I can't seem to find much either - except for many references to it being used in wedding bouquets. I wonder if you could ask your local florist if she/he knows anything about it. I saw some references that seemed to equate it with guarana, but when I searched guarana, there were no references to brazilia berry. Sounds beautiful (despite it's common name, lol). I hope someone can find something about it :) Dee

Yep, most everything stated in the posts above are true about the Staber. I've had mine several years and still use it most of the year, only I take it out of service 4 of the winter months as it's in an out-building. In the warm months it's all I use, in the winter I use one of the old Maytag top-loaders which I keep inside the house. The folks that seem to like Stabers are like you and me, and they like modern washers too, I sure do, but I only need a simple washer and I'm quite happy with hot water from a hot-water tank. I think a Staber will last 20 or 30 years (in my opinion), I doubt the new Whirlpools will. But hey, $1,200 or $1,300 is a lot for a washer. A lot of people are paying that and getting something that might last 7 to 10 years. But, I do not think a Staber is for everyone. Here is the bottom line on the Staber, it's a quite simple design and built like a tank. If you learn the quirks about it then it cleans quite well (so do two washes for your whites, the colors won't need this, and it always does two rinses anyway). It is made to be worked on, many machines today are just hard to work on. Here is the down side, you can't call Joe the repair man to work on it as he won't know what you're talking about. But YOU can fix it. Or, I have a local guy that will work on mine if I want him too, I just pay him by the hour. YOU can set something like this up too, I've just never had to do it as the machine hasn't given me an issue. I've heard of people that have had some issue, just I haven't (other than mold early on, so use powder detergent now to prevent this and it has worked). Here is another thing, I called Staber to buy a new belt, it was going to cost me $50 to hold their belt in my hand, now that's a bummer. It's a $10 or $13 belt depending on where you buy it. So I'm trying to source one here locally (it's a 560J 6-ribbed design, pretty standard stuff). Replacing the belt is a 10 to 15 minute job, so is replacing the pump, or electric motor, or lubing the bearings. See what I mean. You do need to lube the bearings periodically, I was lazy about this at first but then did it and found it was quite easy, I hope my bearings weren't hurt from my neglect, they seem to be working fine. It has two bearings, one in front and one in back of the tub. Quite robust as most front-loaders only have one bearing I think. It is a noisy washer, oh well. Now, I don't recommend the Staber for just anyone. I think the Speed Queen the guy mentioned above would be a better choice for most folks and commercial quality too. Staber is a commercial build quality too but I wouldn't put it into commercial service because of one of its quirks. When you open the top lid the wash basket is exposed, then you open the doors to the wash basket, then anything you drop like coins and such will go into the wash basket, easy to reach down and take out. Between the time the top lid is open and the wash basket doors are closed though if you drop a coin or something else into it it goes into the wash tub UNDER the wash basket, then you have to get it out. Worst case is you have to pull the front panel (take out 4 screws) and pull the hose off the bottom of the tub (1 screw). A 10 minute job. Normal un-trained people won't know about this quirk whereas the Staber owner that has it at their home will. See what I mean, it's a little quirk of the Staber. Mine has never really needed repair other than this belt I'm replacing so I really can't attest to their customer service folks other than the one I spoke with was nice enough and called me back too, so I can't complain.

What do the Martindale numbers mean? A score of 10,000 or less: Decorative use A fabric with this score is suitable as a decorative fabric. Use for cushions or accents. Not suitable for general domestic or furniture upholstery. 10,000 to 20,000: Light domestic use A fabric with this score is suitable for light domestic use such as for occasional furniture. It will be dry clean only and is often for fabrics made from delicate yarns. 20,000 - 25,000: General domestic use A fabric with this score is suitable for general domestic use. It is suitable for everyday use on main house furniture. It is not suitable for items of furniture that put a high level of stress on the fabric such as a recliner. 25,000 - 30,000: Heavy domestic use A fabric with this score is suitable for high levels of everyday use. It is a heavy-duty fabric that would be suitable for light commercial use and items such as recliners and other motion furniture. 30,000 or more: Commercial use A score of 30,000 or more means that a fabric is commercial grade, it can be used on heavy duty furniture and would be suitable for any commercial environment.

I disagree but I'm going to defer to the expertise of others on this one, largely. My counterevidence is that I have had a Podocarpus sprout from the base after a cold winter. Even the growth of the one I've had since then which hasn't been damaged, is very BLE like, and it tends to break from the base. I feel like many a hedge of Podocarpus has been started with plants looking like that or worse. BTW I can only assume the ones I saw in a parking lot island were 'Pringles' the supposedly very compact one. Thanks for the reminder on the cultivar name, I'd read about it somewhere. In fact now that I think about it, some of them might have still had a label on them!