Naturalist Newsletter: Feb 2/ Looking for Jaguars

[Rob]

JIM CONRAD'S NATURALIST NEWSLETTER
Issued from Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve in
Jalpan, Querétaro, MÉXICO

February 2, 2007

*****

LOOKING FOR JAGUARS AT JOYA DEL HIELO
Last Sunday morning several of us at the Reserve piled
into trucks and headed east and upward, to a high ridge
of the Eastern Sierra Madres and one of the Reserve's
critical "nuclear zones," a magical place called Joya del
Hielo, which translates to something like "Ice Jewel."

"Ice," because after a great deal of pushing a four-wheel
pickup to its limit (with us in the back bouncing a good
bit) and then hiking upslope for over an hour, we were at
an elevation of 6500 feet (2000 m) in virgin cloudforest
where it's always pretty chilly. We were lucky that day
because the ridge was dry, not enshrouded in cloud-fog.

We'd come to Joya del Hielo to begin a wildlife survey,
the peak accomplishment of which might possibly turn
out be proving that the area is visited by Jaguars --
something widely suspected. We did see signs that looked
like big cat, probably Mountain Lion, but possibly
Jaguar. If we're very lucky we'll end up with Jaguar
pictures.

For, on this trip we strapped six newly acquired cameras
to trees, the cameras' lenses pointed at clearings and
wildlife trails, and sensitive to infrared light. When a
warm body wanders before a camera's lens the shutters
snap and a flash goes off. You can see my friends Alfredo
and Roberto, from left to right, with a blue GPS unit on
a rock at the far left, and Camelia the Dog at the far
right, strapping a camouflaged camera to a tree, at
http://www.backyardnature.net/n/07/070202ca.jpg

You can imagine how curious we all are about what the
cameras have captured this week. A fellow has been
letting his cattle wander in the Joya. He was asked to
put them up, but I wouldn't be surprised if mostly we end
up looking at cow pictures.

*****

MOSSES & PEPEROMIAS

You've probably noticed how mosses grow so abundantly in
the dim, cool, mustiness below rock overhangs and right
next to woodland streams. Joya del Hielo smells and feels
like it's beneath a big rock overhang in the winter. It's
Moss Heaven. You can see a general view across the Joya's
forest floor showing thick moss mantling limestone rocks
and tree trunks (with a prettily yellow-flowering bush,
probably the endemic Senecio lanicaulis) at
http://www.backyardnature.net/n/07/070202mo.jpg

Not only does Joya del Hielo's forest look, smell and
feel like Appalachia's higher elevation forests but also,
as explained here earlier about the last Ice Age leaving
relict species at our higher elevations, many of the
species are identical, or almost so. I saw very large
basswoods, Hophornbeams, two magnolia species, hickory,
Fragrant Sumac, Partridge Berry, Squawroot and more.

But then also there were bushel-basket-size, flame-red-
topped bromeliads, epiphytic orchids, peperomias and
more. Seeing these, you remember you're not in
Appalachia. Since we've already spoken about bromeliads
and orchids, while I was at the Joya I took some
peperomia pictures so we can discuss them now.

Peperomias are members of the tropical Black Pepper
Family, the Piperaceae -- black pepper being of salt-and-
pepper fame, not the "chili peppers" Mexico is famous
for. Members of this family are easily recognized by
their minute, much-simplified flowers very densely packed
on long, slender, often arching spikes. The reduced
flowers lack any corolla or calyx and bear only two
stamens and a single ovary. Peperomias are small, more-
or-less succulent herbs, and some are so attractive that
they're sold up north as potted plants. You can see some
of the most commonly marketed potted peperomias at
http://www.southerntropicals.com/galleries/Peperomia/index.htm

At http://www.backyardnature.net/n/07/070202p4.jpg you
can see Joya del Hielo's most common peperomia, probably
PEPEROMIA BLANDA, growing on the ground and on rocks, and
with uncommonly numerous, long, slender flowering spikes.
A close-up of this species' fruiting spike appears at
http://botany.cs.tamu.edu/FLORA/dcs420/mi15/mi15045.jpg
Though black pepper is made from ground-up fruits of the
other big genus in the Pepper Family, Piper, you can see
the similarity between this species' fruits and store-
bought peppercorns.

