Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica
It has been another beautiful day in the tropical forest of Costa Rica. We started our journey by spending the morning in the botanical garden of Casa Orquideas at Golfo Dulce. Here, we had the chance to see and get to know some of the most incredible exotic and native plants, that Ron and Trudy MacAllister, the owners, have been collecting from the hills and shorelines around the gulf, as well as trading them with other botanical gardens.
We saw all kinds of different plants: orchids, palms, aroids, flowering gingers through the garden. But, one of the most interesting are the bromeliads that are naturally found in the New World. The family is comprised mostly of epiphytes, though some members of the family are terrestrial, like the most well known: the pineapple.
In this picture, we see one of the epiphytic species known as a tank bromeliad. Their leaves collect water from the rain and form a pool that catches decaying organic matter and uses it as a compost. The water collected in the leaves is also used by animals like insects, reptiles, amphibians, and a list of up to 250 different organisms that depend on the bromeliad’s water.
We spent the rest of the afternoon bird watching and learning how to discover these small micro ecosystems that surround us in the tropical jungles.
It has been another beautiful day in the tropical forest of Costa Rica. We started our journey by spending the morning in the botanical garden of Casa Orquideas at Golfo Dulce. Here, we had the chance to see and get to know some of the most incredible exotic and native plants, that Ron and Trudy MacAllister, the owners, have been collecting from the hills and shorelines around the gulf, as well as trading them with other botanical gardens.
We saw all kinds of different plants: orchids, palms, aroids, flowering gingers through the garden. But, one of the most interesting are the bromeliads that are naturally found in the New World. The family is comprised mostly of epiphytes, though some members of the family are terrestrial, like the most well known: the pineapple.
In this picture, we see one of the epiphytic species known as a tank bromeliad. Their leaves collect water from the rain and form a pool that catches decaying organic matter and uses it as a compost. The water collected in the leaves is also used by animals like insects, reptiles, amphibians, and a list of up to 250 different organisms that depend on the bromeliad’s water.
We spent the rest of the afternoon bird watching and learning how to discover these small micro ecosystems that surround us in the tropical jungles.
