When time and funding permit, each flower (each plant species) will have its own page, and its own PDF, and eventually its own PPT so that professors and students have plenty of material on Guatemala (and Honduras, etc) to study.

Heliconia adflexa, Coban, Guatemala, Hotel Monja Blanca, FLAAR, by Nicholas Hellmuth

This space is for flowers
we have recently found and photographed.

Reports by FLAAR Mesoamerica
on Flora & Fauna of Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo
Peten, Guatemala, Central America

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Remarkable tropical flowers of Bellucia pentamera on hill overlooking town of Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala

Bellucia pentamera flowers start pure white, turn pure light chocolate color

You may see the tree with primarily white flowers. Or, you may notice only brown flowers. Depends on which month. We found mostly brown flowers.

You can notice that the petals are rather aged (top right).

Flower of Bellucia pentamera, Manzano, Apple-bird.

Finca Where the Pirates Hide, at edge of the town of Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala. You have great panoramic view of the Caribbean area of Guatemala from up here.

Photo by Nicholas Hellmuth, December 19, 2020, using an iPhone 12 Pro Max with ring lights held by the photography assistants.



White phase of the flower	Brown phase of the flower; on the same tree, on a different branch, same day.
Flower of Bellucia pentamera, Manzano, Apple-bird. Finca Where the Pirates Hide, at edge of the town of Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala. Photo by Nicholas Hellmuth, December 19, 2020, using an iPhone 12 Pro Max

You can see this Bellucia pentamera tree in bloom on the hill of Where the Pirates Hide, overlooking Livingston

Tell your tuc-tuc driver you want to go to the edge of Livingston, where, literally at the end of the street is the base of the hill. Meet your local guide there and climb the hill.

Keep in mind that different plants bloom in different months. We photographed the Bellucia pentamera tree in bloom during December.

Contact George Reanu, the owner of the Finca Where the Pirates Hide; his phone is 4272 5823; if dialing from outside, 502 4272 5823.

502 is area code for the entire country and for every city.

Instagram is @where_the_pirates_hide

The flowers of Bellucia pentamera are listed as cauliflorous by botanists

Although the flowers bloom primarily from the branches, and not from the trunk, nonetheless, when I was standing next to this tree I estimated it was an example of cauliflory. And yes, these flowers of Bellucia pentamera are listed as cauliflorous by botanists.

We are finding several remarkable other trees that are fully cauliflorous: they flower, and they fruit, directly from the trunk. Lucas Cuz found one species in Tapon Creek nature reserve (FUNDAECO area). The other species is “by the thousands” along the shores of El Golfete and most of the rivers that feed into El Golfete. We will have separate publications on each species.

Bellucia costaricensis is synonym of Bellucia pentamera

In past centuries botanists used earlier names, such as Bellucia costaricensis. Today the correct accepted name is Bellucia pentamera.

ABRIL-Saltos, Ricardo V., RUÍZ-Vásquez, Tomás E., ALONSO-Lazo, Jatnel and Janeth K. AGUINDA-Vargas
2016
Plantas utilizadas en alimentación humana por agricultores mestizos y Kichwas en los cantones Santa Clara, Mera y Pastaza, Provincia de Pastaza, Ecuador. Cultivos Tropicales, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 7-13

CANO, E., VELOZ, A., CANO, A. and F. J. RUIZ
2009
Distribution of Central American Melastomataceae: biogeographical analysis of the Caribbean islands. Acta Botánica Gallica. Vol. 156, No. 4. Pages 527-557.
Available Online: www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/12538078.2009.10516176

DUKE, J. A.
2008
Duke’s handbook of medicinal plants of Latin America. CRC Press. 832 pages.
Sold Online: www.amazon.com/Dukes-Handbook-Medicinal-Plants-America/dp/1420043161

Note: information on page 94.

GRIJALVA, A
2006
Flora útil etnobotánica de Nicaragua. Ministerio del Ambiente y los Recursos Naturales. 352 pages.
Available Online: www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/training_material/docs/Flora%20
Util%20en%20Nicaragua.pdf

Note: information on page 128.

HERBARIO UNIVERSIDAD DE ANTIOQUIA
2017
Guía ilustrada Flora cañón de rio Porce – Antioquia. 268 pages.
Available Online: https://issuu.com/herbariohua/docs/guia_ilustrada_canon_de_rio_porce_a/125

Note: Information on page 125.

RENNER, S.
1986
Reproductive biology of Bellucia (Melostomataceae). Acta Amazónica. No. 17. Pages 197-208.
Available Online: www.scielo.br/pdf/aa/v16/1809-4392-aa-16-0197.pdf

ROJAS-Torres, Alexander
2014
Inventario de Flora: Identificación y clasificación tazonómica de especies forestales y arbustivas del lote continuo al Cead del Municipio de Acacias, de propiedad de la Universidad Nacional Abierta y Distancia.
Available Online: https://repository.unad.edu.co/bitstream/handle/10596/2662/
7843809.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Note: Information on page 40

VARGAS, O.
2001
Síndromes de dispersión, polinización y sistemas sexuales de los árboles nativos de la estación biológica La Selva y áreas circundantes. 1ª edición. Costa Rica.
Available Online: http://sura.ots.ac.cr/florula4/docs/lista_arboles_sindromes_OVR05.pdf

Suggested webpages with photos and information on Aphelandra aurantiaca

www.asianplant.net/Melastomataceae/Bellucia_pentamera.htm
Synonyms and general information

https://colombia.inaturalist.org/taxa/278111-Bellucia-pentamera
Useful photos and location map

https://melas-centroamerica.com/bellucia-pentamera
Useful photos

https://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/Bellucia_pentamera.htm
Very nice photos

http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Bellucia+pentamera
Information and photos

Updated February 2021
by Dr Nicholas Hellmuth and Vivian Hurtado, FLAAR Mesoamerica.
First post 2017 by Marcela Sarti.