The Palmateer Volume 34, Number 3
Central Florida Palm & Cycad Society
September 2014
Nate Bowman and son with twin trunk Encephalartos whitelockii from the U. A. Young collection, just planted at Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum, St. Pete. See page 4. (Photo by Phil Stager) Below left, the CFPACS June visit to Leu concluded at the 4-trunked Phoenix sylvestris. See page 16. (Photo by Maryann Krisovitch)
Fall meeting: Tampa, October 4th U. A. Young collection to St. Pete Cuban tour, two reports Merritt (palms) McCartney (culture) Florida Keys TREE Institute Hemingway Cuban estate June meeting report Salacca wallichiana What’s in an Apopka Garden? Palm Beach fall sale Two new loppers Treasurer’s report A very old Latania in Vero From the Editor’s Desk Seed Bank Membership info Board list
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Fall Meeting, October 4th,Tampa
The Palmateer The Palmateer is published four times a year: March, June, September, and December by Central Florida Palm & Cycad Society, a chapter of the International Palm Society and of The Cycad Society. The views expressed are not the official positions of the society nor of its Board. No material may be reprinted or reproduced without permission. ©2014 Central Florida Palm & Cycad Society The closing date for submission of material for the next issue is the 1st of the month preceding publication. The Palmateer Central Florida Palm & Cycad Society 3225 13th Street Vero Beach, Florida 32960-3825 (772) 567-9587 Editor: John D. Kennedy palmateer@cfpacs.com
October 4th, Saturday. Save the date for our fall meeting, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. It’s in Tampa, with visits to two gardens. The first is the young garden of Radha Kanuri in Odessa. She began planting four years ago so we can see a new garden and how it’s grown. That’s 10:00-11:30. Then a half hour drive south to longtime member Ray Tintera’s place, a mature garden cherished over the years. Lunch is at Stop #2, pulled pork sandwiches and empanadas served 12:00-1:00. CFPACS members eat free. All others pay $6.00. Drinks will be provided. Members are urged to bring a salad, fruit, or a dessert. Might also be a good idea to bring a chair. The plant auction will follow lunch. Then comes the plant sale. Donations to the auction and to the sale are welcome. Vendors need to get a number from Treasurer Maryann Krisovitch. Tour #1, 7225 N. Mobley Road, Odessa, FL 33615 (10:00-11:30) Regional Tampa map location of Radha’s garden: https://www.google.com/maps/ place/7225+N+Mobley+Rd,+Odessa,+FL+3355 6/@28.0960954,-82.5930875,29973m/data=! (Continued on page 3)
Radha Kanuri’s garden in Odessa. (Photo by Mike Evans)
September 2014
Above, the dock on Rock Lake at Radha Kanuri’s garden. Below, the pool area at Ray Tintera’s garden, second stop on the October 4th meeting. (Photos by Mike Evans)
The Palmateer October Meeting (Continued from page 2) 3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1! 1s0x88c2bfe24a76f08b:0x311d0f89f6e6618? hl=en Tour #2, 8336 W. Forest Circle, Tampa, FL 33615 (12:00-3:00) Regional Tampa map location of Frank’s garden: https://www.google.com/maps/ place/8336+W+Forest+Cir,+Tampa,+FL+33615 /@28.0255957,-82.6337028,30026m/data=! 3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1! 1s0x88c2ea0d95d1b0fb:0x84659c8ae679e981 ?hl=en Use your GPS or a road map for particulars. The metropolitan area has any number of ways to get to either destination, so simpler directions aren’t really possible. However, the drive from Stop #1 to Stop #2 is easy. Directions from Radha's to Frank's. There are two ways for this route. One is the Veterans Expressway Toll road. Exit on Mobley Road and take a left on Hutchison Road. Take Hutchison to Veterans Expressway (approx 1.5 miles) and go south on Veterans Expressway approximately 6 miles to Waters Ave Exit. (The faster Wilsky Blvd exit is closed due to construction.) Go west on Waters Ave approx 1.5 miles to a left hand turn on Pat Blvd. Go 2 blocks on Pat Blvd and turn right on West For-
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Microcoelum weddellianum in Ray Tintera’s garden.
est Circle. Frank’s house is at the end of the cul-de-sac. Non toll road route to Frank’s from first stop. Take North Mobley road westward to Gunn Hwy, approximately 1 mile. Turn left on Gunn Hwy and go south about 5 miles to Waters Ave. Gunn Hwy turns into Sheldon Rd around Citrus Park. Turn left on Waters Ave and go approx 3/4 mile to Pat Blvd on right. Go 2 blocks on Pat Blvd and turn right on West Forest Circle. Frank’s house is at the end of the cul-de-sac. —John Kennedy
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Young Collection Planted at Kopsick & Sunken Gardens, St. Pete
By Phil Stager In late January 2014, the St. Petersburg City Council authorized the expenditure of $300,000 to purchase and relocate the Dr. U.A.Young cycad collection. Funding was from the Weeki Wachi Fund, established upon the sale of Weeki Wachi springs as part of the water wars settlement several years ago. Weeki Wachi funds can only be spent on waterfront and parks and recreation type projects. Since the City purchased the entire cycad collection, the Young estate also granted the City “salvage” rights to the palms, landscape boulders, and other plant material on the property.
Left, Encephalartos manikensis. Above, Cycas scratchleyana (Screw Pine fruit at top). Right, Microcycas calocoma. (Photos by Phil Stager) Morelli Landscaping was chosen to relocate the cycads and palms. The work was accomplished under the direct supervision of CFPACS member Tom Broome. Over the next several months approximately 250 large cy-
cads and ten large and twenty smaller or clumping palms were relocated to the Kopsick Palm Arboretum except for some of the crown jewels in the collection which were planted at Sunken Gardens, e.g.: Cycas scratchleyana – the only one in North America and from wild collected seed. (Continued on page 5)
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Young Collection
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(
Continued from page 4)
Encephalartos manikensis Microcycas calocoma See photos 1-3 which show them after the first new flush of fronds. By mid August 2014, many of the cycads planted at Kopsick were flushing. Photo 3 shows a very large double E. whitelockii immediately after installation, and photo 4 shows it after the first flush of new fronds. Photos 5are general views of the Young cycads at their new home in St. Petersburg. Although not all transplanted cycads have flushed yet, I expect a 99%+ survival rate. Work remaining to be accomplished includes the following: 1. install concrete curbing around the new planting beds. (The first curbing contractor was terminated for lack of performance.) 2. install approximately 20 more cycads now in storage at Kopsick. 3. install mulch on all new and old planting beds. We will use pine bark mulch for most beds since it will last several years longer than the City’s recycled mulch. The use of a stone mulch in select areas is still under consideration.
4. install approximately 275 new cycad and palm ID signs. The new cycad ID signs will be quite different from the existing palm ID signs which have been a maintenance headache. A dedication ceremony is planned for early 2015. I wish to express my personal thanks to the following groups and individuals for their help and support in this major project: CFPACS for your $5k commitment to the project. Fortunately, we will not require the funds since the project is coming in right on budget. My two main volunteers, Tom St. Peter and Nate Bowden, for the hundreds of hours of work. Linda Seuffert of the City Parks & Recreation Department for her patience and support throughout the project.
