CLOSED: Seeking plants for a "Jurassic Park" garden

I have a well established stand of Equisetum hymele (Bottle Rush, Horsetail) in a shady, protected corner of my garden. The idea occurred to me that I might be able to turn this pocket of my yard into a small "Jurassic Park," using other plants of that era which are still around today (like E. hymele).

A bit of Googling turned up the following list of plants that I already have that are relics of the Jurassic Era:

Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris)
Coonties (Zamia floridana)
Culinary Bay Leaf (Laurus nobilis)

and although they may not be true species left over from the Jurassic Era, I have an Australian Tree Fern and Sago Palms that could be transplanted to the new Jurassic Park.

I would like to know if anyone has some of the other "dinosaur" plants (or seeds from the plants) that you will trade:

Whisk Fern (Psilotum nudum)
Club Moss (Selaginella unicinata and/or Selaginella ledidophylla)
Lady Fern (Anthyrium filix-femina)
Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythosara)
Gopherwood Tree (Torreya taxifolia)
Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)
Ginkgo Tree (Ginkgo biloba)

My next door neighbors have some very large Monkey Puzzle Trees (Araucaria araucana) and I see the trouble they have with trying to pick up the razor sharp fallen limbs. I'm not anxious to have that hazardous chore, so I will probably substitute the somewhat related plant that is more pleasant to be around (but probably not a true Jurassic relic), Norfolk Island Pine (Rhopalosylis baueri).

And I must admit my ignorance because I can't tell (from the Plant Files pix) a young Needle Palm (Rhapidoplyllum hystrix) from a Cabbage Palm or a Saw Palmetto, but I would like a Needle Palm anyway.

My apologies to the true botanists for any misspelling of botanical names above (I can't read my own writing after hurriedly scribbling notes from web pages). Also, I welcome debate as to whether the plants above are truly Jurassic Era plants that still survive in more or less the same form. I also welcome any suggestions for other relatively low-growing plants that were around during the Jurassic Era. I have a canopy of large, old oak trees over much of my yard and thus don't need any more tall growing plants or trees.

My online research turned up another Jurassic Era plant thought to be extinct until it was discovered in one very tiny patch in Australia in 1992, the Wollemi Pine. There is a website where you can register to be on the Wollemi Pine Conservation Newsletter list and possibly receive the plant when it becomes available. It has been propagated successfully by tissue culture and other means. It is due to be released to Australians in April and to US residents sometime later. I signed up! Be the first on your block to have one of the rarest of rare plants, the Wollemi Pine!!

Please let me know if you have any of the above Jurassic Era plants to trade and what you might want in return.

Jeremy



This message was edited Feb 18, 2006 12:39 AM

Great Idea Jeremy! I have a ginko both male and Female. Everyone wants me to get rid of the female but I will need the fruit for memory in my old age. After all the only problem is the cat urine smell that the female discharges. I'm a veterinarian so I want to remember such a familiar part of my life.
One note: watch out for the equisetum to become invasive.

Wasn't Gunnera Manicata around back then? It's nickname is Dinosaur Food.

X

Hey, Sofer. Glad to meet ya. My Equisetum thus far have behaved themselves and not tried to take over the Earth. Their restrained growth is possibly due to my planting them near my concrete patio. I've noticed they have sent up new plants from runners (enough to give to a few curious friends that wanted some Bottle Rush for their own), but not enough to be invasive. I think most of their runners are going under the concrete of the patio and when the new plants shoot up, they bump their heads on the impermeable layer above them. Do your Ginkgos make seedlings around the parent plants? If so, I would like to have one or two. Is it possible to determine the sex of the seedlings by sight (I would imagine that it is not possible until they are mature).

Jeremy

Hey, X. My search didn't turn up any reference to the Gunnera, but maybe one of the DGers with a major in Historical Geology can tell us if it was around when the giants roamed the Earth. I tried growing G. manicata here with very poor results. I probably didn't have it in a sufficiently wet and boggy area or perhaps our summer high temps was too much for it. I tried building miniature bogs for it and watered it daily, but alas, it withered and died anyway from what seemed like "damping off" at the base of the stem. It is one of the plants for which I need to try to track down a refund from the catalog company where I bought it because the tubers weren't cheap!

