Greetings from the wild!

It's not often that a person gets to go see gesneriads in the wild, but if one does, it's pretty cool. About a decade ago, I was doing some research on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. The island was once the top of a mountain, and when the Panama Canal was dug, the area was dammed to create Lake Gatun. All the lower lying areas were flooded but the top of the mountain that we know as Barro Colorado Island today remained. The whole island is a research site for the Smithsonian Institution and many scientists visit the island each year to study this lush tropical ecosystem.

Mind you, back when I was visiting, I wasn't a gesnerophile, but rather a mycologist studying the yeasts that live in the gut of beetles. But my inner gesnerophile (even before I knew I was one) shone through as I could not get over the amazing plants that grew on the walls of one of the mostly abandoned buildings at the main research station. I didn't even know that the plant was a gesneriad, but recently when I saw it in a show, I realized that the plant I saw about a decade ago was Chrysothemis friedrichsthaliana.

This species doesn't seem to be in cultivation. Had I had my eyes out for cool plants back then, I could have attempted to bring this one back. Oh well, next time.

Nhu Nguyen

Guest blogger