Difference between revisions of "Basselinia gracilis"

Revision as of 07:51, 28 September 2014

Pronunciation: bass-suh-LIN-ee-uh grah-SILL-us

Common Name:

Basselinia gracilis is a colorful, small, understory palm (at least in California) and probably the easiest of all the Basselinias to grow in California. Many of these New Caledonian palms are fastidious and tricky to grow in California, but Basselinia gracilis has some remarkable cold tolerance as well as adaptability when it comes to soil type. Still, it is not a very easy plant to keep looking good and happy, but in the right microclimates, some growers have gotten this one to grow quite well. Basselinia eriostachys was a synonym, but recently has been raised back up to species status. The two are very similar.

Appearance and Biology

Habit: suckering with crowns of 5-7 pinnate leaves
Height: 4'-6'
Trunk: multiple; 1/2"-3/4" thick; slate grey to purplish with evenly spaced, neat rings; sometimes glaucous near crownshaft
Crownshaft: 6" long; dark red with fine, light striations, fading to a yellow near the top; wider than stem; sometimes with dark, purplish areas along one side
Spread: 2'-4'+
Leaf Description: pinnate; ovoid to lancelote leaflets, widely spaced along rachis; arching; bright green; 2' long; some forms have more fused leaflets to nearly bifid in very high mountain forms
Petiole/Leaf bases: 2"-3" long; yellow to yellow-green with dark speckling; with some reddish-orange where leaf bases hug stem, fading rapidly to dark grey-purple below; flat on top and curved below- no channelling
Reproduction: monoecious
Inflorescence: 1' long, highly branched; yellow base with red branches;
Fruit: 1/2"; spherical; light green, turning purple to black when ripe

Horticultural Characteristics

Minimum Temp: 30F
Drought Tolerance: low
Dry Heat Tolerance: low
Wind Tolerance: low
Salt Tolerance: unknown
Growth Rate: very slow to slow
Soil Preference: moist and adaptable but prefers soils relatively low in acidity
Light Requirement: filtered sun to partial shade near the coast
Human Hazards: none
Disease or Horticultural Problems: finicky palm and sometimes declines for inapparent reasons
Transplants?: fairly good if root ball relatively undisturbed
Indoor?: possibly but humidity requirements difficult to provide
Availability: rare but often available at palm specialty nurseries, particularly mail order ones

San Diego county, California
Vista, California
San Fernando valley, California
Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii, Lundkvist estate
Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii- colorful leaf bases
crownshaf in Hawaii
San Diego, California
flower
flower
in fruit

@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
 File:Basselinia gracilis DO shot.jpg|Hawaii
 File:Basselinia gracilis DO flash.jpg|Hawaii
-File:Basselinia gracilis leaves.jpg|leaf shot
 File:Basselinia gracilis nice colors leaf bases DO.jpg|Hawaii- colorful leaf bases
 File:Basselinia gracilis crownshaft P.jpg|crownshaf in Hawaii
-File:Basselinia gracils crownshaft.jpg|
+File:Basselinia gracils crownshaft.jpg|San Diego, California
 File:Basselinia gracilis yellow form.jpg|
 File:Basselinia gracilis flower.jpg|flower
@@ Line 57: / Line 57: @@
 File:Basselinia gracils in seed.jpg|in fruit
 </gallery>
+[[Category: Basselinia]]

Difference between revisions of "Basselinia gracilis"

Geoff Stein - Author & Editor

Revision as of 07:51, 28 September 2014