About
My name is Mary Farmer. For many years I taught oceanography. Every time I went to sea, I learned something new about the ocean. Now, having fairly recently moved to Panama, I find myself surrounded by a different environment, and every time I set foot out my door I see something new in the plants around me.
When I first started learning about plants, I felt overwhelmed with all the new information. As I gradually organized the material in a way that made sense to me, I thought it might make sense to you as well, especially if you have recently decided to learn the names of plants.
There’s always another plant to learn – the numbers of known plants in the world is almost unimaginable – anywhere from 1/4 to nearly 1/2 a million, according to wikipedia. And that just the plants that flower – then there are the conifers, the ferns, and… you get the idea.
So I’m including my blog, A Neotropical Savanna, in which I share with you the process I go through as I learn each new plant. The plants I’m learning about happen to be in Panama, but many of the plant families I see are found worldwide and even when they’re not, the process of identification will apply to any plant you want to learn.
If you have questions or features you’d like to see, feel free to send me an email. I’ll answer as promptly as I am able. I will not be able to incorporate every feature every person asks for, but I’ll seriously consider any serious request, and I’ll let you know whether I can incorporate your favorite idea or not. I’d certainly love to know about your own successes in plant identification, and I’ll gladly write about them if you give me permission and they seem appropriate to this site. My email address is:
panamaplants @ gmail.com (do not use the spaces – I wrote it out this way to try to avoid spam)
Thanks for visiting.
Hi Mary,
I am coming to Panama for a couple of weeks next month. I study and teach about plants and wondered if you had a few books you recommend to really get to know the plant species there and how they have been (and are) being used by indigenous people.
Thank you.
Frank
Hi Frank,
The single book I believe you will find most useful is Zuchowski’s A Guide to Tropical Plants of Costa Rica. For nearly every plant she describes she has at least a paragraph devoted to uses by local people, whether indigenous or not. She also has several sections devoted to different ways plants are used.
If you want a rigorous ecological background, I’d suggest
Janzen, D.H. 1975. Ecology of Plants in the Tropics (Studies in Biology). United Kingdom, no. 58. 66 pp, 4 plates.
There’s a good book on the Trees and Shrubs of Panama that you would have to buy at the Smithsonian Institute for Tropical Research after you get here, and it’s pricy, but here it is:
Carrasquilla R., Luis G. 2005. Trees and Shrubs of Panama [Árboles y Arbustos de Panamá]. University of Panama/National Environmental Authority [Universidad de Panamá/Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente]. 479 pp.
Finally, you might browse through the references on my blog page:
A Neotropical Savanna: References.
Good luck, and enjoy your trip!
Hi
Please could you notify your website readers about this new book, on Limestone Fynbos, published by the Duiwenshok Conservancy. (We’re a not profit organisation!)
Limestone Fynbos is an intriguing flora that occurs on our southern coast of South Africa, wherever there are limestone hills or cliffs. Most of the plants occur in a broad sweep from Gansbaai to the Gouritz River, including pockets at Cape Point and Macassar. This flora can be divided into three natural units, Agulhas Limestone, De Hope Limestone and Canca Limestone. In December 2007 the SA Publication, Veld and Flora, published an article on the Agulhas Limestone. The Duiwenhoks Conservancy has added a new aspect to the literature available on this rather unknown flora by publishing a book that describes the Limestone Fynbos of the Vermaaklikheid area, near Heildelberg, which falls in the Canca Limestone unit.
Limestone Fynbos is floristically very different from other vegetation. The reason for this is that these plants thrive on a soil type that would be toxic to most fynbos plants, which are normally found on acidic or neutral soils. They grow on limestone soils, which are so alkaline that if you squeeze lemon juice on them they will fizz. It is this alkalinity in the soil that is toxic to most fynbos plants. In a remarkable adaptation to a hostile soil environment, Limestone Fynbos has evolved as a unique flora that shares only a few species in common with sandstone fynbos and sand fynbos. As one would expect from a flora that is confined to such specific soils, many plants are endemic, meaning that they grow only on such soils or even at only one locality.
At first glance, this little-known flora appears as dry woody scrub. On closer inspection a fascinating array of intriguing and sometimes tiny flowers emerge. Over the past ten years, the author Louisa Oberholzer began collecting, describing and photographing the plants in the Vermaaklikheid area of the Western Cape . The Duiwenhoks Conservancy provided financial support for the identification of the species and finally for the publication of the book, Limestone Fynbos of the Vermaaklikheid Area. It presents a photographic record and description of 124 species. Of particular interest are the intriguing Fabaceae, or pea-like flowers and the pungent buchus, which belong to the Rutacea or citrus family.
The aim of the publication is to inform the public and particularly landowners about the value of Limestone Fynbos and the importance controlling alien vegetation, which is a major threat to all the fynbos plant communities.
The book is priced at R130.00 available from the Duiwenhoks Conservancy, info@duiwenhoksconservancy.co.za and also from the author, louisa.stanford@gmail.com
Kind regards
Rob Hill
Treasurer
Duiwenhoks Conservancy