."

Awhile ago I encouraged the horticulture staff at the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers to contact Mr. Rangel and see if he had any seeds to share. I grew a small seedling of this plant once but it was too delicate for my climate, even indoors! But I'd like seeing it in flower at the Conservatory someday, where everyone could enjoy it! I was told birds tend to eat the seeds of the one in Hawai'i, so much so that they now enclose the pods in netting while the seeds ripen.

https://www.honolulu.gov/cms-csd-menu/site-csd-sitearticles/1305-site-csd-news-2020-cat/38276-04-13-20-propagation-of-critically-endangered-tree-continues-amid-global-pandemic.html

Thank you so much for the information! I wonder whether it'll tolerate the Mediterranean climate I have here. I'll have it germinating in a friend's greenhouse though, as it's fairly cool here at the moment. It's very interesting that the viability is so long - I'd expect the seeds to lose their viability pretty soon after they're picked, as some other tropical plants with large seeds do. I wonder what's the best method to germinate these seeds, as I wouldn't at all want to lose such expensive and precious seeds. I'll definitely give you some updates about this species' progress, once (if) the comes arrive and later on.

How did you germinate your seed? And how long did it take?

[Than]

1 minute ago, Plantsman05 said:

Thank you so much for the information! I wonder whether it'll tolerate the Mediterranean climate I have here. I'll have it germinating in a friend's greenhouse though, as it's fairly cool here at the moment. It's very interesting that the viability is so long - I'd expect the seeds to lose their viability pretty soon after they're picked, as some other tropical plants with large seeds do. I wonder what's the best method to germinate these seeds, as I wouldn't at all want to lose such expensive and precious seeds. I'll definitely give you some updates about this species' progress, once (if) the comes arrive and later on.

How did you germinate your seed? And how long did it take?

Are you on the coast?

[Hillizard]

12 hours ago, ego said:

Perhaps RPS people are reading this forum and know what is most sought after... Btw whoever chose this species' name either had a strange sense of humour or his Greek wasn't that good. It sounds very funny in Greek: "Huge drainage hole, long drainage hole" 😅

Another synonym for this species is the less humorous "Bauhinia macrosiphon."😉

[Hillizard]

7 hours ago, Plantsman05 said:

Thank you so much for the information! I wonder whether it'll tolerate the Mediterranean climate I have here. I'll have it germinating in a friend's greenhouse though, as it's fairly cool here at the moment. It's very interesting that the viability is so long - I'd expect the seeds to lose their viability pretty soon after they're picked, as some other tropical plants with large seeds do. I wonder what's the best method to germinate these seeds, as I wouldn't at all want to lose such expensive and precious seeds. I'll definitely give you some updates about this species' progress, once (if) the comes arrive and later on.

How did you germinate your seed? And how long did it take?

I was actually sent a small plant from a grower in Florida about 10 years ago. How he got the seeds that he germinated he wouldn't divulge... at least to me. Ha ha! The plant was doing well indoors in my atrium UNTIL I moved and the sunroom location at my new place wasn't to its liking. Oh well. Growing many uncommon plants can be an experiment with no certain outcome.

[Hillizard]

7 hours ago, ego said:

Are you on the coast?

I'm located inland, in the suburbs adjacent to Sacramento, Calif. Definitely 9b Mediterranean climate.

[Hillizard]

On 12/5/2023 at 12:10 PM, Hillizard said:

I was actually sent a small plant from a grower in Florida about 10 years ago. How he got the seeds that he germinated he wouldn't divulge... at least to me. Ha ha! The plant was doing well indoors in my atrium UNTIL I moved and the sunroom location at my new place wasn't to its liking. Oh well. Growing many uncommon plants can be an experiment with no certain outcome.

Found a picture of my Gigasiphon macrosiphon from several years ago that I described above. I should have donated it to a public conservatory!

[popper1]

I am so excited. After years a friend was able to send me  some Gigasiphon macrosiphon seeds. It took him a long time to figure out how to get them before they were eaten. He actually was able to send  more than he, or I expected. Today i got past the next hurdle   in that some have started germinating. I am thrilled!

[popper1]

Probably got it ftom me, that's about the last time I sold any