At http://www.backyardnature.net/n/07/070202p5.jpg one of
the Joya's less common peperomia species is shown on a
mossy tree-trunk. Notice that its spikes are less
numerous, shorter and thicker that Peperomia blanda's. In
the early 70s when I worked at the Missouri Botanical
Gardens in St. Louis I specialized in the Black Pepper
family's taxonomy. At first the hundreds of species all
looked the same, but with time I began seeing how each
taxon was unique. It was like studying music, focusing on
artful variations of subtle themes. I can't even guess at
this second peperomia's identity. I find five species
listed for the Reserve, but three species aren't shown on
the Internet.

*****

DANGLING RAT-TAIL CACTI
Even in the Joya's cold, moist forest, cacti often put on
a show. In certain areas tree limbs were draped with a
slender, dangling, epiphytic, endemic cactus, APOROCACTUS
MARTIANUS, sometimes known as Rat-tail Cactus. You can
see it dangling from a mossy tree-stub topped with a
gorgeously red-flowering bromeliad, Tilandsia imperialis,
at http://www.backyardnature.net/n/07/070202rt.jpg

A close-up of this species' stem and flowers appears at
http://www.thater.net/cactaceae/db/index.php?action=showpicture&rec_id=4296

Up north a very similar and closely related species,
Aporocactus flagelliformis, often is sold as a window
plant. Our species is a bit more robust than that one but
is seldom grown. Both species send out aerial roots and
both produce diurnal, or day-blooming, blossoms
especially attractive to hummingbirds.

This species must be very sensitive to subtle habitat
variations because in some areas it was absent and in
others abundant, even though I couldn't sense differences
between the environments.

*****

MEXICAN YEWS
I think of yews as dense, soft-stemmed, evergreen
gymnosperms people plant around their homes, then snip
into boxy shapes. Yews produce succulent, red, pea-sized
fruits, the seeds of which are considered poisonous.
Therefore, when Roberto told me that yews grow at Joya de
Hielo I was visualizing a low, green shrub. You can see
me standing next to what turned up at
http://www.backyardnature.net/n/07/070202tx.jpg

In that picture I'm standing next to the trunk of a
Mexican Yew, TAXUS GLOBOSA. I'm there to show the trunk's
size (and that look on my face is because of the cold).
I'd never dreamed that a yew could be so big; and Roberto
tells me that he knows where others much larger can be
found.

The "Gymnosperm Database" at
http://www.conifers.org/ta/ta/globosa.htm says that
Mexican Yews get up to 4.6 meters tall (15 feet). Our
yews were much taller than that. Next time we visit the
Joya we'll carry measuring devices and nominate our
largest trees for the Big Tree Award.

Some authorities suggest that Mexican Yews and other yew
species at home throughout the northern hemisphere are
just varieties of one widely distributed, polymorphic
species. I have to admit that features distinguishing the
various species seem pretty mushy -- mostly differences
in leaves, stems and growth form, when variations of
flowers and fruits are considered most important in
determining an organism's taxonomic status.

Whatever the case, the doubt about the Mexican Yew's
status as a distinct species shows how closely related it
is to its more northern cousins, or maybe brothers.
Probably this is another instance of all those Eastern-US
forest plants surviving down here as relicts from the
last Ice Age.

*****

SKINK IN THE DUST
The Reserve has a tiny demonstration garden right next to
the offices, the idea being to remind local folks that
they can grow things other than tropical fruits, squash,
manioc and the like. I work in it and from time to time
snip a few greens.

The other day as I was weeding it I pulled up a big tuft
of long-rooted grass and dislodged a good bit of dusty,
sandy, pebbly material -- too dry and loose to dignify
with the name of soil -- and a brown, shiny skink. Skinks
are lizards belonging to the Skink Family.

