Flower starts pure white; turns pure chocolate; is also cauliflorous

This tree is worth visiting when it is in full flower. The Bellucia pentamera flowers are of photogenic size and shape. The petals are pure white when they open. As the flower matures, it turns bright rust color and then to light chocolate brown color as it wilts. The browner phase we show on our full page.

Plus, this Bellucia pentamera tree flowers directly from the main branches, so is cauliflorous (however we have not yet seen it flower from the trunk).

You can see this tree on the hill overlooking the town of Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala, at a place open to tourists named Where the Pirates Hide. Info on how to reach here and more photos are on the page that shows the more wilted stage of the flower.

Enlarge Image Flowers in white phase. Photo by Roxana Leal with a Google Pixel 4A, Dec. 19, 2020 Where the Pirates Hide, at edge of town of Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala.

Enlarge Image Flowers after the petals turn bright rust color. Photo by David Arrivillaga with a Sony camera, Dec. 19, 2020. Top of the hill, Where the Pirates Hide.

Posted February 18, 2021