# Isla Bastimentos Bromeliad ID



## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

Hello, I´m thinking of doing a Isla Bastimento biotope vivarium and I would love to know what all these bromeliads are that are all over the palm trees (it would also be great if someone could ID this exact species of palm tree)








This is a 360° picture i downloaded from google street view so it is a little distorted, you can see it in 360° using this link: https://www.google.nl/maps/@9.35110...-pi-0-ya312.5-ro-0-fo100/!7i3584!8i1792?hl=en


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## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

It's very hard/impossible to properly ID a plant from a picture like that. It's pretty much a guessing game.
However, I think I can be of some assistance.

Go to Tropicos - Name Search , click on "Advanced search" choose Panama, then Bocas del toro as the upper political, then type in _Bromeliaceae_ as the family and you will get a list of at least some of the bromeliads in the region.
Or whichever family/genus you are looking for.


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

Here is a Field Guide that only lists one type of brom on Isle Bastimentos. I am sure there must be more. I only saw one flower spike in the picture. To me it looked like either Aechmea or Guzmania. Either way the ones in the pic are way to big for a viv. I don't believe there are many Neoregelia native to Panama.


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

Here is another link with pictures of some broms from Panama.


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

The bromeliad in the field guide doesnt seem to be it. It seems to look the most like Werauhia sanguinolenta from the plants from panama link. But in all the other pictures i find online of the sanguinolenta it isnt colored green like on this picture but rather red. 









It might also be the Catopsis nitida









Or a Vriesea (or Werauhia) werckleana









My last guess would be a Vriesea macrostachya


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

Maybe there is someone who took photos of this exact location on a trip to Isla Bastimentos?


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

There is a flower stalk just to the right of the people in the 360 degree pic that looks very much like the one in this pic of Werauhia sanguinolenta. 

The color will be different based on sunlight, humidity and temp.


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

phender said:


> There is a flower stalk just to the right of the people in the 360 degree pic that looks very much like the one in this pic of Werauhia sanguinolenta.
> 
> The color will be different based on sunlight, humidity and temp.


That seems to be it! Thanks alot


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

I dont know why i missed all the coconuts on the ground in the panorama picture but i think its quite safe to say that the palm trees are of the cocos nucifera variety.


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## Baltimore Bryan (Sep 6, 2006)

I don't know what species of bromeliad it is, but I think I can shed some light on some of the other questions. When you click on the google maps link, it has the location being between Wizard Beach and Bastimentos Town- I don't think this is correct. I've hiked that trail a couple times and the coconut trees are restricted more to the beach part, not to mention there is a large hill (highest point on the island) just next to where the little icon is on the map which is not visible in the photo. 
I'm 95% sure that picture was taken on Cayo Zapatilla, which is one of 2 small islands to the east of Isla Bastimentos (included in the Bastimentos Marine Park). It's a popular tourist trip to go to from Bocas del Toro, as they have good snorkeling, beaches, and densely packed palm trees (I think it used to be a coconut plantation). Anyway, I remember how on this island I saw tons of those bromeliads, more so than anywhere else on the actual island of Bastimentos, and believe it or not, there are no pumilio living on those little islands! I was told it was because they have flooded in the relatively recent past (from an evolutionary standpoint)- as they are much lower in elevation compared to the other islands in the area- so maybe if there ever were frogs, they couldn't establish a population due to the sea level. 
Anyway, those bromeliads are quite large in person and would not fit into a tank. I saw them a couple places on the island of Bastimentos, though not as densely packed as there, but throughout much of the frogs' range, there were little to no bromeliads to be found. I thought this was interesting and also point it out to say that if you are trying to recreate a natural system for them, they actually utilize other plants or water sites to deposit tadpoles so you don't have to worry about tracking down certain bromeliads as much.
Bryan


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

I have heard/read that pumilios actually thrive in junk yard situations where they can find all sorts of containers that hold water.


