Largest Brahea Edulis I have ever seen in person.

[Jadd Correia]

This is the largest Brahea edulis I have ever seen in person with many smaller seedlings and larger plants growing too. Humongous trunk. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

Very nice specimen, Jade. I’ve seen much taller in my South Bay Area however. B. edulis must have been commonly available back in the ‘50s and ‘60s here. Tallest I’ve seen have trunks well past the rooftops of two story homes. 

[Jadd Correia]

Thanks Jim. I need to get down to the south bay and stomp around again with my new palm vision eyeballs (I grew up in San Jose and lived there until I was 18, but never knew to look for palm trees back then). 

 

It's hard to tell from my photos but this is a two story house, on a slope with this crown reaching past the roof line. I would love to see even bigger ones someday. Hope everyone's garden is fairing OK in the Cali heat wave. 

[Harry’s Palms]

They are awesome palms . Faster growing than B. Armata . Mine is 25 plus years old and makes a statement down by the road. I’m just glad I didn’t plant it by my house , it needs a bit of planning for the large trunk and crown. Harry

[awkonradi]

3 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Very nice specimen, Jade. I’ve seen much taller in my South Bay Area however. B. edulis must have been commonly available back in the ‘50s and ‘60s here. Tallest I’ve seen have trunks well past the rooftops of two story homes. 

Hi Jim, if you have the opportunity to take and share some pictures of those, then I would love to see them.  Tallest I've seen is about 16 feet with crown.

[Jim in Los Altos]

7 minutes ago, awkonradi said:

Hi Jim, if you have the opportunity to take and share some pictures of those, then I would love to see them.  Tallest I've seen is about 16 feet with crown.

I’ll try and remember what street I saw the tallest pair. They are at least 25’ tall and likely more. Very stately! My neighbor has one in his backyard that’s 20’ and was planted in the mid ‘70s. Mine is about 15’ to the top and I planted in 1990. 

[Harry’s Palms]

Mine is a baby at 25 years old , planted in 1998. Just a wee one! I love the way the trunk adapted to the slope. Harry

[Darold Petty]

really nice, Harry !   

[Harry’s Palms]

@Darold PettyThank you , just add water and Time ! Harry

[Jadd Correia]

Here's a nice leaner in West Oakland.

[Silas_Sancona]

You do get down to San Jose,  these, at my old church in Campbell, are some of the largest i've seen on my side of town.  No clue when they were planted but thinking sometime in the late 80s / early 90s  when the courtyard was redesigned.

At one time, there was ..what i still believe was a Jubaeopsis  planted in front of the Gym, just to the right of where the B. edulis in shot #1 is located..  I say that only because it had a similar look, was not tall / produced offsets.  and the fruit / seeds on it did not resemble anything close to either a Pindo,  Queen, King, or Phoenix sp..  Me and some of my friends at the time used pelt one another w/ the seeds, lol.

Was yanked unfortunately before i could get pictures of it. 

There are a few more on the back side of the courtyard, behind the specimens in street view shot #2.







Some others near the largest Majesty in my old neighborhood in the Princeton Plaza area of New Alamden / Branham..

[Jim in Los Altos]

Nathan, That would be Saint Lucy’s Church and school. The first trunking Parajubaea cocoides I ever saw is growing in the courtyard along with Caryota, Brahea, Butia and several other palm species. You may be right about the missing palm being a Jubaeopsis. It had all of the characteristics and was a drop dead gorgeous palm. Many years ago, before I knew of that species, I wondered what that palm was because it looked like no other palm I’d seen anywhere in the Bay Area before. I was shocked when I noticed it was gone a few years ago while driving by. 

[Silas_Sancona]

5 minutes ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Nathan, That would be Saint Lucy’s Church and school. The first trunking Parajubaea cocoides I ever saw is growing in the courtyard along with Caryota, Brahea, Butia and several other palm species. You may be right about the missing palm being a Jubaeopsis. It had all of the characteristics and was a drop dead gorgeous palm. Many years ago, before I knew of that species, I wondered what that palm was because it looked like no other palm I’d seen anywhere in the Bay Area before. I was shocked when I noticed it was gone a few years ago while driving by. 

That would be correct..  A family member attended the school thru 8th grade and we'd attended church there until ..94-ish.

While noticing palms more casually than really knowing individual species ..outside the usual Washingtonia, Queens, and Canary Island Dates planted all over town, that specific palm always stood out as something that had to be uncommon since i never noticed anything else like it anywhere else..

Not sure why it was removed, but apparently occurred in the late 90s ( ..Noticed it had been removed after that timeframe anyway )

  ..around the same time a couple large Corymbia ficifolia, on the Winchester Blvd facing side of the Church were taken out.  

Think the Saucer Magnolia is still there and noticed someone planted two Cassia leptophylla on the grounds as well.

What's funny is i'd really never noticed any of the palms planted in the courtyard by the Gym until years later, despite lots of time spent in that same courtyard during Youth group and other church - related events.

Very curious who planted them all..  ..If it is / was any of the people we known.

[Jim in Los Altos]

I’m still trying to remember what street the towering B. edulis are in my town but here’s one much smaller but nice one in my area. The house was knocked down and a new home was built since this street view was taken and luckily the palm was spared and still looks good. 
 

[Josue Diaz]

On 7/11/2024 at 10:16 AM, Jim in Los Altos said:

Very nice specimen, Jade. I’ve seen much taller in my South Bay Area however. B. edulis must have been commonly available back in the ‘50s and ‘60s here. Tallest I’ve seen have trunks well past the rooftops of two story homes. 

I agree, but I'd say they were common in the early 1900s as well as parks and neighborhoods in Fresno that were developed around that time have a lot of large edulis. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

2 hours ago, Josue Diaz said:

I agree, but I'd say they were common in the early 1900s as well as parks and neighborhoods in Fresno that were developed around that time have a lot of large edulis. 

Would love to see photos of you ever get the chance.

[Josue Diaz]

On 11/6/2023 at 1:07 PM, Josue Diaz said:

I

Brahea edulis

Brahea edulis

Brahea edulis at the Chaffee Zoo

Brahea edulis at Kearney Park

Two brahea at the Chaffee Zoo

Breahea

 

 

23 minutes ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Would love to see photos of you ever get the chance.

I posted some in this thread a few months ago.  These are in public spaces, but you do also see them in people's yards in the downtown area and a bit north of there. Probably planted/landscaped around the same time as these.