Tribute to a True Lady of Nature and a Natural Teacher
Everyone knows someone in their lives who is so important, or who has had such a major influence on their life’s direction, that they could be called pivotal or Life-Changing. For me, that person was Polly Ivenz. I met Polly some 15 years ago in Pennsylvania, when I lived on a large, wooded property straddling Bucks and Northampton counties, and located just down the road from a delightful forest reserve called, Mariton Wildlife and Nature Reserve. Mariton was guided by a board of directors, managed by a forestry engineer, and instilled with light and life by its Program Director, Polly Ivenz. She was in her 70's when I first came to visit Mariton Reserve in 1992 but was quickly captivated by her quick wit and vast knowledge of botany and biology. I came to regard her as my mentor and role model in the natural world.
I was in my mid-thirties at the time and in excellent physical condition, but nothing prepared me for hiking with Polly. There we would go, climbing up a steep mountain trail at a decidedly fast pace, clambering over boulders and through patches of woodland wildflowers on a quest for some elusive orchid or fungi or butterfly. I would follow behind, huffing and puffing, trying to keep up with the slight, sprightly figure, with the puff of white hair, bounding around in front of me. That is how we would hike. Polly striding ahead with her quick, graceful, cat-like movements, always looking, observing, and then suddenly stopping to investigate something. Here a new growth of Sarsaparilla, over there some fresh White Oak acorns, up there a Scarlet Tanager, and over there – “Oh my goodness…is it? Yes it is – it’s an American Ginseng plant!”
Every time we came across something new or unexpected, she would infuse me with her excitement over this wonderful new find, and then tell me all about its properties and, sometimes, if I was really lucky, its legends. She was a walking encyclopedia of the natural world – a generalist who was curious about virtually all the flora and fauna existing in the forest. If she came across something she didn’t know Polly was revved up to go on the hunt to find out what it was. We would take the sample of the plant and pour over books at the library. Polly always managed to charm visitors into donating a rare book or specimen to Mariton, and had acquired quite an impressive collection. If the answer wasn’t there, she would contact botanists at the local universities and would not rest until she got the specimen identified. By the time I met Polly, however, there were few specimens that stumped her and, most amazingly, she was an entirely self-taught woman. She had no university degree, but could easily engage academic specialists in detailed conversation, often exceeding the knowledge of many PhD’s. This was a well known fact around the community. She well deserves an honorary doctorate if one has not been bestowed on her already.
But the truly special quality about Polly wasn’t just her knowledge; it was her determination to share the wonders of Nature with the world at large. Polly single-handedly planned and organized the monthly Natural Resource Programs for which Mariton was famous, attracting a growing audience from all over the area. And I was among the dedicated following, who always came to listen to her visiting experts tell us about everything from migrating hawks to herpetology, to local geology, to indicators of stream water quality and so much more. And of course, every year, she would invite back the most popular speaker of the season, a mycologist. But, it was a spindly, elderly local farmer in the audience who taught the fervent crowd the best secrets on how to find the elusive morel mushroom.
The Nature Programs were just one way Polly brought her message to humanity. Every summer, she held daily Nature Camps for the local children. She divided them into two groups by age and, by using adventurous, fun outings, managed to instill a love of nature into all of these kids. I helped her one summer and recall how exhausted I was at the end of each day after interacting with all those kids. Not Polly – they revitalized her. She was on a mission to impart her passion and knowledge to the next generation. I think she considered it an honor and a duty to make this contribution, and I was awed by her energy and devotion to the environmental cause. She showed kids the consequences of human intervention, such as how contaminated water results in loss of habitat. And she gave them a sense of kinship and responsibility towards the natural world.
Polly could have done anything with her life. For one thing, she was a natural healer - I recall many examples of her insights. One time, I showed up to a Summer Day Camp, as one of her volunteers, feeling awful. I’d been miserable all week with headaches, exhaustion and a sore shoulder and, in fact, had been swallowing aspirin every morning just to get up enough energy to go help Polly with the kids. That day, she took one shrewd look at me and said – “Victoria, you have Lyme’s Disease. Go see a doctor.” She was right of course, and within days of starting antibiotics, the symptoms melted away. The ironic part of this is that I was a practicing pharmacist at the time and knew Lyme symptoms and treatment perfectly well. I was simply blind to myself.
