Difference between revisions of "Bismarckia nobilis"

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Image:IMG_1162.JPG|4/6/2009, Island of Venizia, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, edric.
 
Image:IMG_1162.JPG|4/6/2009, Island of Venizia, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, edric.
 
image:IMG_5852.jpg|At my Brothers, Via Benevento off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree, flowers for first time, edric.
 
image:IMG_5852.jpg|At my Brothers, Via Benevento off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree, flowers for first time, edric.
image:IMG_5853.jpg|At my Brothers, Via Benevento off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree, flowers for first time, edric.
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image:IMG_5853.jpg|6/24/2012, At my Brothers, Via Benevento off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree, flowers for first time, edric.
image:IMG_5855.jpg|At my Brothers, Via Benevento off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree, flowers for first time, edric.
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image:IMG_5855.jpg|6/24/2012, At my Brothers, Via Benevento off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree, flowers for first time, edric.
image:IMG_5858.jpg|At my Brothers, Via Benevento off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree, flowers for first time, edric.
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image:IMG_5858.jpg|6/24/2012, At my Brothers, Via Benevento off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree, flowers for first time, edric.
image:IMG_5859.jpg|At my Brothers, Via Benevento off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree, flowers for first time, edric.
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image:IMG_5859.jpg|6/24/2012, At my Brothers, Via Benevento off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree, flowers for first time, edric.
image:IMG_5862.jpg|At my Brothers, Via Benevento off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree, flowers for first time, edric.
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image:IMG_5862.jpg|6/24/2012, At my Brothers, Via Benevento off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree, flowers for first time, edric.
image:IMG_5863.jpg|At my Brothers, Via Benevento, off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree, flowers for first time, edric.
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image:IMG_5863.jpg|6/24/2012, At my Brothers, Via Benevento, off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree, flowers for first time, edric.
 
File:bnIMG_0259.jpg|6/28/2014, At my Brothers, Via Benevento, off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree. Photo by edric.
 
File:bnIMG_0259.jpg|6/28/2014, At my Brothers, Via Benevento, off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree. Photo by edric.
 
File:bnIMG_0275.jpg|6/28/2014, At my Brothers, Via Benevento, off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree. Photo by edric.
 
File:bnIMG_0275.jpg|6/28/2014, At my Brothers, Via Benevento, off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree. Photo by edric.
 
File:bnIMG_0276.jpg|6/28/2014, At my Brothers, Via Benevento, off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree. Photo by edric.
 
File:bnIMG_0276.jpg|6/28/2014, At my Brothers, Via Benevento, off Quay Assisi, New Smyrna Bch., FL. Male tree. Photo by edric.
 
image:IMG_5878.jpg|Distance from the following two specimens, down the street, to my brothers flowering male, as the eye views, camera lens adjusted. Via Benevento, NSB FL, edric.
 
image:IMG_5878.jpg|Distance from the following two specimens, down the street, to my brothers flowering male, as the eye views, camera lens adjusted. Via Benevento, NSB FL, edric.
image:IMG_5881.jpg|The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5881.jpg|6/26/2012, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
image:IMG_5883.jpg|The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5883.jpg|6/26/2012, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
image:IMG_5885.jpg|The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5885.jpg|6/26/2012, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
image:IMG_5889.jpg|The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5889.jpg|6/26/2012, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
image:IMG_5893.jpg|The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5893.jpg|6/26/2012, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
image:IMG_5896.jpg|The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5896.jpg|6/26/2012, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
image:IMG_5897.jpg|The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5897.jpg|6/26/2012, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
image:IMG_5900.jpg|The two six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5900.jpg|6/26/2012, The two six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
image:IMG_5901.jpg|The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5901.jpg|6/26/2012, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
image:IMG_5902.jpg|Inflorescence lying on ground, edric.
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image:IMG_5902.jpg|6/26/2012, Inflorescence lying on ground, edric.
image:IMG_5903.jpg|Inflorescence lying on ground, edric.
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image:IMG_5903.jpg|6/26/2012, Inflorescence lying on ground, edric.
image:IMG_5906.jpg|Inflorescence lying on ground, edric.
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image:IMG_5906.jpg|6/26/2012, Inflorescence lying on ground, edric.
image:IMG_5907.jpg|The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5907.jpg|6/26/2012, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
image:IMG_5910.jpg|The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5910.jpg|6/26/2012, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
image:IMG_5912.jpg|The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5912.jpg|6/26/2012, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
image:IMG_5913.jpg|The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5913.jpg|6/26/2012, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
image:IMG_5915.jpg|The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5915.jpg|6/26/2012, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
image:IMG_5916.jpg|The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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image:IMG_5916.jpg|6/26/2012, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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File:bnIMG_0262.jpg|6/28/2014, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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File:bnIMG_0264.jpg|6/28/2014, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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File:bnIMG_0271.jpg|6/28/2014, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
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File:bnIMG_0268.jpg|6/28/2014, The two, six houses north, one on left, is also a male, edric.
 
image:GBPIX_photo_155188.jpg|New Caledonia, photo by Ben, edric.
 
image:GBPIX_photo_155188.jpg|New Caledonia, photo by Ben, edric.
 
image:GBPIX_photo_155189.jpg|New Caledonia, photo by Ben, edric.
 
image:GBPIX_photo_155189.jpg|New Caledonia, photo by Ben, edric.

