March11_2010

Botanical Glossary - Home - References Cited

Photos - L-R - Some of the more interesting scenes to be seen in small villages like San Agustin are buildings that use sheet metal in a haphazard way - some of the sheets of metal are clearly from a tin can factory and still have the repeating patters of the painted labels still stretched out on the flat surface.

A Dodge Bus from Vista Hermosa that travels through Oaxaca City to South Oaxaca - it is parked here in San Agustin waiting for passengers to arrive.

A maze of wires, two junction boxes and two electric meters for two separate properties - I wonder if the wiring is up to proper electric safety standards?

Photos - A lonely donkey at the roadside in San Agustin. Equus Assinus (Donkey, Burro) The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family, and an odd-toed ungulate. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E. africanus. Traditionally, the scientific name for the donkey is Equus asinus asinus based on the principle of priority used for scientific names of animals. However, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature has ruled in 2003 that if the domestic species and the wild species are considered subspecies of each other, the scientific name of the wild species has priority, even when that subspecies has been described after the domestic subspecies. This means that the proper scientific name for the donkey is Equus africanus asinus when it is considered a subspecies, and Equus asinus when it is considered a species.

A flowering Asclepias Curassavica (Mexican Whorled Milkweed) - This is a common plant found as a border perennial in back yards or a weed in vacant lots. It is versatile, tenacious and colorful when in bloom. Local names: Kittie McWanie, Blood Flower (St. Thomas); Matac (Dominican), Scarlet milkweed, silkweed, Indian root, redhead cotton bush, A slender erect weed,, this plant has bright red orange and yellow flowers borne terminally in cymes. The seed pods (not shown) are narrow and filled with brown seeds which have silky hairs. The stem and flower stalk contain a milky latex. This plant is commonly found in the West Indies, and South America in pastures and neglected gardens from the coast to about 328 meters above sea level. Also found in abundance around the Oaxaca city area in abandoned fields and along canal banks.

Solandra Maxima: Cup of gold, sometimes called chalice vine, is a heavy, thick stemmed tropical liana with large shiny leaves and large bell shaped golden yellow flowers. The thick and woody rope-like stems branch frequently and root at their nodes, and can run for more than 200 ft (61 m), clinging with aerial rootlets and scrambling over everything in the way. The evergreen leaves are leathery, about 6 in (15.2 cm) long and elliptic, with prominent lighter colored midribs and lateral veins. The flowers are truly spectacular, shaped like a chalice, 6-10 in (15.2-25.4 cm) long, flaring open to 4-7 in (10.2-17.8 cm) across. The five lobes of the corolla are reflexed, and each lobe is marked with a narrow purplish brown ridge on the inside. The flowers start out yellow and turn deeper golden as they age. They are fragrant, especially at night, with a scent reminiscent of coconut. Cup of gold blooms intermittently through the year, but mainly in the winter dry season. The fruits, rarely seen in cultivation, are round berries, about 2 in (5.1 cm) in diameter.

Photos - L-R - In general this is about as tall as the Euphorbia Pulcherrima (Poinsettia) usually gets when left to its own devices. Euphorbia is a member of the Spurge family and most are poisonous and have caused death to livestock and humans. Many of the weedy varieties, such as the Poinsettia, are distributed throughout USA, Canada and Mexico. Something to keep in mind if you have children who like to taste plants: The Poinsettia plant is poisonous, and has been responsible for several deaths in small children (by eating the leaves) Toxicity is not lost upon drying of the plant... most live stock do not find the plant palatable.

A close up of a lovely Hibiscus Spp (Hibiscus shrub, Rose of Sharon) - shrubs like this grow wild in the area and add eye candy to the landscape. Hibiscus is a genus of plants with member species often noted for their showy flowers and commonly known as hibiscus or sorrel or less widely as rosemallow or flor de Jamaica. This large genus includes about 200–220 species of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae native to warm, temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. The genus also includes both annual and perennial herbaceous plants, as well as woody shrubs and small trees.

The leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to lanceolate, often with a toothed or lobed margin. The flowers are large, conspicuous, trumpet-shaped, with five or more petals, ranging from white to pink, red, orange, purple or yellow, and from 4-18 cm broad. The color of the Hibiscus grows darker as it ages. The fruit is a dry five-lobed capsule, containing several seeds in each lobe, which are released when the capsule splits open at maturity.

A flowering Opuntia Spp (Prickly Pear) cactus at the roadside in San Agustin. Opuntia, also known as nopales, or Paddle Cactus from the resemblance to the ball-and-paddle toy, is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae. Currently, only prickly pears are included in this genus of about 200 species distributed throughout most of the Americas. Chollas are now separated into the genus Cylindropuntia, which some still consider a subgenus of Opuntia. Austrocylindropuntia, Corynopuntia and Micropuntia are also often included in the present genus, but like Cylindropuntia they seem rather well distinct. Brasiliopuntia and Miqueliopuntia are closer relatives of Opuntia.
The most commonly culinary species is the Indian Fig Opuntia (O. ficus-indica). Most culinary uses of the term 'prickly pear' refer to this species. Prickly pears are also known as nopal or nopales, from the Nahuatl word nopalli for the pads, or nostle, from the Nahuatl word nochtli for the fruit; or Paddle Cactus (from the resemblance to the ball-and-paddle toy).

Click here for more photos of San Agustin, Mexico for this day.