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Native Plants of the Jaltemba Bay area
Nayarit, México
by Terry Coomber
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| Visitors to the tropics know that, next to the way the air feels against their skin, what most conveys the feeling of the tropics is the sight of lush, overblown, brightly-coloured vegetation which nearly dominates the man-made elements.
A few visitors look beyond the home gardens and the public plantings, beyond the beautiful cultured Hibiscus and Bougainvillea and palms, and notice that some of the 'weeds' in untended lots are beautiful, too. And the rare visitor who gets away from the built-up areas, into the fields and marshes, beside a stream or in the forest, drifting through the mangroves or driving a few minutes up into the mountains, will see far more of the spectacular flora of one of Earth's floristically richest areas.
I'm only an amateur botanist, far from southwestern Ontario, Canada where I fell in love with "botanising", wandering around finding wild plants I hadn't seen before. In my new home (here since 2000 but with little time to indulge this passion) I recognise very few plant families and none of the wild species. There are no printed reference materials to help me identify the plants I see, and chasing them down on the Internet is always difficult and, more often than not, futile.
So I hope to give you some pretty pictures of the native plants of my area along with whatever ID or other information I have. If you can help me with identification or anything else, PLEASE email me! This is a work in progress and will probably be so forever, but I'll keep adding all I can here to create a flora of the Jaltemba Bay area for all of us who love to explore and discover the native plants.
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Click here for 2 more photos to help ID this. |
Bignoniaceae
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A sprawling vine with a thin, leafless, woody stem, photographed 26 March 2005 and seen again in a different location 27 May profusely flowering, sprawling over the ground, shrubs, and small trees, and still leafless. Flowers ~3.5-4cm wide. A cutting growing at home shows opposite, simple, ovate leaves, and a leading tendril looking for something to wrap itself around.
Photo 26 March 2005 © Terry Coomber
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For a closeup of the flowers, click here. |
Antigonon leptopus
Polygonaceae |
"Coral vine", "Mexican love chain", a very common vine around here climbing on fences, through trees, sprawling across untended lots, showing itself everywhere. Blooms year-round.
For a closeup of the flowers, click on the caption below the photo.
Photo 16 April 2005 © Terry Coomber
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Argemone mexicana
Papaveraceae |
The "Mexican poppy", like many members of the poppy family, will most often be found in open, dry ground, usually in disturbed areas like roadsides and recently cleared areas. This species is as prickly as any thistle. The appearance of the seedpods tell you it's almost certainly a poppy, and the striking white venation in the leaves help to identify the species.
Photo 14 March 2005 © Terry Coomber
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Ipomoea sp., possibly
I. pes-caprae
Convolvulaceae
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A beach-loving morning-glory sprawling across the sand.
Photo 14 February 2005 © Terry Coomber
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prob. Dalechampia sp.
Euphorbiaceae
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As with Bougainvillea and poinsettia, among others, the colour comes from the bracts which surround the flowering parts instead of from the flowers themselves. A vine spotted by the roadside in an agricultural area and seen along another, nearby roadside 28 May 2005.
Photo 14 March 2005 © Terry Coomber
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poss. Hibiscus sp.
Malvaceae
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A large, brilliant crimson 10 cm flower which this photo doesn't do justice to, this wildflower grabs your attention from a distance. It's habit appears to be vinelike, but I can't find any references to vining plants in this family.
Photo 26 March 2005 © Terry Coomber
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Passiflora sp.
Passifloraceae
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A wild passionflower growing by a seasonally-dry streambed.
Photo 26 March 2005 © Terry Coomber
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Plumeria rubra
Apocynaceae |
Under any name, this native plant is instantly recognisable by its scent: frangipani.
Frangipani is deciduous, so it will be leafless in the wild during the dry season. In a home garden, a little water keeps it leafy and blooming year-round.
Photo 18 October 2004 © Terry Coomber
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Euphorbia pulcherrima
Euphorbiaceae |
Wherever Christmas is celebrated, the Poinsettia is a major symbol of the season and a potted plant you'll see all about. It originates from México, growing a little above sea level: a twenty-minute drive from Guayabitos or La Peñita will bring you to wild Poinsettias blooming from November through February. They won't look quite as civilised as the potted plants you buy for Christmas but they're the real, original thing.
Photo 15 November 2004 © Terry Coomber
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For an enlargement, click on the photo. |
Malpighiaceae
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Photo 14 March 2005 © Terry Coomber |
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Pyrostegia venusta
Bignoniaceae |
An enthusiastic vine covered in masses of vivid orange flowers, spectacular when seen draped over a roof or a fence or a tree. In the garden, it will bloom November to April given sufficient water.
(The photo doesn't do justice to this brilliantly-coloured plant.)
Photo 10 April 2005 © Terry Coomber
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Clitoria ternatea
Fabaceae |
A fast-growing vine which will quickly cover a fence or a wall, these beautiful 4-5cm flowers appear year-round.
While C. ternatea is native to this area, this double-flowered specimen MAY be a domesticated variety, although it grows true from seed (and like most pea family plants it sets a lot of very fertile seed).
The plant just showed up in our garden one year and could easily have been weeded out if we were more diligent gardeners. It's a good thing we're not.
Photo 30 may 2005 © Terry Coomber
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All material copyright of Jaltemba Bay Rentals, Lenor Coomber, and Terry Coomber 2004-2006 unless otherwise noted.
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