Las Orquídeas National Park is tucked into the westernmost mountain chain of Colombia, a part of the great Andean Cordillera. In the park the terrain is steep and rough and is crossed by many rivers and streams that originate in the upper part of the mountains. The constant presence of water makes these humid forests a source of abudant epiphytic plants. Epiphytes, like many bromeliads and orchids, are plants that grow on other plants without killing them. Epiphytes root in the humid mixture of mosses and decaying matter that cover the branches of the trees; they are a forest on top of the forest.
In honor of opening week at The Orchid Show: On Broadway, we are using “Morning Eye Candy” as an opportunity to introduce you to the cast of characters that play both the starring roles and the bit parts in the Garden‘s ode to all things orchid and Broadway.
(photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Previously Featured Cast Members of The Orchid Show: On Broadway:
2011 was less than two weeks old when we announced our Caribbean Garden Photo Contest. After receiving hundreds of submissions and a meeting a whole new batch of flickr friends, your votes narrowed it down to twelve finalists in the categories “sense of place” and “macro.”
Well, the results are in. Your Flickr friends voted with their comments and here are your winners!
Macro Category Winner
By kathleenpimm
Sense Of Place Category Winner
By youngsol
The lucky winners will recieve a spot in an upcoming spring semester photography class offered by the Garden’s Adult Education Program.
Thanks to everyone who participated! What did you think of the contest? How can we make it better? What would you like to see? Let us know in the comments below!
The Andes mountain chain, which crosses South America from north to south, is the longest in the world. The Andean forests of the northern range (Tropical Andes hotspot) are home to a level of plant diversity that is without match anywhere else in the world; they are also subject to high rates of deforestation, thus these forests are considered a top priority for conservation. Unfortunately, Andean forests remain insufficiently studied and protected. This lack of baseline information is often times the first impediment to effective conservation: It is impossible to efficiently protect what we do not know or understand.
Clean and fresh travelers. First day, at La Encarnación. Top row: Alirio Montoya, Hector Velásquez, Javier Serna, Arley Duque, María Fernanda González, Camila González, Giovanny Giraldo, Fredy Gómez. Lower row: Felix Escobar, Julio Betancur, Paola Pedraza-Peñalosa.
After 14 days collecting plants in the field, we returned to Bogotá, Colombia’s capital with nearly 700 plant collections, and more than 10,000 photographs. Behind us we left Las Orquídeas National Park‘s 32 thousand hectares of rare and endangered tropical and montane forests, which make it part of one of the most biologically rich ecosystems of the world: the Andean and Chocó forests. We left behind more than 2,000 species of vascular plants, some of them still unknown to the science and probably not found anywhere else.
In honor of opening week at The Orchid Show: On Broadway, we are using “Morning Eye Candy” as an opportunity to introduce you to the cast of characters that play both the starring roles and the bit parts in the Garden‘s ode to all things orchid and Broadway.
(photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Previously Featured Cast Members of The Orchid Show: On Broadway:
In honor of opening weekend at The Orchid Show: On Broadway, we are dedicating this week’s “Morning Eye Candy” posts to the cast of characters that play both the starring roles and the bit parts in the Garden‘s ode to all things orchid and Broadway.
(photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Previously Featured Cast Members of The Orchid Show: On Broadway:
In honor of opening day of The Orchid Show: On Broadway, we are dedicating this week’s “Morning Eye Candy” posts to the cast of characters that play both the starring roles and the bit parts in the Garden‘s ode to all things orchid and Broadway.
(photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Previously Featured Cast Members of The Orchid Show: On Broadway:
Ed. Note: Much as when the Garden photographer tells you something is special, when one of the Garden’s serious plant guys shoots you an email, you sit up and listen. This happened recently when I got an email from Jon Peter, Plants Records Manager about a little purple flower.
The Botanical Garden’s living collections is among the greatest in the world and contains more than 1 million plants. Jon Peter, Plant Records Manager, periodically shines the spotlight on a particular species that can be found within our 250 acres.
This pretty flower is of Centratherum punctatum. The name Centratherum comes from the Greek kentron meaning spur and anthos meaning flower; referring to the flower having a spur-like base. The specific epithet punctatum means spotted. It goes by many common names including larkdaisy, Brazilian button flower, pineapple thistle, porcupine flower, Brazilian bachelor’s button and Manaos beauty.
In honor of The Orchid Show: On Broadway‘s public preview (today is the Member’s Preview), we decided to dedicate this week’s “Morning Eye Candy” posts to the cast of characters that will play both starring roles and bit parts in the Garden‘s ode to all things orchid and Broadway.
(photo by Mark Pfeffer)
Previously Featured Cast Members of The Orchid Show: On Broadway:
The Conservatory (photo by Garden photographer Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Six weeks, dozens of new community members, and thousands of photos later, we’re down to 12 finalists in the first ever Caribbean Garden Photo Contest! We had a blast looking at all of your gorgeous shots, and I know that our photo guru Rich Pomerantz had a really great time meeting and working with many of you in the Conservatory. But like all good things, the contest had to come to an end (even though we’re already looking forward to next year!).
And there’s still time to vote in the contest to help us determine two overall winners in the Sense of Place and Macro categories! All you need is a free Flickr, Yahoo or Google account, and then you can leave a comment on your favorite photographs. The winner in each category will be determined based upon a final tally of comments and favorites gathered from today until Monday, March 7 at noon. So get clicking and support your favorite photographer!
