My Cecropia Update
A couple of years ago I wrote about how much I like cecropias because they represent to me, the quintessential tropical tree. Maybe I should say “a” quintessential tropical tree, since the strangler fig is another…However, in my enthusiasm I decided to transplant a couple of saplings.
Six weeks later, the smaller of the two was about a foot tall – 30 cm, actually. The larger one is farther back, to the left of the stick and in front of one of the young pine trees.
Those two pine trees in the background are near the seasonal spring that marks the boundary between the neighbors’ property and ours.
I sort of forgot about documenting the growth of the cecropias, though, until I noticed this year they seem to have shot up. To capture both of them, I had to use a different angle than in the first picture. Also a different camera, different time of year, so the colors are different as well. Notice that my measuring stick is worn, but the smaller of the two cecropias, which was 30 cm in September 2006 is now more than 1 m in June 2008.
The pine trees in the back have grown, too, but relatively speaking, the cecropias really took off. And yet it seems to me that the cecropia saplings that have not been transplanted grow even faster than this. I guess I’ll have to start keeping track of them. Probably nobody cares about this but me.
Oh, I care, I care! Very impressive. I wish we’d have kept track of how fast the rainbow eucalyptus grew.
These appear along the edges of ditches and canals here. I care because I didn’t know what they were called and I love to learn about plants.
Tom in Fl.
Joyce and Tom,
How neat that others care about cecropias! Thanks to both for your comments.
Mary
Hola Mary:
Thank you for showing the native plants of my province. I always read your blog because !I love plants!
Cecropia in known in Panama as guarumo, in fact, there is a town close to Alanje called Guarumal.
We’re planning to move back to Panama in the near future. We already have a house in David that I’d like to landscape with native plants that are easy to take care and don’t need much water. I hope I can find more information on native plants from the David area, when I move there.
Keep the good work!
La Chiricana
La Chiricana -
Thanks for your kind words – and for mentioning the Panamanian name for cecropias, guarumo.
Good luck with your move back to Panama. I’m sure you’ll be able to get a lot of information on native plants that will grow well in the David area by going to MIDA (Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario, for those who don’t know). The one in Bugaba is terrific.
Mary
Cecropia trees pop up like weeds here in the Amazon. Hard to believe that anyone would actually plant them! I like them because of the ant factor. Besides, they’re beautiful trees.
Steven–
Do sloths favor the Cecropias? I was told they do on the Solimões.
Hi Steven,
Actually, they grow like weeds here in Panama, too. Of course, they choose – or the birds who deposit their seeds choose – where the trees will grow. I decided these trees needed to grow in a place that would block the view of our neighbor’s house, and I was a little too impatient to wait for a bird to help me.
Thanks for your comment. I like your blog (Tropical Biodiversity – The Amazon) very much and have belatedly added a link to it.
Mary
Hi Joyce,
I realize you were directing your question to Steven because you mention one of the rivers that we northerners call the Amazon. However, I will note that wikipedia also says that the leaves, buds and shoots of Cecropia trees are among the sloth’s favorite foods. Since sloths live in rain forests and not in savannas, as far as I know, I haven’t seen one here.
Mary