Casa Orquideas, Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica
Today we visited the private haven that Ron and Trudy McAllister have been building for the past twenty-four years of their lives. Orchids, cannon-ball trees, walking palms, zamias, hummingbirds, toucans, white-hawks, and bromeliads welcomed us to their home.
Bromeliads are tropical or warm temperate plants native to the New World, with the exception of one species. Most bromeliads are short-stemmed herbaceous plants with basal rosettes of stiff leaves. Since the flowers of most bromeliads are not brightly colored, some leaves – called bracts - produce the color to attract the pollinators. The most specialized types known as tank bromeliads absorb their nutrients mainly through leaf hairs (trichomes) and not by their roots. The tanks may hold up to 5 liters (over a gallon) of water and may contain a considerable amount of flora and fauna: bladderworts, tree frogs, and many species of insect larvae, including mosquitos.
The most economically important bromeliad of all is the pineapple, as an edible fruit and because its stems and juices are used as a proteolytic enzyme – a meat tenderizer. Some other species are used to produce fibers and are used locally to make cloth, rope and even paper.
Today we visited the private haven that Ron and Trudy McAllister have been building for the past twenty-four years of their lives. Orchids, cannon-ball trees, walking palms, zamias, hummingbirds, toucans, white-hawks, and bromeliads welcomed us to their home.
Bromeliads are tropical or warm temperate plants native to the New World, with the exception of one species. Most bromeliads are short-stemmed herbaceous plants with basal rosettes of stiff leaves. Since the flowers of most bromeliads are not brightly colored, some leaves – called bracts - produce the color to attract the pollinators. The most specialized types known as tank bromeliads absorb their nutrients mainly through leaf hairs (trichomes) and not by their roots. The tanks may hold up to 5 liters (over a gallon) of water and may contain a considerable amount of flora and fauna: bladderworts, tree frogs, and many species of insect larvae, including mosquitos.
The most economically important bromeliad of all is the pineapple, as an edible fruit and because its stems and juices are used as a proteolytic enzyme – a meat tenderizer. Some other species are used to produce fibers and are used locally to make cloth, rope and even paper.