Mariton’s mailing list expanded through visitors and donations, so Polly initiated a monthly Newsletter to send out news and invitations. She was also on the telephone all the time on behalf of Mariton: scheduling speakers, cajoling people for donations, recruiting volunteers. But Polly didn’t just focus all her time on the Mariton Reserve. She was also an active force in all sorts of forums – The Library Board of Trustees, The Township Historical Society, The Gardening Association, The Wildlife Rescue Shelter, among many others. In everything she did, she charmed people with her gentle wit and brought many over to her project of the day. One time, she encouraged me to join in with the Annual Bird Count. Even though I couldn’t identify the species very well, she insisted that I would be valuable as another pair of eyes to help. And furthermore, she didn’t think I would exaggerate my bird counts like some other people she knew. A fellow who previously had, allegedly, exaggerated his bird count had caused quite a scandal!
At this writing, November 26, 2006, Polly is 89 years old and understandably somewhat frail physically, having likely withdrawn from many of her projects, but her friends report that she is still sharp mentally. Therefore, Polly, I want you to know that you are, and shall always remain, my most beloved and influential teacher of the natural world.
I remember back in 1997, when I first left Pennsylvania for the jaw-dropping biodiversity of Costa Rica. I thought I’d learned something during all those years, but when I got to the Tropics, realized that I knew nothing. But I did grasp from you, through all our work together, a method of learning and a sense of curiosity that helped me to never give up, even when faced with something as overwhelming as tropical dendrology. I thank you for that relaxed, methodical pace of learning new species. And I also thank you for sharing your open mind and spirit. You knew that my particular interest was botany, particularly medicinal plants. But you always insisted that I not neglect all the other marvels of the natural world. You were interested in everything and believed everyone must feel the same, with the same sense of wonder as you.
I’ll never forget your admonition when I left Pennsylvania for Costa Rica: “Now Victoria, don’t forget the butterflies!”
Indeed, Polly, I have not. Though I have not yet learned their names, I think of you often when I see them fluttering around the gardens. Last year, I planted a special butterfly garden to attract butterflies and hummingbirds-mixing Stachytarpheta with Lantana and other flowers. You should see the colorful spectacle of a multitude of butterflies fluttering all over the shrubbery. And then there are the thousands of white butterflies fluttering all over the Bernoullia flammea tree right now and the gorgeous blue Morphos flying about in the forest this time of year. Someone told me recently, that Finca El Tigre has so many Morpho butterflies because they are attracted to a particular tree and vine in the legume family called Machaerium sp., which is abundant in the young forest. I can just hear you telling me something like that when we used to take our walks at Mariton…. Every butterfly is associated with a particular plant, thus we must never underestimate the importance of even the lowliest common thistle… No Polly, I have not forgotten!
Who can say how much impact you have had on all the people you’ve come into contact with over all these years? I believe you have influenced the lives of more people than you can possible ever imagine.
How much influence have you had on me? It’s hard to separate it all out, but upon pondering, I can attribute your influence to three fundamental things:
1.Be Curious. …What is that? How can I find out?
2Make a contribution to humanity. …There was this forest bordering a population that was at risk of development in the near future…
3.Consider the consequences when intervening in the natural world. … Do I really want to plant that exotic tree so close to the forest?
Dearest Polly, you are and shall always remain my most beloved and most influential teacher of this incredible, wonderful natural world.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Visiting Forest Hikers
You can’t just take visitors anywhere out in the forest. We often have friends visit us from Costa Rica and abroad. We’re especially careful with visitors from abroad. They certainly prepare their wardrobes well –often equipped with the latest hiking gear complete with high tech, instant drying/no tear fabrics. And they carry these incredibly lightweight back-backs that have all sorts of zippers and pockets for stuffing everything you could possible imagine needing while hiking out in the jungle. And they provide me with all the information on the latest hiking & forest supplies along with web sites where I can acquire all this stuff too. It’s not necessarily always true, but the more carefully our visitors assemble their supplies for hiking in Costa Rica, the more careful we are with them!
