Photograph by Dr Nicholas Hellmuth, with a Nikon D810, Nikon AF-Micro-NIKKOR 200mm f/4D IF-ED Macro lens, f/13, ISO 1,250.
When you look at aerial photos of Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo (or Google maps in satellite view) you notice a unique single rectangular area with zero tree forest. Since every aguada, bajo, or savanna ecosystem in the same park (and in adjacent Tikal national park and in all parks to the east in Belize) are oval or irregular shape, to find a pure rectangle documents it’s “Made by the Maya” (several thousand years ago).
So I was curious about what plants we would find here, so last week we spent several hours out in the Mayan rain forest hiking around the southeast side and southeast corner around to the east side.
All forest trees stop at the edge of this Poza Maya or Aguada Maya, as it is named. But inside the rectangle the soil is moist (since the ancient Maya put a layer of material to keep the water from escaping). Growing in this bog-like eco-system is a thick entanglement of tall plants whose fronds remained me of palm trees but when Elena Siekavizza reached these plants she recognized they were giant ferns. Once she got back to our main research office she identified them as Acrostichum danaeifolium. We also found edible begonias in the bog.
Most of these plants have not been registered as being present in Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo. The giant “tree fern” is totally different than ones everywhere in the cloud forest of Alta Verapaz. So if you like rare and photogenic plants, plan a trip to the Yaxha national park. Restaurante El Portal de Yaxha (aldea of La Maquina, at crossroads of main paved highway to turnoff towards Yaxha park) offers 4WD service to reach Poza Maya (if booked far in advance). Ecolodge El Sombrero provides comfortable hotel at entrance to Yaxha park.
Posted Feb. 25, 2019
