el Jardin Botanico

Yesterday we went to el Jardín Botánico Regional in Xíitbal neek’. We went to this botanical garden in order to prepare for our quiz on plant taxonomy on Thursday. Much of the local plants are contained within this compound in addition to sections aimed to reproduce parts of la selva. The garden contained 24 collections with over 600 species. The garden contained Family Arecaceae (palms), family Orchidaceae (orchids), Family Cactaceae (Cactus) & Family Bromeliaceae (Bromeliads including pineapple) all of which (except for cacti) we know from our Taxonomy. Below is an example of each.

 

Family Arecaceae: Palm trees can be easily distinguished by the tree barks (which is not actually a woody bark). Below is a picture of a palm tree with highly distinguishable leaf stems. When palm trees have seemingly smooth bases it is due to the fusion of old leaf stems. Palm tree leafs are also noticeable because they are pleated.

 

Family Orchidaceae: orchids. Orchids are easily distinguishable by their flower which looks like landing strip for pollinators. Orchids are generally epiphytic (grow on top of other things such as other trees) and therefore were at eyesight level. However, since we are in the dry season it was easier to tell an orchid by looking at its leaves. Since they are epiphytes they must have some way of containing water, if you look carefully at the picture below you can see that the leaves are thick and somewhat puffy and have a base that looks swollen. This is used to retain water during the dry season and is called a psuedobulb. So even without the flower we were able to identify the orchid! (although it is much easier to do with the flower)

 

Family Cactaceae: Even though cacti were not on our taxonomy, I decided to put in a picture because before Tuesday I had not known that cacti could be epiphytic, although as someone pointed out (Ellen I think) does make sense that they would be preadapted to an epiphytic lifestyle because they have the ability to retain water so well.

 

Family Bromeliaceae: Bromeliads are usually epiphytes however one very well known “ground-dwelling bromeliad” is the pineapple which I happened to have for breakfast this morning! Bromeliads are distinguishable to me by their leaf patterns, generally the leaves look like the top of a pineapple (wonder why) and the fact that they also have a long inflorescence. Below is a picture of a ground dwelling bromeliad.

(i thought i took a picture of a bromeliad, but later realized it was a palm...woops. 

We did see a few other things of interest at el jardín. The Ceiba tree is in the Family Bombacaceae. This tree was of GREAT importance to the Mayans and is their sacred tree. In drawings and artwork it is depicted as a cross and this led the Mayans to have an easier time acclimating to the Christian culture (when they were invaded) because a cross was a sacred symbol to them, it just did not represent the ideals of the Christian cross. Anyway, the easiest way to recognize a Ceiba tree is by looking at its trunk which is generally swollen in the middle. Below is a picture of the swollen trunk.

 

Henequen: I talked briefly about henequen and its role in mayan life in my last post and on Tuesday we were able to see henequen in person, and I was even lucky enough to be cut by henequen (as you can see in the picture the ends are very sharp) Henequen is hard to distinguish from ground dwelling bromeliads, since they both look similar except Robert Dawley mentioned bromeliads do not generally look like they could cut you if you touched them, and from experience I will now always remember that. So touch bromeliads..not henequen. Below is a picture of henequen which brought the mayans wealth.

 

Another tree which I found very interesting is in the family Burseraceae and is the Bursera tree. To the Mayans the Bursera tree  is also known as the “tourist tree” because as you can tell from the picture its bark is red and peels much like a tourists skin. (I think its funny) Anyway, Bursera is interesting to me not only for its funny name, but also because the bark of a Bursera tree is thought o heal many ailments including Acne and eczema. If I ever get hurt in the jungle, my first thought will be to find some Bursera bark, although it may not work as magically as it is thought to. Below is a picture of the Bursera Bark.

 

Finally, the last tree I am going to talk about is one of extreme importance to me, the Acacia Tree. For my research project for bio 220 I am researching the tree Acacia in the Family Fabaceae. It is in the legume family. The legume family is easily distinguishable by its leaves, see below. However, the bull-thorn acacia also had large hollowed out thorns for which the ant symbiot (psuedomyrmex spp.) live in. The mutualism between Acacia trees and ants of the species psuedomyrmex is a very important mutualism to study because it is such an apparent connection. Acacia ants provide protection for the Acacia tree, while the acacia tree provides a food source and shelter for the tiny ants. The acacia-ants are FEROCIOUS, however on the Acacia that we touched no one got bit or anything so I am not as terrified of them as many of the scientific papers I have read made them seem. Below are some pictures of the tree I am studying for Bio 220, the Ant-Acacia Tree.

 
 

That just about wraps up my visit to el Jardín Botánico. We did see some plants from the Order Zingiberaceae (bananas, gingers) but I didn’t take any pictures of them. And I think that’s enough plants for now! (haha). Ultimately, we say all the plants from the Class Monocot that we have to know for tomorrows Quiz and I should ACE that section. Adios. Una siesta para mi.