The San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park is the home of two of the largest Andean wax palms (Ceroxylon quindiuense) growing outside of their South American home. They were planted as seedlings in the mid-1980s. The SFBG Society’s current newsletter goes into detail about this species, uniquely suited to our coastal California climate. They uncover the fact that Colombia chose in 1985 to protect this species, their national tree, in a cloud forest wildlife preserve, Valle de Cocora, where other rare and endangered species, like the Yellow-eared Parrot, also live. Andean cloud forests are the origin of many of Californians’ favorite ornamental plants, like angel’s trumpets (Brugmansia species) and fuchsias. We think this palm would look beautiful as an allée or a grove in a park. In habitat it becomes the tallest of all palms, at nearly 200 feet. Its cousins within the genus Ceroxylon vary in size, and some smaller species are exquisite palms for home gardens in the San Francisco Bay Area and coastal California. We carry a limited supply of five-gallon youngsters here at Flora Grubb Gardens.

Two Andean wax palms (Ceroxylon quindiuense) growing at the San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park