# Biotopically accurate plants thread



## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Just thought it'd be nice to condense some information here from my research. Others feel free to add to these lists.

Just a little note on my philosophy on biotopes-we often forget that the tropics are places of incredible diversity, and discovery. Also, relatively few people document sightings, let alone deposit specimens into botanical collections. So I do feel we have a lot of room for flexibility with say, using species in the same genus if you can't find the exact one, or species who are not found exactly where the frogs are. Also, very few people(us included!) really care if the biotope is completely authentic. I do find it fun to research though. I think the best thing to do is find a few signature plants to get exactly right, the rest you can allow some wiggle room with.

At the same time, like any locale we are familiar with, plant communities vary incredibly on a small scale. So to list a species merely as Central American I feel is not particularly accurate for a biotope. We can't hope to get the exact plants that would occur with a species insitu.(and in many cases this would result in a pretty boring viv for many people!) but we can put together a theoretical 


So far the most useful website I have found is Tropicos.org Many of the records list elevation, and even have GPS coordinates attached if you are truly curious. I would not that I would sooner use a species that occurs nearby at the same elevation than one that occurs only at higher elevation. If you have a frog that is a strictly lowland species, then using premontane plants from the same country is not really accurate(unless, of course, if the same genus occurs at lower elevations but that species is unobtainable). In the same vein, it is best to use plants that occur in the habitat of the particular frog species you are planning on using. This is difficult to determine but if you can find photos of plants growing in the wild that helps. But some are obvious. Even though Tillandsia bulbosa occurs in a lot of places, it would not be accurate to include one in most of our frog vivs as they are found way up in the canopy(but bromeliads of the genus Guzmania, for example, are often found growing on low stumps/roots/branches or even terrestrially on the occasion)

Here are a few frogs I have researched fairly extensively, and a couple I havent. Anyone else feel free to add to these lists! I've looked up and forgotten plenty of plants as well. I'm going to limit this to species which we can readily get the exact form of or similar duplicates. 

These are all from Tropicos unless otherwise noted.

Dendrobates azureus
-Peperomia angulata(plants of the Sipiwalini savannah webpage)


Oophaga pumilio from Bocas del Toro region. These are not necessarily plants found on the islands themselves...which probably support a much lower diversity. But if you are truly curious you can go through the GPS coordinates and find a couple records are from some of the islands.
-Monstera oblique
Philodendron scandens
Guzmania lingulata
Achmea nudicaulis
Pep. rotundifolia/serpens
Pleurothallis grobyi
Episcia lilacina
Syngonium podophyllum
Anthurium gracile
Monstera obliqua

Phyllobates vittatus which occurs in lowlands of the Osa Peninsula/in Golfito SW Costa Rica(Puntarenas Province). 
Syngonium wendlandi
Pep. rotundifolia
Philodendron verrucosum
Episcia lilacina
Pleurothallis grobyi/racemiflora
Neomortonia nummularifolia


Epipedobates anthonyi which occur in various habitats in Ecuador below about 1500m elevation. I found it easiest to find plants for tropical wet forests such as the area around Zaruma which anthonyi do occur. The collection localities for the common locales in the hobby(Santa Isabel/Sarayunga) are probably riparian pockets in dry/degraded forest so either few species are found here and/or few collectors bothered with the area.

Anthurium scandens
Philodendron verrucosum
Drymonia ecuadorensis
Dracula mopsus/other ssp.
Stelis argentata
Masdevallia sp.
Clidemia hirta
Kohleria spicata
Guzmania lingulata/monostachia/sanguinea


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

No one else has any additions?

Anthurium scandens is found pretty much through most of Central/Northern SA. Specimens from the last three locales in the above post.

Also, as for your frogs, amphibiaweb is a pretty good site. Along with Berkeleymapper you can then get a pretty good idea of where your frogs occur, what elevation, and potential habitat types. This will help with a more realistic plant selection.


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## Bunsincunsin (Feb 11, 2008)

Tropicos is great, as you said.

