Shaving brush flower

palmnerd

Well-Known Member
Here's a picture or two of this years pseudobombax ellipticum. I missed the muli-flowers by a couple of days but, this is nice none the less. Enjoy!
 

Attachments

  • 100_0541.jpg
    100_0541.jpg
    335.4 KB · Views: 286
  • 100_0544.jpg
    100_0544.jpg
    203 KB · Views: 304
Show off! I mean nice flower Dean. You Hawaiian folk are truley in a plant paradise. None the less us Fla. folk do alright considering the challanges. Is there a variety name for that one? It is unusual (to me) indeed. We have a white one around the farm that flowers a couple of weeks after the pinks. Very nice indeed! Bravo.
 
Justin,

I was afraid you would ask the name. I wasn't paying close enough attention when touring this garden. He had many unusual things I hadn't seen before. I was a little overwhelmed.

I will try and remember to ask him next time we cross paths. I have quite a few pics of three gardens I visited that day along with some palm buddies. I will be getting some slideshows together to share with everyone. I hope to include some of it in the online palm mag you got a peek of the other day. Just another reason it's taking so long to publish. :)
 
Alas, aren't things worth waiting for always making you wait. No worries on the variety, if you find out that will be my sign to seek it out and collect yet another groovy plant. Things are really starting to flower around here so I may pop up some more pics of our area exotics. Stay tuned!
 
Mike,

Thanks for the ID. Looks the same to me. I saw another one of these the other day with not quite as spectacular of a flower, but it had some tasty "fruit/seed" much like a chestnut. I'm assuming there may be several species, some edible???

No matter how long you grow and appreciate plants there is always something new and interesting around every corner.
 
Three very similar trees are Pachira aquatica (i agree your pic looks like that), Pachira insignis, and Bombax glabra. I have never seen an insignis flower but I suspect that Carlo Morici has one. The Bombax flower looks very similar but is smaller and all white. All three have edible seeds inside the woody fruit. You can eat them raw or roasted like real chestnuts.

Jerry
 
Thanks Jerry,

Now that I know everything there is to know about palms, it looks like I'll have to do a little work and master the rest of the plant kingdom (with your help). :)

The more you learn, the more you realize how much more there is to learn.
 
Here's a Bombax glabra. This particular plant is only five feet tall, so they bloom young. I also have a Chorisia insignis, Pseudobombax palmeri, Pseudobombax acuminata, and a pink-flowered Bombax ellipticum...none of which have flowered yet. I also have two white-flowered Bombax ellipticums. One is planted in the ground and is about eight feet tall and the other is a big caudex about half-again the size of a basketball in a clay pot next to the mailbox. They seem to flower best every-other year.
 

Attachments

  • Bombax_glabra.jpg
    Bombax_glabra.jpg
    87.8 KB · Views: 255
Thanks Ron, Nice flower and pic,

These are really cool trees that in my experience you don't see that often. It would appear as if they should have a place in more landscapes. The one I saw in a garden the other day, found me going back and looking for more 'nuts' to eat. Either I was hungry at the time (I was) but I enjoyed the flavor.
 
Top