After less than two years of exploring the forest out at Finca El Tigre, we’ve already had a series of mishaps with intrepid visiting hikers - everything from scrapes and tumbles to sun stroke to fractured limbs. We never take visitors from abroad on the high adventure waterfall hikes, especially city people from New York City or London. We’ve had enough close-calls with experienced locals. I’ve learned the hard way that it doesn’t matter what the visitors say – that they’ve hiked Tibet or Nepal – I still want to see how they do on an intermediate hike (high enough adventure for pretty much everybody) before inviting them down to the waterfalls. And I rarely hike down there without our forest worker, Armando, who has hauled injured visitors back up the mountain a few times already. He is also useful for using his machete to hack a trail around obstacles and also keeps us oriented without GPS.
Hiking deep in the forest without Armando basically guarantees me with a side-detour into uncharted territory. In case of getting lost, I never fess up to visitors. I just tell them we’re exploring new areas in the forest as we climb back up the mountain. Sooner or later, we eventually come across one of the lateral trails crisscrossing the forest. People can really get lost down in the Osa Peninsula – and not survive - but never at Finca El Tigre. This is a calming thought whenever I blunder off the trail with visitors in tow.
Quite honestly, most people don’t appreciate the forest. We start off on a hike and immediately they begin chattering and going on about anything and everything except what’s right in front of them. These are friends who are delightful at cocktail parties but can’t seem to make the shift when confronted with nature. They can’t seem to feel the joy of just being in the middle of an old forest, mesmerized by the birds and rushing water and beholding the utter majesty of massive trees. And then they wonder why we can never see any animals! Therefore, when visitors begin talking incessantly, I just take them on the pasture hike overlooking the forest canopy and talk with them and enjoy the views. They come back invigorated from the exercise and think that they’ve hiked in a forest.
If visitors are in good physical condition and seem to make the shift into the natural world, then I offer to take them down for a look in the forest. Then it is decision time – the forest hikes can range from two to five hours, or more, depending on how things go. Luckily, we have lateral trails that loop back up part way and again half way down the mountain if I decide we need to bail out. This generally happens quite naturally when a visitor suddenly remembers a weak knee or some other medical condition when faced with a long hike down the mountain, which invariably results in a long hike back up. Actually, it’s easier hiking back up a mountain than keeping your balance hiking down but most people don’t want to find that out for themselves. There are times when we need to grab onto something to keep from tumbling down a steep slope. And it’s important not to grab onto just anything – like a thorny palm or some other nasty plant, of which there are many, not to mention biting insects and snakes. I know what to touch and not touch but can’t expect visiting guests from abroad to know the same. So I have to constantly advise them along the trail-
“Don’t touch that green, leafy plant – it will burn you …. Watch out for that ferny seedling – it has clinging, spines…Don’t touch that caterpillar….”
The general rule of the forest is: Look where you’re stepping – Stop to look up.
Still, visitors usually have a way of picking up skin rashes and bug bites while out hiking. It doesn’t help when they show up wearing shorts or cropped pants. It’s just a bad idea to go into the forest without covering up completely – and that means wearing boots, socks tucked over long pants, t-shirts long enough to cover the pants, a hat and a handkerchief wrapped around the neck for mopping up sweat. What is it with the Brits and Yanks who insist on hiking in shorts as if they were in the Lake District? And nobody who is not wearing boots should go into the forest. Sandals belong on the beach.
Every hike has a highlight. Sometimes we come across the monkeys or a sloth. Sometimes the sunlight splatters a rainbow on the waterfall. Sometimes we come across a new fruit or seed. Visiting botanists are a special breed because the whole hike is marked by many special moments. I generally botanize by myself or with a visiting botanist and these are my absolute favorite hikes. The difficulty of the hike is quite irrelevant. What’s important is, for example, finding that Tempisque tree after coming across the seed or trying to identify something that just doesn’t key out with the references on hand – and that happens all the time. Botanists are not aware of the steep slopes or the sudden downpours. They are on the hunt for the elusive rare plant – perhaps not yet classified, or just trying to figure out the tree in front of us. We never mind having to carry out an exhausted botanist.