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

Baltimore Bryan said:


> I don't know what species of bromeliad it is, but I think I can shed some light on some of the other questions. When you click on the google maps link, it has the location being between Wizard Beach and Bastimentos Town- I don't think this is correct. I've hiked that trail a couple times and the coconut trees are restricted more to the beach part, not to mention there is a large hill (highest point on the island) just next to where the little icon is on the map which is not visible in the photo.
> I'm 95% sure that picture was taken on Cayo Zapatilla, which is one of 2 small islands to the east of Isla Bastimentos (included in the Bastimentos Marine Park). It's a popular tourist trip to go to from Bocas del Toro, as they have good snorkeling, beaches, and densely packed palm trees (I think it used to be a coconut plantation). Anyway, I remember how on this island I saw tons of those bromeliads, more so than anywhere else on the actual island of Bastimentos, and believe it or not, there are no pumilio living on those little islands! I was told it was because they have flooded in the relatively recent past (from an evolutionary standpoint)- as they are much lower in elevation compared to the other islands in the area- so maybe if there ever were frogs, they couldn't establish a population due to the sea level.
> Anyway, those bromeliads are quite large in person and would not fit into a tank. I saw them a couple places on the island of Bastimentos, though not as densely packed as there, but throughout much of the frogs' range, there were little to no bromeliads to be found. I thought this was interesting and also point it out to say that if you are trying to recreate a natural system for them, they actually utilize other plants or water sites to deposit tadpoles so you don't have to worry about tracking down certain bromeliads as much.
> Bryan


Wow, this helps alot, i already thought the place of the picture didnt make any sense. It kind of ruins my plans of making a 360° palm tree bastimentos biotope vivarium though. This is a sketch i made of the idea:








It seemed to be a really cool and unique idea. but since there are no pumilio on that island it doesnt make alot of sense. Has someone seen Palm trees with bromeliads like this in pumilio territory? Id still love to realise this idea.

The place the 360° photo was taken seems to be the eastern island of the two. After looking very carefully at the architecture, paths, vegitation and place of the sun i have determined that the picture was likely taken here  :








I could be totally wrong though, and im also not sure what i can do with this information xD



phender said:


> I have heard/read that pumilios actually thrive in junk yard situations where they can find all sorts of containers that hold water.


haha, i guess ill make a trash viv then , im pretty sure that hasnt been done before


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

I actually just noticed the way the palm trees are arranged in straight lines in the middle of the south of the island. Definitely seems that it used to be a Coconut plantation like Bryan suggested.


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## Gll_Nye (Mar 1, 2017)

I just got back from Bastimentos two weeks ago! And I took photos of some of the plants growing there as well as Oophaga pumilio and habitat.


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

Gll_Nye said:


> I just got back from Bastimentos two weeks ago! And I took photos of some of the plants growing there as well as Oophaga pumilio and habitat.


I would love to see those photos for more inspiration


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## Gll_Nye (Mar 1, 2017)

When I got there I had the intention of taking photos of all the plants in the area for anyone trying to build a Bastimentos biotype vivarium for Oophaga pumilio 'Bastimentos'. Now that I am back and looking through the photos I see that I didn't do a great job of that. unfortunately. Here's what I got though!


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## Gll_Nye (Mar 1, 2017)

Some plants I noticed growing in O. pumilio habitat were Philodendron, Marcgravia (looked like rectiflora), Anthrium species, Selaginella species, ferns and moss.


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## Gll_Nye (Mar 1, 2017)

Lots of coconut trees near the shore and many fallen coconuts and husks on the trail to Wizard. There were the huge bromeliads and also some smaller ones that I did not get a good look at because they where growing high up.


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## Gll_Nye (Mar 1, 2017)

Come to think of it there were smaller broms growing low down in trees near where we did the cave tour. Unfortunatly I didn't grab any pics but they looked like your regular green bromeliad maybe, Vriesea? I did a search: Brocchinia micrantha or giant tank bromeliad is the name of those big ones I think.


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

Gll_Nye said:


> Come to think of it there were smaller broms growing low down in trees near where we did the cave tour. Unfortunatly I didn't grab any pics but they looked like your regular green bromeliad maybe, Vriesea? I did a search: Brocchinia micrantha or giant tank bromeliad is the name of those big ones I think.


Yea i think you're right with the Brocchinia micrantha, I dont think they're available anywhere here in the Netherlands though : (. But I could still use the Werauhia sanguinolenta.

Beautiful pictures by the way


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

Are there any other places in Bocas del Toro where bromeliads grow on palm tree's? Because so far the only place i can find is Cayo Zapatilla, but there are no frogs there.


