Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 14:40:33 -0400 (EDT) From: PTemple001@aol.com To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2462$foo@default> Subject: Cuba central - the final day
After the previous day's disapointment at being blocked by a broken road,
this, our final day, was a worry. Our driver, Pedrito, had promised me that
he would attempt to drive accross the broken piece of road even if he had to
find a tractor to pull us through! So after breakfast we set off to collect
our International Liason Officer and the pass for searching in the mountains.
Having successfully completed these two things we drove on to the broken
road. Even a day can make the world of difference in the tropics. One
cloudburst can wash away a road, one hurricane can destroy a site and one hot
day can dry out a bog. So much to our relief, we came to the broken road to
find that the heat had dried the mud and given us a small but possible route
through the broken rock. Forward we went, and the excitement noticeably
rose. I was on the edge of my seat looking for the cliff that I knew would
be there. And eventually, there it was. I already had all my camera gear
and other stuff in hand so out I got. Despite the excitement forcing me
forward, I managed to wait for Cristina (the cuban CP expert) and together we
approached the cliff, a recorded site for P jackii, the one we had visited
and found plants at two years previously.
And we looked, and we looked, and we looked. But horrors. We couldn't find
any Pinguicula!!! Where had they all gone. There were two groups of plants
two years earlier. One at road level and another high up the cliff. Now,
our colleagues (Hans, Jorge, the Liason Officer) had joined us so there were
5 of us all looking. It took about 30 minutes, and then we found the first
plant. It was pathetic. A smallish flat rosette, half eaten by pests, very
tired looking, and no signs of flowers. About 20 minutes later we found
another smaller plant and some 2 hours later a third, all three at road
level. Well I say at road level, but the third plant required me to climb up
and stand on Jorge's shoulders to search around it for juveniles, but there
were none. Very disappointing. So some of us searched elsewhere, either on
this cliff or on the next cliff (about 20 metres away). I decided to climb
and search from above.
The climb is not too difficult. It's up an old, rotting coral cliff face.
There were the occassional problems with cliff crumbling under my feet
leaving me hanging by my fingers (literally!!!), but I've strong fingers
(lots of practice!). At the top, I had to find a way through dense secondary
jungle. The climb took about 30 minutes. Then it took almost an hour to
fight through the jungle! Along the way I found hundreds of those quaint
highland orchids (the ones with flowers growing directly from the undersides
of leaves) and several other orchids, either epiphytes and terrestrials.
There were also several nice species of Peperomia, another plant I'm quite
fond of. And then I found the top of the cliff face, but no sign of any
Pinguiculas.
So down I got (another 45 minutes) and was immediatly marched round to the
front of the cliff, handed a set of field glasses (= binoculars, =
prismaticas) and shown a tiny Pinguicula half way up (or half way down!) the
cliff I'd just left!!! Damn!!! So up I climbed again. No, I won't bore you
with details of the 90 minute journey again (the sighs of relief are
deafening!), but I arrived at the cliff top eventually, again! (But I
could't resist being distracted by those quaint orchids again!) Having
planned ahead, some people may recall that I sent out an email several months
back asking where I could hire a caver's ladder. Peter Cole mailed me back
offering to loan me his. Now it came in handy. I tied it to a nearby tree,
put on the crash helmet Peter had also thoughtfully provided, and down I
climbed. Now it's not very well known, but I'm scared of heights. So I
can't say I enjoyed the climb. But plants make me forget things like sun,
wind, rain, mosquitoes, thorns, etc. so I ignored my brain which was
furiously telling me not to go any further. Then I reached the very bottom
of the ladder. As luck would have it, I just managed to reach the Pinguicula
from there, although only by holding on with one hand and leaning alot!!! I
searched frantically for other plants, even juveniles, and there should have
been many, but there weren't!!
So, it may look as if this was a disappointment and a failed last day. But
it wasn't. This site has posed an enormous mystery, as follows. First, it
is a recorded site for P. jackii. Pinguicula had been seen here four times
by one of my Cuban friends.Two years previously there had been two separate
groups of plants but a total of about 30 - 50 plants there in all.
