Maya Gold, Maya Blood; Heliconia champneiana, “Splash” Heliconia, Cueva del Tigre, Plan Grande Tatin, Municipio de Livingston

Posted April 20, 2020

We found lots of Heliconia species parallel to the road from the town of Livingston to the Mayan Q’eqchi’ village of Plan Grande Tatin. Then more Heliconia on both sides of the trail from Plan Grande Tatin village to Cueva del Tigre (Municipio de Livingston, Departamento de Izabal, Guatemala, Central America).

• Heliconia aurantiaca was rare, but present.
• Heliconia champneiana, about a hundred plants seen the whole day
• Heliconia latispatha, always the most common

Senaida Ba, our in-house Heliconia specialist, said she also noticed one plant of Heliconia wagneriana, but we had to hike so many hours that none of the team photographed it. The Heliconia latispatha was easier to photograph since there were many thousands on each side of the road.

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Heliconia champneiana, Maya Blood, Maya Gold; sometimes named Splash. Along the trail from Plan Grande Tatin village to the town of Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala, Central America. The color varies depending on how old the inflorescence is. On the Internet, most of the examples are from other countries, or are bred for a special color. We study only wild native Heliconia out in the fields and forests of Guatemala. Izabal area has more species than most other areas of Guatemala. Photographs by Nicholas Hellmuth, FLAAR Photo Archive, iPhone Xs, March 9, 2020.

To See, Experience and Photograph wild native Heliconia

If you plan and prepare tour groups for botanical gardens around the world to see and encounter tropical plants in their original native habitat, we have experience with both private tours (an individual, spouses, friends, or family) plus experience with tour groups.

We know areas with orchids, bromeliads, arboreal cacti; we know Guatemala and adjacent countries for over 50 years (but we focus now on Guatemala, flora and fauna (water birds, butterflies, pollinators, monkeys, etc.)).

If you are a botanist, ecologist, or student looking for a thesis or dissertation topic, you can get lots of tips from our web pages, our bibliographies, etc.

These Heliconia were within 2 meters of the road. So imagine how much fun to be standing in front of them, to learn about the different parts (the inflorescence is not the flower; the flower is in the bract).

There were, literally, THOUSANDS of Heliconia latispatha on both sides of the road. All this is waiting for you in the Municipio de Livingston, in the Caribbean edge of Guatemala, Central America.

Heliconia aurantiaca in the Ecoalbergue Lagunita Creek

Posted April 16, 2020

Click to enlarge image Heliconia aurantiaca, Ecoalbergue Lagunita Creek, nicely managed by CONAP and FUNDAECO, near Rio Sarstun, Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala, Central America. Photograph by Nicholas Hellmuth (FLAAR Photo Archive) using a Google Pixel-3XL. March 12, 2020.

In part because there is more rainfall during the year in the Izabal area of Guatemala, you have the potential to find lots of Heliconia species here.

Alta Verapaz is comparable; lots of rain in the rainy season and still humidity even in the “non-rainy” season. Led by Q’eqchi’ Mayan plant scout Senaida Ba (FLAAR Mesoamerica) we have found and documented more species of Heliconia in Izabal and Alta Verapaz and Peten than are in any monograph on Heliconia published in the recent years.

Very easy, 90% of books on Heliconia are on the garden varieties. We study only the wild native Heliconia. Another reason it is easy to harvest information on Heliconia is because we focus on Guatemala. Most monographs focus on botanical gardens or Costa Rica or South America. I have been exploring Guatemala and adjacent Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan, Quintana Roo, and Belize since age 16 (starting as a backpacker, by myself).

Courtesy of the Alcalde, Daniel Esaú Pinto Peña, and coordinator team of the Municipio de Livingston, Edwin Mármol Quiñonez, Coordinación de Cooperación de Livingston and Juana Lourdes Wallace Ramírez, Asistente Administrativo, Coordinación de Cooperación de Livingston, we have received access to visit all the nature reserves. We found several species between Livingston and Plan Grande Tatin (en route to Cueva del Tigre). And awesome Heliconia aurantiaca in the Ecoalbergue Lagunita Creek nature reserve (Área de Usos Múltiples Río Sarstún, Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala).

