During our July-August expedition in Livingston, at the beginning of Quehueche Beach, right next to the bridge that connects it with La Buga, Ipomoea pes-caprae, was documented. Commonly called “Campanilla de playa” in Spanish or “Beach Morning Glory” in English belonging to the Convolvulaceae family. This is a vine that grows in the ground with very showy purple flowers. It has a very thick root that can be 3 meters long and 5cm in diameter, forming a dense mat of low growth that eventually covers the soil completely. The stems can be 30 meters long. It is a plant that tolerates the salinity of the sand on the beaches, it has a great distribution since its seeds are dispersed by the water without being affected by salty water.
This vine is important, as it has different uses. The leaves are edible, cooked and eaten as a vegetable, alone or combined with other vegetebles. Roots are also edible, but in minor quantities because they are strongly laxative. The Beach Morning Glory, also has medicinal properties: leaves are anodyne, astringent, diuretic, emollient, laxative and tonic; the root is diuretic and laxative, as we already mention; the seeds are said to be good remedy for stomach-ache and cramp when chewed; and researches have shown some extracts from the stems has strong anti-tumor actions. It is a good option for ornament too, many times you can find Ipomoea species decorating gardens.
Have you seen this beautiful flower in the beach before?
During the June expedition for the Livingston Biodiversity Project, Izabal, we observed Selenicereus testudo, a species of cactus found on the branch of trees. On our third day we had the joy of seeing two flowers of this species. Something that we had not seen in the previous months. According to Véliz in “Las Cactáceas de Guatemala” (2008), the species occurs in Chiquimula, Izabal, Zacapa, Alta Verapaz and Petén. Its flowering is nocturnal and happens between April and October.
The same author also mentions that Guatemala is one of the three entities in the Mesoamerican region with the greatest richness of cacti, the other two are the State of Chiapas, Mexico and Costa Rica. In the Guatemalan territory there are 48 native species plus 4 intraspecific categories.
FLAAR Mesoamerica’s team has documented this species in Parque Nacional Yaxha, Nakum y Naranjo. You can find more information here.
Photographed by David Arrivillaga with a Sony A1 using a FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS lens at Rio Dulce. Settings: 1/400 sec, f/9, ISO 1600.
Photographed by David Arrivillaga with a Sony A1 using a FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS lens at Rio Dulce. Settings: 1/400 sec, f/10, ISO 1600.
Posted July 14, 2021
Written by Vivian Hurtado & Roxana Leal Identified Species by Victor Mendoza
With the help of the Garifuna team of George and his team of Where the Pirates Hide, on the outskirts of the town of Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala, we were able to photograph this remarkable local native tree.
Grias cauliflora tree has flowers on trunk and branches, so this tree is cauliflorous (same as Theobroma cacao, and Crescentia cujete, and Crescentia alata).
The March 2021 ethnobotanical and zoology field trip is the west end of Canyon Rio Dulce and east half of El Golfete, Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala, Central America.
Here is David, Haniel and Nicholas with helpful assistants doing the photography of the cauliflorous branches and trunk of Grias cauliflora tree. We have Sony, Nikon, and Canon cameras and every kind of macro lens: 35mm, 50mm, 60mm, 105mm, 200mm Nikon tele-macro, and 180mm Canon tele-macro. Plus a 5X Canon super-macro lens system.
We have been accomplishing field work in the wetlands of the Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, the far eastern side of Guatemala, Central America. We have found dozens of plants, with edible fruits or other edible parts, growing in the marshes, swamps, above the sandy beaches (into the mangrove swamps), and along the edges of rivers, lagoons and estuaries.
We show here the names of the first 26 edible wetlands plants that we have learned about so far. We have found and photographed at least 23 of these and hope to find the missing species in our upcoming field trips.
First we will publish the six edible plants that grow near the sandy coastal areas and within the mangrove swamps near the coast. Then in April we will do another category, and my May or June hope to have all 26 published, with abundant photographs in high-resolution. But at least now we can show you the 26 edible plants.
Shows the Genus species name, and common name, of each edible plant.
Shows in three habitats: coastal sand and mangrove swamps.
Edible plants in marshes.
Edible fruits of trees that grow along the edges of swamps, rivers, and/or lagoons.
Shows the front covers with sample photograph of those trees and plants that we have found and photographed during February and March 2020, then October, November, December 2020, then January and February 2021.
We will be back in these wetlands from 21 March through 28 March to do more field work.
The Maya did not need raised field agriculture engineering work to grow these plants. The Maya did not need drained field agriculture or local variations of chinampas. The Maya did not need to chop everything down to plant these 26 species: all grow naturally and happily by themselves and produce edible fruits and other edible parts every year.