An opportunistically epiphytic Geonoma!

[XYZ 493]

Greetings:

A couple of weeks ago I was wandering around a stream bed in eastern Panamá and I came across a couple of young Geonoma sp. (¿cuneata, perhaps?) that had germinated on and were growing happily upon leaning or recently-fallen trees. I know that this is a somewhat commonplace event in wet tropical forests, but I thought that some of the forum members might enjoy seeing a phenomenon that is not often photographed.

And so, I give you an "epiphytic palm", in the not-so-lofty company of a flowering gesneriad and a couple bromes.

[Kim 3,269]

This is the old school method for germinating palms?  It makes a pretty picture, for sure.  

So you were "wandering around a stream bed in eastern Panamá"?  What a life you lead.  Glad you found your way home, Señor Jaguar.  Thanks for the photo.

[XYZ 493]

You're welcome Kim.

Ya know...like they say: it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

A pic of a battered & bloodied SJ suffering tortures of the damned amidst hideous-looking mega diversity cloud forest in Veraguas. Practically had  to fight off the hordes of exquisitely rare plants (*shudder*).

       

         

[calyptrocalyx&licuala freck 552]

Hi Jay

Michael P. was over yesterday, he said you where out

and about, Prior to him dropping in.

Great Picture's  so much to see......Cool

Hey rememeber the old ("Hill St Blue's")  saying

"Now lets be careful out there"  :laugh:  Have Fun Dude.

Regards Mikey

[Gileno Machado 199]

Ohhhhh  J.

The little Geonoma is a gem...Got any other pictures of it?

The following pictures are superb, everything in bloom and perfect green all around.

It sure feels great to hike around tropical forests in summer. There are a couple places I'm planning to visit soon around here too. I guess the ideal climate "downstairs" is during the dry warm season when the cool shade makes us feel great and the observation of nature's diversity is at the very best.

Keep them coming, please...

[kylecawazafla 931]

WOW!!! That almost looks like an unnatural amount of nature all together there! That Geonoma sure is tiny! (or everything else is just big)

[ariscott 48]

It is so tiny, I almost missed it  ::

Regards, Ari

[aussiearoids 333]

Looks like colonies of Guzmania sprucei .. lovely , now if I can just get mine to set some seed I can start to recreate that scene ...

[XYZ 493]

Hahaha!

Well, I'm terribly sorry that the palms growing on trunks there were so small...I'll take it up with God next time I talk to him.

Yeah, Miguel...Guzmania sprucei by the boatloads...there were also huge numbers of Aechmea allenii at this site, but they flower earlier in the year.

This is also an Anthurium nervatum/Geonoma epetiolata/Chamaedorea correaea/Heliconia bella site.

Like, I said...it's a dirty job...

[aussiearoids 333]

...it's a dirty job... but someone has to do it ..

[bgl 2,751]

That's a cute little Geonoma! Looks like it could be a permanent location. I keep finding epiphytic palms here all the time, but these are more of a temporary nature. Here's a Verscheffeltia splendida seed that fell into the space where the petiole attaches to the trunk on a Phoenicophorium borsigianum, and germinated right there!

[Mark@PalmBeach 2]

I have been to a lot of rainforests, but I have never seen such a fantastic natural collection and diversity of plants as in those pictures. That is truly amazing. I thought the rainforests in Malaysia were interesting, but the number of epiphytic type plants in those photos is incredible.