Touch the leaves and they curl up! Sensitive Plant – Mimosa pudica. See more unusual things in nature in my gallery Leaves & Nature Things.
¡Pura Vida!
Sensitive Plant – Mimosa pudica
A Deeper Red Than Usual
I grow two groups of Maraca or Shampoo Ginger (Zingiber zerumbet) (My gallery link). The ones on the west side of my house by the Higueron Tree usually start yellow and turn orange and at a different time of year than these in my “Jungle Garden” on the south side of my casita which usually stay yellow during their 3 months plus of blooming, with some hints of orange. But this year on a south side one has turned a deep red as shown in the feature photo above. I have been cutting the tall plants back to give more sun to ground plants and the more sun might be the reason, though I don’t know for sure. Tropical plants are just as interesting to watch and photograph as much of the wildlife that I usually focus on.
I first experienced this interesting tropical flower on a jungle trip to Mayan ruins in Guatemala in 2006 December – Guatemala where this plant grew right outside my jungle room at Chiminos Lodge. Tropical adventures always include tropical plants! 🙂
And two more photos showing the usual yellow and some orange ones . . .
Continue reading “A Deeper Red Than Usual”Banana Azul Photo Gallery Ready!
This year’s visit to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica included a week at Hotel Banana Azul with a day hike in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge and my collection of photos are ready to see at https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2026-09-14-18-Banana-Azul-Gandoca-Manzanillo or you can click on the first page image below to get there. Two disclaimers as to why there are not as many photos this year: The bizarre weather with a Super-El-Niño, wind and rain every day (normally the driest month there), a muddy beach road with no butterflies at all (my main thing there now) and the global-warming and ocean rising has caused enormous erosion of the beaches there now, with almost no beach left. But it is still a beautiful nature place and I have a lot of photos from this year’s trip.
¡Pura Vida!
I’ve done blog posts of Caribe photos ahead through the end of September, but wanted to announce my trip gallery now. The first of October I will continue sharing nature photos from my garden and on walks in my hometown of Atenas. If I just look, there is some nature to experience every day! 🙂
Two Peacocks . . .
. . . Peacock Butterflies that is, at Gandoca-Manzanillo Refuge: the feature photo above is of the White Peacock (my gallery link) and below is the common Banded Peacock (my gallery link) as the only two butterflies I was able to photograph during this year’s week in Caribe Sur, with a few others seen flying but never landing at both Manzanillo and Banana Azul.
¡Pura Vida!
Beach Spider Lily
A graceful and simple flower along tropical beaches and in the Gardens of Hotel Banana Azul, the Beach Spider Lily, Hymenocallis littoralis.
¡Pura Vida!
Read about this species on Wikipedia or on iNaturalist Costa Rica.
Tabacón
For those familiar with the Arenal Volcano area of Costa Rica, you know that name as the name of a Hot Springs Resort there, but did you know that it was named after a plant, Anthurium upalaense (Tabacón) (Research Gate article link)? It is much larger than the anthuriums in my garden and is found on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica with some also overlapping into nearby Nicaragua and Panama. The large leaves of the plant collect small dead leaves falling from other plants where they rot to feed the anthurium. That long red spadix is not a flower but contains many many tiny little flowers that are pollinated by insects and turn into many berries that are eaten by birds. Another amazing new discovery in nature for me! 🙂 And almost exclusive to Caribbean Costa Rica!
¡Pura Vida!
Fridericus Spreadwing
I hope that I’m identifying this new species for me correctly, Fridericus Spreadwing, Quadrus fridericus (iNaturalist Costa Rica link). Both photos were made on the same day, but I think they are two different individuals. And of course I’ve started a gallery for Fridericus Spreadwing (linked) with one more photo than these.
¡Pura Vida!
Florida White
Found in many more places than the U.S. state of Florida, this butterfly is throughout tropical America from Brazil north to the Florida peninsula and South Texas including the Caribbean islands and all of Central America. I see him frequently in my garden as you can see in my gallery Florida White (linked). In the gallery, the ones with large swatches of dark brown (black) trim are females in the wet season only.
¡Pura Vida!
Florida “Blizzard?”
From Google: “In coastal Florida often tell modern “nature stories” about the massive, sudden irruptions or migrations of these butterflies. During peak population explosions, millions of Florida Whites hatch simultaneously. Residents describe looking out their windows and thinking they are seeing a “beachside blizzard” or “flying white ashes” blowing down the highway. It creates an ethereal, temporary winter wonderland in a tropical climate. [1]” Click that footnote “1” for a video of that “blizzard.” 🙂
Melwhite on Milkweed
Is it a contrast or a harmony of colors? Either way, I like these photos of the Common Melwhite (my gallery link) on the Tropical Milkweed flowers (NaturalistaCR link).
¡Pura Vida!
How do I get that mottled green background? (Someone asked.) Simply by using my 600mm lens from a distance of 6 feet or more. The long lens automatically puts my focus point in focus and everything else blurry. In this case, my “jungle-like” garden is mostly greens with only occasional flowers, thus the mottled green background. When I shoot up, with the sky as background (often with birds), the background can be anything from bright blue to gray to white, depending on the weather, and more rarely golds to oranges. I’ve tried a close-up lens for both flowers and insects and it just doesn’t work for me (for multiple reasons). 🙂
Mexican Fritillary
This colorful orange butterfly lives throughout Mexico and Central America, the West Indies and a few strays along the Southwestern U.S. border. See more photos in my gallery: Mexican Fritillary (linked). A bit of interesting indigenous history that includes this butterfly from Google Search:
The “Flower World” (Xochitl): In early Classic Teotihuacan and Postclassic Aztec culture, orange butterflies symbolized fire, rebirth, and a floral spiritual paradise. [1, 2] ~Google (Click the two footnote numbers for more information from their sources.)
¡Pura Vida!