I was delighted, especially because during my stay here,
much in contrast to my past Yucatan locations, I've run
across very few reptiles and amphibians. I've heard frogs
croaking and I saw one remarkably long, slender snake
swimming across the reservoir, and that's it.

This skink looked familiar. With its thick body, brown
color, many rows of prominent scales and a dark line
right through its eye and down its body it reminded me of
the Broad-headed Skinks I used to write about back in
Mississippi. However, it didn't have an angular head or
any hint of orange around the throat.

Some years back two herpetologists (reptile-and-amphibian
specialists) made a list of "herps" here in the Reserve,
turning up eight or nine species of amphibian and eleven
reptile species. By Googling each skink name on their
list I decided that probably my garden discovery was the
Four-lined Skink, EUMECES TETRAGRAMMUS, distributed from
central Texas south at least to here. You can see one at
http://www.naherpetology.org/detail.asp?id=543

So, that was pretty good. May this be the first of many
herps I run into here.

*****

CLOCK VINE ON A CHAIN-LINK FENCE
Right outside the window of the tiny guardhouse in which
I live there's a chain-link fence with ornamental vines
twining up through it. Nowadays the star of the fence is
the Bengal Clock Vine, also called Sky Flower, THUNBERGIA
GRANDIFLORA. You can see the vine's three-inch broad,
sky-blue flowers and its opposite leaves at
http://www.backyardnature.net/n/07/070202th.jpg

Thunbergias are members of the mostly tropical Acanthus
Family, and in the photo you can see one thing that makes
a Thunbergia a Thunbergia: The four, upward arching
stamens in the flowers' throats. Not seen are the two
large bracts subtending the corollas, looking like huge,
two-pointed calices. The actual calyx is a hardly
noticeable rim at the corolla's base.

Several Thunbergias are widely planted in the tropics.
They're mostly African and Asian in origin. Our Bengal
Clock Vine is from Indian Bengal. The flowers wilt
quickly when cut, but the two pictured above blossomed on
the fence for over a week.

*****

MEXICAN FLAME-VINE
Each time I walk downtown I pass a certain tree into
which an orange-blossomed member of the Composite Family
climbs weedlike into a tree creating a very pretty
effect. It's the Mexican Flame-vine, SENECIO CONFUSUS, a
northern- and central-Mexican native. You can see it,
with the cathedral's tower rising in the background, at
http://www.backyardnature.net/n/07/070202v8.jpg

If you know your northern wildflowers you may be shaking
your head because, first of all, not many northern
species of the enormous Composite Family (daisies,
zinnias, sunflowers, dandelions, goldenrods, asters,
etc.) are vines. Moreover, this plant's genus name,
Senecio, is one we especially don't think of as viney. Up
north, in the East, Senecios are "groundsels" -- those
almost-succulent, orange-yellow weeds of roadsides and
wet fields that flower so prettily in very early spring.

However, this is a genuine Senecio, which you can believe
more readily when you view the close-up of three of its
flowers, with characteristic long-curling stigmas, at
http://www.backyardnature.net/n/07/070202v9.jpg

Well, the genus Senecio is a huge one, with about 1200
species. Moreover, not only are some of the species
vines, a few are even trees. Remember that the orange-
yellow-flowering bush in the Joya del Hielo moss picture
above is a Senecio. Senecios are worth knowing!
Technically, three easy-to see features making Senecios
Senecios are: 1) Involucral bracts arising in one, non-
overlapping series; 2) Achene pappuses consisting of
abundant, soft-whitish bristles, and; 3) No "chaffy
scales" separating individual disk flowers.

The plant's scientific name, Senecio confusus, is a funny
one. "Senecio" is based on the Latin "senex," which means
"old man," and probably refers to the ample white fuzz
(the pappus bristles) atop the mature fruits, or achenes.
"Confusus" is easy to understand. Therefore: "Confused
Old Man" -- not really fitting for such a colorful,
vigorous plant.

