HYOPHORBE IN HABITAT
Bill Beattie
Three years ago, Ivan Nozaic and I spent some weeks attempting to film the indigenous palms of Mauritius, Rodrigues, Reunion and the Seychelles in their native habitat. We failed in many attempts to get permits to visit Round Island, just off the coast of Mauritius, which was at that time and from the information available, the last known wild habitat of H. lagenicaulis. Round Island is now off limits to all but approved research workers. We were more fortunate with H. verschaffeltii on Rodrigues and trekked inland with a local botanist to observe three very old specimens. While naturally adapted to calcareous rocks and limestone, (house bricks are made from buried coral deposits on the island!) this species also grows very well on soils of volcanic origin in north Queensland.
On Reunion we spent some time talking with local palm enthusiasts and nurserymen. All had both colour forms of H. indica and the general opinion seemed to be that the green form had its origins from a ‘sport’ in Costa Rica. All the specimens we saw growing in local gardens had typical purple crownshafts. One day we set off to tour the island and experience the nightmare of fast traffic on the ‘wrong’ side of the road.
We had also targeted a volcanic lake which had H. indica growing wild on the surrounding steep slopes. Two hours later and almost sobbing with relief and exhausted from the sheer terror of our journey, we arrived at the site. The slopes were exceedingly rocky and covered with thickets of wild raspberry and stunted trees. We could see palms from the edge of the lake and choosing the nearest which were 300 metres away, set off for a long struggle upwards. A couple of hours later we had found mature palms of both colour forms and numerous seedlings and juveniles. Few of the mature trees had retained any deep colour and both types appeared morphologically similar, but it was still possible to distinguish the two forms.
The slopes we climbed were exceedingly rocky...small and large boulders..making passage very difficult ...whole area unstable. Amazingly, some H. indica developed exposed roots to counter this impediment and we saw some remarkable juveniles growing near 'stream' beds with exposed roots >1m long...and all very healthy plants. Only very close examination revealed that these were indeed H. indica and not some South American species! Doubt if these exposed roots have been recorded before.
A really interesting observation was that seedlings and juveniles of both colour forms were present under isolated individual trees both green and purple! So what can one make of this? Other colourful palms behave in a similar fashion. Cyrtostachys renda, Dypsis cabadae and Archontophoenix purpurea come to mind. All produce variably coloured juveniles.
Hyophorbe amaricaulis can be seen as the solitary surviving representative of the species in Curepipe Botanical Gardens, Mauritius. As far as I know this palm has never produced viable seed.
Hyophorbe amaricaulis can be seen as the solitary surviving representative of the species in Curepipe Botanical Gardens, Mauritius. As far as I know this palm has never produced viable seed.'
Hyophorbe vaughanii is another solitary individual and when we visited a Research Station to film this palm we found that it was in poor condition but thankfully under the care of the staff working there. There appeared to be immature seeds on this sole survivor and we were unable to ascertain whether these were viable or whether the Research Station staff propagated any material from this plant. Don Hodel (1996. The Palm Journal No.127) mentions that 44 individual palms of this species had recently been discovered in 1977. As far as we know this was never confirmed. Perhaps there are readers out there who know more. Certainly there is no evidence that seeds of this distinct, slender species have ever been distributed.
Up here in the Far North there is but one rule for growing H. lagenicaulis and H. verschaffeltii. Plenty sun and well-drained soil! For those who doubt this truism, think Pigafetta filaris and why this species commits suicide in a low-light, boggy shadehouse. H. indica is a fast growing palm and there are now some quite large specimens in the tropical north.
Personal experiences growing hyophorbes