DECEMBER 2015 NEWSLETTER MADAGASCAR: the Directors Cut The location of the IPS Interim Meeting of the Board of Directors in Madagascar provided many photo opportunities, including other travel destinations tacked on before and after the meeting itself. This issue of the Newsletter features photos and commentary submitted by a number of Directors. From Mike Merritt: Jean François ( Hery on PalmTalk) is very knowledgeable about palms of Reunion and the other Mascarene Islands. He picked me up at the airport, found someone to board me for three days, and took me on hikes and on garden tours. When the condition of my knees and feet prevented me from completing the Mafate Canyon hike to the Latania lontaroides wild form, he stayed with me. There is a grove of palms, primarily Dictyosperma album and Acanthophoenix rousselii, along with other rare Reunion endemics that a farmer has preserved, just mowing it for the hay it produces. Part of that pasture is shown in the picture below. Elsewhere, both Dictyocaryum and Acanthophoenix have been virtually eradicated because they are prized for their tasty palm hearts. Mike Merritt and Jean François at the base of Acanthophoenix rousselii
From Tim Brian: Dypsis arenarum, above left, and Ravenea sambiranensis, above right. Center: Young Malagasy girl wondering, Who are these people? Below, left to right: Tenuous crossing in the white sand forest, Forêt d Ambonidena; Tampolo Lodge in Masoala National Park; Dypsis forficifolia. Bottom: Dypsis pachyramea ; sunset on Sainte Marie Island (also known as Nosy Boraha).
From John Dransfield: Left : Dypsis sanctaemariae, the real deal! Guide Sergio Botou from Princesse Bora hotel on left and Dr. Mijoro Rakotoarinivo on the right provide scale. This photograph was taken very near to where this species was first discovered 21 years ago. So far, D. sanctaemariae is known only from Sainte Marie. Photographs, purporting to be of this species from Pointe a Larre on the mainland nearby, suggest that at least two other species have been confused with D. sanctaemariae. (Photo: John Dransfield, October 2015). From Bo Göran Lundkvist: Above: School is out in Ambodifotatra, the main business center on Sainte Marie Island. Right: Dypsis sp. believed to be the one commonly known as orange crush or orange crownshaft, which was known for a time as Dypsis pilulifera until that identification was recently withdrawn.
More from Bo Göran Lundkvist: Clockwise from above left, disembarking from the boat in Maroantsetra Verreaux s sifaka in the Kirindy Private Reserve typical street market scene in Antananarivo laundry day loading the taxi brousse. Below: Baobab Alley.
From Lee Tracy: On the way to Madagascar, Lee and husband Mike stopped in Paris, where the highlight was Madame Butterfly at the Paris Opera. Mike modified Lee s visage to fit the themes in the Picasso Museum, right. (Lee is quite a good sport). Below, trekking to see the Lemurophoenix halleuxii on the Masoala Peninsula. Final photo shows Lee with a mountain gorilla in Rwanda. They also took in a safari in Kenya. Massive Lemurophoenix halleuxii in habitat, Masoala National Park Photo: KCyr
From Cindy (Sarah) Adair: After her Madagascar excursions, Cindy spent a few days in the Seychelles Islands, home to six endemic species of palm. Above left, cathedral effect at Mont Fleuri Garden, Mahe Island. Above right, Roscheria manochaetes, Mont Fleuri. At left, Cindy with Lodoicea maldivica planted by HRH Duke of Edinburgh, 1956, also in Mont Fleuri Garden. Below, one wall of a room full of empty seeds in Fond Ferdinand. After the contents are removed and sold for food and cosmetic use, the seeds are glued together and sold with attached permits as souvenirs. Cash only. Viable seeds are not available for export. (Editor s note: Oh the agony! Why? Why? Why?) SHARE THE EXCITEMENT OF PALMS FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER TO A FRIEND! Have you registered for the 2016 Biennial yet? Go to International Palm Society to register!!
From Elvis Cruz: Clockwise from top left: Palm fanatics in their element; Dr. Larry Noblick and Dr. John Dransfield at work; Toby Spanner with a palm of uncertain identification; local villagers in their daily routines; a large Marojejya insignis ; catch a whiff of spice as you pass cloves, peppercorns and others drying in the sun.
From Jack Sayers: Scenes from Isalo National Park, clockwise from above, baby ring tailed lemur ( Lemur catta), termite mound, Bismarckia nobilis, Ravenea glauca in the Canyon des Makis, Dypsis onilahensis.
Indri indri, Andasibe NP Diademed sifaka, Andasibe National Park; below, Common brown lemur, Andasibe NP. Ravenea madagascariensis, Andasibe All photos this page from Jack Sayers
At left, Jack captured this exquisite shot of a fossa ( Cryptoprocta ferox ). It is rare to glimpse this creature, let alone get a clear shot with such a compelling expression. Jack explains, fortunately it was a male trying to mate, and so he wasn t immediately scared off when we saw him, which gave us some time to find an angle without too many leaves and branches in the way. Continuing clockwise, Dypsis louvelii, Dypsis corniculata, Indri indri; all photographed in Mantadia National Park.
Photos from Zombitse National Park by Jack Sayers. Top left, Hubbard s lemur; right, Verreaux s lemur. Below, Oustalet s chameleon.
Adansonia rubrostipa seen in Tsimanampetsotsa National Park in southwest Madagascar, photo by Jack Sayers. The Drool-Worthy Palm Photo for December A beautiful Dypsis utilis from the garden of Greg Hamann, San Diego, California. Visit the new INTERACTIVE FaceBook Group: International Palm Society Follow us on Twitter: @IPS_PalmSociety Contact: info@palms.org Visit the discussion board to ask questions about palms: www.palmtalk.org