Miconia identified, images published.

I’m still working on El Niño data collection, but I got a note today from Robin Foster, a botanist at the Field Museum in Chicago, with a possible (95% confidence) species name for the Miconia I’ve been struggling with: Miconia rubiginosa (rubiginosa = “rusty,” which describes perfectly the color of the stems, twigs, and bark).

Here’s the image of Miconia rubiginosa in flower. If you want to see the other three, you’ll need to search for Miconia rubiginosa.

Now’s a good time to recommend the museum’s Tropical Plant Guides site. One of the goals of the site is to “… speed up the learning and identification process for everyone: biologists and beginners.” Among the resources they offer are Rapid Color Guides for many specific areas, including 10 guides for “America Tropical” in general. Of the several web sites I’m using to track down the plants I want to name, I find this one straightforward and very pleasing to the eye.