This series of photographs of ecosystems of Izabal and Peten is available in two formats, 6MB and 27MB. You can post this, share it, use in in your classrooms presentations (no permission required).
The Spanish original (with video and voice) is already available below. The PowerPoint (in .pdf format, above) is updated with additional written text.
Posted May 13, 2020
The entire presentation (PowerPoint plus voice) is now available courtesy of Muni Guatemala.
Posted May 06, 2020
Unfortunately Zoom could handle only 100 people at a time, so the presentation was sold out quickly. Now, in the link for May 6, the entire presentation is now available as a download for you.
Posted May 01, 2020
Photo of Heliconia latihpatha by Alejandra Gutierrez with a Sony ILCE-7RM4 camera, using a FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS lens. Settings: F13, Speed 1/1250, ISO 3200 by the Aldea Tatin Road.
Between the town of Livingston and the aldea of Plan Grande Tatin, and from there to Cueva del Tigre, we found OVER ONE MILLION heliconia plants of the species Heliconia latispatha: literally. There were areas of the roadside with SOLID heliconia plants for as far as the eye could see. And even in the milpas (maize fields) you could see baby heliconia leaves sprouting up from the ground (so by the time the maize is harvested the heliconia will take over the entire field).
I have not yet noticed any book or peer-reviewed journal article on slash-and-burn Maya agriculture that mentions Heliconia as a primary ground cover! Hopefully a colleague can remind me of a report that I have not yet read that mentions heliconia as the PRIMARY ground cover. Because we have visited other areas of Guatemala that are also literally filled with native wild Heliconia plants, usually of several species in one area.
Very simple, 80% of the reports on milpas are in ecosystems where Heliconia is not as prominent as in the humid areas between Livingston and the Q’eqchi’ Mayan settlement of Plan Grande Tatin (from here you hike by trail to Cueva del Tigre.
If you are studying milpa agriculture and would like to report on something new and different, this area is available to visit.
If you are a botanist there are at least four species of Heliconia in this one area of Izabal, Guatemala. We show three of them on this page. We would not be surprised if there were additional species to find here. So the Municipio de Livingston is a great place to visit to learn about plants and biodiverse ecosystems that you can’t always find in other areas.
Posted April 30, 2020
There are so many “fields” of thousands of white waterlilys in several areas of El Golfete, Rio Dulce, Municipio de Livingston, that you can see these fields from Google Maps, Satellite view.
During our mid-March field trip to the El Golfete and Lagunita Creek areas of Izabal, Guatemala, we took lots of photographs of these impressive flowers. The first report is now available.
We are preparing a second report on Nymphaea waterlilies of other areas of Guatemala compared to the thousands you can find here in the El Golfete area of Rio Dulce, Municipio de Livingston. That second future report will discuss other species that also exist in the Maya Lowland areas.
We also have a work in progress on the tiny white flowers of Nymphoides indica. Sometimes they grow in extensive areas by themselves; in other areas a few hundred meters away the two kinds of waterlilies are next to each other.
Since the larger waterlily is the single most common flower featured in Classic Maya stelae, stucco, murals, and ceramic vases, plates, and bowls, it helps to know where in Guatemala you can easily travel to see these large Nymphaea species in front of you.
Posted April 29, 2020
We found lots of Heliconia species parallel to the road from the town of Livingston to the Mayan Q’eqchi’ village of Plan Grande Tatin. Then more Heliconia on both sides of the trail from Plan Grande Tatin village to Cueva del Tigre (Municipio de Livingston, Departamento de Izabal, Guatemala, Central America).
Senaida Ba, our in-house Heliconia specialist, said she also noticed one plant of Heliconia wagneriana, but we had to hike so many hours that none of the team photographed it. The Heliconia latispatha was easier to photograph since there were many thousands on each side of the road.
Heliconia champneiana, Maya Blood, Maya Gold; sometimes named Splash. Along the trail from Plan Grande Tatin village to the town of Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala, Central America.
The color varies depending on how old the inflorescence is. On the Internet, most of the examples are from other countries, or are bred for a special color. We study only wild native Heliconia out in the fields and forests of Guatemala. Izabal area has more species than most other areas of Guatemala.
Photographs by Nicholas Hellmuth, FLAAR Photo Archive, iPhone Xs, March 9, 2020.
If you plan and prepare tour groups for botanical gardens around the world to see and encounter tropical plants in their original native habitat, we have experience with both private tours (an individual, spouses, friends, or family) plus experience with tour groups.
We know areas with orchids, bromeliads, arboreal cacti; we know Guatemala and adjacent countries for over 50 years (but we focus now on Guatemala, flora and fauna (water birds, butterflies, pollinators, monkeys, etc.)).
If you are a botanist, ecologist, or student looking for a thesis or dissertation topic, you can get lots of tips from our web pages, our bibliographies, etc.
These Heliconia were within 2 meters of the road. So imagine how much fun to be standing in front of them, to learn about the different parts (the inflorescence is not the flower; the flower is in the bract).
There were, literally, THOUSANDS of Heliconia latispatha on both sides of the road. All this is waiting for you in the Municipio de Livingston, in the Caribbean edge of Guatemala, Central America.
Posted April 20, 2020
