References
Plant Books (Titles of several books have links to amazon where you will find more information on the book. Download an extensive, annotated, list of plant books here.)
- Allaby, Michael. 1992 [2006 edition]. A Dictionary of Plant Sciences (Oxford Paperback Reference)
. Oxford University Press. 484 pp. and appendices
- Barwick, Margaret. 2004. Tropical and Subtropical Trees: An Encyclopedia
. Timber Press. Portland, Oregon. 484 pp.
- Carrasquilla R., Luis G. 2005. Trees and Shrubs of Panama [Árboles y Arbustos de Panamá]. University of Panama/National Environmental Authority [Universidad de Panamá/Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente]. 479 pp.
- D’Arcy, W.G. 1987. Flora of Panama. Checklist and Index. Part I: The Introduction and Checklist. Missouri Botanical Garden. St. Louis, Missouri. 325 pp and Appendices.
- D’Arcy, W.G. 1987. Flora of Panama. Checklist and Index. Part II: Index. Missouri Botanical Garden. St. Louis, Missouri. 670 pp and Appendices.
- Dwyer, J.D. 1980. Flora of Panama, Part IX. Family 179. Rubiaceae. 67(1):1-255 and (2):257-522.
- Elias, T.S. 1968. Flora of Panama, Part VI. Family 112. Vitaceae. Ann. Mo Bot. Garden. 55(2):81-92.
- Elpel, Thomas J. 2004. Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification
. HOPS Press. Pony, Montana. 221 pp.
- Forsyth, Adrian, and K. Miyata. 1984. Tropical Nature: Life and Death in the Rain Forests of Central and South America. Charles Scribners’ Sons. New York. 249 pp.
- Gentry, Alwyn H. 1993. A Field Guide to the Families and Genera of Woody Plants of Northwest South America : (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru) : With Supplementary Notes on Herbaceous Taxa
. University of Chicago Press. 895 pp.
- Hallé, Francis. 1999. In Praise of Plants
. Timber Press, Portland, OR. 334 pp.
- Harris, J.G., and M.W. Harris. 2004. Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary
. Spring Lake Publishing, Utah, 206 pp.
- Janzen, D.H. 1975. Ecology of Plants in the Tropics (Studies in Biology)
. United Kingdom, no. 58. 66 pp, 4 plates.
- Janzen, D. H., and Martin, P. S. 1982. Neotropical anachronisms: The fruits the gomphotheres ate. Science, 215, 19-27.
- Keller, Roland. 2004. Identification of Tropical Woody Plants in the Absence of Flowers and Fruits: A Field Guide
Birkhäuser Verlag. Berlin. 294 pp + plates.
- Kricher, John. 1997. A Neotropical Companion: An Introduction to the Animals, Plants, and Ecosystems of the New World Tropics
2nd Ed. Princeton University Press. 451 pp.
- Maas, P.J.M., and L.Y.Th. Westra. 2005. Neotropical Plant Families
. 3rd edition. A.R.G. Gantner Verlog K.G. 358 pp.
- Mabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant-Book: A Portable Dictionary of the Vascular Plants
. 2nd Ed. Cambridge University Press. 858 pp.
- Michener, M. C. 2004. Graminoids: A guide to some common grasses, sedges, and rushes of he northeastern USA. (Interactive PDF document). MIST Software Associates, Inc., Hollis, NH. 128 pp.
- Ridgely, R.S., and J.A. Gwynne, Jr. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Panama With Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras (Second Edition)
. Princeton University Press. 534 pp.
- Woodson, Jr. R.E., R. W. Schery and T. B. Croat. 1976. Flora of Panama. Part VI. Family 108. Sapindaceae. Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
- Zamora V., Nelson, et al. 2004. Trees of Costa Rica, Vol. III (In Spanish and English). INBio, San Pedro, Costa Rica. 556 pp.
- Zimmerman, K., et al. 2007. Flowering and fruiting phenologies of seasonal and aseasonal neotropical forests: the role of annual changes in irradiance. Journal of Tropical Ecology. 23:231-251.