Cycads newly planted at Kopsick.
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Cuban Palms
The 2014 Cuba Pre-Tour By Mike Merritt In conjunction with the 2014 IPS biennial in Miami and Key West, IPS members were offered a post-tour to Cuba with arrangements made by the Florida Keys Tropical Research Ecological Exchange Institute (FK T.R.E.E. Institute) under provisions of a program of the U. S. Treasury Department that permits tours to Cuba for educational, cultural, and research purposes. This program requires coordination among the Institute, the State Department, and the government of Cuba. Information about each traveler is submitted at an early date for examination by all parties, and the Institute is careful to educate each traveler about what to do and what to avoid doing. The IPS leader of the tour was Paul Craft, one of the authors of Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms and a long-time student of Cuban palms. In Cuba, invaluable scientific support was provided by the Cuban botanist Raul Verdecia. Because the post-tour was sold out before I decided to sign up, I jumped at the chance to go when the Institute announced that they were also offering a pre-tour.
So, early in the morning of May 15, about 30 persons, mostly Americans but also including an Australian couple, arrived at the Miami Airport at 530 a.m. to prepare for boarding a chartered plane for transport to the city of Holguin in eastern Cuba. After passing through Cuban immigration, and exchanging our dollars for C. U. C.’s (“kuks”), we boarded our bus and headed for our first field location, a well-vegetated but somewhat dry habitat where many Copernicia yareys were growing. On the way, we stopped for lunch at a beachfront restaurant in the north coast seaside town of Playa Guardalavaca. The blues and greens of the ocean on a beautiful, sunny day were quite memorable. On the way to the yareys, we could see vast fields of Cuba’s signature palm, Roystonea regia (photo 1). Estimates of the extent of Cuba’s forest cover at the time of Columbus’s arrival vary, but it was likely about 90 percent of the land area. Palms were said to be common by the early colonizers. During the Spanish colonial period, the forests were used for (Continued on page 7)
Roystonea regia above (Photo #1) and Coccothrinax garciana below (Photo #2). All pictures by the author.
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Acrocomia crispa, formerly Gastrococcus crispa. (Photo #3)
Cuba Pre-Tour (Continued from page 6)
shipbuilding and the production of other wood products. The forest cover was around 50 percent in 1900, when extensive land clearing for sugar cane production was already underway. In 1960, the forest cover had been reduced to about 15 percent. Since that time, the forest cover has increased to around 20 percent. As our bus traveled along the rural
roads, we could see vast areas of vacant land with only scattered tree cover and apparently unused for any purpose. Copernicia yarey, one of the smaller members of this genus, is quite picturesque, with large greygreen palmate leaves with deeply divided leaflets. After viewing the yareys, we went to another field location of dry scrub vegetation, where we viewed many specimens of Coccothrinax garciana (photo 2). This species has a spicate inflorescence that extends well above the crown, unlike a similar species, Coccothrinax orientalis, that we observed the next day. Both species have palmate leaves divided almost to the hastula into stiff leaflets folded in cross-section. This fold-
7 ing seems to be especially pronounced in C. garciana. At the hotel in Holguin, I photographed a group of the Cuban species Acrocomia crispa (formerly Gastrococcus crispa), a striking palm with large, plumose emeraldgreen leaves and spiny, ventricose trunks (photo 3). During our bus travels in eastern Cuba, we saw large fields of these impressive palms. At the hotels in eastern Cuba, we learned not depend on the water pressure in the bathrooms. If water emerged from the shower heads, it rarely was heated. We never lacked for air conditioning, however. The a/c’s in each hotel room worked almost too well. Public restrooms, like the one at the Holguin airport, lacked any paper products or even toilet seats. A roll of TP in one’s backpack was a real problem solver, a provision that had also worked for me in Thailand. Carolann Sharkey, the director of the FK TREE Institute, had warned us before the trip that “flexibility” was the key to a successful Cuba trip. No internet service was available in eastern Cuba, and my satellite cartridge did not work anywhere in Cuba, even in Havana. However, I used my laptop offline each evening to store and annotate the day’s photographs. (Continued on page 8)
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Cuba Pre-Tour (Continued from page 7)
From the roadside at our first stop the following day we observed a field of Copernicia rigidas, Copernicia rigida x yarey hybrids, Sabal maritima, and Bactris plumeriana. A short distance away, we took a short walk into the brush for closeup views of Copernicia rigida and a large specimen of Hemithrinax rivalis (photo 4). Copernicia rigida is a palm with a unique and striking appearance that can grow quite tall with time. The large leaves have no discernable petioles and grow vertically with
The Palmateer relatively straight comb-like upper margin of leaflets that might show a little folding as they age. Bactris plumeriana is a medium-sized clustering species that grows in full sun. Stems are spiny and the pinnate leaves are plumose. Sabal maritima is a large, full-sun palmate species that is considered to be quite similar to S. dominguensis in Hispaniola and S. causiarum in Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. Hemithri-
8 nax rivalis (formerly Thrinax rivalis) has large emerald-green palmate leaves with short petioles, giving the crown a compact appearance. As the name suggests, it is often found near water. We stopped at the Mirador Hotel in the town of Moa for lunch. Afterwards, we went to see the palm that was named for the town, Coccothrinax moaensis. Like C. garciana and C. orientalis, C. moaensis has palmate leaves divided almost to the hastula into stiff segments slightly folded in cross-section. Moa lies within a region of serpentine soils. There is abundant rainfall, even though the vegetation appears sparse, as if in a drier region. Another stop before heading back to the hotel in Holguin was to see Coccothrinax orientalis. Certain plants in the bush were poisonous to touch, and, though warned, I still acquired a poisonivy like eruption on my left arm that lasted for several days. On the third day, we traveled westward toward Camaguey, where we would spend the (Continued on page 9)
Far left, Hemithrinax rivalis (Photo #4) and, near left, Copernicia gigas (Photo #5).