You can’t just take visitors anywhere out in the forest. We often have friends visit us from Costa Rica and abroad. We’re especially careful with visitors from abroad. They certainly prepare their wardrobes well –often equipped with the latest hiking gear complete with high tech, instant drying/no tear fabrics. And they carry these incredibly lightweight back-backs that have all sorts of zippers and pockets for stuffing everything you could possible imagine needing while hiking out in the jungle. And they provide me with all the information on the latest hiking & forest supplies along with web sites where I can acquire all this stuff too. It’s not necessarily always true, but the more carefully our visitors assemble their supplies for hiking in Costa Rica, the more careful we are with them!
After less than two years of exploring the forest out at Finca El Tigre, we’ve already had a series of mishaps with intrepid visiting hikers - everything from scrapes and tumbles to sun stroke to fractured limbs. We never take visitors from abroad on the high adventure waterfall hikes, especially city people from New York City or London. We’ve had enough close-calls with experienced locals. I’ve learned the hard way that it doesn’t matter what the visitors say – that they’ve hiked Tibet or Nepal – I still want to see how they do on an intermediate hike (high enough adventure for pretty much everybody) before inviting them down to the waterfalls. And I rarely hike down there without our forest worker, Armando, who has hauled injured visitors back up the mountain a few times already. He is also useful for using his machete to hack a trail around obstacles and also keeps us oriented without GPS.
Hiking deep in the forest without Armando basically guarantees me with a side-detour into uncharted territory. In case of getting lost, I never fess up to visitors. I just tell them we’re exploring new areas in the forest as we climb back up the mountain. Sooner or later, we eventually come across one of the lateral trails crisscrossing the forest. People can really get lost down in the Osa Peninsula – and not survive - but never at Finca El Tigre. This is a calming thought whenever I blunder off the trail with visitors in tow.
Quite honestly, most people don’t appreciate the forest. We start off on a hike and immediately they begin chattering and going on about anything and everything except what’s right in front of them. These are friends who are delightful at cocktail parties but can’t seem to make the shift when confronted with nature. They can’t seem to feel the joy of just being in the middle of an old forest, mesmerized by the birds and rushing water and beholding the utter majesty of massive trees. And then they wonder why we can never see any animals! Therefore, when visitors begin talking incessantly, I just take them on the pasture hike overlooking the forest canopy and talk with them and enjoy the views. They come back invigorated from the exercise and think that they’ve hiked in a forest.
If visitors are in good physical condition and seem to make the shift into the natural world, then I offer to take them down for a look in the forest. Then it is decision time – the forest hikes can range from two to five hours, or more, depending on how things go. Luckily, we have lateral trails that loop back up part way and again half way down the mountain if I decide we need to bail out. This generally happens quite naturally when a visitor suddenly remembers a weak knee or some other medical condition when faced with a long hike down the mountain, which invariably results in a long hike back up. Actually, it’s easier hiking back up a mountain than keeping your balance hiking down but most people don’t want to find that out for themselves. There are times when we need to grab onto something to keep from tumbling down a steep slope. And it’s important not to grab onto just anything – like a thorny palm or some other nasty plant, of which there are many, not to mention biting insects and snakes. I know what to touch and not touch but can’t expect visiting guests from abroad to know the same. So I have to constantly advise them along the trail-
“Don’t touch that green, leafy plant – it will burn you …. Watch out for that ferny seedling – it has clinging, spines…Don’t touch that caterpillar….”
The general rule of the forest is: Look where you’re stepping – Stop to look up.
