On 22 January we will be headed to the Municipio de Livingston to continue our long range project to find, photograph, document, and publish flora and fauna which has not been fully discussed for this Caribbean part of Guatemala.
We will spend four days in swamps, marshes, rivers, and creeks (parallel to El Golfete part of Rio Dulce), to study lots of the water-related trees and plants. Many of these wild native plants have edible fruits, nuts, seeds, stems, roots, and other parts. Lots of these plants provide medicinal components help to local Mayan people.
Then we will spend four days in the hillsides and hilltops of the rather high Cerro San Gil nature reserve. Nine of our team will work together on all this field work. So lots of flora and fauna to be reported in the coming weeks.
Park ranger Teco (Moises Daniel Perez Diaz) kindly sent us this photo of the buds of a vine named bejuco lambedor. It has this name because if you are on a motorcycle and driving through the rain forest and your head brushes against this vine, it leaves burning mark on your skin; leaves a wound.
The vine produces drinkable water (evidently no wounds on your throat or lips). Literally; local people out in the rain forests of Peten (chicleros, xateros, etc.) routinely drink water from four plants:
Bejuco lambedor
Bejuco de Estrella
Bejuco de uva
Raiz del palo de copo
We see these leaves everywhere, but this is the first time we have seen the flower buds. We hope in the future to be able to receive photos from Teco of the actual flowers. We (FLAAR Mesoamerica) provide mobile phone cameras and Internet to plant scouts so they can find awesome plants in the areas where they live and work.
Flower buds of vine bejuco lambedor. It looks like a shrub but evidently is a vine since it’s local name is “bejuco.”
Photograph by Moises Daniel Perez Diaz, road from Yaxha to Nakum (PNYNN), Peten, Guatemala. January 14, 2021, 12:37 pm.
I estimate this may be a species of genus Cissus, but I will need to see the flowers when they open.
Cauliflorous flowers of the trunk of Zygia gigantifloliola, paterna de montaña, Reserva Natural Tapon Creek.
This photograph was taken today by Lucas Cuz, Q’eqchi’ Mayan park ranger of the FUNDAECO managed Reserva Natural Tapon Creek (several kilometers south of the Rio Sarstun-Rio Sarstoon parks of Izabal and Belize on the north side of the border).
Lucas Cuz is a plant scout for FLAAR; this means he searches for plants of interest, takes photos and sends them via Skype or comparable. We provide the special Google telephone camera, Internet, and expenses to our plant scouts in several areas of Izabal, Peten, and Alta Verapaz.
Anacardium occidentale, Cashew nut fruit, taken with a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, From the Flaar photo Archive. Taken on 2013.
Here is the FLAAR Mesoamerica team at Lagunita Creek Nature Reserve, nicely managed by FUNDAECO. The boat owner and operator are in the boat. Haniel (in red shirt) is piloting the registered drone that took this photo. The rest of the team is having lunch break.
At each nature reserve we make notes of which edible, usable, or curious plants we find (especially those flowering this week). We then extensively photograph each flower, fruit, etc. There are five photographers in this team.
Happy Holidays! Our very best wishes to you this festive season. May 2021 bring you peace, joy and prosperity. From all staff members of FLAAR Mesoamerica.
The Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, has lots of wild vanilla orchid vines growing in many areas. We find these vines in swamps at sea level (south inlet of east end of El Golfete portion of Rio Dulce); we find wild vanilla orchid vines on karst hills elsewhere in Izabal. And now a helpful park ranger of Tapon Creek nature reserve, managed by FUNDAECO, has sent us photos of the seed pods, the capsules or beans of these wild vanilla orchid vines.
Photograph by Lucas Cuz, park ranger, FUNDAECO, Tapon Creek nature reserve, using Google Pixel telephone camera provided by FLAAR (USA) and FLAAR Mesoamerica (Guatemala).
We are rushing out to the Caribbean today since this is a remarkable opportunity to learn from the local Q’eqchi’ Mayan park rangers. We need to learn in how many different months do these vines bloom? In how many different months can you see the seed pods.
You can also find lots of wild vanilla orchid vines in many areas of Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo, (PNYNN), Peten. The family of Senaida Ba Mucu, has found wild vanilla orchids in the mountains of Alta Verapaz near Chipemech (between Senahu and Cahabon). We of FLAAR have photographed these vines here and in the many areas of PNYNN and all around the Municipio de Livingston, Izabal. But never have we seen them flowering in the wild.
So clearly the Classic Maya of thousands of years ago had plenty of vanilla for flavoring their cacao beverages.
