The Indian Beech Tree Pongamia pinnata

Pongamia pinnata flowers

Indian Beech Tree Pongamia pinnata (other vernacular names: Honge Tree, Pongam Tree, Panigrahi) is a deciduous tree, about 15–25 meters tall, belonging to the family Fabaceae. It has a big top with many small flowers in white, pink or violet. Its origin is India, but is widely grown in South-East Asia.

Sunday 31st May 2009 12:48 | print | Exotic plants

Breadfruit Artocarpus odoratissimus, Marang

Genus Breadfruit (Artocarpus) consists of around 60 species of evergreen tropical trees from the family Moraceae (mulberry family or fig family). They occur in South East Asia and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Breadfruit are closely related to the Ficus (fig trees). The most cultivated breadfruit is Artocarpus altilis (Kolo, Rimas). Several other species like Artocarpus communis, Artocarpus integer (Cempedak), Artocarpus heterophyllus (Jackfruit, Nangka, Langka) and Artocarpus odoratissimus (Marang) are part of the breadfruit family as well.

Saturday 30th May 2009 19:52 | print | Exotic plants, Tropical fruits

Parajubaea torallyi - Palma Chico, Bolivian mountain coconut

Bolivian mountain coconut seeds

Parajubaea torallyi is a handsome hardy palm from South America. However, it is rarely cultivated by gardeners outside its natural habitat, Bolivia, due to its large seeds (which means high shipping costs).

Native to Bolivia, it grows in the dry and dusty, inter-Andean valleys in an altitude of 2700–3400 m above the sea. Therefore, this palm is the highest elevation palm species to occur anywhere in the world. The temperature rarely rises above 20 °C and night frosts are not rare in this altitude. The temperature often falls to as low as –7 °C during winter months (July and August) and the annual rainfall is only a mere 550 mm.

Thursday 7th May 2009 17:23 | print | Palms, How to grow

The Khasi Pine (Pinus kesiya)

The Khasi Pine (Pinus kesiya) is a fast growing species from Asia, which is not often found in cultivation outside of its homeland. Trees are about 30–35 meters tall and the trunks may reach up to 1 m in the diameter. Each branch has three spines – each of them being around 15 to 20 cm long. The fruit of these trees (cones) are around 5 to 9 cm long and the seeds around 1,5 to 2,5 cm long.

Thursday 7th May 2009 16:55 | print | Coniferous

Frost tolerant palm Rhapidophyllum hystrix (The Needle Palm)

Rhapidophyllum hystrix

Rhapidophyllum hystrix is one of the most frost tolerant palm species. There is only one species in the genus Rhapidophyllum. The natural habitat of this palm are the wet areas of the South-Eastern part of the USA. However, thanks to its frost tolerance which is as low as – 20 °C it is a very popular garden plant around the world, particularly in Europe.

Wednesday 6th May 2009 18:04 | print | Frost tolerant palms