Palms on a volcano

[bgl]

Yeah, growing palms on top of one of the world's most active volcanoes has it challenges!  Years ago when I was running my little palm nursery I bought a bunch of tiny Marojejya darianii from Floribunda and grew them up to nice 5G and 15G size and sold quite a few to people in the neighborhood. A lady on Moku Street here in Leilani Estates bought a handful. Unfortunately they had a close encounter with a lava flow last week, but amazingly the new spike feels pretty firm. I checked on them today.

[bgl]

A nice Dypsis lutescens clump on Kupono Street in Leilani Estates. Somebody should do something about those power lines hanging on top the palms. A bit unsightly.  Oh, and all that steam from a nearby lava vent, probably not very healthy in the long run...

[bgl]

Not the prettiest Archontophoenix alexandrae I've seen but you have to give it to them for persistence. 

[bgl]

And talking about persistence, these Ptychosperma elegans are clearly determined to stay where they are! 

[bgl]

And I love the view from my front door at night.  Needless to say, Dypsis palms can handle excitement very well. Then again, the eruption is easily two miles away. These days, that seems like a LOT! 

[Grasswing]

Volcanoes are the proof that nature can be beautiful and scary at the same time!

Has the lava flow from fissures stopped already? Even though I have been checking the topic in Ohana nui forum periodically, I lost the track a bit.

Take care

Ondrej

[realarch]

Such awesome photographs Bo,thanks for posting. Great having lunch with you yesterday as well.

Tim

[Palmaceae]

11 hours ago, bgl said:

Yeah, growing palms on top of one of the world's most active volcanoes has it challenges!  Years ago when I was running my little palm nursery I bought a bunch of tiny Marojejya darianii from Floribunda and grew them up to nice 5G and 15G size and sold quite a few to people in the neighborhood. A lady on Moku Street here in Leilani Estates bought a handful. Unfortunately they had a close encounter with a lava flow last week, but amazingly the new spike feels pretty firm. I checked on them today.

So what happened to the Marojejya's, was it just the heat from the lava or fires? As there does not seem to be lava close to the palms?

 

 

[GottmitAlex]

Bill Merrill explains why the flora is dying in that area. 

https://youtu.be/Mf55gJ5l7DY

[Hilo Jason]

Wow, awesome pictures, thanks Bo! 

[bgl]

Everybody, thanks for your comments! And Ondrej, there have been more than 20 separate fissures opening up over the past 2.5 weeks. Some are still going strong, while others have died out. What will happen tomorrow, nobody knows!

Randy, the nearest lava flow is only about 10-15 feet away from the Marojejyas. Not active when I took the photos, though.

And Tim, yeah, another great Pesto lunch, that was perfect! Thanks!