Still, visitors usually have a way of picking up skin rashes and bug bites while out hiking. It doesn’t help when they show up wearing shorts or cropped pants. It’s just a bad idea to go into the forest without covering up completely – and that means wearing boots, socks tucked over long pants, t-shirts long enough to cover the pants, a hat and a handkerchief wrapped around the neck for mopping up sweat. What is it with the Brits and Yanks who insist on hiking in shorts as if they were in the Lake District? And nobody who is not wearing boots should go into the forest. Sandals belong on the beach.
Every hike has a highlight. Sometimes we come across the monkeys or a sloth. Sometimes the sunlight splatters a rainbow on the waterfall. Sometimes we come across a new fruit or seed. Visiting botanists are a special breed because the whole hike is marked by many special moments. I generally botanize by myself or with a visiting botanist and these are my absolute favorite hikes. The difficulty of the hike is quite irrelevant. What’s important is, for example, finding that Tempisque tree after coming across the seed or trying to identify something that just doesn’t key out with the references on hand – and that happens all the time. Botanists are not aware of the steep slopes or the sudden downpours. They are on the hunt for the elusive rare plant – perhaps not yet classified, or just trying to figure out the tree in front of us. We never mind having to carry out an exhausted botanist.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Naming the Charrrales
So what’s in bloom this November 11th, 2006:
Yuco (Bernoullia flammea) – Gorgeous orange blossoms, covered by white butterflies, light up the forest mountainside.
Guacimo Macho (Luehea speciosa) – Big, fragrant white blooms turn this common tree into a show stopping work of art.
It was long past time that we got around to naming and describing the assorted charrales around the Finca. Charral is pastureland we stopped cutting two years ago and is in process of natural regeneration back to forest. Already the mass of herbaceous material rises up to our noses, with lots of emergent trees popping through. After two years of walking through them and taking pictures, it’s become clear that each Charral is distinct from the others, even though many of the same plants occur in them all. Also, I wasn’t clear of the size of each of them or even how many charrales we actually had!
So Armando and I went off this morning to sort it all out.
Charral de Las Cuadras – area 1.5 hectares
We started from the stables and walked down the trail we’d cut through the center of the Charral. We can view the expanse from the Stable terrace- thus we named it Stable Charral. Two year ago it was a large pasture extending all the way down the hill to a large flat area we still keep as pastureland. A large Guanacaste stands in the middle of the Charral and many emergent trees are popping through – cecropia, guazuma, guachipelin and many others. In May of this year -2006- we planted seedlings donated by the University of Peace, all along the edge of the center trail. It wasn’t easy to see the planted trees some six months after planting because the Charral had pretty absorbed them but after moving about the plants we could see the hardwoods peaking through – all of them look very well. The Charral is fostering the hardwood seedlings – protecting them from disease, insects and sun. In a few years they will be strong enough to pop up through the Charral and face the elements on their own. We planted: Caobilla (Carapa guianensis), Chirraco (Myrolylon balsamum), Cascarillo (Lafoensia punicifolia), Soto Caballo (Zygia longifolium), Cedro bateo (Cedrela salvadorensis), Jaboncillo (Sapindus saponaria), Cristobol (Platymiscium parviflorum), Ceibo Verde (Pseudobombax septenatum).
We will continue to plant additional hardwoods – K Species – on two edges of this same Charral at the beginning of the rainy season next April.
Charral de la Casa – area 1 hectare
This Charral extends from the pasture just below the house down to a another flat area of pasture. This Charral is characterized by an abundance of Achiotillo (Vismea baccifera) as well as other emergent trees, particularly guachepelin. We plan to introduce hardwood seedlings along all three edges of this Charral next growing season and, since the upper pasture is close to the house, we will plant several large ornamentals trees, such as Spathodea campanulata, Delonix regia, Jacaranda, etc.
Charral del Naciente – area 1 hectare
This Charral is cooler and moister, due to the presence of a permanent spring that refreshes the area. It is bordered by our neighbor’s property –a closely cut pastureland, which is rather like looking into another dimension across the fencerow in contrast to the exuberant tangle of plant life on the Tigre side. The Charral is bordered below by secondary forest with many species, particularly guachepelin (Diphysa Americana), Ron Ron (Astronium graveolens), Myrsine coriacea, Picramnia and Garcinia intermedia. We plan to introduce difficult to grow hardwoods into this Charral next season.
