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
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Bibliography on Combretum fruticosum and Combretum argenteum in Yaxha area of Peten |
Remarkable flower structure: Combretum fruticosum (Loefl.) Stuntz Botanical name is Combretum fruticosum (Loefl.) Stuntz. Local names of course depend on in what part of Mesoamerica you ask, and whether you ask a local person or a botanist. One name is peineto (in Guatemala). Other sites call it flor de fuego, though so far 100% of the flowers of Combretum fruticosum around Yaxha are pure yellow: only the seed pod was red. However on the Internet, you see the name flame red. Perhaps we will experience this color in mid-February when we return to Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo? Orange Flame Vine is the name most commonly used; Chameleon Vine is also listed but not used as often. But as we will learn later either there are two species: red inflorescence and yellow inflorescence, or there is one species with different colors for various factors. Called bottlebrush in Belize (where it is listed as a food source of the black howler monkey (Silver, Ostro, Yeager and Horwich 1998: 269)). In Yucatan the plant (based on its flowers) is called peine de mico or peine de milo. Flowers there in January, February, and March (www.cicy.mx/sitios/flora%20digital/ficha_virtual.php?especie=1179). Called punto on www.conabio.gob.mx list (whose URL is too long to show here). Is Combretum fruticosum a vine? Or a bush? Or a Tree? Some botanists call it a tree (Grandtner and Chevrette 2013: 152). It is sometimes called a bush (arbusto); other times viewed or considered as a vine. In one thesis it is called an arbusto in one tabulation (Garcia 2008: 8) but called an árbol in another in same thesis (page 92). In different eco-systems, and depending on what plants or trees are nearby, its growth style may vary? Where to find Combretum fruticosum ? I first noticed Combretum fruticosum six kilometers from the park entrance, at the left side of the road to Yaxha from Flores-to-Melchor de Mencos highway. You can also see more Combretum fruticosum growing on living fence trees used for living fences along the main highway (from Flores (Santa Elena)-to-Melchor de Mencos). I estimate it is also present among the treetops along Rio Ixtinto (which you enter on the west side of Topoxte Island in Lake Yaxha). We found the thickest area of Combretum fruticosum growing atop low trees in the bajo area between Yaxha and Nakum. Most had to be photographed with an 800mm prime telephoto lens since they were so far away (we did not want to use a machete in the park to hack a trail to enable us to photograph them from closer). One tree had the vines accessible with a 200mm telephoto lens. It was only along the road from the main highway towards the park entrance that the vine flowers were low enough to do close-ups. Combretum fruticosum can also be found in all the areas around Peten: Calakmul (Campeche) is one example (Portal de datos abiertos UNAM). Plants of the Combretum genus are known as the bushwillows. family Combretaceae. Different species of Combretum vines, bushes, or trees can be found around the world: Africa, Asia, with several dozen in the Americas. The species we discuss on this page are all native to the Mayan areas of Mesoamerica. Diverse Colors: Red for some flowers; yellow for others Are they two different species? Standley and Williams say that Combretum fruticosum has red inflorescence and Combretum argenteum is “yellowish green to bright yellow…” (1962: 272). So according to these experienced botanists (albeit with very little experience in Peten area…) there are two species: one yellow inflorescence (Combretum argenteum) and one flame red inflorescence (Combretum fruticosum). Yet the New York Botanical Garden web site has two photos labeled Combretum fruticosum; both are greenish yellow (and not red). Assumed from Belize and not from the botanical garden…. www.nybg.org/bsci/belize/Combretum_fruticosum.html Same with a Czech Republic botanical web site. Even though the flower is yellow and not red, he still calls it Combretum fructicosum. www.biolib.cz/en/image/id47945/ Gorgeous photo, full-page size (which is helpful). Flowers are greenish to greenish-yellow. Photographed