Comments on: Palo Blanco – White Stick or Pole

By: suzanne

suzanne — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 05:08:33 +0000

Hi Ted,
I think you may have ended my search for the identity of a tree I found in Chiapas, MX. But I only have pics of the stalk and leaves, and not very good ones at that. I was wondering if you would be kind enough to confirm whether what I have is Vernonanthura patens. May I send you a jpeg? I’m working on an ethnbotany of the Lacandon Maya, and knowing the identity of this tree is important to this research.

By: joana

joana — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:17:36 +0000

that is some good information about the flowers that helped me a lot well others to thanks for your info sincerely joana

By: mary

mary — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:35:07 +0000

Juan -
Thank you so much! I am delighted to hear that the palo blanco is so valuable. Some people around here seem to treat it with little regard and now I have an argument for appreciation. This year when it was in bloom, I did notice plenty of bees around it, but I was busy with other projects and didn’t watch for long. Next time it blooms, I will!
It is terrific to hear about your business and about the STRI project. Keep up the good work.
Mary

By: JUAN MALIVERN

JUAN MALIVERN — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:42:58 +0000

Mary: Great, wonderful, terrific. I feel so gratefull for this piece of information It is highly valuable for the honey industry in Panamá. I am responsible of a Beekeeping Development Project in the Panama Canal Basin thru a USAID grant.
I am very happy reading about the palo blanco. This plant is important for honey production. Recently we harvested honey from palo blanco at an apiary site in Nuevo Ocú area. It has a great taste and character.
My family owns a beekeeping business at Chiriqui Province (West border). We manage 3,000 beehives.
In the past we gave logistical support to a STRI project regarding to plants visited by bees: Estudio Apibotánico de Panamá. David Roubik and Bob Schmalzel.
This plant is found in the Paraguay River at El Pantanal area, Caceres, Brazil in the border with Bolivia. The honey taste the same as in Panama.
Juan.

By: mary

mary — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:37:48 +0000

Hi Titania,

Interesting. “Ghost trees” is a great name for this plant. They do have a kind of ghostly appearance, especially at certain times of day or in certain light. We’re having some more heavy winds this week, approaching the severity of the winds we had in early February. These palo blancos are brittle, and even some of the young ones are being split in the wind.

Thanks for your comment!

Mary

By: Titania

Titania — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:29:24 +0000

I like the white bark of trees it makes them stand out. We have some here as well called with a common name of “ghost trees”! Many beautiful Asteracea grow here in the subtropics, native plants and importet ones.

By: mary

mary — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:26:54 +0000

Shelley,

How interesting that the Peru highlands and your local San Francisco Peaks have similar percentages of aster family members and grass family members. Who would have thought? And, no, I don’t know of any literature that addresses why Asteraceae should be prevalent in both temperate areas and tropical mountains. It’s a good question. I don’t know nearly as much about biogeography as I’d like to, and your questions make me want to go delving there.

It’s also interesting that the figwort family (Scrophularaceae) should be so prevalent in the Huascaran National Park – I certainly would have expected the bean family (Fabaceae), at least, to rank higher there.

Thanks for the compliment on parsing a member of the Asteraceae family, but I never would have been able to do it without access to the Flora of Panama paper that described the plant.

Mary

By: Shelley

Shelley — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:17:52 +0000

Terrific discussion, Mary. Asteraceae inflorescences can be tough to parse, and you did a wonderful job.

The first time I saw the highlands of Peru, I was surprised by the number of Asteraceae, though I suppose I shouldn’t have been since, as you point out, it is a very big family. Still, I wonder what accounts for its prevalence in the temperate areas and tropical mountains in particular? Know of any good literature on the subject? Oddly enough, there is roughly the same percentage of Asteraceae and Poaceae in Huascaran National Park in northern Peru as in the San Francisco Peaks near my home in northern Arizona. There is also the same percentage of Scrophulariaceae, too, though at Huascaran that places the family third in number and here it’s much farther down the list, behind Fabaceae, Cyperaceae, Brassicaceae, and Rosaceae.

~Shelley

By: mary

mary — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:26:02 +0000

Hello Ted and thanks for your comment and link. I had a quick look at your site, which is wonderful! I’ll be spending more time there, you can be sure, and I’ll have some beetle questions for you, you can count on it.

For readers, Ted’s site is at http://beetlesinthebush.wordpress.com

Mary

By: Ted C. MacRae

Ted C. MacRae — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:58:43 +0000

I just found your website – very nice. I must add you to my “Botany” blogroll.
regards–ted