Jeremy

This message was edited Feb 18, 2006 9:00 AM

Jeremy - I think fro my reading that Gunnera is called that more for its size then it really being around at the time you are talking about. I would think that plants that live off air and such would also be from this era of time - not 100% sure but I could see them being from this era.

Jeremy you are to hot to grow Gunnera. I can't grow it in 8b either. It does fine until the high heat & humidity kicks in about June

Hey, Mitch. Yes, I agree, the Gunnera got its nickname because of its gargantuan size and not from being around when the dinos roamed the Earth. And thanks, Donna, for letting me know I'm not alone in watching Gunneras shrivel in our heat and humidity. I'm sure, though, the catalog company I purchased them from listed their hardiness zone as including my 8b/9a climate, but I've grown not to trust the info in the plant catalogs.

Here's a link to the article that listed Jurassic Era plants that are still around today. I found it especially interesting since the article was aimed at Florida gardeners.

http://leon.ifas.ufl.edu/jurassic_garden.htm

In reading over the article again, I think you are right in your hunch, Mitch, about the plants that get their nutrients from the air (the epiphytes) were around in the Jurassic Era. The writer of the article mentions that Spanish Moss may be one of those plants. I certainly don't have to look far to find it for my Jurassic Garden!!! LOL It hangs in long gray beards from most of my oaks.

From what I found out in the online search, the early Jurassic Era plants were the non-flowering conifers, gymnosperms, cycads, mosses, and other non-flowering plants like Equisetum and the ferns (the Ginkgo apparently doesn't flower and doesn't make a true seed, though I don't quite understand the Botany behind what it does make).

So for my Jurassic Garden, that's why I'm looking for the:

Whisk Fern (Psilotum nudum)
Club Moss (Selaginella unicinata and/or Selaginella ledidophylla)
Lady Fern (Anthyrium filix-femina)
Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythosara)
Gopherwood Tree (Torreya taxifolia)
Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)
Ginkgo Tree (Ginkgo biloba)
Needle Palm, and Norfolk Island Pine
(and the Wolemmi Pine, if I'm lucky enought to get one when they become available from Australia)
as representatives of the early Jurassic Period

If anyone has any of the above plants to trade, I'll try to work a plant swap with you.

Jeremy

Sure wish I could help you with some trades, what I have here you already have, but I would love to see the finished pics - please let me know where you post them on here. How are you going to keep the trees small on your list (I think you said there was a lot of trees already)

Thanks for the link to the Wolemmi Pine - I am going to have to talk to my wife about that one... what a tree to have!

Dear Jurasicareonjax . . . I think you left out a major family. I think the Osmundas were previlent. O.cinamonosis (spelling?) and O.regalis, two large beautiful ferns. Needle palm should be available in local nursery ? In your Library there is a book on Ferns of Florida (most are Jurasic. The best source is to visit the next meeting of the nearest "Native plant society" Native plant people know everything! Would you like to have a Tree Fern (frost hardy, but not freez hardy. Cyanea arborea (western hemisphere specie). I know Osmunda regalis is scattered in swampy areas around Jacksonville. Dig your own, but be carefull the stumps are a favorite hidding place for Rattlesnakes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Logos Formont Calamus

Hi, Mitch. I will probably prune the trees frequently to try to keep them short in stature and possibly slice around their outer root zone with a trenching spade to create a sort of in situ "bonsai." I've not really tried this before, but I think it might work.

Calamus, I would love to have the tree fern if we can figure out a way to ship it! I'll send you a private DG mail to see what we can work out for a trade. Having another tree fern would save me the effort of transplanting my current Australian Tree Fern which has been growing steadily for the past two years since I planted it. It recently survived (with some fabric and plastic sheet coverings) temps in the mid 20s F on a few nights. I would hate to lose it in an attempt to transplant it.

You are probably right, Calamus, about the Osmundas. I will look in our local library for a few books on the Jurassic Period to get more info than was available from my brief on line search. I'm sure there are a lot more plants that qualify as belonging to the Jurassic Era and that have not evolved much since then.