*****

SOLAR COOKING, AGAIN
Finally I have a solar cooker going again, a prerequisite
for any spot I intend to tarry at. You can see it at
http://www.backyardnature.net/n/07/070202sc.jpg

Compared to my earlier models, shown at
http://www.backyardnature.net/j/solardsh.htm , this
cooker is a very lightweight edition. The Reserve has a
room with several of them stored away. When I left the
room with the cardboard-based reflectors under one arm
and a bowl-ensemble under the other, I figured I didn't
have much. I was wishing for that big one I built back in
California, which could make a dry chunk of wood smoke,
then burst into flames, and fry eggs in ten minutes or
so.

I started with an easy task for this cooker, just filling
its crock with snipped-up chard, beet and cilantro leaves
from the model garden, with a little water. In two hours
when I opened the crock, steam poured out and the leaves
smelled cooked. I was amazed that it worked so well.
Maybe being in a semidesert environment a bit higher in
elevation than usual has its advantages.

The next day I baked bread and fried eggs in it. You
should have seen and heard how oil bubbled up around
the bread's edges as the eggs cooked atop the bread.

Part of the secret of why this oven works so well is
certainly the bowl ensemble. You have a dark inner bowl
sitting inside a larger, clear-glass bowl, with dead air
between the two bowls. The top is closely fitting and
made of clear glass.

Each time I experiment with solar cookers I'm astonished
at how wonderful they are. What a profound effect on the
planetary ecosystem it would be if every family in sunny
parts of the world -- like here and even more in
firewood-gathering Yucatan -- had a simple oven like this
one, and used it intelligently.

You can see detailed directions on how to make your own
simple, inexpensive ""Cookit" Foldable Family Panel" at
http://solarcooking.org/plans/cookit.htm

*****

THOREAU, CHINESE LANDSCAPE PAINTING & BITTERNESS
Thoreau wrote:

"Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snows
in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits
up. Deal with brute nature. Be cold and hungry and
weary."

I thought about these words this week when I enjoyed my
first solar-cooker meal at this location -- those
snipped-up chard, beet and cilantro leaves. Having no
seasoning, just cooked in their own juices by the sun,
actually they were a bit bitter. But, it was a good
bitterness, a clean, honest acrimony somehow just right
for a chilly day in upland, semidesert Mexico, and for me
being where I am, the way I am. I leaned back in the
grass and ate a whole bowl of bitter greens, one
chopsticked-mouthful at a time, loving every second.

It's too bad that the general impulse in our culture is
to accept that the sweeter, the saltier, the greasier,
the more industrial-strength pizzazz a food has, the
better it is, and that everything else in life is best if
it's comfortable, cozy and mellow. In today's world, if
you suggest that being cold, hungry, weary and eating
something bitter occasionally has its place, you'll only
get a blank stare: Zero comprehension, zero empathy.

Ancient Chinese landscape paintings famous for evoking
sharp nostalgia and esthetic appreciation very often
portray the craggiest and most severe of landscapes. Our
culture's stereotypical pleasing landscape is one that's
pastoral with gently rounded hills and grazing cattle.
Could it be that the Chinese masters knew something we've
forgotten? Might the old masters agree with Thoreau that
a good dose of being cold and hungry and weary raises the
spirit? Maybe even that, under certain circumstances,
bitter herbs taste good?

For my part, I'm sure of it. Hardness, negation,
bitterness all have their place. A whole life of these
things would be awful, but disciplining oneself with
occasional dosages of them... that can be delightful,
even necessary for happiness, good health and deep
insight.

Who knows why this is so? As a balding white-beard who
has thought a lot about the matter, I'll just say that I
believe that Thoreau, the old master Chinese landscape
painters, and my solar-cooker all got it right. So I'm
passing along the insight to you.

You up there in the north with all that coldness, the
dark skies, the deadness of things... Rejoice! Take a
walk and breathe it all in. Let yourself indulge in it to
the point of pure misery.

Then, once you're warm again and before your cup of hot
chocolate, correct if I'm not right that now, as Thoreau
would say it, you're spirits are higher.

*****

Best wishes to all Newsletter Subscribers

Jim

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