Manicaria palm, Lagunita Creek nature reserve,
Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala

Posted April 25, 2020

Click to enlarge image Manicaria palm at the entrance to Lagunita Creek nature reserve. this palm, as well as the other species near it, both prefer to grow near a river edge or in seasonally flooded areas.

I have noticed more different species of palms in the nature reserve of Lagunita Creek than any area of Guatemala that I have visited in the recent half century.

They are a challenge to identify as to species without seeing their inflorescence. But university student Victor Mendoza suggests these are genus Manicaria and possibly saccifera species. This is correct since there is no other palm of this leaf structure in this area of Guatemala.

The local name is spelled either comfra or confra.

Since I have never seen this palm before in decades of field trips throughout Guatemala, I took photographs when I saw it at the Ecoalbergue Lagunita Creek nature reserve (Área de Usos Múltiples Río Sarstún, Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala).

CONAP and FUNDAECO have accomplished a lot here; the trails were neat and well organized. The local personnel were helpful and hospitable.

If you are a botanist, ecologist, student or individual keen to experience tropical flowers, vines, palms, water plants in an untouristed area, we recommend you visit the Ecoalbergue Lagunita Creek nature reserve in the northeastern corner of the Municipio de Livingston.

You will see lots of tasiste palm and Manicaria saccifera growing around the lodge. When you go up the river (away from the coast), there are more of both species. It would be an interested MS thesis or PhD dissertation on Manicaria saccifera palms to map how far away from the actual sea they can prosper (since clearly they need aspects of salt water). Is it the salt spray in the stormy winds, or high tide that floods low areas with salt water from the Caribbean Sea (via Amatique Bay).

Tasiste palm, Acoelorrhaphe wrightii,than also grows in savannas in Peten, hundreds of kilometers from even brackish water, so tasiste palm has evolved to handle sea water (along the shore of Amatique Bay) and brackish water (on many rivers that flow into Amatique Bay or into El Golfete of Rio Dulce) and seasonally inundated fresh water. But comfra palm grows only along the coast or along nearby rivers with brackish water.

Tasiste is the word used in Peten. Name in Florida is Paurotis or Everglades palm. In the Municipio de Livingston, along rivers and the coast, this is called pimientillo or similar. However, as typical of Spanish names for trees, pimientillo is used for other totally unrelated trees that are not palms. So I prefer the name tasiste.

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Updated November 3, 2021.
First posted April 25, 2020.

Water Snowflake waterlily flowers of Rio Dulce, Livingston

Posted April 06, 2020

The flowers of the Nymphoides indica waterlily plant have so much fluff and puff around their petals that they are called Water Snowflakes. These are photogenic especially with a 1:1 tele-macro lens.

Other gardeners use the name Floating Heart for these flowers of Nymphoides indica. I call them “Amazing Fuzzy-Fluffy Petalled waterlily flowers.”

While working together with the team of the Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala, with the assistance of local guides, in mid-March 2020 we found entire fields of these waterlily plants in full bloom. Sometimes the Nymphoides indica were by themselves. In other nearby areas hundreds of Nymphoides indica were intermixed with the significantly larger white flowers of Nymphaea alba. In other nearby areas the Nymphaea alba were all by themselves.

We want to return to the Municipio de Livingston and document what other water plants are associated. We hope to find the literally miniature water plants Lemna minor and/or also Wolffia brasiliensis.

Click to enlarge image Nymphoides indica Water Snowflake waterlily, El Golfete, north, area, near Lagunita Salvador, Google Pixel 3, Mar. 14, 2020, FLAAR-Mesoamerica (probably Juan Pablo).