I will post some pix sometime this Summer or Fall after the Jurassic Park Garden has had a chance to develop. And I will watch out for rattlers if I go on a fern quest! Thanks for that tip!

My Jurassic garden will come naturally with an insect from that Era, the 2 inch long giant American cockroach which is very prevalent in my garden! (also known as Palmetto Bugs http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/entomology/444-288/figure1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/entomology/444-288/444-288.html&h=230&w=300&sz=21&tbnid=rLNayzLF-MoJ:&tbnh=85&tbnw=111&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpalmetto%2Bbug%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D&oi=imagesr&start=2 ) You probably have them in Puerto Rico as well.

I am an artist and I am considering doing some huge insect sculptures as garden art (and possibly a flying pterodactyl to hang from a tree branch!) to add to the Jurassic garden.

For those DGers with children or grandchildren that are fascinated by dinosaurs, planting your own Jurassic garden with your kids may be a good way to share their interest in dinosaurs while also sharing your garden skills with them.

Jeremy

hello jax. i don't know anything about what plants were around during the jurassic period but one plant that comes to mind that is large and ferny and will live in hot and humid areas is cardoon.

Thanks for the suggestion, Mamaj. I am not familiar with cardoon (Cynara sp.) so I looked it up in the Plant Files. Being a flowering plant, it probably was not around in the early Jurassic Period to which I'm trying to confine my plant selections for my "Jurassic Park" garden. However, it definitely sounds like something I would like to try to grow in some other part of my yard, especially if I could get the blue flowering form for my blue/white themed garden. I was concerned about the Plant Files plant notes stating cardoon could be invasive, but I don't see it listed in the Florida invasive plants list.

If you have some seed to share, I would love to give it a try for another part of my yard.

Jeremy

i have planted some seeds i got in a trade and i don't know how viable they are. this plant gets HUGE. it grows here on the WEST side in black CLAY with NO shade and i NEVER water it. it is one tough plant. it is growing in the garden that i named "WHAT TEXAS CAN"T KILL". but plant it where you want it. i have not been able to find a way to dig it up. leaffooted bugs attacked it pretty heavily one year and i thought it had died. NOT! i am 5'8" tall and it gets taller than me. send me your address and i will send 5-6 seeds. that should be plenty if these seeds are viable. good luck on your garden. barb

I have mosses and liverworts. They can dry out and are born again after a rain. I also have floating crystalwort. It is variable in appearance. If it is anchored under a rock or in mud it will put down feet (not roots). Anchored with good light is very attractive. It is the standard plant of Betta (fighting fish) breeders.
http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week234.shtml
http://www.aquahobby.com/garden/e_riccia.php
You may be interested in tepuis. Major geological events usually have disastrous effects on plants and animals. In Venezuela (Litte Venice) large areas were shoved up one mile. Plants and animals on top were separated and had different paths of evolution. The Lost World was loosely based on this.
http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/nt/nt0169_full.html

Thanks, Barb, for your offer of the Cardoon seeds. I've sent you a D-mail to arrange a plant swap.

UUall. I appreciate the links you provided. They were very interesting and informative reading. You prompted me to do another Google search for "liverworts Jurassic Period" and I came up with a very helpful discussion by some persons more knowledgable than I am for plants of the period. I would like to have some of your liverworts if you have them for trade. I'll send you a D-mail. My guess is that the liverworts need a very moist environment? I hadn't thought about having a wet area in my Jurassic Park garden, but it seems like a good idea. The liverworts may, however, require much cooler temperatures than we have here in the humid south, but I can see what happens with them if you have some to share.

The liverwort search made me realize I was intermixing terms due to my ignorance -- The Jurassic PERIOD was part of the Mesozoic ERA My apologies to the all the paleontologists that may be reading this thread - I've now got the terminology straight (I hope!)

