Altiplano plant 16
Grows on the slopes of the Cerro Tunupa. Please help me identify it – leave a comment Altitude: 3989 metres.
Archive for 'Fruit'
Altiplano plant 15
A few weeks earlier and I would have seen all this as flowers – a beautiful sight I imagine. This species seems abundant here, and is undoubtedly able to spread far and wide with the wind. The amount of seeds per plant is staggering, and sometimes so many are released that it looks like smoke [...]
Cactus (Cumulopuntia boliviana)
When the flower is gone, the remaining part is well protected from being reached, so what species is the fruit aimed at? Only insects and small rodents will reach the fruit unharmed, so perhaps that’s it? Altitude: 4004 metres.
Yanacocha plant 08 (Geranium sp)
Altitude 3400 metres.
Yanacocha thistle (Cirsium sp)
Altitude 3400 metres.
Wild cocoa (Herrania mariae)
The fruit starts off in an upright position, and as it matures, and the weight increases, gravity will eventually win and drag it to a hanging position. This tree had no mature fruits – perhaps someone had picked them for personal consumption?
Wild mango (Grias neuberthii)
I wonder what this wild mango fruit tastes like compared to the cultivated varieties. I for one am certain the fruit and the tree itself contains properties one could only dream of in the cultivated ones. Unfortunately I don’t speak Spanish, so I was unable to ask the Añangu people what they use it for.
Galápagos passion flower (Passiflora foetida galapagensis)
The sticky petals will make a very unpleasant trip for any insects wanting to eat or lay eggs on the ripening fruit.
Desmodium campyloclados
Altitude 2112 metres. Please help me classify it – leave a comment
Solanum quitoense
The fruit is edible and I have had many naranjilla smoothies in Ecuador – one of my favourites! Altitude 2111 metres.
San Isidro plant 03 (Clusia sp?)
A fruit that looks like a flower! I wonder what the flowers look like and what creatures are dispersing the small seeds. There is little food for larger animals like birds, but perhaps this is for the ants? Altitude 2070 metres. Please help me classify it – leave a comment
Guango Lodge plant 01
Altitude 2700 metres. Please help me classify it – leave a comment
Shanshi (Coriaria thymifolia)
Grows widespread in high altitudes, and I saw it in all stages from pre-bloom to ripe fruits like here. Looks like licorice, but don’t be fooled! The berries are toxic to cattle and hallucinogenic to humans. Supposedly one of the experiences is the feeling of flying or floating! Better stay firmly on the ground then, [...]
Brugmansia sanguinea
Looks like a wild mango, but it’s far from it! Altitude 3083 metres.
Cayambe Coca plant 18
Altitude 3720 metres Please help me classify it – leave a comment
Tristerix longibracteata
Altitude 3720 metres
Monnina crassifolia?
Altitude 3720 metres Please help me identify it – leave a comment
Nertera granadensis
Common and easy to find when bearing fruits. Altitude 3450 metres.
Cayambe Coca plant 07
One of very few purple fruits. Please help me classify it – leave a comment Altitude 3450 metres.
Aetanthus nodosus
Looks edible and tempting – but are they? First of all red here is not ripe – black is! Should I trust black berries from a plant that is parasitic? Then again a parasite might offer chemicals not much different than that of the host. Altitude 3450 metres.
Cleome anomala
Altitude 3083 metres.
Yanacocha plant 01 (Rubus sp)
This is a small raspberry-like plant at 3500 meter elevation in the Yanacocha reserve just northwest of Quito. Not yet ripe, so I didn’t pick to taste. Wonder what it tastes like when it’s soft and ripe?
Passiflora auriculata
Not only was this plant in bloom, but it was also growing fruit. What color is it when ripe?
Schefflera rugosum
Perhaps the only plant on Roraima that grows to the size of a tree. It’s host to a variety of vegetation and perhaps the most conspicuous is the epiphytic bromeliad Tillandsii turneri. Some rugosums are so overgrown with moss and lichen that the girth of the trunk and branches seems hugely oversized. I wonder who [...]
Roraima fruit 001
Please help me identify it – leave a comment
Epidendrum secundum
This is the only seed pod I found while on Roraima and it’s ripe and ready to open and disperse the seeds. All the other plants were in bloom, with no pods present.
Psychotria sp (?)
It’s a small bush that produces these incredibly colored fruits that grows alongside the path to Roraima. Please help me classify it – leave a comment
Heliotrope Tree (Tournefortia argentea)
Native to Anaa and grows widespread here. I found none in bloom the few hours I was on Anaa, but my host put the flowers to scent the bathroom, so they were still in bloom a few places.
Indian Mulberry (Morinda citrifolia)
When this fruit is ripe it turns white and smelly – some therefore call it cheese fruit! It’s rich in carbohydrates and fiber. Both ants and humans alike find it edible. Juice is also made from it.