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

Y0urbestfriend said:


> Yea i think you're right with the Brocchinia micrantha, I dont think they're available anywhere here in the Netherlands though : (. But I could still use the Werauhia sanguinolenta.
> 
> Beautiful pictures by the way


I don't think they are Brocchinia micrantha. The Brocchinia micrantha appear to be terrestrial, grow on a stalk like a palm tree get up to 20 feet tall. Check out the picks on the FCBS website.

From the Bromeliads.info website. "Belonging to the Pitcairnioideae subfamily; a little-known genus coming from the fabled ‘lost world’ of Venezuela and British Guiana. They grow in one of the most isolated parts of the world, usually in large clumps in swampy areas or on exposed cliffs.

Twenty-one species have so far been identified; all are large plants, attaining a height of about seven meters. They are known mainly by botanists and the one species growing in cultivation is Brocchinia micrantha in Venezuela."


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## Baltimore Bryan (Sep 6, 2006)

There are some bromeliads on other islands throughout the Bocas region. I don't specifically recall them on palm trees but I'm sure there are some (although remember that for coco palms growing on the beach, the frogs are less likely directly here with the sand and waves than in the woods where other trees predominate...) My point was that throughout much of the range of the Bastimentos pumilio, and some other pumilio too, there were not nearly as many bromeliads as you might expect considering how many people here use bromeliads in their tanks for breeding. So if you're trying to create a natural representation, add bromeliads or don't, they aren't essential in the wild. Like many things in nature, you'll find a lot of variation with bromeliads or none, on palm trees or not, on one island vs another, etc. You definitely have some flexibility there!
Bryan


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

Baltimore Bryan said:


> There are some bromeliads on other islands throughout the Bocas region. I don't specifically recall them on palm trees but I'm sure there are some (although remember that for coco palms growing on the beach, the frogs are less likely directly here with the sand and waves than in the woods where other trees predominate...) My point was that throughout much of the range of the Bastimentos pumilio, and some other pumilio too, there were not nearly as many bromeliads as you might expect considering how many people here use bromeliads in their tanks for breeding. So if you're trying to create a natural representation, add bromeliads or don't, they aren't essential in the wild. Like many things in nature, you'll find a lot of variation with bromeliads or none, on palm trees or not, on one island vs another, etc. You definitely have some flexibility there!
> Bryan


I think pumilio in the wild raise their young in heliconias and araceae. Unfortunatly those are too big for a vivarium most of the time. Also bromeliads ofcourse.

Edit (pictures for educational purpose) 

Heliconia









Araceae


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## Gll_Nye (Mar 1, 2017)

Yep you're right definitely not Brocchinia micrantha... my bad 

As for the frogs... while I didn't see any that were actually living on the beach some of the largest populations I saw were surprisingly close to it. On Bastimentos I was amazed by how jungle met the ocean. There were frogs in the forest less then 20 feet or so from the ocean. The forest floor was all sand and leaves and the frogs didn't seem to mind it.

The last photo is a peninsula where there were a lot of Pumilio. You can see they are doing some construction/habitat destruction for some sort of development.

Third picture is at the highest point on Bastimentos (where your marker was) looking across the road at a huge tree.


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## Y0urbestfriend (Jan 31, 2014)

Gll_Nye said:


> Yep you're right definitely not Brocchinia micrantha... my bad
> 
> As for the frogs... while I didn't see any that were actually living on the beach some of the largest populations I saw were surprisingly close to it. On Bastimentos I was amazed by how jungle met the ocean. There were frogs in the forest less then 20 feet or so from the ocean. The forest floor was all sand and leaves and the frogs didn't seem to mind it.
> 
> ...


Damn id love to go there one day


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## Gll_Nye (Mar 1, 2017)

Hey check out this thread! http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/plants/167378-plants-bocas-del-toro.html

If you go to Bastimentos I'd really recommend staying at the Palmar Lodge. You can rent a Jungle tent or stay in the dorm. Pretty affordable and right on Red Frog Beach.


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## Gll_Nye (Mar 1, 2017)

https://youtu.be/DO8jAditfAk?t=21m46s

Towards the end at the 'Up on the Hill' organic farm. Which is at the highest point on the island off the trail from Bastimentos town to Wizard beach you can see a palm tree with a Bromeliad growing on it. I think you should do your idea of making a Palm trunk! It would be cool. I made something similar myself a few years ago.


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