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Cuba Pre-Tour (Continued from page 8)
next two nights. We were looking for two of Cuba’s three giant Copernicia palm species. Our first stop was a cow pasture where Coper nicia gigas (photo 5) and Copernicia baileyana and hybrids of the two species were growing together. Nearby was a forest of Copernicia baileyana, flowering and fruiting. The later species has a relatively open crown of rounded leaves with inflorescences extending well above and outward from the crown. Copernicia gigas, on the other hand, has a more compact crown with the upper leaves extending vertically upward and having a relatively straight upper edge of leaflets, almost like Copernicia rigida. As can be seen by careful examination of the photograph, inflorescences develop about mid-level in the crown and emerge laterally. It was not flowering season for this species. The older, lower leaves of C. gigas and C. baileyana are harvested for thatch by the local people. We stopped for lunch at a service station/ shopping area (photo 6). Given menus, we developed our group’s concept of a typical Cuban lunch menu – “ham and cheese, or cheese and ham, or ham, or cheese”. But there were compensations. For instance, we could buy
The Palmateer bottled water or a choice of several good Cuban beers for only one kuk (about equivalent to a US dollar) each. Later, we found that a glass of reasonably good wine in the evening was also available for one kuk. (And the available cuisine would improve dramatically as we approached Havana.) In the early afternoon, we visited the botanical garden of Las Tunas University, housing a large collection of Cuban native palms planted by Raul. Many species were located around the service buildings, including all three species of Hemithrinax (rivalis, compacta, and the iconic ekmaniana) and Gaussia princeps, another Cuban native. Of special interest was the Copernicia collection, where I obtained perhaps my best photo of Copernicia rigida (photo 7), though the specimen was rather small and we saw much taller specimens in the field the next day. We were viewing the Coccothrinax collection when our tour was cut short by threateninglooking thunderheads. We then completed our trip to Camaguey. Disembarking from the bus, we found a group of pedicabs waiting for us to take us to dinner. I admired the strength of our driver, a rather stout individual, pedaling vigorously to move himself and two 200-lb Americans through the city streets. Dinner (Continued on page 10)
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Above, lunch in a Cuban restaurant. Faith Bishock standing at left. (Photo #6) Below,Copernicia rigida. (Photo #7)
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Cuba Pre-Tour (Continued from page 9)
was excellent, with a buffet complementing a menu with many excellent choices. The next two nights were spent at the Hotel Colon, which opened in 1926, and featured a large open courtyard and a fancy bar. The room was tiny, the two beds and dresser leaving barely enough room for myself and my roommate to move around in. The ceilings were ludicrously high, possibly 20 feet or more. If the room could have been laid on its side, there would have been plenty of space. The shower had the usual problems, but the air conditioning was very efficient. The first stop the next morning was the farm of a lady introduced to us as Juanita. In the pastures were a large number of Copernicia cowellii (photo 8), an iconic species remarkable for its “lollipop” appearance. Large leaves with virtually no petioles extend at variety of angles forming a spherical crown. Many of this species were producing ripe fruit. There were also several groups of large Copernicia hospita, but no hybrids were observed. Copernicia hospita is a medium-sized member of the genus with a relatively open crown of large gray-green palmate leaves. It is quite picturesque and has been used in palm gardens
Coccothrinx cowellii trio. (Photo #8) such as Nongnooch in Thailand as a major accent in landscape design. Our next stop was an open field having a large number of Coccothrinax macroglossa. This species has naturally glaucous leaves with stiff leaflets, and is quite widely distributed in open habitat in eastern Cuba. Some of this species with bluish leaves have been referred to as sp. “azul”, but we did not observe any on
10 this tour. The next stop was to see a natural grouping of Copernicia rigida. Some of the plants were hybrids with other species. Finally, we took a hike into an area of dry scrub to see Coccothrinax pseudorigida. Like the previously cited Coccothrinax species, these had deeply divided leaves with stiff, slightly folded leaflets. However, the leaflets appeared to have more pointed tips. Dinner was one of the finest of our trip, but something of a disaster timewise. The little gourmet restaurant was simply overwhelmed by a group of thirty, and it took two hours or more from the first to the last serving (Paul Craft being the last). The next morning, we left Hotel Colon to journey to the tourist island of Cayo Coco on the north coast. Our first stop along the way was for a walk in a forested area to see Coccothrinax muricata. Also present were Sabal maritima and Acrocomia crispa. C. muricata seemed to have a more gracile appearance than the Coccothrinax species previously described. The long, thin leaflets were stiff, and the deeply divided leaves were at the ends of long petioles. Midway on the trail, Raul pointed to some weeds with glossy-green leaves growing along the trail and told us not touch them. The weeds were poisonwood. (Continued on page 11)
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Cuba Pre-Tour (Continued from page 10)
Finally, we reached the high point of the palm tour, a visit to two groves of Copernicia fallaensis (photo 9). In the second grove, these majestic palms stretched as far as we could see. This species is the largest of the giant Copernicias and has an open crown of gray-green palmate leaves that somewhat resembles C. baileyana, though the leaves are glaucous and somewhat diamondshaped, while C. baileyana leaves are more rounded and medium green in color. The palms were flowering but ripe fruits would not be produced until September or October. Once fairly widespread, less than 100 mature trees are now located in farmland, and the species has been given Critically Endangered status. Raul is working with the local farmers and local officials to protect the species, but no governmental funding has been made available for this purpose. Our progress towards Cayo Coco was delayed by a major accident on the road in which a truck had impacted another vehicle on a bridge and both vehicles had plummeted off the side of the bridge. Large cranes were brought in and no one could
A grove of majestic Copernicia fallaensis. (Photo #9)
11 proceed until the vehicles were recovered, placed on tow trucks and driven off, a process that took about three hours. Scores of people stood around to observe the process, and long backups of vehicles in both directions developed. Finally, we crossed the causeway leading to Cayo Coco. The hotel at Cayo Coco was unlike anything we had previously experienced. Built to entice tourists from around the world (although not from the USA), the rooms were excellent and the plumbing worked fine. An excellent restaurant was available, providing buffet-style cuisine of many kinds. The following morning, part of the group went on the bus tour of coastal forest vegetation that included Coccothrinax litoralis and Pseudophoenix sargentii. Though an endemic to the region, the latter species was only observed in cultivated settings. C. litoralis is a medium-sized species observed in or at the edge of forests, and in large groups near the ocean. A stunner in appearance, it has large, glossy, emerald-green palmate leaves with lax leaflets. In the past, some authors have considered this species to be synonymous with C. argentata, endemic to the Florida Keys and the Bahamas. Paul Craft observed that the palms we saw were indeed similar to C. argen(Continued on page 12)
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Colpothrinax wrightii (Photo #10)
Cuba Pre-Tour (Continued from page 11)
tata, but he had seen other groups of the species that were much larger and robust. Possibly, he suggested, two separate species identified as C. litoralis could be present. Another species we observed was a cycad, Zamia integrifolia. The following morning, we were treated to a high-speed boat ride that ended in a swamp where we could observe orchids and other natural wonders. The only palms were Roystonea regia. Finally, it was time for our trip to Havana. Arriving at the Camaguey airport, we saw our propeller-driven plane carrying the designation “Aerogaviota”. At the ticket desk,
I was asked if I wanted a window seat or aisle seat. True believer that I was, I said “window”. When I boarded, I went to the seat, but there was no window. Entrance and exit were by a wide ramp in the rear of the plane. Eventually, we realized that our plane was a Soviet-era troop transport aircraft converted for passenger use within Cuba. Reaching Havana in the afternoon, we were taken to the National Botanical Garden for a talk by the garden staff, followed by a walking tour of the garden exhibit buildings. This was followed by a bus tour of the remainder of the garden in the fading evening light. Later, we registered at the Hotel Sevilla in Old Havana. Built in 1908 as a Moorish-style structure, the interior features wide lobby and dining areas with huge vertical columns and ornate tiling. A newer wing has rooms on all floors bordering an open area ten stories in height. After a walk through part of the old city, we were served roasted chicken at a local restaurant. On the following day, I joined the group that opted for a bus tour to the Vinales Valley in eastern Cuba. This was mogote country (mogotes being large, isolated, steep-sided,