in Las Pacayas, Peten, February 2007. And again for Ceibal (spelled in English as Seibal, near Sayaxche). www.biolib.cz/en/image/id45374/ Close-up of group of about six clusters: flowers are greenish to greenish-yellow. Again, even though it is yellow and not red, he still calls it Combretum fructicosum. Photographed in Ceibal (Seibal), Peten, February 2008. Sharp, clear, photo, at helpful LARGE size. So clearly there is a botanical mishmash here: Standley and Williams claim two different species. But no one nowadays uses the botanical name Combretum argenteum. And no web site says Combretum argenteum is synonym for Combretum fructicosum. I have assumed that there may be a red type and a yellow type. Or the yellow ones may turn red when they mature? Or the yellow ones are in different eco-systems than the red ones? I hope botanists can sort this out and help me understand, as so far, all photos of Combretum fructicosum in botanical web pages are yellow (what’s on the Internet from people’s home gardens is typical copy-and-paste from the Internet; what counts is the name provided by botanists). Lundell discusses only the names Combretum farinosum and Combretum mexicanum. His work in the 1930’s was primarily around La Libertad, savanna country, far west of the hills of Yaxha. So work from the 1930’s into 1960’s is not reliable for the names or color issues. I accept Combretum fructicosum as yellow based on two photos of pure yellow inflorescences labeled as Combretum fruticosum by capable botanist Michael J. Balick (his co-author Rosita Arvigo says they are “used to make wine, known as “chew stick vine” (2015: 259). Balick et al. 2000 have zero photos but the common names feature the word yellow: sepillo Amarillo, yellow brush (in other words, they are not called red flame in Belize!). Thus I tentatively conclude that the species in Yaxha is Combretum fructicosum and not Combretum argenteum. Information on Combretum argenteum on the Internet varies from nothing to never explaining its similarities or difference from other species. Yet Combretum argenteum is never listed as a synonym. Surely a major botanical garden can issue a peer-reviewed journal article on these issues and resolve the inconsistent naming. Plus, why has no botanist mentioned the yellow vs red discrepancies in the literature? Lots of other species of Combretum genus in Guatemala As examples I mention a few species; several other species also occur widely in Guatemala and obviously also in adjacent Chiapas, Tabasco, etc.
Combretum farinosum Kunth can be found in Baja Verapaz Chiquimula, El Progresso, Jalapa, Huehuetenango and also Petén. www.tropicos.org/Name/8200243?tab=distribution Combretum decandrum Jacq. can be found in Chimaltenango, Chiquimula, Escuintla, Santa Rosa, and Retalhuleu. www.tropicos.org/Name/8200217?tab=distribution Combretum laxum Jacq. is found in Belize and nearby This other web page shows map: thus this species should also be in many parts of Peten: www.gbif.org/pt/species/7908521 Nowadays Combretum laxum is considered a synonym of Combretum fructicosum. However most authors writing on Belize plants still use the name Combretum laxum, even in 2014. Plus, Flora Mesoamerican web site does NOT list C. laxum as a synonym (www.tropicos.org/name/08200197?projectid=3). Hmmm, botanical name choices are definitely confusing. Levy (1977) uses both Combretum laxum and Combretum fructicosum as separate plants.
PDF, Articles, Books on Combretum fruticosum
Suggested webpages with photos and information on Combretum fruticosum
www.biolib.cz/en/image/id47945/
www.biolib.cz/en/image/id45374/
www.igoterra.com/taxa.asp?genusid=307157
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ0zyZ59QtU
http://jardinbotanico.montevideo.gub.uy/node/107/combretum-fruticosum-loefl-stuntz
http://www.tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Combretum+fruticosum
https://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/bioinformatics/croat/specie/Combretum%20fruticosum,e
https://www.cicy.mx/sitios/flora%20digital/ficha_virtual.php?especie=1179 www.tropicos.org/name/08200197?projectid=3 http://micol.fcien.edu.uy/flora/Combretum-fruticosum.htm http://enciclovida.mx/especies/163591 http://archivo.infojardin.com/tema/flor-de-fuego-combretum-fruticosum-ficha
Updated January, 2020. |