Charral de los Alvarados – 3.5 hectares
I have no idea who Los Alvarados refers to but the Charral is named after a beautiful hilltop grove of Guayabas and Guisaros – known by the same name, which overlooks the vast expanse of this Charral. Los Alvarados Charral will be interesting to study over the years because it is bordered on three sides by forest – fine fodder for its future without any intervention needed by us. We can walk into this Charral through a trail bordering it with a secondary forest to the east and old growth forest below to the north. If we take a side trail, we come to a massive Ceiba tree extending up to the heavens from a streamside. It’s quite impossible to visit Alvarados Charral without paying homage to this awe inspiring tree. Returning to the edge of the Charral, we can see a large Madroño (Calycophllum) spreading out amidst a field of Mazote plants. We have no idea what trees are coming up through the herbaceous material but, judging from a quick look at the bordering forest, we can expect to see: Yuco (Bernoullia flammea, (Cenizaro) Samanea saman, Soncoya (Annona purpurea), Apeiba tibourbo, Ardisia revolute, Ojoche (Brosimum alicastrum), Cedro Maria (Calophyllum), Cedrela salvadorensis, Desmopsis bibracteata, Guanacaste, Murta (Eugenia salamensis), assorted Ficus species, Volador (Gyrocarpus jatrophilfolius), assorted Ingas, Lonchocarpus, Zanthroxylum, Luehea, Miconia argentea, Picramnia, Sapium, Schizolobium parahyba, Sennas, Spondias, Trichilia hirta and many, many others.
We are going to let this Charral regenerate naturally and just enjoy the show.
Charral El Tigre – area 1 hectare
The Finca is named after a beautiful hillside known locally as Cerro El Tigre, although there are no Jaguars left in this remnant of forest (but smaller cats, yes). This location is unusual because it is characterized by volcanic soil – the only place on the entire Finca. Probably a huge volcanic rock landed there after the Barva eruption many decades ago. The small Charral is bordered by the pasture hillside to the south and secondary forest surrounding it on the other 3 borders. The Charral is already teaming with seedlings from hardwood trees nearby: Guapinol (Hymenea courbaril), Mora de Brazil (Maclura tinctoria), Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa), Guayacan (Acosmium panamense) and many, many emergent trees seeded from elsewhere in the Finca.
We have no intention of planting anything in this Charral. On the contrary – we will likely pot up hardwood seedlings from here to plant in Charrales elsewhere on the Finca.
Yuco (Bernoullia flammea) – Gorgeous orange blossoms, covered by white butterflies, light up the forest mountainside.
Guacimo Macho (Luehea speciosa) – Big, fragrant white blooms turn this common tree into a show stopping work of art.
It was long past time that we got around to naming and describing the assorted charrales around the Finca. Charral is pastureland we stopped cutting two years ago and is in process of natural regeneration back to forest. Already the mass of herbaceous material rises up to our noses, with lots of emergent trees popping through. After two years of walking through them and taking pictures, it’s become clear that each Charral is distinct from the others, even though many of the same plants occur in them all. Also, I wasn’t clear of the size of each of them or even how many charrales we actually had!
So Armando and I went off this morning to sort it all out.
Charral de Las Cuadras – area 1.5 hectares
We started from the stables and walked down the trail we’d cut through the center of the Charral. We can view the expanse from the Stable terrace- thus we named it Stable Charral. Two year ago it was a large pasture extending all the way down the hill to a large flat area we still keep as pastureland. A large Guanacaste stands in the middle of the Charral and many emergent trees are popping through – cecropia, guazuma, guachipelin and many others. In May of this year -2006- we planted seedlings donated by the University of Peace, all along the edge of the center trail. It wasn’t easy to see the planted trees some six months after planting because the Charral had pretty absorbed them but after moving about the plants we could see the hardwoods peaking through – all of them look very well. The Charral is fostering the hardwood seedlings – protecting them from disease, insects and sun. In a few years they will be strong enough to pop up through the Charral and face the elements on their own. We planted: Caobilla (Carapa guianensis), Chirraco (Myrolylon balsamum), Cascarillo (Lafoensia punicifolia), Soto Caballo (Zygia longifolium), Cedro bateo (Cedrela salvadorensis), Jaboncillo (Sapindus saponaria), Cristobol (Platymiscium parviflorum), Ceibo Verde (Pseudobombax septenatum).