- Zuchowski, Willow. 2005. A Guide to Tropical Plants of Costa Rica
. Distribuidores Zona Tropical, S.A., Miami, FL. 529 pp.
Online Plant ID Resources
- Click here for an annotated list of online plant ID resources.
[...] was easy to find the scientific name of macano: both books Tropical Plants of Costa Rica (Zuchowski) and Trees and Shrubs of Panama (Carrasquilla) have good descriptions and pictures of the tree. [...]
[...] have two common names for C. rufrescens: guabito and coralillo (Carrasquilla). Guaba (guabito means “little guaba”) is the ice cream bean! So even though the red, [...]
[...] recognize a member of the Myrtaceae, Gentry (one of my favorite plant ID books for this area) says we need know only three characteristics of [...]
[...] Carrasquilla, the author of Trees and Shrubs of Panama, makes no mention of the use of the fruit for wax. He [...]
[...] definition of the term, from the Oxford Dictionary of Plant Science, is: Dispersal of spores or seeds by animals after passage through the gut. The animal takes the [...]
[...] I turned to Carrasquilla, who has arranged the plants in his book, Trees and Shrubs of Panama, by family. He has only 5 [...]
[...] families in some detail. That’s about 0.07% of the number of families listed in the book Neotropical Plant Families! But, to be a little more realistic, Trees and Shrubs of Panama covers 56 plant families, if I [...]
[...] it is a liana, and the inflorescence was something I’d never seen before. So I turned to Gentry’s key, and then wrote back with some questions: Could you tell me whether your plant has tendrils, or [...]
[...] a study in Puerto Rico, where Arundina graminifolia has become naturalized, and also from Zuchowski in Costa Rica, I would expect bees to be the pollinators here in Panama. However, at the time I was [...]
[...] in this family have a bitter, burning taste due to calcium-oxalate crystals and other toxins [Zuchowski]. These toxins can …cause swelling and burning of the mouth and throat if eaten raw, as well [...]
[...] the pod itself. This appearance might be a way of luring birds to the tree to disperse the seeds (Zuchowski) although few birds seem to be attracted to these beans. All members of the bean family have [...]
[...] Gentry makes identification within the large Melastomataceae family a little easier by first separating those genera that have capsular fruits from those with berry fruits. Obviously, our plant has berries. Of the various features that sort out other groups, the two that applies to this tree are [...]
[...] the characteristics listed by Gentry (all illustrations from John’s [...]
[...] description of the genus and found that the sepals in Ixora form a calyx cup with 4 to 5 lobes [Dwyer]. The segment just below the calyx cup is the pedicel, and the calyx cup itself looks a bit like [...]
[...] to know which species of Clusia we had. There are 300 species of Clusia in the new world tropica (Maas), but only five species listed in the Tree Atlas of Panama, which made me think I might be able to [...]
[...] Mallows are recognized by these features (Elpel): [...]
[...] of composites. By contrast, we have 300 genera of orchids and 15,000 species. (Statistics from Maas.) So, we have more species of orchids, but we have more genera of composites. Not as clear-cut as I [...]
[...] of the most valuable parts of the book by Alwyn Gentry (A Field Guide to the Families and Genera of Woody Plants of Northwest South America …) is [...]
[...] and continuing through July. The fruits will ripen the following year, between February and May (Carrasquilla). If you go back to John’s first image, the one with the brown leaves, and click on it to [...]
[...] One look at the stem between the leaves and I knew immediately what family it probably was in. What you’re seeing below is a stipule, a leaflike appendage to a leaf. Often these stipules occur in pairs at the base of the leaf stalk, or petiole. But look closely (by clicking on the image for a larger view) – that appendage is between the petioles. Here in Panama that interpetiolar (between petioles) stipule is an almost sure sign that the plant is in the coffee family, Rubiaceae (Gentry). [...]
[...] in the late dry season, in March, although it blooms from January through June throughout Panama (Carrasquilla). The fruits, which are pods, develop soon after, as the leaves are [...]
[...] the corotú and the gomphothere are related is a fascinating story uncovered by Janzen and Martin while working in Costa Rica, and we’ll get to it [...]