Another really good one, that I've been using lately, is Global Biodiversity Information Facility. This one is especially nice because, even if you don't know what species of plants are found in the area that your frogs originate from, you can simply search for a genus of plant and then locate the species on the map in the region of interest.

Don't forget about flickr - there are a lot of naturalists/tourists with profiles on there that live in, or travel to, the same areas that our frogs originate from. Some of the habitat photos are hard to find because not everyone lists/tags photos with the localities - so you may have to do some digging - but it's a great resource, regardless. I have found lots of _in situ_ plant/orchid photographs while browsing this website. A few of my favorites include: Mikael, Daniel-CR, Andreas Kay, Pontus Aratoun, and Lucas M. Bustamante-Enríquez.

I find the task of creating a biotope very challenging, mainly due to the lack of habitat photos and context for a lot of these species - but even though it requires a lot of research, I think the end result would be very rewarding; it requires a greater focus on the species one uses in each display, while at the same time, I feel that it also creates a greater appreciation for _what_ we keep in these glass boxes and, especially, _why_ we keep them.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Great post Shaun! Indeed insitu photos are tough to find. Flickr mining is indeed a way to find photos that people take but don't realize would be of interest to froggers.

Here is my "photographic/anecdotal proof" for anthonyi in Zaruma Kumalo.de - Ecuador - Part 3

Truth to be told, the most authentic morphs of anthonyi to use would be the Pasaje or Salvias morph which are found very close and look the most similar. But I am happy to leave it at that due to the basically nill information about Santa Isabel/anywhere along the 59.

I managed to find some photos of the area around Santa Isabel. Clearly an accurate biotope for that locale would be less than appealing-haha. I wonder if any of the grasses/sedges and marginals that we have commercially available could lend the feel?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/adambutt/506803335/in/photostream/

Also, particularly for hard to find plants, I am fine with substitutions. Again, much of what exists in the rainforest is unidentified anyway, and many species look very similar. I think the most important thing is determine what habitat you want to do, identify a few focal species, see what other plants you may add, and go from there. If you see photos of the habitat with lots of selaginella and pleurothallis, I would pick a Selaginella with similar growth form and go from there.


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

I like to use the one from Josh's website.

http://www.biotopicdesign.com/neotropical_plantlist.pdf


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

I'm currently working on a new fairly accurate Biotopic display vivarium for my Orange Terribilis. Focus started on plants of the Choco district of Colombia, as well as those that are also found in the Darien district of Panama--to be sure that the plants range through the area. I'm limiting plants from elevations of 200m to 800m--to eliminate any of the higher altitude species that exist in both districts.

My plant location data is a combination of the Tropicos database, multiple botanical gardens' accessions data, multiple horticultural reference books, and personal communications with friends that have collected plants in these locales.

Here's a "short list" of possible plants for the project:

Aracea:
Anthurium bakeri
Anthurium brownii
Anthurium crystallinum 
Anthurium gracile (low-er elevation form)
Philodendron melanochrysum
Spathiphyllum floribundum
Syngonium erythrophyllum
Xanthasoma flavomaculatum

Arecacea:
Asterogyne martiana
Reinhardtia gracilis

Bromeliacea:
Guzmania butcheri
Guzmania lingulata (& G. lingulata minor)
Pitcairnia andreana
Vriesea ospinae ssp. ospinae
Vriesea (Werhauia) sanguinolenta

Ericaceae:
Cavendishia capitulata
Sphyrospermum buxifolium

Gesneriaceae:
Columnea herthae
Columnea sanguinea
Episcia lilacina
Kohleria tubiflora

Malvaceae:
Theobroma cacao

Melastomacea:
Monolina primuliflora

Marantaceae:
Calathea insignis

Orchidaceae:
Cyclopogon epiphyticus
Epidendrum rigidum
Kefersteinia mystacina
Kefersteinia parvilabris
Masdevallia erinacea
Maxillaria hennisiana
Maxillaria luteo-alba
Maxillaria valenzuelana
Pleurothiallis areldii
Pleurothallis endotrachys
Pleurothallis lanceana
Warscewiczella marginata
Xylobium foveatum
Zootrophion endresianum


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

You are doing a great job!