We will continue to plant additional hardwoods – K Species – on two edges of this same Charral at the beginning of the rainy season next April.
Charral de la Casa – area 1 hectare
This Charral extends from the pasture just below the house down to a another flat area of pasture. This Charral is characterized by an abundance of Achiotillo (Vismea baccifera) as well as other emergent trees, particularly guachepelin. We plan to introduce hardwood seedlings along all three edges of this Charral next growing season and, since the upper pasture is close to the house, we will plant several large ornamentals trees, such as Spathodea campanulata, Delonix regia, Jacaranda, etc.
Charral del Naciente – area 1 hectare
This Charral is cooler and moister, due to the presence of a permanent spring that refreshes the area. It is bordered by our neighbor’s property –a closely cut pastureland, which is rather like looking into another dimension across the fencerow in contrast to the exuberant tangle of plant life on the Tigre side. The Charral is bordered below by secondary forest with many species, particularly guachepelin (Diphysa Americana), Ron Ron (Astronium graveolens), Myrsine coriacea, Picramnia and Garcinia intermedia. We plan to introduce difficult to grow hardwoods into this Charral next season.
Charral de los Alvarados – 3.5 hectares
I have no idea who Los Alvarados refers to but the Charral is named after a beautiful hilltop grove of Guayabas and Guisaros – known by the same name, which overlooks the vast expanse of this Charral. Los Alvarados Charral will be interesting to study over the years because it is bordered on three sides by forest – fine fodder for its future without any intervention needed by us. We can walk into this Charral through a trail bordering it with a secondary forest to the east and old growth forest below to the north. If we take a side trail, we come to a massive Ceiba tree extending up to the heavens from a streamside. It’s quite impossible to visit Alvarados Charral without paying homage to this awe inspiring tree. Returning to the edge of the Charral, we can see a large Madroño (Calycophllum) spreading out amidst a field of Mazote plants. We have no idea what trees are coming up through the herbaceous material but, judging from a quick look at the bordering forest, we can expect to see: Yuco (Bernoullia flammea, (Cenizaro) Samanea saman, Soncoya (Annona purpurea), Apeiba tibourbo, Ardisia revolute, Ojoche (Brosimum alicastrum), Cedro Maria (Calophyllum), Cedrela salvadorensis, Desmopsis bibracteata, Guanacaste, Murta (Eugenia salamensis), assorted Ficus species, Volador (Gyrocarpus jatrophilfolius), assorted Ingas, Lonchocarpus, Zanthroxylum, Luehea, Miconia argentea, Picramnia, Sapium, Schizolobium parahyba, Sennas, Spondias, Trichilia hirta and many, many others.
We are going to let this Charral regenerate naturally and just enjoy the show.
Charral El Tigre – area 1 hectare
The Finca is named after a beautiful hillside known locally as Cerro El Tigre, although there are no Jaguars left in this remnant of forest (but smaller cats, yes). This location is unusual because it is characterized by volcanic soil – the only place on the entire Finca. Probably a huge volcanic rock landed there after the Barva eruption many decades ago. The small Charral is bordered by the pasture hillside to the south and secondary forest surrounding it on the other 3 borders. The Charral is already teaming with seedlings from hardwood trees nearby: Guapinol (Hymenea courbaril), Mora de Brazil (Maclura tinctoria), Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa), Guayacan (Acosmium panamense) and many, many emergent trees seeded from elsewhere in the Finca.
We have no intention of planting anything in this Charral. On the contrary – we will likely pot up hardwood seedlings from here to plant in Charrales elsewhere on the Finca.
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