Sunday, January 29, 2012

Brazilian Fire Tree Seedlings (Schizolobium parahybum)

This plant is said to have some of the largest compound leaves in the world and is an extremely quick grower.  I originally potted four seeds into each one gallon pot.  As soon as the first spouts came up I realized I had underestimated the size of the plants.  After about a week I already needed to split them up into their own pots.  Luckily there was no shock and the plants started growing again rapidly.


I'm really excited for these plants.  They spend the first few years looking similar to a large tree fern.  Eventually they begin to branch and grow into mature trees.  I should be able to keep them relatively small when grown in pots.  I'm just not sure if they'll keep one stem or begin branching early because of cramped roots.  The leaves in these photos are still juvenile and will become much larger with hundreds of leaflets.  I'll just have to wait and see what the future holds.


5 comments:

  1. So cool! I love anything with compound leaves and these look like QUITE the compound leaves!

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  2. Julie, me too! :)

    Tom, pretty crazy aren't they?

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  3. oh ya, how long does it take for the seeds to germinate? less than a week?

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  4. Fey, they were pretty quick, about a week.

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