There are many species of this tree in different eco-systems of Guatemala. One or more species are common throughout El Peten (which you can see in Parque Nacional Tikal, the Lake Yaxha park, Seibal (Ceibal) archaeological park, etc.
It’s tough to live in Guatemala City, 1500 meters above sea level, with a view of three volcanoes (with one erupting every week or so). The only time we see snow is to watch TV about blizzards hitting US cities. Here we have butterflies, friendly stingless bees (yes, honey bees with no stingers), hummingbirds every day, and lots of flowers.
Last week we noticed that a vine had climbed up our Ceiba pentandra tree (higher than a three-story building even though less than 10 years old!). This vine had orange flowers. Within a week this vine was flowering directly in front of my desk (tough view).
We believe this is Senecio confusus, Mexican Flame Vine (good to attract monarch butterflies). It is used as a traditional medicine by the Mayan and related people as treatment of strokes and muscle aches.
On the other side of the house we have a plant with tiny purple flowers. This is Eupatorium pycnocephalum, used medicinally for stomach pains (including for birth).
Eupatorium pycnocephalum, photographed at our garden.
Much to our surprise, Ipomoea alba, Moonflower, is also a medicinal plant. I hope it is included in books on Mayan medicinal plants, but I bet it is missing from many of them.
Ipomoea alba is also toxic: and is missing from Plantas toxicas de Mexico, by Abigail Aguilar and Carlos Zolla’s co-authored monograph on toxic plants.
Ipomoea alba is also edible (in Africa and India) so in theory could be edible in Mesoamerica as well (despite being toxic; many toxic plants are eaten readily). Ipomoea alba is native to Mesoamerica, and introduced to the rest of the world. We raise it in our Mayan ethnobotanical and ethnomedicinal garden (to study the structure of the flower as it opens in the evening).
I just did a TV documentary a few months ago where 66% of the native Maya plants eaten by the gourmet chefs were toxic). Note: it depends which part of the plant you eat. Each part of many plants has chemicals totally different than other parts. However on the TV documentary, I myself ate only flor de pacaya, since I have eaten this for years. But I passed on the other two flowers since one comes from a tree named “mata raton.”
And the other flower was from a palo de pito tree, whose seeds are so toxic they can’t be imported into USA as jewelry (lots of bright colored seeds are used to make necklaces throughout Mesoamerica).
To see the video (which fortunately does not include eating the flowers of Ipomoea alba, since I was not yet aware parts of this plant were edible), here is the link: “El sabor de Mi Tierra - Flores Comestibles de Mesoamérica” in Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/121917491
In order to show how different sizes, shapes, and structures of Neotropical flowers open, we raise native plants of Mesoamerica in our Mayan medicinal and ethnobotanical garden in Guatemala City.
For the last several months we have done dozens of stop-action sequences of the evening opening of Ipomoea alba (Moonflower). This is a vine related to morning glories. Now the passionflowers are blooming, but in the early morning, before the sunrise.
Here is an example of about 90 minutes of photography by Sofia Monzon, assisted by Senaida Ba.
Our Ipomoea alba has been flowering every night (ironic for a member of the Morning Glory genus to bloom in the evening, but that is why this species is named Moonflower!).
What I thought was tomatillo has been blooming, but our flowers are lavender-purple. On the Internet the flowers are yellow. So I have to check what species of Solanaceae this actually is.
Passiflora quadrangularis is growing happily and has a dozen buds ready to burst open. We are trying to learn whether they open in the evening, at night, or very early morning.
Three different kinds of tall shrubs or small trees have sent out tiny white flowers. We will be trying to identify these species so we can post photographs.
It is nice to have a Mayan medicinal plant garden in Guatemala City, with sun almost every day (though we did have two days of misty night rains last week, a surprise in the dry season).
No snow most years, indeed to the contrary, the Volcano Fuego (visible on the horizon) spews out fiery volcanic black sand!
Friday, 30 October, 2:30pm, in Antigua Guatemala, is the first of eight lectures by eight different archaeologists, zoologists, botanists, and cave explorer. Dr Nicholas Hellmuth is the first speaker.
It is natural to assume that sharks are marine creatures, especially when you are swimming on a beach! But in Mexico and Guatemala, one species of deadly shark swims far up the Rio Usumacinta and on the other coast swims up the Rio Dulce and Lake Izabal.
So we hope to see you at 2:30 pm in Antigua Guatemala (Cooperacion Espanola, one block from main plaza, organized by Fundacion La Ruta Maya).
If you can’t make the lecture, we can provide the lecture to you if you can help us obtain an underwater camera case for our Nikon D810. Either a Subal ND810, or Nauticam NA-D810, or Sea & Sea MDX-D810 underwater housing. In return for a (tax deductible donation) we would provide a copy of the PhD dissertation of Dr Hellmuth PLUS the entire PowerPoint presentation.
It would also help our future research to have an Olympus TG-4 underwater point-and-shoot camera for our assistants (much easier to use than a DSLR when you are faced with a shark!). In return for a donation for this camera we would provide the entire PowerPoint presentation.
If you would like these or any of other archaeology, flora or fauna lectures by Dr Nicholas, in-person, in your home town, anywhere in the world, a donation for the underwater housing + airfare to you city (and a hotel to stay) he can lecture to you, your friends and family; or at a local club, school, or association that you belong to. He can lecture in English, Spanish, or German.