12 tower-like hills often formed from limestone and surrounded by flat plains). The landscape appeared to be very green and lush. We stopped for refreshments at a roadside location surrounded by vast fields of Colpothrinax wrightii (photo 10). These are tall palms with a crown of glossy, dark-green palmate leaves and ventricose trunks. The leaves had lax margins and the crowns appeared somewhat disorderly in the prevailing wind. Paul thought it unusual that the crowns seemed to be undisturbed, as the older leaves are often harvested for thatch. Also at this location were several cultivated groups of Copernicia glabrescens. Medium-sized members of the genus with medium-green, deeply divided palmate leaves with lax leaflets, these palms were in full flower. At a later stop at a tobacco farm, we had the opportunity to watch the owner roll a cigar and light it up for members of our group to take a few puffs. Finally, we disembarked from the bus near the side of a large mogote that sheltered a tourist hotel. Growing on the side of the mogote were numerous individuals of Gaussia princeps and Leucothrinax morrisii. Like other members of the genus from Mexico and Puerto Rico, G. princeps featured sparse (Continued on page 13)
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About the Florida Keys TREE Institute
Cuba Pre-Tour (Continued from page 12)
crowns of emerald-green, arching, plumose pinnate leaves on long stems. The L. morrisii were fairly tall and had slightly disorderly crowns of large, dark-green, palmate leaves with silvery undersides. After our return to Havana, the IPS group viewed tourist landmarks on our way to a nice dinner at an outside cafe. Later, we went to a club where a group of flamenco artists provided entertainment. The following morning, we arrived at the Havana airport for a midday flight back to Miami. But once again, flexibility was called for. After two or three planes operated by the charter company suffered mechanical problems and could not carry us, we had to pool our financial resources and arrange for a special charter flight by another company to get back to Miami. In leaving, we had to pass by a hostile group of people who thought that we were taking their places on their own plane. But finally, we were airborne for the hour and a half flight back to the USA, where we arrived quite late in the evening. The 2014 IPS biennial began the next day with a board meeting and the welcome dinner. In retrospect, I believe that the Cuba pre-tour was a remarkable opportunity. The palms
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As Mike Merritt points out at the beginning of his article, the Florida Keys TREE Institute helped arrange the tours of Cuban palms. See the next column and the following pages for information about this organization.
_____________________________________ were incredible, the people friendly, the country fascinating, and I am very glad that I took the opportunity to participate in this tour.
The Florida Keys Tropical Research Ecological Exchange Institute (TREE Institute) is a charitable, non-profit organization that promotes better quality of life for all humanity through an understanding of plants and their role in providing balanced ecosystems around the world. The TREE Institute’s mission entails the encouragement and promotion of the following important strategies for connecting humanity with the important roles that plants play in our lives: Awareness, Education, Research, and Implementation. Current Projects: Matanzas Pharmacy Restoration, Documentation and Interpretation – Matanzas, Cuba Soroa Botanical Gardens, Interpretation/Visitation Strategies – Soroa, Cuba Hemingway Finca, Heritage Landscape Restoration – San Francisco, Cuba Ortega Medicinal Plant Center, Restoration, Documentation, and Testing - Cienfuegos, Cuba Land purchase and ecological restoration of habitat – Colombia S.A.
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Ernest Hemingway Estate, Havana, Cuba – Finca Vigía MuseumGrounds Restoration and Maintenance Project The Florida Keys TREE (Tropical Research Ecological Exchange) Institute, Key West
By Russell Moore, ASLA, AICP Russell Moore is a practicing urban planner and landscape architect with over 35 years experience in the public and private sectors. He has been the owner and founding partner in two major planning and design consultancies in the US: DSW Inc. in Denver Colorado and the RMPK Group in Sarasota Florida. He has a Bachelors of Architecture from the University of Colorado and Masters in Regional Planning and Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. Project Background and Overview The TREE Institute has been working with the people of Cuba on several important resource preservation projects. Recently, the Institute has been preserving the documentation of the historically significant pharmaceutical prescriptions for medicinal plants at the French Medicinal Plant Pharmacy in Matanzas. The Institute’s work at the Pharmacy was very well received. As a result, the TREE Institute was invited to help initiate and implement a Heritage Landscape Restoration Program at the Cuban home of Ernest Hemingway – Finca Vigía. The Office of Patrimony requested that
The entrance to Hemingway’s Cuban house, Finca Vigía
we inventory the existing and historical conditions of the grounds of the Finca Vigía Museum and develop a methodology for restoration, visitation, and interpretation of this important Cultural Heritage Landscape. Finca Vigía History Ernest Hemingway, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize for Literature, lived in Cuba longer than he lived anywhere else— from 1939-1960, one third of his life. His Cuban home, Finca Vigía or Lookout Farm, was the only stable residence of his adult life. At the Finca, he wrote many of his finest works For Whom the Bell Tolls, Across the River and Into the Trees, The Old Man and the Sea, A
Moveable Feast, Islands in the Stream, and numerous short stories and articles. At Finca Vigía, he accepted the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature, and donated his gold medal to the Cuban people as a token of the kinship he felt with Cuba. Hemingway’s long and productive life in Cuba is the period that has been studied and understood the least. Hemingway once said, when asked why he lived in Cuba, that it was complicated…….but “I work as well there in those cool early mornings as I ever have worked anywhere in the world.” Today the Finca Vigía covers about 40,000 square meters (almost ten acres) and contains four original structures: the main house, the tower, the pool, and the bungalow-garage. The pavilion housing Hemingway's cabin cruiser Pilar was added in 1993. These structures are surrounded by green areas and gardens of rose bushes, almond and mango trees, casuarinas, and orchids. Project Goals and Objectives (Continued on page 15)
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Hemingway Estate (Continued from page 14)
The primary goal of the project is to develop a long range plan for the restoration of the grounds using a design setting that closely matches the one during the time of Hemingway’s stay. Once the plan was developed, then it became important to follow-up with four implementation steps: 1. A restoration plan to restore the grounds of Finca Vigia to a setting similar to the way it was during the time of the Hemingway residence. 2. A grounds crew training and maintenance program 3. A visitation plan for handling the large quantity of current and future tour groups that will be frequenting the property. 4. An interpretive plan to provide a means for multiple tour groups to visit the Finca at the same time and learn of the fun and interesting facts and events that occurred in and around the home of Ernest Hemingway. The Visitation Master Plan The Hemingway Home at Finca Vigía is one of the top tourist destinations in Cuba right now. Busloads of tourists from all over the world bring hundreds of visitors a day. Currently,
The Palmateer there are no facilities to handle this massive invasion of visitors every day. The TREE Institute planning team is currently working with the museum director, Ada Rosa Alfonso, to develop a master plan for the Finca. The master plan focuses on the development of facilities to accommodate the ever increasing number of visitors and to protect this world heritage resource at the same time. The Interpretive Plan Currently, the visitor experience is very limited at the Finca. Since the main house and the Hemingway boat – “Pilar” are the only facilities that have been restored to-date, these are the focus of the visitation. The tourists are dropped off by their buses. Then, they take a short walk up the driveway to view the house from the outside through the windows and doors. After viewing the house, they walk to the Pilar via the pool area and then return to their buses. All of the interpretation is done by the guides. The paths are small and barely able to accommodate 2-way traffic. There are no interpretive paths or information about the extensive grounds and landscape at this time. The TREE Institute planning team has been working with the museum director to develop a series of interpretive pathways in order to provide a wider range of visitor experience at the Finca. In addition, the team is interested
15 in providing a means to distribute the visitors around the site in order to accommodate more people at one time and to provide a broader and more diverse visitor experience. Four major routes have been determined at this time; 1. The Home, 2. The Pool and Pillar, 3. The South Finca, and 4. The North Finca The Future The TREE Institute is at the beginning of what is sure to be a long and important relationship with Hemingway Museum. We are currently in the process of applying for some grants to fund the on-going planning and training efforts. In addition, the Institute has some donors who are willing to match some grant monies to begin the reconstruction of the important landscape amenities of the Hemingway era. The first phase will be to redevelop the northern rose terrace followed by the major access drive and pedestrian pathways. The concept plan for the visitor drop-off and orientation center has been approved. What remains is getting the needed funds allocated for construction of these important amenities. If you would like to help, please contact me through the TREE Institute.