Pinguicula jackii is a perennial, not an annual. So how could a good colony
suddenly disappear? Well, the site was now more overgrown. And the Coffee
Plantation still growing beside it now grew closer to the cliff (but not on
it). Could it be that there was slightly too much shade? I don't think so.
I grow this species, from exactly this location, in my collection in
England and it doesn't mind shade at all. Could the plants have been dried
out too much? Possibly. Last visit I commented on how dry the cliff was.
But the cliff had plently of other plants alive on it and the last two years
had not been drier than usual. So drought seems unlikely. Maybe last year's
hurricane had blown the adult plants away? Well, surprisingly, this may be a
possibility, but how would I ever prove it? No, for the moment, this site
remains a survivor, just. It's a disappointment, for now. But it is a
challenge and I'll need to see whether things get better or worse there. Oh
damn, I'll have to go back!!!!!
So with this final view of very exciting plants, but only 4 of them, my
hunting (with Hans and our Cuban colleagues/friends) ended. But the story
does not end there. I'm now fairly familiar with all the Cuban Pinguiculas.
I feel honoured to be the only person in the world ever to grow all the
Cuban Pinguicula species. And the Cubans certainly treat me as a welcome
guest, friend and colleage. So, returning to my roots as a scientist, there
are plans to do some more work. I'm invited to rejoin my Cuban friends in
Cuba to search again for more potential P. jackii sites. And there are some
potential scientific CP projects we want to co-operate on, one in particular
being the creation of a CP conservation area where all the CP species of Cuba
can be grown and protected (there are Utrics, Pings, Drosera and even a
Genlisea). Of course I have to return so they can assist me in locating the
yellow flowered P. filifolia and the cuban Genlisea. And I can now compare
P. lignicola with P. casabitoana; surprisingly, all the work to date has been
done on herbarium specimens and not with the benefit of seeing the living
plants. I'd already made the Caribbean my preferred home - to retire to one
day, I hope. I'd begun to make it my favourite CP area. Now it looks as if
I'll have some work to do there. All I need now is money to get back
there!!!
But finally, there remains the need to get these plants into cultivation. I
doubt the Cuban Pings will ever all rank as easy species to grow. They need
masses of heat, light and humidity and even then this may not be enough to
make propogation a simple task. But the plants are now here and there's a
chance to try to grow and propogate them all. With a bit of time and effort,
you may hope to see each species come available. Certainly we've tried once
(2 years ago) with P. filifolia and now we'll try again. And albeit an
annual, P. albida seems likely to prove growable, if one has the patience to
collect seed and resow it each year.
Well, that's all. My thanks to Hans for his companionship - he'll
concentrate on Mexico now. And thanks too to the cubans, my friends and
colleagues. I'm sorry if anyone failed to enjoy reading through the millions
of words to find the few small bits about CP's, but I write what I like and
try to paint a picture of a country or an expedition, not just write a list.
Once again, if you've learnt nothing else, I hope that this report has
encouraged people to go out into the wild to look for plants. You don't need
to collect them to have fun (what I collected was done with permission). And
even if you don't find them, there's much to see and learn. And you don't
need to be an expert either.
You can have your ladder back now Peter (with many thanks). I don't suppose
my next major trip will be soon so no more reports for a while. Yes, I did
manage to bring back some (a small amount) of seed. British Customs Officers
found all my plant material but allowed me to bring it all into the UK.
(That's an after dinner story so you have to have dinner with me to hear it!
Watch out Mad!!! :-) ) If the seed can be grown I'll try to send out
samples. As usual, these will be distributed to the various continents via
people I already know, with the intention that these friends will forward
seed on locally as they propogate plants and seed.
Now I've a load of promises to keep with plant exchanges of a more regular
type. And one more very special and rare flower to collect soon, but that's
an entirely different story reserved for another day.
Regards
Paul
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