BAREFOOT BOYS MEXICAN TRIP N° 6

(By Noah Elhardt and Forbes Conrad, , 2006) 

(All pictures by Noah Elhardt and Forbes Conrad)

P. conzattii in habitat,Oaxaca, Mexico.

Having been deprived of our bicycles by some bored vandals with wire cutters and sledgehammers, we have been doing most of our local traveling on foot.

In this case, a covered pickup-truck that serves as a rural taxi/bus brought as close as 2.5 km. as the crow flies. That wouldn't have been so bad, except for the fact that were at 1700 meters and the plant grew at 2700 meters.

24 hours later we wandered into the spectacular cliffside cloud forest that is home to P. conzattii.

The plants were growing in sedimentary rock (as evidenced by nearby fossils) and were surrounded by trees loaded with ferns, orchids, and tillandsias. When the fog was heavy, it sounded like it was raining under the pine trees due to the heavy fog drip!

This species is winter-flowering and was therefore now flower-less, but the large rosettes of rotund leaves were a pleasure to see none-the-less.

Lots of insects were on the menu :

In case anyone is curious, the largest plant we saw had a diameter of 10 cm.

Hope you enjoyed!

Noah Elhardt and Forbes Conrad