Comments on: John’s Liana – a Puzzle for You

By: Introducing The Panama Naturalist | A Neotropical Savanna

Introducing The Panama Naturalist | A Neotropical Savanna — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:48:09 +0000

[...] July 2008 John Bennett sent a message to A Neotropical Savanna asking for help in identifying a liana that was in bloom at the time. There ensued a correspondence that made it clear John had some pretty astute [...]

By: A Neotropical Savanna » The Algarrobo Tree and its Denizens

A Neotropical Savanna » The Algarrobo Tree and its Denizens — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:50:21 +0000

[...] John Bennett reported in December that the algarrobo tree was preparing for the dry season by changing to brown dry season leaves which he assumed had fewer stomata and therefore would lose less water than the green leaves. Here are the brown leaves. [...]

By: End of the Year Odds and Ends | A Neotropical Savanna

End of the Year Odds and Ends | A Neotropical Savanna — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:52:44 +0000

[...] John Bennett sent a message about the tree known in Panama as algarrobo. There’s a town named Algarrobos on the road that goes from Dolega to David, and I’ve been meaning to stop there and look around, assuming I’ll find some of those trees. They’re probably also here in Potrerillos, but I thought my chances of actually encountering one would be better in a town named after them. [...]

By: Why John’s Liana Belongs to the Borage Family | A Neotropical Savanna

Why John’s Liana Belongs to the Borage Family | A Neotropical Savanna — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:33:11 +0000

[...] Michael stepped in and helped, but no other expert came through with an identification of John’s liana. So with a flurry of emails and image exchanges, we put together an argument that the liana is in [...]

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:56:04 +0000

I just returned from recovering a leaf from one of the plants here in Cerro Azul. I recalled the leaf being rough and “sand paper like” and indeed it is. I compared it to the picture in the top right of the blog entry and mine sure looks the same as those in the picture. Mmmmm. We might be on to something.

There was one inflorescence on the plant. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera. I’ll try to go back and take a picture of it and pass it on. I’ll also take a picture of the leaf I have and pass it on.

By: John Bennett

John Bennett — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:19:15 +0000

Yes… my flub… the leaves are rough… sand paper like. I only passed my hand over the slightly serrated border of the leaves and not over the leaves surface. Hard to identify if the investigator provides wrong information; and think I used to be an aviation accident investigator
John

By: mary

mary — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:30:16 +0000

Hi Michael,

Thanks for commenting – let’s hope John jumps in here and answers. It certainly is an interesting plant. I see what you mean by the wisteria-like inflorescence, but the leaves are simple rather than compound so I’m pretty sure that eliminates the Fabaceae family.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:32:30 +0000

What a fun puzzle and some beautiful pictures of the Aracari and butterflies from John.

The inflorescence of the mystery plant does not look familiar to me. However, the vine and its leaves do look similar to a plant I’ve seen here in Cerro Azul. But the inflorescence of this plant is Wisteria-like. Also, the plant I’ve seen here has rough leaves. I have a question, are the leaves rough or smooth?