Unknown lily

I don't know the name of this lily, but it's certainly a beauty.

Amazon lily

I'm told that the name of this lily is "Amazon lily". There's only one place on the Bosque Santa Lucia property where it's found. There are dozens of them there.

Lilies

Amarillo lilies brighten our day, all around the world.

Flor-de-São João.

Summer time also brings out the best in flor-de-são joão (Pyrostegia venusta). They are best seen along the roads and highways of the region.

Pente de macaco

We are well into our summer (dry season), which means that many trees are without leaves. Pente de macaco (Apeiba macropetala) is one of them. I personally miss the shade of the trees, but it's fun looking up to see the pods. Some have already fallen to the ground, as the case of these in the attached image. The name "pente de macaco" means the monkey's comb. It's said that our friends use the stiff brushlike pods to comb their furs.

Cacau flowers, continued

This cacau tree was absolutely loaded with flowers!

Cacau flowers, continued

A few more images of the wild chocolate tree.

Cacau flowers

This wild chocolate tree was covered with flowers, almost from the ground up into the branches.

Seedpods, continued

Impressions of where seeds once resided.

Passion fruit vines, continued

Passion fruit vines make their way out of the darkness of the forest to find enough light to produce buds and flowers.

Mumbaca palms

The recently opened inflorescence of the mumbaca palm is a beauty. Some days later it dries out, changing its image completely. Then come the flashy orange fruit, which make the monkeys happy.

Paricá seedpod

I regret to inform my readers that I have returned to work at a real job and that it´s taking up a lot of time. Thus fewer posts this week. But believe me, I´ll do my best to continue this tropical biodiversity blog. It´s almost two years old and I see that I have posted nearly 1200 entries, each with at least one image. I´m hopeful that I can work out my work schedule at the health agency so I can continue to do some walking tours at Bosque Santa Lúcia. Cheers to all.

Bamboo, continued

An older stand of bamboo next to the road. The road equipment has wiped out this stand several times, but it keeps coming back. Thank goodness.

Bamboo, continued

Another bamboo stalk showing its beauty.

Bamboo, continued

Another bamboo stalk loosing the wraps.

New bamboo

A new bamboo shoot discards its wrappings from babyhood.

Wild passion fruit, continued

When I got back to the reception center, I opened the fruit. As you can see it was really packed with seeds. I asked Cleuson to plant them.

Wild passion fruit

My internet service at home is down again, so back to the internet cafe. At least it´s working.

I found this passion fruit on one of the walking trails at Bosque Santa Lúcia this week. I would like to have seen the vine because the fruit strikes me as a bit different than others I´ve seen in the past. There seems to be more seeds and the rind is much tougher.

Bark mantis, continued

Here's another bark mantis in it's proper environment. Per Joan at South African Photographs, it's well camouflaged. Those eyes!

Bark Mantis

I was really surprised to find one of these little critters on South African Photographs blog yesterday. Joan identified it as a bark mantis. It's a different species than the one in the image, but I'd recognize those eyes anywhere.

Geniparana flower

I love you, I love you not. Two pedals were already missing from this saucer-sized geniparana flower (Gustavia augusta) when I found it last week. The flowers normally don't last for more than one or two days, but they are real showoffs in the forest. A flash of white with a green background is noticed right away. Some flowers get even larger than this one!

Wild flowers, continued

Another unknown beauty dangling from a vine alongside the dirt road going to Bosque Santa Lucia.