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Excellent work Alasdair!

I wonder if Tesoros de Colombia could partner with Gue-cal nurseries and export terribilis biotope packages...haha

Also-do you happen to know a source of Guz. lingulata 'minor'. I understand it is a small and bland one that a lot of nurseries have dropped or hybridized away.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

aspidites73 said:


> I like to use the one from Josh's website.
> 
> http://www.biotopicdesign.com/neotropical_plantlist.pdf


I love that Josh has put this together. It is a great starting point-but some of the plants ranges are not entirely complete. Also, just because a plant occurs in a country does not mean it occurs all over-particularly where your frog occurs. I'm hoping to get people to put together lists that have a very good chance of occuring in-situ with the species in mind. Many areas in the tropics are very interesting geologically and so a large number of endemics may occur(which we usually do not have in cultivation) or else species that occur over a larger area may not occur there. 

For example, Ecuador encompasses three main ecoregions-Coastal Ecuador, Andean, and Amazonian. A lot of plants/animals only occur on one side of the mighty mountain range. 

The Osa peninsula is a region that was seperated for a while as well-from my research a lot of plants found elsewhere in CR do not make it into Osa/Golfito.

The ideal situation would be pictures with the frog of interest and the plant in the same frame but we know how tough that is. 

But for now I'm just hoping we can be a little more accurate than, say, using Pleurothallis alleni in a pumilio tank because it is also from Panama. I have nothing against fantasy tanks using all the most spectacular plants you can find(and will probably do that for, say, leucs or azureus where info is scant), but I feel we can be even more precise with our biotopes!


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

Dendrobait said:


> Excellent work Alasdair!
> 
> I wonder if Tesoros de Colombia could partner with Gue-cal nurseries and export terribilis biotope packages...haha
> 
> Also-do you happen to know a source of Guz. lingulata 'minor'. I understand it is a small and bland one that a lot of nurseries have dropped or hybridized away.


I actually happen to have a couple of G. lingulata 'minor' (Panamanian form)--that have been in my collection for 5 years with no pups and haven't bloomed yet--so I haven't been able to produce seed.... While it is a 'plain green' bromeliad--they hold a huge number of leaves making a really tight rosette.


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

Actually if you're looking for an accurate orchid for any Bastimentos Island pumilo tanks--use Brassavola nodosa, as they are all over island.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

On Brassovala nodosoa...I did mention this species as a possibility for biotopes but my understanding is they require drier conditions than most vivaria can provide.


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

You can grow them in a well-ventilated vivarium. The trick is to keep them near the lights and close to the ventilation screen/fans. B. nodosa will grow quite well with humidity in the 90% range. You will need to be able to drop the humidity by about 20% and drop the temperature by several degrees to trigger flowering.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Tropicos
For folks working on Ecuador biotope here is the advanced search function. Simply figure out your areas of interest, elevation etc. and it will spit out answers. 

You can thus search quickly for, say, orchidaceae which occur in Azuay, Loja, and El Oro provinces below 1500m elevation. Pins on the map can confirm a smaller area of interest.


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## andersonii85 (Feb 8, 2004)

Dendrobait said:


> On Brassovala nodosoa...I did mention this species as a possibility for biotopes but my understanding is they require drier conditions than most vivaria can provide.



It can be done ; )


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Nice!

I like the palm down at the bottom. Young palm trees/seedlings were a pretty big component of understory flora in CR rainforests I was in and I'm sure it is like that in Panama as well.


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## GakiShiga (Jun 26, 2020)

I know this is an old thread but thank you to the OPs. I wanted to try to find info on plants for imitators. Found this thread in the search. 

Sent from my LG-M430 using Tapatalk


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