Re: Southern Mexico Plants in bloom
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Re: Southern Mexico Plants in bloom
- From: d* f*
- Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 13:56:16 -0800 (PST)
Hello all,
Just thought Iwould share a few highlights of my
current trip in the states of Vera Cruz,Chiapas and
Oaxaca, Mexico. This season is about two to three
months into their dry season, and is still abundantly
in bloom, compared to chilly and wet San Francisco!
The range of micro climates here is simply incredible,
and many plants seem to be locally endemic, often in
quite restricted areas. The diversity of Tillandsias
alone in small pockets is quite amazing, with many
being restricted to just local outcrops of rock.
In the drier deciduous scrub forests that abound on
southern Mexicoīs west coast, the Tabebuia chrysocarpa
and T. rosea are in full bloom, as is Cocholspermum,
Gliricidium(Mexican Lilac), and many vines; several
Bignonias, Petrea volubis, a vine with papery bracts
somewhat like a wisteria in the Nycatinacea(sp?)
family, (sorry I donīt have my notes with me and am
hazy on the spellings), and several species of
Plumeria(alba?) and Jatrophas. We have also seen
several new to me species of Caesalpinia which are
quite showy in full bloom, but with no mature seed. I
would love to be able to return in early March and get
seed of all the things we saw currently blooming, but
will have to hope that Gary Hammer does it for me!
This has been just the trip to get over those winter
blahs of San Francisco, and discover things about
plants I thought I knew! It has been a revelation to
discover that many echeverias grow epiphytically on
trees here in cloud forest conditions, and that
Tabebuias have to endure a 6 month dry season here,
and grow in quite hot and dry conditions. We have
also seen numerous shrubby Bauhinias here, (which
arenīt in the trade), as well as things that used to
be more common in southern California, (such as
Combretium,(sp?), a flowering vine with grevillea like
flowers in a double brush formation of a vivid burnt
orange coloration.
It is also interesting to see things in the wild for
the first time, such as Plumeria alba growing with
Palo Verde Trees and Cactus and Tillandsias, on the
face of rock slopes in dry desert at 5000 foot
elevations in Vera Cruz state. One of the trip
highlights was collecting seed for a fairly hardy
Chamaedorea plumosa palm which Gary Hammer has
introduced into the trade, and is locally grown as a
garden plant in a small town in Chiapas state, and
doesnīt appearto have really caught on with palm
growers yet, but is fully hardy in coastal California.
We didnīt have to hike for this one, as almost every
garden in the town had some, as the leaves are used
for funerals...
Well, that is about all for now, time to get out and
explore the town of Oaxaca, before heading back to
Orizaba and then on home to Berkeley...
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