Virtual Photo Exhibit of Water Flowers of Guatemala
Neotropical
Water Flowers
Photo Exhibit
If you would like to have a photo exhibit in your botanical garden, or museum, or club…
Twice we have had exhibits at the Missouri Botanical Garden (MOBOT). If you wish photographs by Dr Nicholas Hellmuth and his team of photographers, they are available in high resolution. All images are digital so you can print them locally (we can explain what printers, what materials, etc).
Dr Nicholas can give a presentation on flowers of the Maya on opening night. He can speak in Español, Deutsch, or English.
Contact: FrontDesk “at” FLAAR.org
First Posted June 2017
Pachira aquatica flowers are the largest of any tree in Guatemala
The only tree flowers which are this size are of close relatives Pseudobombax elipticum and Ceiba aesculifolia. The flowers of the substantially larger tree relative Ceiba pentandra are small (but in clusters).
Pachira aquatica flowers are the largest of any tree in Guatemala
The only tree flowers which are this size are of close relatives Pseudobombax elipticum and Ceiba aesculifolia. The flowers of the substantially larger tree relative Ceiba pentandra are small (but in clusters).
Zapoton fruits are the largest of any tree that I know of in Guatemala
A healthy zapoton fruit is larger than several annona fruits put together. Only the pineapple is as large as a zapoton, but pineapples have not yet been fully documented as being present for the Aztec or Maya before the arrival of the Spanish.
A watermelon is larger than a zapoton but watermelons originated in Africa and do not grow on a tree.
No silk cotton around the seeds: instead they have white pulp
Whereas close relatives (Ceiba aesculifolia, Ceiba pentandra, and Pseudobombax ellipticum) create a silk-like, cotton like “kapok” to surround the seeds, the Pachira aquatica has a soft gel-like white substance (which reminds me of the pulp around cacao seeds).
Kapok allows the seeds of ceiba and comparable trees to float through the air, driven by the wind, to find new places to grow. In distinction, the zapoton tree prefers to grow along the shore of rivers or lakes so can often best survive if the seeds fall directly onto the shore (or into the water when water level rises during the rainy season).
I have seen healthy seedlings of Pachira aquatica growing in water about 10 to 15 cm deep along Lake Izabal.
Yet there was an equally healthy fully grown Pachira aquatica tree nowhere near water, in the central park of Chisec (until it was cut down two years ago in order to pour cement on the surface). There is also a healthy Pachira aquatica tree in the botanical garden at the end of Avenida Reforma (where the office of of CECON is).
We at FLAAR have about four healthy Pachira aquatica trees in our garden at 1500 meters elevation: no lake, no river, and a long dry season. The trees are healthy and happy (but do very much prefer to be alongside a river or lake or in an eco-system with lots of water).