Orchids of Costa Rica (Winter 2012)

Orchids of Caribbean Costa Rica

Brassavola nodosa

The lady of the night is one of the most spectacular orchids that I saw in Costa Rica. Large epiphyte plants with large white and green flowers.

Brassavola nodosa

A similar looking orchid, Epidendrum parkinsonianum had a divided lip instead of a solid one. These were in various stages of blooming to seed pods the entire two weeks I was at Cano Palma research station (Nov 15th-30th).

Epidendrum parkinsonianum

Epidendrum parkinsonianum

The smallest flowering orchid I discovered on the east coast of Costa Rica was budding when I fist discovered it on Nov 18th. It was fully flowered within a few days.

Stelis sp.

Stelis sp.

Stelis sp.

The oddest orchid in the Cano Palma garden was Catasetum maculatum. With different male and female flowers the sexes appear to be different species all together. This male flower discovered while budding on Nov 20th took a long time to fully bloom, lasted a few days and was finished by the time we left on Nov 30th.

Catasetum maculatum

Catasetum maculatum

This unknown specie was quite small. Leaves were slender. Flower stalk was short and coming from the base of the leaf.

Unknown species of epiphytic orchid

This Epidendrum radicans was the second tallest orchid I saw in Costa Rica, topped only by the Bamboo Orchid which was often taller than me!

Epidendrum radicans

Trigonidium egertonianum was a very common species of orchid lining the canals and rivers in northeastern Costa Rica. The epiphyte has quite sizable plants with medium sized flowers.

Trigonidium egertonianum

Pleurothallis cf quadrifida

Pleurothallis cf grobyi or microphylla

There were many species that are VERY tiny and are beyond my current skill level to identify from photos and memory. The above species was the smallest leaved orchid I have seen in Costa Rica. The leaves being almost as long as the flowers and less than 1cm in length approximately.

Maxillariella variabilis

These two Maxillaria species were also fairly common and almost appear to be frequently 'planted' on trees since they were mostly found in populated areas with a lot of disturbance and light.

Christensonella uncata (Maxillaria u.)

Christensonella uncata (Maxillaria u.)

Lockhartia amoena

Lockhartia amoena was one of my favorite species to watch bloom. Over the course of a few days the flower changed drastically in appearance.

Lockhartia amoena

A kayak trip down the canal of palms for an afternoon allowed me to find many orchids that were growing on the trees that were fallen over or leaning over the canal. These trees had a lot more light on them than the ones in the forest making this a great place for plants.

Epidendrum fragrans

 

Epidendrum fragrans

This small pink orchid was the hardest one to photograph. I had to stand up in the kayak to get close enough to get a picture and even then I couldnt get a great look at the plant.

The species which I identified as Epidendrum cf rigidum was found alongside many other orchids but only on a few trees.

Epidendrum cf rigidum

The orchid named after a famous fictional owl (from Harry Potter)... Or maybe the other way around? No idea just liked the name.

Mormolyca hedwigiae (Maxillaria hedwigiae)

Mormolyca hedwigiae (Maxillaria hedwigiae)

Orchids of Monte Verde

Pleurothallis cf rowleei

Pleurothallis cf rowleei

Pleurothallis cf rowleei

Monteverde is no doubt one of the must see places in Costa Rica for orchid lovers. The park boasts ridiculous numbers of orchid diversity and I do not doubt it at all. Many Pleurothallis sp. were blooming along the trails.

Pleurothallis cf cardiothallis or oncoglossa

Even the small orchid garden near the front gates was very impressive. These four species were the most interesting of the ones in flower at the time.

Epidendrum sp.

Masdevallia  cf chontalensis

Epidendrum cf parviexasperatum

 Orchids of Santa Elena

Pleurothallis sp. with seed pod

A growing seed pod is always a good sign of a healthy plant that not only met the conditions to flower but is also getting enough energy and nutrients to reproduce.

Pleurothallis sp.

Stelis sp.

Maxillaria  sp?

Epidendrum endresii (Oerstedella endresii)

Epidendrum endresii (Oerstedella endresii)

Pleurothallis cf floribunda

Stelis sp.

Stelis sp.

Pleurothallis sp.

San Jose- Day 33

We caught eh earliest bus to San Jose and after the winding roads we eventually were in a taxi towards Hostel Pangea.

The black gates looked daunting and uninviting. I felt like we were lost and nowhere near our hostel but then the security guard opened the door and we were welcomed into a brightly coloured paradise within the city. The hostel was the most secure place we had stayed at! I now liked that uninviting gate that kept the world out.

We walked around San Jose and within a few minutes were able to get to a bank and the middle of downtown. We window shopped at a few stores just out of pure curiosity to see how prices compared to Canada. We found that most places were actually much cheaper to buy clothing in and the styles were very bright and Latin American. We both went home empty handed but it was a nice experience.  My favorite store was Carrion. An odd name if in English, but the store had the brightest coloured clothing that all looked like it was right out of the 80's.