We were doing field work on both sides of El Golfete, Biotope Chocon Machacas (CECON-USAC), nature reserve Lagunita Creek (CONAP and FUNDAECO), nature reserve Tapon Creek (CECON-USAC) and Rio Dulce Canyon during mid-March. Then the Coronavirus pandemic began with one or two cases in Guatemala so we returned to our offices in Guatemala City. As soon as things open back up, we will be back exploring the remarkable biodiversity and awesome ecosystems of the Municipio de Livingston working in coordination with the helpful and hospitable people there.

Aechmea tillandsioides, Municipio de Livingston, Bright red flowering epiphytic bromeliad

Posted Mar. 31, 2020

Click to enlarge image Photo by David Arrivillaga with a Nikon D5- Lens 90mm f/2.8 G. Settings: 1/250 sec, f/10, ISO 640.	Click to enlarge image Photo by David Arrivillaga with a Nikon D5- Lens 90mm f/2.8 G. Settings: 1/250 sec, f/9, ISO 640.

This arboreal bromeliad is common in Izabal, Peten, and probably adjacent Alta Verapaz and certainly in Belize. It grows on tree branches, but often is blown over in rainstorms, so sometimes you find Aechmea tillandsioides on the ground (or the branch + bromeliad land on the ground together so the bromeliad still has a perch).

Our team is working from home offices at the moment, but since it is also important to save the fragile endangered ecosystems, we continue making our material available to the almost half a million readers a year on this web site of FLAAR (USA) and FLAAR Mesoamerica (Guatemala).

If you come to the Municipio de Livingston, departamento of Izabal, Guatemala, Central America you can see, photography, study, and learn about Aechmea tillandsioides bromeliads on tree limbs along the shores of Rio Dulce Canyon, El Golfete area of Rio Dulce, and all nearby lagoons and inlets.

TREES of Municipio de Livingston are veritable Biodiverse Ecosystems

Posted Mar. 25, 2020

Click to enlarge image Although this great white heron is a water bird, it spends much of the day on a tree. Here it is keeping its eye focused on our boat as we transit the Canyon de Rio Dulce (from El Golfete to village of Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala, Central America). So trees are important to help birds (and trees are important to protect our planet)

Trees are needed by birds as a place to perch, place to find edible food, place to make nests to raise their families.

Trees are needed by vines to allow vines and lianas to get high to reach sunlight.

Tree limbs are helpful supports for orchids, bromeliads, ferns, and arboreal cactus vines (no terrestrial cacti are native in Municipio de Livingston rain forests: only cacti that climb trees).

Tree roots are often above ground since “ground” is limestone karst geology (so not much soil).

Tree bark comes in every color and structure you can imagine; tree trunks are hosts to mushrooms, lichens, ferns, vines, and lots of other plants.

Even though the Neotropical rain forests of the nature reserves of Livingston are not in New Hampshire (USA) or Canada, the leaves change colors: bright reds, copper-reds, yellows (all year long a different tree has their leaves change colors). So you can visit this part of Guatemala any month of the year and you will experience different colors.

So we at FLAAR (USA) and FLAAR Mesoamerica are devoting more field trips and library research on the native trees of Guatemala. We have just added a new web page on trees (and the complete report will be ready in April)

Although this great white heron is a water bird, it spends much of the day on a tree. Here it is keeping its eye focused on our boat as we transit the Canyon de Rio Dulce (from El Golfete to village of Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala, Central America). So trees are important to help birds (and trees are important to protect our planet)

Calathea crotalifera, Biotope Chocon Machacas, Municipio de Livingston

Posted Mar. 24, 2020

Last week, while visiting Biotope Chocon Machacas, Lourdes Wallace discovered an area of many heliconia relatives. These relatives of heliconia are named Calathea crotalifera. These are wild, native plants (this is not a garden of a fancy hotel).