September 2014
The Palmateer Fig. 2. Jucara Palm, Euterpe edulis.
June Meeting Report: CFPACS Goes to Leu
Fig. 1. Salacca wallichiana. Ray HernĂĄndez stands at a respectful distance from those impressive spines. (Photos by Maryann Krisovitch)
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On a hot and sunny day in June, the Society returned to Leu Gardens in Orlando. It had been about six years since our last visit and there have been many changes. With over 50 CFPACS members in attendance, Palm Master Eric Schmidt began by telling us the history of the garden and the Leu family. Also joining us on our tour was Leu Gardens’ Executive Director, Robert Bowden. The Gardens have been
a wonderful supported of CFPACS and we greatly appreciate their hospitality. Several times a year, Eric provides us with palms he has propagated to sell at our meeting auctions. Although Leu Gardens has an extensive palm and cycad area, our tour wound through nearly the entire garden as Eric has inserted palms and cycads into various locations. Cameras were snapping all over! We noted a beautiful Rakum Palm, Salacca wallichiana (Fig 1) which is a spiny clustering palm reaching 4-6 feet. It bears large scaly fruit that are sweet and edible. The Rakum prefers moist fertile soil and shade or partial sun. It is native to southeast Asia.. The Palm Garden contains over 250 species of palms. Many are cold hardy for the central Florida area. Some will be injured in a severe freeze but will recover. Many of the palms are being evaluated for cold-hardiness. This information is being shared with landscape professionals and homeowners alike in hopes (Continued on page 17)
September 2014
June Meeting Report (Continued from page 16)
of expanding the palette of palms used in the Florida landscape. Another interesting palm was the Jucara (Euterpe edulis) (Fig 2) which can reach 20-30 feet. The palm prefers full to partial shade and moist soil. It is native from eastern Brazil to Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. The Black Palm (Normanbya normanbyi) (Fig 3), is found growing in rain forests up to 30-40 feet tall. It is cold sensitive and grows best in full shade with moist soil. It is native to Queensland, Australia. Fig 3 – The Black Palm with CPFACS President Lucinda McCartney for scale.Native to northeastern Australia, the Cooktown Fan Palm (Livistona concinna) (Fig 4) grows 30-50 feet tall in partial shade and moist soil. Fig 5 – Sabal palmetto “Lisa”, a CFPACS favorite of the day. Following a quick lunch offproperty, members enjoyed a lively plant auction and sale. Many thanks to all who donated items for the auction! Our tour ended at the famous four trunk Phoenix sylvestris.
The Palmateer Below, Fig. 3, the Black Palm, Normanbya normanbyi, with President Lucinda for scale.
Upper right, Fig. 4, the Cooktown Fan Palm, Livistona concinna. Lower right, Fig. 5, Sabal ‘Lisa’.
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September 2014
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Salacca wallichiana in Central Florida
Salacca wallichiana at Leu. Right, the leaf (forget about the spines—for a moment).
By Eric Schmidt Salacca wallichiana, Rakum Palm, is a clustering palm native to a wide region in southeastern Asia, from central Myanmar to Thailand and Vietnam and south into Malaysia and Sumatra in western Indonesia. It forms dense clumps that can reach 10-12 feet tall and equally as wide. The trunks are often creeping and grow 4-6 feet in height. The trunks and leaves are armed with whorls of long black spines. This is a palm I had never considered growing here at Leu Gardens in Orlando. I had admired specimens of various Salacca species at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami but had always thought of them as being too tender in this area. Paul Craft originally suggested I might try Salacca wallichiana here as it seemed to have some cold hardiness. So in October 2000 I acquired a specimen from Bobick’s. This palm was in a 1 gallon pot so I waited until winter had passed to plant it. It was planted in June of 2001 in a shady location under high tree canopy. This location is in (Continued on page 19)
September 2014
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Salacca wallichiana (Continued from page 18)
the woods adjacent to Lake Rowena. Being on the southeastern side of the lake gives this area a nice warm microclimate and the tree canopy keeps away frost. Since then the palm has thrived and grown into a dense clump around 8 feet tall and 5 feet wide. It has experienced temperatures down into the upper 20sF with little or no damage. It even survived the cold winter of 2009-10 with just minor foliar damage. This same winter wiped out specimens of Salacca magnifica and Salacca zalacca that were growing nearby. Despite the vicious spines, it makes a great ornamental specimen if given space. This palm could be planted as an impenetrable barrier. The new leaves are colorful and often emerge with a reddish coloring then fade to dark green. Another positive aspect of this palm is that it bears edible fruit. The fruit are egg shaped and 2-3 inches long. They are covered in red colored scales. It is widely grown in southeastern Asia for these fruit. The specimen here at Leu Gardens has flowered but has never set fruit yet.
Rakum Palm for an impenetrable barrier? Oh, yes. . . Rakum Palm grows best in a shaded location and with moist soil. It is tolerant of wet soil and can grow in swampy locations. From the
September 2014
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CUBA: MORE THAN JUST PALMS By Lucinda McCartney Seeing Copernicia baileyanas growing wild on the hillside as far as the eye can see in both directions. That’s Cuba. But antique American automobiles tootling down every street is also Cuba. As are plastic trash bags washed clean and hanging out to dry on crumbling balconies for later re-use. I was one of those lucky enough to join a recent “People to People” tour of the storied island just 90 miles south of Key West. Accompanied in June by Paul Craft, we trekked from the east end of Cuba (Moa) just north of Guantanamo to Vignales and the cigar production country on the west by bus, plane, bicycle taxi, horse-drawn carriage and, yes, old autos. True, the palms were beyond description – and you’ll read more about those elsewhere in this issue of The Palmateer -- but the resourcefulness of the Cuban people and their colorful cars surviving cheerfully in a repressive society impressed me even more. Cubans don’t throw anything away. Or least not much. In 2012 just over 5.3 million tons of trash ended up somewhere in one of the country’s 986 garbage dumps. That’s a skinny 96 pounds of paper, rotten fruit, rags, cardboard, plastic, etc. per person per year. In Florida, during the same period, each of us tossed 1.46 TONS of trash on untold numbers of garbage dumps throughout the state. The statistics don’t have much to do with palms, but they say a lot about life in Cuba and the estimated 60,000 or so 60 +/- year old cars that are almost synonymous with Havana.
