January 23, 2008
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Daily Botanical Places

Cuba – Euphorbia Fence

Photo by Gayla Trail

This was a very common sight in the countryside and a darn smart way to reinforce a fence. The euphorbia along this fence were small but I saw some nearly as tall as the tops of those fence poles.

While walking through the countryside I found lots of little pieces of euphorbia just laying around on the ground here and there. It was hard to resist the urge to stick one in my bag and take it home with me. I didn’t though — I feel a deep sense of guilt going through customs without breaking the law. If I were to actually do something wrong my sweaty, guilty face would surely find me in a back room undergoing a cavity search.

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January 22, 2008
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Daily Botanical Places

Shade House

Photo by Gayla Trail

It’s so hot and humid in Cuba they’ve got airy shade “houses” to protect orchids and other tropicals from the intense sun while the rest of us must resort to expensive greenhouses in order to gather as much light and humidity as possible.

I took this photo at Jardin Gran Piedre, a botanical garden located up in the Sierra Maestra mountains on the site of an old coffee plantation. [You can read about our harried trip up to the garden here.] The plantation was once owned by the French and operated on the forced labor of Haitian slaves. The place operates as a tourist site and commercial Bird of Paradise flower grow-op but the bones of the old plantation still remains. The wall in this photo that now houses orchids and bromeliads probably used to be the sides of slave quarters. Opposite to this wall and not seen in the photo were intact slave houses now functioning as storage sheds for gardening tools and equipment.

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January 18, 2008
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Daily Botanical Places

Agave

Photo by Gayla Trail

Photo taken at the Cactus Garden outside Santiago de Cuba

I don’t know how it happened but Davin RUINED my highly artistic photo with his butt and apparently I did not notice until I looked at the film. Look at all of those spider webs among the leaves of the plant. I wonder what kind of Cuban spiders lived there?

Every information source I consulted bragged that Cuba does not have any venomous animals but I continue to remain suspicious of that factoid given that during our short week trip we encountered several instances in which Cubans tended to deny one thing or another.

“There is no crime in Cuba!” bragged one tour guide.

“We do not have any social problems here!” said another.

“There are no sharks in our waters.”

All of these proclamations seem a little unlikely so you can imagine why I’m not completely convinced that there are no venomous animals on the entire island. It’s not that I was afraid. The presence of venomous or deadly animals is not going to limit me. I’m not about to cower in my hotel room worried that stepping out into the world might lead to certain death. I’ll go in the water (albeit tentatively) if I know sharks are a possibility. I just like to know what I’m dealing with. I like all potential hazards out in the open so I can ascertain how to best ensure my safety.

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January 17, 2008
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Daily Botanical Places

Giant Cactus on a Hill

Photo by Gayla Trail

That giant blob at the very top of the hill that looks just like another regular old tree is not in fact another regular old tree but a massive cactus. It was a pretty darn impressive sight for this born and raised North American cold winter dweller.

Background on the Location

I took this photo at a strange Cuban roadside attraction called “El Valle Prehistorico”. We paid 1 peso each to enter and 1 peso each to take pictures. Fidel’s revolution began in the Sierra Maestra mountains and the land this attraction sits on was a former farm that had been pertinent to their activities in the countryside. The premise of the place was cheesy; life-sized plaster dioramas featuring caveman era vignettes. There was a dinosaur area on the other side, but the place was so big and the sun so hot, we skipped it. Despite the cheese (which was awesome in its own right) the landscape was stunning, covered in carpet of flowing, golden grass, dotted with cactus and other interesting plant-life, and backed by the majestic Sierra Maestra mountain-scape. I love my grasses so it was pretty near heaven.

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January 16, 2008
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Daily Botanical Places

Sugar Cane or King Grass

Photo by Gayla Trail

Photographed in the countryside outside Santiago de Cuba.

I have to admit that I can’t say with any real authority whether this is sugar cane (Saccharum) or King Grass (Pennisetum purpureum). Sugar cane is a pretty major source of sugar and King Grass is grown as cattle feed. They looked so much alike out in the fields that it could go either way although with the thicker lower stalks I am leaning towards sugar cane in this case.

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