I have the print literature as references but increasingly relay on Kew Plants of the World Online as it has the scientific credentials and the online format can be updated more frequently. Awaiting Lode's new book but scientic books of this size are inherently pricey.

Unfortunately, my specimens have never fruited which was one of the obstacles to identifying it. The team that did identify it appears to have been working on it for at least a decade and involved people in several countries. I have found that the tropical vining species tend to be obscure plants in...

This has been named as a new species Deamia funis endemic to Nicaragua.

https://www.biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/artic ... xa.576.2.8

I was following a lead on some Echeverias which did not pan out but stumbled into these yuccas in dark mixed forest. These are real common here in fence lines and are used to stabilize banks but I have been looking for years to see a habitat location.

I also found that white polycarbonate that works so well in the desert is less useful in the tropics. Algae and things darken it rapidly so now for future projects I will use clear polycarbonate which is easier to obtain locally. The clear also darkens with time but you start out with more light tra...

I remember when I climbed Mt. Whitney in California many years ago that my impression of the summit was that of a big pile of rocks on top of a bigger pile of rocks!

I also live in the tropics. This year we had a very wet rainy season and I installed polycarbonate roofs over my terrestrial cactus. mold and root rot are quick to destroy things if cactus are wet too long, even with my plants that are mostly natives. If anything, I would build your planter up a lit...

In northern Nicaragua between Esteli and Condega. Much of the west coast from Mexico through northern Costa Rica is seasonally dry forest.

This week I returned to a site near this one. It had pretty much the same species. Notice the Opuntia lutea. The new spines are yellow which probably earned it the name "lutea". They get darker as they mature. The acacia trees shows its thorns which are hollow and contain ants which defend...

This was a spotting trip to see this site and figure out where to park and where to walk to take the picture. I'll do a follow up trip with a tripod and hope to catch the weather just right when there are mists blowing across the cactus or at least pleasant morning sun. Interestingly, when I was vie...

This was at a restaurant on the Pan American highway north of Esteli, Nicaragua. Next to this property is one with similar rock piles that is probably used to graze cattle amongst the pitayas.

An interesting way to grow pitaya fruit. Lava rocks, probably pulled from the same field, were stacked up and Hylocereus planted on top. It would make the plants more controllable and keep them out of the mud and weeds in the rainy season. Also a good way to make use of the rocks.

This Epiphyllum rubrocornatum has matured into a handsome plant. The fruits that last for weeks are a better garden feature than the flowers that only open for one night. With time the minerals and organic matter wash out of the pots with every watering. It is better to prune, root prune, and repot ...

When I first started working on my personal webpage I concluded that each species needed multiple photos to identify it: juvenile, mature plant, hábitat plant, bud, flower, fruit, seed, etc.). This is doable online where cost is minimal but does take a lot of time and you may have to rely on cultiva...