I've located a source for the Whisk Fern. In the separate thread about "Grandma's window sill plant," I'm working out a trade for some Selaginella ledidophylla or pilifera (not sure which is which). I'm still looking for:

Club Moss (Selaginella unicinata
Lady Fern (Anthyrium filix-femina)
Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythosara)
Gopherwood Tree (Torreya taxifolia)
Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)
Ginkgo Tree (Ginkgo biloba)

Thanks, Jeremy

Bristle Cone Pine:
http://www.burntridgenursery.com/ornamentals/index_product.asp?dept=99&parent=4

Kalmiopsis

jeremy i didn't get your dmail re: cardoon seeds. but the plot thickens. mine, i think are the ones that have the pinkish lavender flower but.............i am getting some neon blue chilean cardoon seeds. want some of those too? look at ursula's picture. i would send a hyperlink but don't know how.

Hey, MamaJ. I forgotten (in all my feverish trading a lots of other projects swirling around me - as is the usual situation!) to follow up on our D-mail in regard to the seed trade, but I would definitely like some of the Cardoon seeds! I just went back and checked and see that you are waiting for my address to send the seeds, which I will provide. I can also share with you any and all of the Texas wildflower seed packets that I bought last year and never found a spare moment to get them started. I hope the seeds are still viable and will grow well for you! I would especially be interested in the blue Cardoon. It might make a nice plant for the back of the border for my blue and white themed front yard garden. I recently pulled out and transplanted the large Confederate Rose plants that I had there because a.) they didn't really work with the blue/white theme, b.) they wanted to grow to tree size!, and c.) they were the worst white fly magnets that I had ever encountered in any plant!! The Confederate Rose shrubs have now been relegated to a more remote spot in the back yard. But their former spot in the front yard garden left a large empty area that the blue Cardoon may fill nicely.

Thanks, UUall, for the tip on the Bristle Cone Pine. I'll add it to my list of "wants" for my Jurassic Park garden.

I found a brief moment while downtown recently to visit our recently completed new Jacksonville Public Library and found some books that will be helpful in finding a few more plant species still living today that were also around in the Jurassic Period. The most on point book for my research that was available at our library is, "Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants," by Stewart & Rothwell (which appears to be a college textbook that some student barely cracked open during the semester and then donated to the library - lol), and "Evolution of Plants of the Past," by H. P. Banks. I thus far haven't spotted any other plants listed in the book to add to the list for my Jurassic Garden, but I haven't really had a chance to do any in depth reading of the texts yet.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions!

Jeremy

Hey MamaJ.

You had mentioned above not knowing how to reference a DG page in your threads or D-mail -- what I do is place my cursor at the far left of the URL at the top of the page (the URL begins with http://), click my left mouse button to highlight the URL, then go up to click "edit" at the top toolbar, click "copy," then go to the thread where I want to reference the DG-page and then click "edit" again, position the cursor where I want the URL to appear in my message, and then click "paste." I hope this helps.

Also, I've found that I can jump back and forth in DG from messages to Plant Files pages by using the "Back" and forward arrows at the top of the page. Usually, if I'm in the middle of typing a message and want to reference a DG Plant Files page or photo, I can go to Plant Files, find and copy the URL (as described above) then use the "Back" button to return to my message without having lost everything I've typed so far (works about 98% of the time -- the other times I just need to clench my teeth and growl and start typing the message over again).

Jeremy

Cycads (Sago, etc.) are ancestors of the true palms. Most conifers were prostrate as dinosaurs were large. I have Yews. They are the garden variety (English x Japanese). I understand that cutting of side branches will grow prostrate. Canadian/Canadien Yew is prostrate. It is rather scruffy but may fit your image. There is a Florida Yew which I have never heard of.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/58864/index.html
Downtown (Newport Aquarium) they have a Shark-ray. Just one. How many ways is that wrong?

Just thought I'd post this link here as you might find seeds to some of the stuff you are looking for.
http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net
They have stuff from all over the world.

Did you post a link to the website about the Australian pine? I can't see it. If you could post the link again, I'd like to look at the site.

