Heliconia aurantiaca, Ecoalbergue Lagunita Creek, nicely managed by CONAP and FUNDAECO, near Rio Sarstun, Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala, Central America.
Photograph by Nicholas Hellmuth (FLAAR Photo Archive) using a Google Pixel-3XL. March 12, 2020.
In part because there is more rainfall during the year in the Izabal area of Guatemala, you have the potential to find lots of Heliconia species here.
Alta Verapaz is comparable; lots of rain in the rainy season and still humidity even in the “non-rainy” season. Led by Q’eqchi’ Mayan plant scout Senaida Ba (FLAAR Mesoamerica) we have found and documented more species of Heliconia in Izabal and Alta Verapaz and Peten than are in any monograph on Heliconia published in the recent years.
Very easy, 90% of books on Heliconia are on the garden varieties. We study only the wild native Heliconia. Another reason it is easy to harvest information on Heliconia is because we focus on Guatemala. Most monographs focus on botanical gardens or Costa Rica or South America. I have been exploring Guatemala and adjacent Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan, Quintana Roo, and Belize since age 16 (starting as a backpacker, by myself).
Courtesy of the Alcalde, Daniel Esaú Pinto Peña, and coordinator team of the Municipio de Livingston, Edwin Mármol Quiñonez, Coordinación de Cooperación de Livingston and Juana Lourdes Wallace Ramírez, Asistente Administrativo, Coordinación de Cooperación de Livingston, we have received access to visit all the nature reserves. We found several species between Livingston and Plan Grande Tatin (en route to Cueva del Tigre). And awesome Heliconia aurantiaca in the Ecoalbergue Lagunita Creek nature reserve (Área de Usos Múltiples Río Sarstún, Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala).
Posted April 16, 2020
