An Orchid in a Hidden Backyard Corner - Observation of the Week, 8/13/24!

Our Observation of the Week is this Pleurothallis phyllocardioides orchid, seen in Costa Rica by @jessieaguilar! 

Born in Costa Rica, Jessie Aguilar feels very lucky to be from a place full of biodiversity and beauty. 

Since I was very young I remember having an immense curiosity for the natural world and was very lucky to grow up with abundant wildlife and lush tropical vegetation around our home. My father's love for his garden inspired me to have a particular interest in plants and eventually botany became my specialty with a special interest in Montane Cloud Forest species that include trees in the generas Quercus and Ocotea as well as plants in the family Ericaceae and orchids in the generas Pleurothallis, Stelis, Scaphyglottis, and Lepanthes (which can be so tiny that can very easily go unnoticed).

For the past eleven years or so, Jessie and her husband (an ornithologist) have lived in Costa Rica’s Tilarán Mountain Range, next to the Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve and the Children's Eternal Rainforest. It’s a very biodiverse place, and her yard now also includes this little Pleurothallis phyllocardioides orchid, “growing as an epiphyte in a little hidden corner.”

Jessie had a tough time getting a proper identification at first, but iNat user Kevin W. Holcomb (@kh_orchid) helped narrow it down with her, especially after she took some more photographs of the flower’s lip. You can see the discussion on the observation itself. There are hundreds of species in the genus Pleurothallis, and they occur from Mexico into South America and also the Caribbean. 

 “Being married to an ornithologist also awoke my appreciation and interest in birds and we’ve documented 238 species in our yard alone,” says Jessie (above). The two run a little coffee farm and also take photos and conduct research in the area. Their camera traps have photographed both a male jaguar and a melanistic clouded tiger-cat (see photos below).

Historically, the remoteness of our area created a black hole of missing information in the country as so few people spend time in the forest here. I was looking for a way to keep track of the species and data we were gathering and luckily about a year ago I found iNaturalist, the perfect tool for the job!

(Cat photos by Jessie Aguilar and Seth Beaudreault.)

- check out the beauty and diversity of Pleurothallis!

Posted on Αύγουστος 13, 2024 1103 ΜΜ by tiwane