Sergie Josevich, one of our tour guides, told how parts from a broken Russian washing machine were cannibalized, then “re-purposed” into a cotton candy machine, a fan and a lawn mower. The same holds true for the cars which, except for the vivid paint jobs, may look like their original selves on the outside—-- but old time General Motors engineers wouldn’t recognize anything under the hood. As we toured Havana, fond memories kept me looking for a twin to my first car, a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible. But nostalgia has nothing to do with keeping these “Yank Tanks” rolling. Castro’s 1959 Revolution and the subsequent U.S. embargo on shipment of new cars and replacement parts to the island nation made ingenuity and mechanical genius critical for Cubans and their wheels. Their success at making do is something for the history books. Curb side body shops are a common sight and serve to keep old cars from degenerating into rust buckets. On side streets here and there outside a restaurant or under the shade of clustering palms, one sees a talented repairman patiently sanding Bondo newly plastered on an automotive dinosaur by hand without fancy electric finishing machines. And hiding in glove boxes may be controls for a modern music system installed to replace the original non-functioning radios. Seats have been reupholstered more than once with fake leather, sturdy cloth, fake fur … whatever material was available. Our group piled into a dozen of these automotive beauties one afternoon and paraded joyfully through some of the city’s more notable landmarks. The proud driver(Continued on page 21)
Plastic bags drying for re-use in Havana.
September 2014
Cuba: More Than Palms (Cntinued from page 20)
owners squiring us around were equally happy to see how much we appreciated their handiwork. Many of us who travel the world enjoy returning home with tangible goods representing the countries we visit. The ultimate souvenirs from Cuba (for me) would be 1) seeds from a 30-year- old baileyana and 2) tooling around Snead Island FL where I live in a Yank Tank convertible with a Cuban cigar in one hand and a cup of Cuban rum in the other. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to bring any of them home.
Top, Cuban autos. Right, an on-street body shop.
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September 2014
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What’s in an Apopka Garden ?
Fig. 1, above, Chamaedorea plumosa with author for scale. Fig. 2, left, Chamaedorea plumosa inflorence and infructescence.
By Ron Hart, Central Vice President This article is the third in a series and will highlight five more species that we have had success growing at our home in Apopka. For those of you unaware of where Apopka is located, we are approximately 20 miles northwest Orlando. Some of our palms struggle to make it through each winter, while others thrive. As we slowly show the readers the 135 species we have, we will try to describe the difficulties we have encountered within our protected shady microclimate. This month my lovely assistant, Maryann, was only willing to pose with the palms part time. This time her excuse was that she had no makeup. Now I finally understand the difficulties of working with a model. Because of these issues, the author was forced to stand by the palms to provide scale. Maybe in time for the next newsletter, I will have a professional makeup artist on standby to assure the cooperation of our model. Now, on to the palms. The area of the yard that we will focus our attention on in this article is the front entry. The area contains 5 prominent species of
palms and many smaller specimens that we will focus on in later issues as they continue to grow. Our first species is a Chamaedorea plumosa and was planted in April 2010 (Figure 1). This palm is native to Mexico and is approximately 14’ tall with approximatly 8’ of clear trunk. At every node, this palm developes a bright orange inflorescence that is striking against the dark green trunk (Figure 2). This feature along with its tall thin wispy appearance makes this species one of our favorites. During our colder winters, this palm has developed a stunted leaf or two before pushing out good normal growth. As you can see by the size, it has grown rapidly in the past four years. Directly in the front middle of our house we have planted a clump of Archontophoenix tuckerii (Figure 3). This palm is native to Queensland, Australia. The largest palm in the clump is approximately 11’ tall and has about 8 inches of clear trunk. These palms were give to us by past CFPACS President Dave Reid (Go Knights). They were planted in March 2010 and suffered approximately 30% (Continued on page 23)
September 2014
Fig. 3, Archontophoenix tuckeri with Maryann Krisovitch.
What’s in an Apopka Garden ? (Continued from page 22)
leaf damage during the cold snap in February 2013. All other winters they have performedwell. One interesting note is that when planted, the individual plants were somewhat
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similar in size. However with time, the largest ones have greatly out performed over their dwarfed siblings. Common sense tells us that we should weed out these smaller palms so that the do not compete with the larger ones. We, however, love all our palms equally and can’t sacrifice the little ones. An additional note: notice the little Saribus rotundifolius in the bottom right of the photo. Our third species planted near the front corner of the house is a Cocothrinax alta (Figure 4). It is native to Peurto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Our palm stands about 6 feet tall and has a foot of trunk. She was planted April 2009 and has not shown any cold damage except during the winter of 2010 where she suffured 30% leaf burn. It only took till mid summer for this palm to outgrow the cold damage and fully recover to its full stately elegance. The fourth species is a Veitchia spiralis (Figure 5). This species is native to Vanuatu and was planted in April 2009. In 2010, the palm experienced a 30% leaf burn from the cold winter and in 2013 it experienced leaf spotting from the cold. I know that some of you are saying, “What are you doing trying to grow a Veitchia that far up north?!” Lets just say we are crazy and like a challenge. So far (Continued on page 24)
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Fig. 4, Coccothrinax alta (above) and Veitchia spiralis (below)
September 2014
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What’s in an Apopka Garden ? (Continued from page 23)
everything is good (fingers and toes crossed). Our last palm for this newsletter is a 10’ tall Carpentaria acuminata (Figure 6). They are native to the Northern Territory of Australia. This palm was planted in April of 2009 and has not showed any signs of cold damage. However, this is not the first Carpentaria planted in the same spot. The original Carpentaria died from cold damage during the winter of 08/09. On the coldest night with temperatures at 1 am in the high 20’s, our irrigation came on and coated all our plants with a heavy layer of ice. As you would expect, the Carpentaria died within a couple of weeks. We have a rule that we will try any palm twice before giving up and we are certainly glad we replanted. This graceful palm has been a showpiece for our front yard.
Fig. 6, Maryann again, with Carpentaria acuminata.
