Letters
Your chance to air your news and views
Ricinus Offer
Last year when I was on holiday in Tenerife I collected a small
quantity of seed from a large Castor Oil plant (Ricinus communis).
This year, around April, I germinated them in my propagator on the
kitchen window sill, and in six months they had grown very rapidly
to approximately 150cm high and even now, in late summer, they look
superb in my exotic garden in S. Yorkshire.
This year I was fortunate enough to holiday in Madeira, and guess
which plant was growing just outside our hotel? Yes, Ricinus. Needless
to say, I returned home with over 200 seeds with EPS members in
mind. If anyone would like a small quantity of these beautiful seeds,-
say 10 to 15 depending on how much demand there is, then please
send a stamped addressed envelope, (or International Reply Coupon)
and I will gladly post some to you.
Howard Hale, 43 Richard Road, Broom Valley, Rotherham, South
Yorkshire, S602QP UK. Phone +44 (0)1709365199.
Underwatering Palms 2
Do you remember your reply to my letter in Chamaerops, 'Underwatering
Palms'? This summer I completely submerged a Phoenix roebelenii
seedling (6th leaf stage) in my outdoor pond, and left it in flowing
water for four months. (Water conditions: pH 7.2, 2025 deg.C, slightly
hard, clear, shaded). Not only did it not develop any signs of overwatering
(e.g.. brown leaf tips) but it actually partly grew a new leaf,
albeit at a slower rate than usual. It seems that this may be more
evidence for Sasha Barrow's theory of P. roebelenii being a rhenphyte
(that is, a plant adapted to growing within the flood.zone of a
river). I have now taken the palm out of the water now that winter
is approaching, but next year it will go back in for an even longer
period!
I have been waiting to receive some Chamaedorea cataractum seeds
for over 2 years now. I am fascinated by this palm which is not
only interesting because of its rheophitic habit but because it
is a beautiful palm for both indoor and outdoor decoration. I have
even bought Don Hodel's 'Chamaedorea Palms' practically just to
obtain more information about it. Meanwhile Inge Hoffmann has told
me that the only seed source is Mexico, even though Hodel states
that it is reproducing elsewhere. I would be very glad to hear if
anyone can supply with even a few viable seeds, I am willing to
pay up to $20.
Stephan Mifsud, Malta.
A Palm Museum - for the New Palmetum in Santa Cruz,
Tenerife, Canary Islands
Palm objects are often displayed in museums, but until now there
has never been a stand-alone museum devoted exclusively to palms,
the products they provide and other palm-related materials. The
Palm Museum, under construction as part of an ambitious project
to establish a new Palmetum in Santa Cruz, is therefore an exciting
development for palm fanciers.
The primary theme of the Museum exhibits will be the importance
of palms to human society through providing subsistence and manufactured
products. Secondary themes under consideration include African palms
and palms in culture and art. To demonstrate the importance of particularly
useful species, special exhibits of the array of products from multipurpose
species such as the coconut are under consideration.
Members of the Palm Society who have palm objects they would consider
donating, or IPS chapters willing to support the purchase of an
object for the Palm Museum collection, are invited to contact me
at the address below. I will be glad to provide information on the
types of objects and materials we are seeking. Gifts to the Palm
Museum will be acknowledged in the exhibit.
Dennis Johnson, Consultant
Tenerife Palm Museum
11 Colgate Street
Pocatello ID 83201 USA
Telephone and Fax +12082328090 E-mail djohn37@aol.com
Tropical Treasures
I've been a member of the EPS since spring 1997. The first palm
I ever had was Ptychosperma elegans I got it from the Botanical
Garden in a town called Jena, Germany, where I was studying. The
students at the Botanical faculty told me that this plant would
be dead within three months. Currently it's about 3m (lOft) tall
and is 15 years old! It was that which inspired me to try other
tropical palms in indoor normal cultivation.