Neat idea. Flying ancient reptiles! I would like to see pictures also.
I have the miscanthus sinensis undine. It is hard for me to tell the difference from the gracillimus. It is an eye catching 5 foot round mounding fountain grass. It has pinkish red feathers and green stalks. Trade? Rachel

Hi, Pixy. I just checked above and found that I forgot to post the link for the Wollemi Pine. Sorry, and thanks for bringing my attention to the deficit. I so far have received any news from them except a confirmation of my registration. Here is the link:

http://www.wollemipine.com/

I have bought from Hudson's Seeds previously and found them to be a good supplier. I'll take a look to see if they have any of my Jurassic Park garden wants.

Smith-40, The large flying reptiles may happen sooner, rather than later, Smith40! Sugarweed from DG and I are about to launch into a mutual business of making welded metal garden art. She has both the welding experience and talent to do it. I'll be tagging along as a nearby neighbor out of a longtime interest to turn metal junk into sculpture. I'll do some research on the Miscanthus and whether it was around during the Jurassic Period, but my initial thought is that, as a flowering grass plant, it probably came later, but it might be one of the early grasses. I might want to do a trade anyway! I have lots of empty spots to fill in my yard!

Jeremy

My mom and dad are artists. wood abstract sculptures and paintings from my father. He has won the IN governer's award plus other ribbons. They both have done abstract metal sculptures. Mom is into hammering jewerly now. I am into gardening at the moment even though it is freezing here. I went to Wamart to buy soil and the big bags were frozen like icecubes! I am ready for spring! Yes I would like to trade. check my avail. now trade list. Thanks for getting back. rachel

Don't know if it's from the era but it sure looks like it. I have euphoria tirucalli or pencil cactus. It will grow into a small tree in your area. I can take cuttings.

Oh, just like brugs...they are poisonous!

Hey, c-toad. Thanks for the offer of the pencil cactus. The cacti probably came along later in the evolutionary scheme with the other flowering plants. I do greatly admire the pencil cactus, though, and have a small start that I (literally and figuratively!) pinched from a broken limb at a garden mega-store and then rooted. A friend of mine has two giant, mature pencil cactus plants about 6 ft high each that are mine for the taking. I'm glad you reminded me about them. I will call him now to see if I can make the arrangements to go pick them up.

Jeremy

The above link mentioned the Monkey Puzzle (Araucara araucana). I used to have Araucana chickens. DNA testing showed that Mediterranean breeds (egg breeds) were a separate creation from the Indochina Jungle Fowl (meat breeds). The egg breeds are strains of Ligurno (Leghorn in USA) and lay white eggs. Meat breeds lay brown eggs. The Aracauna chickens (South america) lay green eggs and they have "ears".

So, Dr. Seuss had a real life resource for "Sam, I am." and green eggs and ham?

LOL

Jeremy

I thought the same thing! My 12 year old even made green eggs with food dye. They were good. Green ham I have only found in my refrigrator!

I have that same refrigerator, SM40! It often has more "science projects" than edible food. Christina tends to throw out food much sooner than I would. I explain to her that after living many years alone as a bachelor, I've built up a resistance to tomain and botulism. If it smells alright and isn't squirming, it is still fit for consumption. LOL

How creative of your 12 year old to make the green eggs! Sounds like a wonderful idea for some festive multi-colored omelettes! I'll send the suggestion to Martha Stewart.

If anyone lives in a climate with a ginkgo tree that has made or will be making seedlings, I would sure like to have one. Still seeking some of the other plants also, club moss, etc.

Jeremy

In the early Seventies I was selling eggs to co-workers. Someone asked if the chickens ever got into the marijuana. I replied "Why do you think they lay green eggs?" Another person had a hard boiled green egg for lunch.
http://www.skyblueegg.com
Birds originated together with the dinosaurs. Flying dinosaurs anatomy prevented them from taking off from the ground.

the outer egg yoke surface turns green when the iron intereacts between the white and yoke while cooking. If I remember correctly.
OF ALL THE THINGS I HAVE LOST, I MISS MY MIND THE MOST.
feeling old and sorry for myself in cold gray Indiana, Rachel

Thanks to all that helped with info and plants for my Jurassic Park Garden! It is now "complete" (if any garden is ever complete and finished?) and I am writing an article for DG about the garden.

Jeremy