Palm Beach Palm & Cycad Society Fall 2014 Annual Palm & Cycad Sale Saturday, October 11, 9-4 Sunday, October 12, 9-3 Free Admission More than 500 species of Palms & Cycads Mounts Botanical Garden 531 N. Military Trail West Palm Beach
September 2014
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Two New Loppers (Reprinted by permission from the Palm Beach Palm & Cycad Society’s September 2014 Monthly Update) By Charlie Beck I recently purchased two new loppers. Each lopper advertised a feature which would ease specific tasks in the garden. One had a whopping 3” cutting capacity and the other had a 3x mechanical advantage without the typical compound linkage. With more than 1000 palms planted in our garden, we have our share of fallen and trimmed fronds. Rather than dragging these fronds to the curb for pickup, I cut up the fronds to use as mulch. Ultimately these fronds break down like any other mulch and enrich the soil with organic compost. I can spend several hours each week cutting fronds, so finding a lopper with a larger cutting capacity or one with a durable mechanical advantage would save a lot of effort. I describe those two new loppers below. The Corona WL 6490 lopper with 37” long hickory handles boasted a full 3” cutting capacity. This extra capacity allows me to cut through large palm fronds with a single cut. Bismarckia and Cocos petioles are no match
for these super duty loppers. As with all Corona products, these are heavy duty and are high quality. Corona uses a forged hook and a large resharpenable blade. All repair parts are available at Corona’s website. These loppers have a single pivot point so they rely on the long handles for mechanical advantage. The wooden handles have adequate strength to cut through large fronds. These loppers are noticeably heavier than ones with aluminum handles. Carrying them around for hours at a time does take additional effort. A nice feature of this model is the spring loaded shock stop bumper. It seems more durable than a rubber bumper which requires regular replacement. Do not expect to cut through 3” diameter hardwood branches with these loppers. There is not enough leverage with the single pivot mechanism and the 37” handles. It’s fine for cutting through palm fronds though. When these loppers are opened the handles are widely spread. This requires a lot of clearance for the handles when maneuvering in (Continued on page 26)
Left, above, Corona WL 6490 lopper and, right, The Fiskars 32” PowerGear lopper . Below, the Fiskars extended.
September 2014
Two New Loppers (Continued from page 25)
tight situations. The wide spread handles also make these loppers less convenient to carry around the garden. These loppers are competitively priced when compared to other professional quality products. Because of their large cutting capacity, they have become my pruner of choice for cutting palm fronds. The Fiskars 32” PowerGear lopper claimed a 3x mechanical advantage due its PowerGear design. The cutting capacity is 2 inches. The mechanical advantage of this lopper is not overstated. The gear mechanism does deliver extra cutting power. The mechanical advantage reduces the effort required to cut small palm petioles or woody branches but their use is limited due to its 2” maximum cutting capacity. Another disadvantage is that the handles must be widely spread to open the cutting jaws. This requires quite a bit of clearance around the branch you want to cut. Sometimes you don’t have the handle clearance you need when you are pruning in tight areas. The PowerGear design is a great improvement over other compound action loppers that I have used in the past. The gear mecha-
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nism is simple and I expect it will be quite durable. The handles are hollow aluminum which make these loppers very light to carry. The handles close enough to allow easy one handed carrying around the garden. These are not professional quality loppers. Long term durability is unknown. They are sold at box hardware stores and are quite inexpensive. Replacement blades are available on Fiskars’ website. This lopper has become my lopper of choice when pruning woody branches and small palm fronds. In the March 2011 Newsletter I reviewed four additional loppers. Two of those loppers, the Felco Model 22 and the Fred Marvin “Garden of Eden” models are still highly recommended. Our website now contains an indexed list and full text of all Newsletters dating back to January 2009. It also has a site search feature which allows you to quickly find past subjects. If you are considering buying loppers, I encourage you to visit our website for this article at the address listed below: http:// www.palmbeachpalmcycadsociety.com/ newsletter/News_2011_03.pdf
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Another Clue on Global Warming? The small palm pictured below is Mauritiella armata, a palm from the Amazon, bought tiny at a palm sale maybe 12 years ago. It’s now up to the shoulder of the proprietor of the Palmz ‘n’ Weedz garden in Vero Beach. At the very front, at the bottom, is a thin blue-gray sucker.
September 2014
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Treasurer’s Report $15,014.03 Checking Balance 5/31/14 Jun-Aug Deposits 1,483.17 Jun-Aug Checks 1,584.29 Ending Checking Balance (8/31/14) $14,912.91 Gain/(Loss) $(101.12) Income Year to Date Membership $1,440.30 Merchandise 36.00 Private Sales 1,843.98 Public Sales 2,120.95 Seed Bank 451.15 Total Income Year to Date $5,892.38 Expenses Year to Date Meeting Expense $427.83 IPS Dues 45.00 Office Supplies 330.14 Public Relations 0.00 Seed Bank 161.13 Taxes 498.66 Vendor Fees 333.05 Vendor Proceeds 2,498.40 Website 345.00 Total Expenses Year to Date $4,639.21 Other Assets Endowment Fund Balance 3/31/14 $12,034.71 CD #1 12-28-14 maturity $3,265.41 CD #2 9-25-14 maturity $3,148.13 Sales Cash Box $300.50 Total Assets $18,748.75 Liabilities U.A. Young Collection Relocation Commitment $5,000.00 Total Liabilities $5,000.00 Net Worth as of 8/31/14 $28,661.66
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A Very Old Latania in Vero
About 20 years ago the then-owner of this acre plus property asked me why none of the seeds from the palm had germinated. I went to look, then asked if there were any others of the same species there. No. Had to explain to him that this species has individuals either male or female. He had a female Latania lontaroides. A local businesswoman had once lived there, I was told. I tracked her down and she told me this had been a very small palm when she came to the house as a bride in 1936. The palm hasn’t grown much in the last 20
years, is now maybe 25 feet high. Remarkable, however, is how many freezes it has survived over all these years. It grows out in the open with no protection from the large house 75 feet away, out of sight, at the left. The trees behind are at the northeast, not exactly the correct angle for protection from freezing temperatures coming from the north and northwest. In addition, I doubt if it has been fertilized in many years. The owner in 1936 was employed by McKee Jungle Gardens, a simple tourist attraction with monkeys and parrots that was put out of business by Disney World and I-95 in the early 1970s. —John Kennedy
September 2014
From the Editor’s Desk OK, new format for The Palmateer. Why? To make things a bit easier on your Editor. The 30-page June issue took me 12 hours to lay out, that is in the book form in which it appeared, with many two-page spreads. The content had to be fitted to the page or connected, the pictures sized for the space. The result was an almost lookalike version of the old printed newsletter was printed and mailed. The 12 hours did not include the preliminary handling of either submitted text or pictures but was in addition to that. I don’t really wish to repeat the lengthy and somewhat exhausting process. The new version continues the complete article on the next and (possibly) successive pages. **** A big story on Cuban palms from our former treasurer, Mike Merritt, now living in Hawaii. Then another story from President Lucinda about sights other than palms in Cuba. Cuban palms—32 or 34 species of Copernicia?—are of great interest to Floridians because just about all are possibilities to grow in our area (Oh, all right, not in Gainesville or Jacksonville). The recent IPS Biennial in Miami of-
