Plant Story--Virginia Creeper and Woodbine, Parthenocissus

woodbine, Parthenocissus vitacea

They are big vines, common and hardy. I want to talk about the native American plants in the genus Parthenocissus. The best-known is Virginia creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia. It is native to eastern North America (Virginia!) but was long ago planted as a landscape plant, so it can be found from England to Australia. In the U.S., where it is found west of eastern Nebraska and in Canada, it is considered escape from cultivation.

Big Bright Tropical Vines

We had a blast of sleet and cold rain and now a forecast for rain and cool all week. So I'm posting pictures of tropical vines in flower. All year round, you can visit the tropics and see flowers. Not all these vines bloom year round, but when you see them, wow!

red jade vine, Mucuna bennettii 

They are more wonderful in real life, with texture and scent, but I can only share photos today, so: enjoy. 

Plant Story--Wisteria, Big Purple-Flowered Vines

My first memory of wisteria is of my father digging out a big plant, shaped like a small tree that was growing at the end of the driveway of our new house in Ohio. He disliked the way it came up well into the lawn. I liked it for its beautiful, fragrant flowers. And that is a good summary of Asian wisterias in the United States.

Visiting Costa Rica—A Rainforest Walk

looking back at the beach, Costa Rica

My Betchart/Lindblad expedition last month took me to Costa Rica (see earlier post). We sailed north along the Pacific Coast, stopping at Corcovado and Manuel Antonio National Parks, before disembarking to fly home from San Jose.

I first visited to Costa Rica in 1972, with the Tropical Ecology course of the Organization for Tropical Studies, did Ph.D. research there, and have been back several times since. 

Costa Rica is about the size of West Virginia. Within that small space it is very diverse. The mountains down the center create a whole series of different ecosystems, varying in temperature and rainfall and more. There is tropical rainforest on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, but, cut off from each other by the mountains, they have different plants and animals. On the Pacific side in the northern half of the country, severe drought from December to June combined with heavy rain the rest of the year has created a distinctive tropical dry forest. 

In Costa Rica's southwest corner, I had a terrific time hiking in the lowland rainforest at Corcovado National Park.  

Pacific lowland rainforest, Costa Rica