PANAMA

[woof woof woof]

Hola peeps,

In December/Jan I plan on being in Panama. Mainly to chill out/surf/hike etc...... at first all I thought off was to go moo poo fungi hunting..........but,... then it happend,...... the question came to me.... "are there any interesting plants to look for in PNMA?

I do plan on visiting bribri tribe in either Panama or Costa Rica.

Couldn't find anything interesting on the net. I remember that in Costa Rica there is this Palm juice which was discussed here.

Any input would be much appreciated.

[kadakuda]

very exciting! there are a bunch of things there. not sure if the ayahuasca culture is there, but some plants are.

http://www.botanicus.org/item/31753003566376

[pinkoyd]

Here are my top three to find:

1) Psychotria poepiggiana

2) Psychotria poepiggiana

3) Psychotria poepiggiana

Should be easy to ID when in flower, and a highly promising species that needs to be in cultivation.

Edited November 23, 2012 by pinkoyd

[solomon]

Yeah definitely P. poepiggiana, more than a bit of interest in this has been expressed at the Nook and elsewhere no doubt.

In the link Kada posted it mentioned

Carapichea ipecacuanha

Cinchona pubescens..

[kadakuda]

I would personally be very interested in Psychotria suerrensis for ornamental purposes (no idea about its chemistry). Its from Costa rica, so not sure if you would find it in panama, but its possible.

Edit: there may be some interesting tabernaemontana species there too.

Edited November 23, 2012 by kadakuda

[mindperformer]

very interesting country, as it is the link between North- and Southamerican flora, since the continents collided

I would go to the Darién, it is a rainforest in the east which makes the gap of the Panamericana

Also I would vitis the Kuna Yala and Embera- medicine man and to Finca Luz: http://boquetepanama...forestfarm.com/

Although not psychoactive, there are a few plants which ONLY occur on Panama or the region: Attalea iguadummat, Capparis panamensis, Ceratozamia euryphyllidia, Hampea micrantha, Lacmellea panamensis, Magnolia panamensis, Meriania panamensis, Mollinedia darienensis, Piper darienense, Vitis tiliifolia, Zamia cunaria, Zamia pseudoparasitica, Zamia skinneri, Anthopteropsis sp., Anthurium pseudospectabile, Atelopus certus, Calyptrogyne costatifrons, Cavendishia megabracteata, Clusia loranthacea, Coccoloba manzinellensis, Codonanthe luteola, Desmotes incomparibilis, Eschweilera amplexifolia, Faramea luteovirens, Freziera forerorum, Gustavia fosteri, Gustavia superba, Heliconia magnifica, Horichia dressleri, Maxillaria scalariformis, Oerstedella pseudoschumanniana, Panamanthus panamensis, Psychotria syn. Cephaelis elata, Sobralia callosa, Terminalia amazonica, Tetragastris panamensis, Vismia jefensis, Weinmannia pinnata, Philodendron annulatum (very beautiful) and others

...some species only occur on some island in the channel

Additional to the endemic flora there are ten thousands of plants from North- and Southamerica

I didn't search all this plants for medicinal and/or psychoactive purposes, so there could be some interesting among those

The psychoactive Stictocardia tiliifolia also occurs in Panama

Ambrosia peruviana is used against colics, headache and stomach pain

Anacardium occidentale is used against diarrhoea

Petiveria alliacea has many uses (including weak hallucinogenic), also in the Amazon, in my experience it smells like burned peanuts

Mikania sp. (Guaco) also have diverse uses in Panama, as has Ortiga (Jatropha urens)

Edited November 24, 2012 by mindperformer

[woof woof woof]

Finally! My laptop is having some issues,.... so finnally I can write back.

The P. poepiggiana will definately try and score that one. I have hunch that it is a pretty common plant over there.

Unfortunately I am heading inthe other direction Mindpreformer.... La Amistad International park and Bocas del Toro. What I did find out is that P. poepiggiana grows only on the Caribbean side of the mountains...... so that's good.\

The other one I will keep an eye out for is stictocardia tiliifolia - should be easy enough to recognize.

Anything funky looking with seeds I will collect and take pics off too! :-)

[Zen Peddler]

In my experience bad beer and dudes trying to push you cocaine at every night spot...

[Zen Peddler]

But in Costa Rica you MUSTTTTTTTT!!! go to Vulcan Arenal

[woof woof woof]

ok,.... vacation time is over,... just came back on the 10th. All I scored some Canistel (also known as Eggfruit) seeds and some white var teobroma cacao... seeds. The time was spent mostly with Girlfriend hiking, tours and surfing.... didnt have much time for other things unfortunately.

I did however manage to meet this man called Bruce Hill. Which I highly recommend visiting on isla Bastimentos in Bocas del Toro..... we did a 2 hr walk through his yard... (and that was just a small part of it) and he just blasts you with information (more then most of us can handle) about fruit trees (he had 100's and many subvariations), chinampa's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinampa , permaculture, rainforest living housing construction,... had so many types of herbs.... just crazy......... also some P. viridis.........(but he wasnt too open about that) - aha,.. check tis out...some pics of his place and info floating on the net...http://owlandbear.org/2012/03/luminessence-farm-a-plant-spirit-oasis/ this guy was extremely knowledgeable... that is my opinion of a 2 hr chat with him,... and I guess I was just beginning to scratch the surface with this man.

He is looking for serious a volunteer to tend to some his plants btw..... I have his addy if anyone is interested.

Isla Bastimentos is prettymuch hardcore rainforest and it rains almost the entire year.

Didn't see any muchies......... and I trust me that I checked the dung paddies after good rains. I did find them on my previous trips to costa rica.

And yes Zen Peddler,... I will do Arenal on my next trip :-)