The Palmateer fered two tours to Cuba, one before and one after the event. Two people see the same things or maybe not. Read the stories and find out. I did expect Lucinda to be more resourceful, to come home with the plans on how to distill your own rum at home. Craft Rum. **** It’s been an odd summer on the Treasure Coast, maybe everywhere else in Florida? Much rain and, when not raining, overcast. The sun often was out in the morning but the clouds started rolling in around 10 or so. My palms in August usually produce numerous inflorescences, but this hasn’t happened. My prized Burretiokentia hapala had green fruit in March that should have ripened in early to mid-June. Instead, still green in the third week in August. And looking at a couple of Royal Poinciana trees the other day, I realized that if they had bloomed this summer, I had missed it (maybe a few flowers at the very top?). **** Lucita Wait was David Fairchild’s secretary and an early figure in The Palm Society before this morphed into the IPS. She thought palms were best seen when not full size but maybe 6 feet above people’s eye level. That way it was possible to see the foliage and the characteristics of the palm. She didn’t like it when palms
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became so tall that binoculars were necessary to get a good look at the crown. What do you think? As my Veitchia arecina moves up out of easy view and Archontophoenix myolensis is almost there, I do see her point. **** Palm debris bothers me, though not real much. Waste Management, the Indian River County contractor, will remove yard waste— such as dead fronds—if these are cut into lengths no more than 4 feet long and inserted into containers (such as empty garbage cans). If placed on the ground by the street, these are left there. I wonder how many others living on suburban lots have, as I do, four separate piles of dropped palm parts, discreetly not quite visible unless someone really looks. And rotting as fast as possible, of course. The feature on really good loppers from Charlie Beck, the Palm Beach editor, really hits the spot with me. **** I’ve tried to grow Licuala ramsayi—not difficult for many people, or so I understand—but it’s dying on me yet again, maybe fourth time, so perhaps to give up. Once it even died in the pot, not even giving me the chance to let it expire in the ground, so eager was it to de(Continued on page 29)
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From the Editor’s Desk (Continued from page 28)
part. I am reminded of tropical fish bought in high school that died as soon as I got them home from the store. **** May I recommend to you Le Palmier, the three-times-a-year magazine from Fous de Palmiers, the French palm society? It’s handsome, full of good pictures, and the folks are always planning or returning from some palm excursion. There are few printed palm magazines anymore; this is one. Yes, it is in French. I was required, for a graduate degree, to pass a reading test in French which I did with the help of the Bluebird of Happiness or maybe the Holy Ghost. So I am able to get the gist of much of what’s there. The editor is an American long resident in France, Steve Swinscoe. **** Reading Mike Merritt’s account of Copernicia species in Cuba, I was struck by how similar the description of leaves was for several species. Maybe seeing the different species near each other (or recently), the differences are apparent. ****
Seed Bank The seed bank hasn't received many donations of seeds this quarter. We did have very rare seed which sold right away. Thank you to the contributors, you are the funding for the seed bank. Donations are greatly appreciated. If anyone has fresh seed that they wish to donate, please bring them to the October meeting. —Dorothy Kellogg, Seed Bank Coordinator
I am very sorry for how late this issue of The Palmateer is. The reason, unfortunately, was that I have been sick and unable to prepare the issue. I’m feeling much better now or you wouldn’t be reading this. I hope you like the new, continuous format.. My thanks to my son, Matthew Kennedy, for solving a major computer problem for me. **** N. B.: There was no Board Meeting during the June meeting. John
Kennedy
The Editor’s prize Burretiokentia hapala with three big inflorescences and a fourth about to appear. Yet no flower has opened in the entire summer of much rain and relatively little sunshine.
September 2014
PayPal Tutorial Here is how to make a payment to CFPACS using PayPal 1) Log on to http://www.paypal.com 2) If you have a PayPal account, log into your account. If you do not have a PayPal account, click on the ‘Personal’ tab. Once on the
The Palmateer The International Palm Society (IPS) 9300 Sandstone Street Austin, TX 78737-1135 Regular membership, $45, quarterly journal http://palms.org
‘Personal’ page go to ‘Send Money’ and then ‘Send Money Online.’ 3) Once on the ‘Send Money’ page, type ‘payments@cfpacs.com’ in the ‘To’ field. Type in your email address in the ‘From’ field and the amount you wish to pay in the ‘Amount’ field. 4) From there you will be taken to a secure page where you can enter your name, address and credit card information. 5) When you are ready to finish up the payment process, please indicate whether your payment is for membership or seeds or tshirts in the message field. The Cycad Society 11701 Barchetta Drive Austin, TX 78758 Regular membership, $35, quarterly newsletter
CFPACS BENEFITS . Four tours a year of public and private
gardens, most of them with lunch included . Exposure to palm and cycad experts to help you with your own growing experience . Access to rare species from our own members . Subscription to the acclaimed, on-line CFPACS members-only quarterly, The Palmateer.
30 Join CFPACS Please print Name__________________________ Street___________________________ City_____________________________ State, County__________________________ Zip______________________________ Email____________________________ Phone (area)_____________________ Wish to be added to Seed Bank E-mail list? (Circle one) YES NO Willing to be listed publicly in roster? (Circle one) YES NO Mail check made out to CFPACS (domestic: $20 one year; $55 three years; foreign: US$20 one year) to: Maryann Krisovitch CFPACS Treasurer 1008 Little Fawn Court Apopka, FL 32712 treasurer@cfpacs.com Membership also available at website: www.cfpacs.com The dues of anyone joining after October 1 are applied to the following calendar year and include the December issue. Those joining before October 1 receive all four issues of The Palmateer for the current year (March, June, September, December).
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The Central Florida Palm & Cycad Society service area includes the following counties:
CFPACS Board PRESIDENT Lucinda McCartney 4217 Marlin Ln. Palmetto, FL 34221 president@cfpacs.com EAST VICE-PRESIDENT Janice Broda 12396 Hwy. A1A Vero Beach, FL 32963 eastvp@cfpacs.com CENTRAL VICE-PRESIDENT Ron Hart 1008 Little Fawn Ct. Apopka, FL 32712 centralvp@cfpacs.com WEST VICE-PRESIDENT Mike Evans 6015 - 100th Way N. St. Petersburg FL 33708 westvp@cfpacs.com IMMEDIATE PAST-PRESIDENT David Reid 100 Hilliard Ln. Merritt Island, FL 32952 pastpresident@cfpacs.com SECRETARY Chuck Grieneisen PO Box 621689 Oviedo FL 32762 secretary@cfpacs.com
TREASURER Maryann Krisovitch 1008 Little Fawn Ct. Apopka, FL 32712 treasurer@cfpacs.com MEMBERSHIP CHAIR Karen Barrese 5942 Ehren Cutoff Land O Lakes, FL 34639 cfpacsmembership@msn.com PALMATEER EDITOR John Kennedy 3225 - 13th St. Vero Beach FL 32960 palmateer@cfpacs.com CFPACS SEED BANK Dorothy Kellogg 1807 Jiretz Rd. Odessa, FL 33556 seedbank@cfpacs.com MEETING COORDINATORS Susan Dow & Rob Branch 1314 38th St. Sarasota, FL 34234 meetings@cfpacs.com
Alachua, Brevard, Citrus, DeSoto, Flagler, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Levy, Manatee, Marion, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Lucie, Sumter, Suwannee, and Volusia.
Can you identify the palm at right? It’s growing in the late Jules Horwitz’s garden in Lakewood Park, north of Fort Pierce. One suggestion : that this is Heterospathe elata. (Photo by Steve Horwitz)