Pseudophoenix sargentii and Thrinax radiata habitat in Mexico (Drone video)

[GMann]

[GMann]

I visited the Ria Lagartos Biosphere Reserve in Yucatan Mexico, with the mission to see Pseudophoenix sargentii in habitat. And what a beautiful habitat! Thousands of them growing along a beach with the turquoise waters of the Caribbean behind. There were also some very straggly looking Thrinax radiata growing there as well. The ground cover was very thorny and difficult to walk in without getting cut up. Luckily I had my drone with me and was able to get a lot of good footage without having to walk too much in the thorns. There was also a pink lake behind the beach that a lot of tourists visit (Las Coloradas), it is a salt pan used for salt production.

Here's the drone video:

 

[Darold Petty]

Thanks very much for posting this video, I really enjoyed it !  

[Palmaceae]

Very nice, thanks for sharing! Looks like a tough environment.

[GottmitAlex]

Seems they are growing in sand... very interesting. 

[Reeverse]

Awesome footage! Nice to see them in habitat. Imagine how many were bulldozed to make those salt ponds 

[NatureGirl]

Absolutely beautiful, thanks. Now I have to go out eat Mexican tonight!

[Silas_Sancona]

Once again, another great habitat video. Thanks for sharing!

[SilverDragon]

Gorgeous palms...glad to see a nice looking population of them in the wild.

[GMann]

On 4/6/2019 at 6:48 PM, GottmitAlex said:

Seems they are growing in sand... very interesting. 

Yes they are. But most of the Pseudophoenix were not right up near the water, and certainly not the tallest ones, those were further back from the beach. Up near the water were mainly Thrinax radiata.

It was actually difficult to get up close to the tallest Pseudophoenix because the ground cover was full of dense thorny bushes and cacti. I had stupidly worn shorts so I was not well prepared. But even with long pants it would have been difficult because there were cacti hidden underneath bushes and if I stepped on them the spikes would probably have gone right through my shoes. One of those times where having the drone was invaluable.

[SilverDragon]

8 minutes ago, GMann said:

Yes they are. But most of the Pseudophoenix were not right up near the water, and certainly not the tallest ones, those were further back from the beach. Up near the water were mainly Thrinax radiata.

It was actually difficult to get up close to the tallest Pseudophoenix because the ground cover was full of dense thorny bushes and cacti. I had stupidly worn shorts so I was not well prepared. But even with long pants it would have been difficult because there were cacti hidden underneath bushes and if I stepped on them the spikes would probably have gone right through my shoes. One of those times where having the drone was invaluable.

Any guess on the cacti? I'm guessing mostly opuntia species, no?

[GMann]

Not sure but I may have some photos where one can identify the cacti in the background, I will take a look what I have.

The agaves with the tall flowers are Agave angustifolia I think.

[GMann]

I did not have much in the way of photos with Cacti. But if you look at 4:07 in the video you can kind of see the cacti ground cover around the base of the Pseudophoenix.

Here are some photos from the day:

 

[GottmitAlex]

Harsh terrain, but gorgeous palms. 

 

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

freakin rad . (im serious!!!)

[Silas_Sancona]

24 minutes ago, GMann said:

I did not have much in the way of photos with Cacti. But if you look at 4:07 in the video you can kind of see the cacti ground cover around the base of the Pseudophoenix

From what i could see in the clip, and a little extra digging, those were likely Triangle Cactus, Acanthocereus tetragonus covering the ground.. Have a specimen growing out front here and yea, lol  while not all that spiny, what spines it has are not fun to weed around, ( stems aren't as flexible as one might think. Spines are like stout, short daggers ) can't imagine attempting to walk through a larger / thicker stands of it out in habitat somewhere without a sharp Machete.. Spectacular flowers however..

Shell Mound Prickly Pear, Opuntia stricta is also listed as native to where you were filming.  Don't doubt there was probably plenty of it growing under the palms / other vegetation as well..

[Xerarch]

Fantastic video, look at that water! Look at those palms!!!! Wonderful. Any idea why those pseudophoenix are a little on the short side? Maybe not ideal conditions? Maybe they had been cleared years ago and this is re-growth?  

[GMann]

They are very slow growing palms. There were some tall ones, around the minute mark 3:22 I am flying right over them. I think the tall ones seemed to be a little farther from the beach. So maybe the soil is less sandy there or maybe there is less salt water intrusion?