Showing posts with label wind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wind. Show all posts
Monday, May 8, 2017
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Hurricane Hugo, a few photos from the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
| This tree was defoliated and stripped of most of its smaller branches. In this particular area most trees sustaine extensive damage but remained standing. |
| In this area the trees were stripped clean of leaves and lianas and only the hard woody stems remained. Unfortunately it is not easy to get a perspective in this photo this makes trees with substantial sized look like twigs. To get an idea of the size look at the lower left corner of the photo were the remains of a palm frond can be seen. |
| In this area the wind were so fierce even the bark was stripped of some trees. The top of this was ripped away by the wind. |
| Seven days after the hurricane some roads were still impassable due to the massive tree fall. |
| This part of the forest had faced the full brunt of the wild and the main color was that of the bare trunks and surviving braches of the trees. Leaves which usually covered everything are nowhere in sight. |
| Forest damage over El Verde Station. |
| Shattered tree trunk |
| The entrance to the Caribbean National Forest, blocked by massive tree fall |
| Tree trunk sheared off |
| Making the best of a bad situation some college students from El Verde Station go out to do some research. |
These photos were taken seven days after Hurricane Hugo hit the northwest corner of the Island of Puerto Rico. I was able to take them because Hector Colon invited me and Sandra Moya to see the damage inflicted by the hurricane to the forest of the area around El Yunque mountain, then know as the Caribbean National Forest. We were shocked by the tremendous damage that the high wind inflicted to the forest. In some parts it looked like someone had bombed the forest. Bird mortality was high, as I recall half of all the Puerto Rican parrots in the forest perished as a result of the hurricane. Other species were similarly affected. We traveled around the El Verde area. We narrowly avoided being in the middle of a shoot out between cars that left several cars riddled with bullets by the side of the Espiritu Santo river bridge. We were unnerved because we heard the shooting from the spot we were inside the forest a few hundred feet away from the bridge. Although in some parts of the forest the damage was severe, in some sheltered parts the forest suffered much less damage. But huge parts of the forest were defoliated in a way that I had never thought possible. I took these photos and forgot about them for decades. Due to poor storage they degraded considerably and some became damaged. But even in their decay they give a powerful testimony of the awesome and frightful power of a tropical cyclone.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Dendrobium hybrid culture
Each year vast multitudes of these popular Dendrobium hybrids are sent to that great orchid terracota pot in the sky by well meaning growers. The problem that Dendrobium that are descended from crosses of the Sphatulata and the Phalaenopsis section of Dendrobium pose to the average grower is both perplexing and contradictory. On one hand they are heavy feeders that demand good watering and fertilizing when growing, on the other, overwatering and too much fertilizer are deadly to these orchids. As a result these plants are carefully cared by people who love them in ways that slowly but surely kill them. The first error is potting these plants in an overly large pot, this is a death sentence. These plants need good oxygenation of the roots, a mix that has poorly ventilated spots or even anoxic areas will kill the roots in no time. The best solution is to pot these plants in pots that allow for plenty of air flow. This last week end I was visiting relatives in a seaside area of the town of Rincon. People there cultivate these dendrobiums on palm trunks. Putting most orchids in a palm trunk that has the consistency of concrete, in full sun, in an area subject to strong winds and the occasional sea spray is almost a sure death sentence, these Dendrobium however survive and even thrive. Since a photo is worth a thousand words here are some photos so you can see for yourself how these plants do under conditions that most plants would find too severe to survive.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Vanda tricolor var. suavis, seed pod releasing seed to the wind
I don't recall ever seeing anywhere a picture of the orchid seed being released from a seed capsule. So I decided to photograph the newly opened capsule of a Vanda tricolor var. suavis that is near my shade house and to share the pictures with all of you that might want to see it. This seed capsule reached maturity after about a year of the flower being pollinated. It was naturally pollinated by a local species of solitary bee. The first time I moved the capsule an impressively dense red cloud of seed was released. Unfortunately I was not able to photograph this event. The photograph shows the second event of seed dispersal. I moved the capsule from side to side to stimulate the release of the seed. You can see as the light weight seed floats in the air as a cloud of reddish points. Every surface in the near proximity of the Vanda was sprinkled with some seed but the Phaius plants growing near had their leaves covered with a particularly generous dusting of seeds. It is uncertain if any seed will survive as we are in the peak of the dry season. But just in case I will be on the lookout for any seedling that might develop in near by in any orchid pot, you never know!
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