So in my collection are Astrocaryum mexicanum, Roystonea regia,
Beccariophoenix madagascariensis, several Veitchia, several Pritchardia
and Dypsis, Wodyetia bifurcata and about 90 other species. All these
palms are in my (big!) sitting room, and they have been growing
there for many years without any problems! The under-floor heating
seems to suit them since some grow nearly 1cm every day, Veitchia
and Roystonea for example. To overcome the problems of dry air I
spray them with water, but having an aquarium in the room is also
beneficial. The temperature is normal, about 22deg.C.
But I don't only grow tropical palms. In the same room are Butia,
several Chamaedorea spp. and some Livistona under the same conditions,
though normally you would expect them to require different conditions.
I hope this letter will encourage others to cultivate tropical -
and other - palms indoors, in areas that are perhaps not usually
suitable for them. Finally, if you are interested, please send an
International Reply Coupon for my complete Palm List.
Jörg Schumann, Rathausplatz 2, 09247 Rohrsdorf Germany.
Patience Pays
First of all, I must congratulate you on your excellent translation
of the magazine "CHAMAEROPS". Thanks to it, I decided
to take out a subscription which means that I do not lose any of
the details like I used to, having to put up with just a rough translation
of my own.
I was surprised to hear that Martin Gibbons doesn't know of anyone
who has managed to grow a sucker of CHAMAEROPS HUMILIS. I managed
with no trouble, albeit with a lot of patience but had thought it
fairly usual.
I was in Tunisia in 1984 when someone sold me one for only a few
dinars: the vendor insisted that it would grow away easily IF I
buried the trunk 2/3 yds of its depth. I wouldn't have bet another
dinar on it as it was about 20 cm high with a few green leaves,
but only a few sad-looking, nearly nonexistent roots. It was obvious
that it had been separated from the mother plant in a rough way.
All the same, I decided to have a go and after having soaked it
in the hotel wash-hand basin for a few days (!), I planted it as
soon as I got home as instructed, put it in the greenhouse and waited
for a long time!
During the summer of 1984 it did absolutely nothing: it grew no
new green leaves, but it didn't lose any either which seemed miraculous.
During the freezing February of 1985, a power cut left the greenhouse
at -15ūC. Needless to say, most of my little palms died off, even
the Chamaerops but the little shoot seemed unaffected. By the summer
of 1985 it hadn't grown an inch and if it hadn't been such a survivor,
I would have thrown it away. In 1986, it finally grew a new leaf
and since the summer of 1987 it has literally exploded into life.
It is now a magnificent specimen living in a large pot and it flowers
every year. The only peculiar thing is that it has never produced
a sucker. My advice to all palm lovers is : be patient.
This experience may be interesting to Martin Gibbons, as well as
other readers of Chamaerops If you agree, I'll leave you to do the
translation, knowing that it'll be easier for you than for me.
I hope that the palms from Marseille are happy in your region.
Christian Toulza, MARSEILLE
(This letter was forwarded by Yann Corbel, our erstwhile translator.)

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02-02-23 - 11:10GMT
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What's New? |
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New palm book |
Date: 24-05-2004 |

An Encyclopedia
of Cultivated Palms
by Robert Lee Riffle, Paul Craft. |
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New: Issue 48 |
Date: 24-05-2004 |
Chamaerops
48
has been published in the Members Area. |
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Archive complete! |
Date: 03-12-2002 |
All Chamaerops issues can now be found in the archive:
More than 350 articles are on-line! |
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Issues 13 to 16 |
Date: 28-08-2002 |
Chamaerops mags 13,
14,
15
and 16
have been added to the members area. More than 250 articles are now online! |
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42 as free pdf-file |
Date: 05-08-2002 |
Free
Download! Chamaerops No. 42 can be downloaded for free to intruduce the new layout and size to
our visitors |
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Issues 17 to 20 |
Date: 23-07-2002 |
Chamaerops mags 17,
18,
19
and 20
have been added to the members area. Now 218 articles online! |
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Book List |
Date: 28-05-2001 |
Take
a look at our brand new Book List edited by Carolyn Strudwick |
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New Book |
Date: 25-01-2001 |
'Palmen
in Mitteleuropa'
by Mario Stähler
This german book tells you all about how to cultivate your palms in Central Europe. more... |
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