Revision as of 05:08, 30 June 2014

Hawaii with Jeff Brusseau for scale.
Bismarckia (biz-mark'-ee-ah)
nobilis (noh-BILL-ihs)
Ho'o42.jpg
Ho'omaluhia, Hawaii
Scientific Classification
Genus: Bismarckia (biz-mark'-ee-ah)
Species:
nobilis (noh-BILL-ihs)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
Africa
Africa.gif
Morphology
Habit: Solitary
Leaf type: Palmate
Height: 40+ft/12+m
Trunk diameter: 1-2ft/.3-.6m
Culture
Sun exposure: Full hot sun
Watering: Moderate-wet
Soil type: Well draining
Survivability index
Common names
Satra, satrabe, satrana, satranabe, satrapotsy (Sakalava). Bismarck palm.

Habitat and distribution

Bismarckia nobilis is endemic to western and northern Madagascar where they grow in open grassland, Plateaux, plains, in all terrains; very common, in large numbers as the only tree on regularly burnt palm grassland on the west coast; rarely mixed with Hyphaene. Sometimes in flooded areas. often the only tree in the landscape; occasionally planted in East Madagascar as well.

Description

Bismarckia is a monotypic palm genus named for the first chancellor of the German Empire, Prince Otto von Bismarck and the epithet for its only species, Bismarckia nobilis, comes from Latin for 'noble'.

Or, to put it another way, there's only one species, but what a species!

B. nobilis grows from solitary trunks, gray to tan in color, which show ringed indentations from old leaf bases. Trunks are 30 to 45 cm in diameter, slightly bulging at the base, and free of leaf bases in all but its youngest parts. In their natural habitat they can reach above 25 meters in height but usually get no taller than 12 m in cultivation. The nearly rounded leaves are enormous in maturity, over 3 m wide, and are deeply-divided into 20 or more stiff segments. The leaves are costapalmate, producing a wedge-shaped hastula where the blade and petiole meet. Petioles are 2-3 m, slightly armed, and are covered in a white, waxy material as well as cinnamon-colored scales; the nearly-spherical leaf crown is 7.5 m wide and 6 m tall. Most cultivated Bismarckias feature silver-blue foliage although a green leaf variety exists (which is less hardy to cold). These palms are dioecious and produce pendent inflorescences of small brown flowers which, in female plants, mature to a brown ovoid drupe, each containing a single seed.

Culture

Blue/silver form in Mediterranean climate: This is a great palm for such a climate, but it never looks quite as amazing/majestic as it does in a more tropical climate. It is highly tolerant of intense, inland heat, growing fastest where it is the hottest. However, it also grows well along the coast of such a climate- but significantly more slowly and with less intense coloration. It is best to grow this palm in a well draining soil, but palms grown in dense clay soils seems to do pretty well. Keeping the soil moist sure seems to keep this palm happier.

Comments and Curiosities

This genus is dioecious, separate male, and female trees.

This must be the most common palm in Madagascar. It is a handsome palm, which does well in the drier tropics and subtropics and is planted in many countries. The genus is named for the German chancellor, Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), one of the few cases where botanists have named a species after a politician. When Madagascar was colonized by the French, they included the species in Medemia, thus getting rid of the name Bismarckia, but most botanists (including the present authors) regard the genera as distinct, and therefore Bismarckia is the correct name for the Madagascar palm. (J. Dransfield and H. Beentje. 1995)/Palmweb.

Conservation: Not threatened. Widespread and very common.

Uses: Trunk emptied and flattened for use as planks or in partition walling; leaves used for roofing and basketry; pith serves as a slightly bitter sago. Outside Madagascar a prized ornamental for the drier (sub-) tropics.

Has almost become common, in Southern California. They have invaded Big Box stores, almost like the "Gremlins" from the movie. The silver form makes newbies to palms scream. Especially against a dark green background.

External Links

References

Phonetic spelling of Latin names by edric.

Special thanks to Geoff Stein, (Palmbob) for his hundreds of photos.

Special thanks to Palmweb.org, Dr. John Dransfield, Dr. Bill Baker & team, for their volumes of information and photos.

Glossary of Palm Terms; Based on the glossary in Dransfield, J., N.W. Uhl, C.B. Asmussen-Lange, W.J. Baker, M.M. Harley & C.E. Lewis. 2008. Genera Palmarum - Evolution and Classification of the Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. All images copyright of the artists and photographers (see images for credits).

Dransfield, J. , Uhl, N. , Asmussen, C. , Baker, W.J. , Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008. Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms. Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.




Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.

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