The nightlife at Hostel Pangea was great and many travelers from around the world who were finishing or starting their journeys got together and played cards and drank with one another. It was a very friendly atmosphere and I would highly recommend it to any travelers.

The next morning we say goodbye to Costa Rica and fly home through Miami. It will be hard to transition back to the cold weather.

Best Field Guides for Costa Rica - Day 32

Sadly today is our last day in Santa Elena and we left Camino Verde B&B for Camino Verde Backpackers which is only $7/p.p. It was a little disappointing to move since the backpackers is more crowded with young students but later this became a good quality since over dinner we played cards and exchanged stories and food with some other people.

Over the course of the day we went to many bookstores and souvenir shops. Each store has the same things for different prices so shopping around saved us a fair bit of money since we had the time for it.

Costa Rican field guides were actually fairly cheap in some of these stores. Between Chris and I we got a fair few...

Orchids of Costa Rica by J. Fransisco Morales > One of the only guides to orchids I have seen but not a very good once since it comes in five sets and isn't well organized at all. I could probably use this to write my own new and improved one. Maybe that will be a retirement project in many years to come.

Reptiles and Amphibians of Costa Rica by T. Leeders> The only small guide to reptiles and amphibians of Costa Rica. It was quite comprehensive and has photos for identification. It was cheaper in Costa Rican stores than online in Canada! It is not as comprehensive or detailed as "The Reptiles and Amphibians of Costa Rica by Savage" but his book is about three times the size of this one by Leeders. I do recommend this one for any travelers who would like a guide with them.

Birds of Costa Rica by Robert Dean>A great book for identification of species. Contains very easy to read distribution maps and had illustrated birds for identification. Previously we just had the Princeton Illustrated Checklist of Birds of Central America and Mexico which is an amazing book and I do love it still but the range maps are so much easier to read when it only covers one small country versus all of Central America.

Glass Frogs of Costa Rica by Brian Kubickle> An amazing book by a student of J. Savage. In both English and Spanish it describes glass frogs. A key and photographs are available to identify species. This book wasn't even available for sale on amazon.com!

Ecological Reserve- Day 31

Nearing the end of our trip we decide to take a break from the extensive hikes through the cloud forest. Today we settled for a nice breakfast and returned to the Ecological Reserve. This was a much drier habitat.

After talking to the locals who run the place for the owner (who lives in the US) we discovered that there was a lateral striped viper on the property. The boy working at the cash had gotten directions from his mother who had already see it. His excitement combined with ours led him to come along with us for our own personal tour of the property and showed us the exact spot where the viper was seen. As our guide was looking under this large fallen over log right beside the path where the snake was seen earlier that day, I pull Chris' flashlight from his packpack and before he has time to turn it on... I spot it. The gorgeous sleek curls of a arboreal viper wrapped around a few thin branches under the fallen over log. The boy quickly moved after discovering his face within strike distance. The snake didn't seam phased at all by us.

Lateral-striped Viper (Bothriechis lateralis)

Lateral-striped Viper (Bothriechis lateralis)

Lateral-striped Viper (Bothriechis lateralis)

It was hard for the three of us avid snake lovers to tear ourselves away from this creature but we knew it was time to leave it alone where it was. We offered to move it away from the path so that other tourist were not in harms way but the owners didn't mind it where it was. I'm sure it will be good for business and exciting for their night tours. This snake had been sitting in the same place for a few days now and didn't seam very keen on moving anytime soon.

 We knew that the lateral-striped viper would be our best possible find but we had renewed hope and a lot more energy. We could leave Santa Elena satisfied knowing we had seen a snake neither of us expected to see. It was the best reptile I have ever had the pleasure of finding and the memory will last a lifetime.

 Continuing along we were able to truly enjoy the warmth of Costa Rica. A bright sunny day in the mountains was the perfect way to end our trip.

Hoping to find another viper hanging around in the leaf litter we kept our eyes open and soon came across a different sort of reptile. This anole had quite dull colours but a bright orange dewlap. This bright coured skin is most often not visible on the anole unless they are giving mating or territorial displays.

Anole sp.

 Also in the ecological reserve we saw a large black bird the size of a chachalaca. The lookouts and waterfalls were gorgeous. The main trails were very well maintained and could support even large groups of people but some of the smaller less used trails were in need of some maintenance.

Turquoise browed Motmot

We didn't get too far on our walk home before spotting one of my favorite types of tropical birds.

Motmots  (Momotidae) not only sound cool but they have incredible colouration. The unique long tails which have a racket like tip are one of the things that make this group so unusual.  These birds have their highest diversity here in Central America.

Turquoise browed Motmot

  As I was standing there by the road as still as I could be waiting for the right pose by this lovely bird... a brown blur comes out of the bushes beside me chasing another brown blur. A quick look and I recognize the familiar shape of an aguti.

Aguti