We are preparing a full report on these gorgeous flowers of Calathea crotalifera. As soon as this photo essay is available, we will link to it. In the meantime we wish to thank Ing. Daniel Esaú Pinto Peña, Alcalde of Livingston (Izabal, Guatemala) for the cooperation of his team in this nice Caribbean area of Guatemala. We thank Edwin Mármol Quiñonez, Coordinación de Cooperación de Livingston, for organizing the local support for these botanical and zoological research field trips. And is was great that Juana Lourdes Wallace Ramírez, Asistente Administrativo, Coordinación de Cooperación de Livingston, was with our team of FLAAR Mesoamerica every day. She is the one who happened to see these gorgeous flowers: they were not on the hiking trail, so without her we would not have seen them.

The full report will also have photographs by María Alejandra Gutierrez and David Arrivilaga (both are experienced photographers at FLAAR Mesoamerica).

Click to enlarge image Calathea crotalifera flowers, Biotope Chocon Machacas, Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala, Central America. Photograph by Nicholas Hellmuth (FLAAR Mesoamerica) with Nikon D810 camera.

Cacao flavoring, cordoncillo, Piper amalago

Posted Mar. 12, 2020

While assisting the Municipio de Livingston, Izabal, we noted cordoncillo around the entrance houses at Biotopo Chocon Machacas (north side of El Golfete, Rio Dulce, Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala).

There are hundreds of species of Piper in Guatemala and nearby countries of Central America. Many different species are called cordoncillo. So on our field trips we include Q'eqchi' Mayan plant scouts (people who know which plant is which).

Santa Maria is another Piper that is edible.

Click to enlarge image We have found many different Piper species in the Municipio of Livingston, Izabal, but so far, not even in the kitchen gardens, we have not yet identified any Piper amalgo or Piper auritum. The large-leaf Piper that is locally named Santa Maria is easier to find and easier to recognize: this is present in Izabal. We will continue searching for the cordoncillo, the Piper used to flavor cacao a thousand years ago. But in the meantime, here is a snapshot of one of the many species of Piper visible along the roads and trails near the town of Livingston.

More palms in plants of the Mayan world in Muni Livingston, Izabal

Posted Mar. 23, 2020

Found more palm species in Lagunita Creek nature reserve than expected. CONAP together with FUNDAECO do a great job maintaining the nice hiking trails and providing guide service.

The team of the Municipio of Livingston kindly provided a boat and guide to take us to this nature research near the mouth of the Rio Sarstun (so south of the Peten-Belize border, with Amatique Bay to the east).

	If you are a botanist, a student of biology, or otherwise like to hike through a Neotropical rain forest, we highly recommend that you visit Lagunita Creek nature reserve. You can find a boat in the village of Livingston. There is no way to drive or hike to the entrance of this nature reserve; boat is the only access.
Click to enlarge image When you are hiking the trails at Lagunita Creek nature reserve you will find many of the plants of the Mayan world. I found more different species of palms here than in other areas that I have visited. Photo by Nicholas Hellmuth, FLAAR Mesoamerica, iPhone Xs, Mar. 12, 2020.

On our next visit I would like to spend an entire day at Lagunita Creek, and reserve a second separate entire day for Área Protegida Parque Ecoturístico Tapon Creek that is a few minutes away (the ecosystems here are different even though not far away).

But if your schedule is tight, visit both Lagunita Creek and Tapon Creek on the same day (as we did our first visit, since in advance I had no idea of the biodiversity we would find in both areas).

We thank Ing. Daniel Esaú Pinto Peña, Alcalde of Livingston (Izabal, Guatemala) for the cooperation provided by him and the team of the Municipio de Livingston. We thank Edwin Mármol Quiñonez, Coordinación de Cooperación de Livingston (Izabal, Guatemala), for introducing our team and our project potential to the Alcalde.

We appreciate the cooperation of Juana Lourdes Wallace Ramírez, Asistente Administrativo, Coordinación de Cooperación de Livingston, for organizing the day-by-day transportation and logistics for our team. Lourdes also accompanies us each day of each field trip.