MEXICO IS A VERY SMALL COUNTRY by Renate Ehlers see Die Brom. 2: 46-50. 2000
Did you know, Mexico must be a very small country. If you lose something there, just tell the next tourist to bring it back to Germany.
Many years ago I went to the type locality of Tillandsia trauneri in Guerrero near Cuidad Altamirano with Klaus. But it was our very last day and we already had a number of plants in the car. The area is very, very hot. When we looked around, (Lotte Hromradnik had given us the exact place), we saw very steep rockwalls but to reach the rockwalls you have to climb a very steep dschungel.(George will tell you what it means) As it was so hot we decided not to leave the car for hours in the full sun alone beside the main road.
In March 1998 I came to the place again with the Lautner's. But it was in the afternoon and there was not enough time left to come back before the night.
In December 1999 when I went with Lydia and Gerhard Kbhres to Mexico I told them that I really would like to got to the place. But it happened again in that it was late afternoon when we arrived and I was very disappointed. We stayed overnight in Altamirana and the next morning I was very happy when everybody agreed to drive back the 70 km. I told my friends that I wanted to try to climb up as my back was not too bad this day. Lydia had a bad cold, so she stayed at the car Gerhard and Kurt and I climbed up. It was very steep and the last 30 m before the rockwall I wondered if I ever would be able to reach the rocks. But I made it finally and was very happy to see T. trauneri in flower. I was only some metres away but I was standing in full sun while the plants were in the shadow. I made slides, but I already knew that the quality would not be very good. Gerhard KBhres climbed around the corner and told me: Don't worry if your slides are not good, I have taken some extras for you from over here!
Going down was much easier than climbing up. When we reached the car Gerhard's and my jeans were totally spoiled, but we were happy, we had some plants and, of course, the photos. But suddenly Gerhard said: "I miss my film. I changed the film up there, and it seems I lost it!". So we were very very sorry, but nobody wanted to climb up again.
In January 2000 Jurgen Lautner again had been to Mexico. When he came back in February he called me to tell me how the trip was. Then he said: by the way, does anybody of you miss a film? I found one at the habitat of T. trauneri. Of course there was a big hello and we soon called Gerhard who now has his film again and he promised to send some slides to me of T. trauneri.
T. trauneri seems to be very close to T. cretacea but which comes from much further north in Sonora and Chihuahua. There seems to be very little difference in the plants in my observation in the wild. When (or if!) the film is processed I will compare the two plants more closely.
Mexico and the lost cartridge by Juergen Lautner
The year 2000's trip to Mexico was supposed to take us to the type locality of the dry Pinguiculas and great Mexican Rock - Tillandsias. Besides Tillandsias, the Mexican Pinguiculas (Lentibulariaceae, one of the meat eating plants, or carnivorous plants ) are my great passion and that was why both these plants were on the agenda.
In 1998 I was with Renate Ehlers at the location of the great T. superinsignis, which grows at 1700 m on great smooth round sandstone rocks, in the Parque Natural de Nanchititla in the Sierra de Nanchititla in the western part of the Federal State of Mexico on the border of the Federal State of Guerrero. At that time Renate hoped that she could photograph this nice Tillandsia in flower, as up till now only a poor black and white photo existed, which Matuda published with the description of this Tillandsia. Unfortunately Renate was disappointed no plant was in flower only nice Pitcairnias !
On the oaks in front of the rocks grow T. ignesiae Mez. Here I also discovered Pinguicula parviflora, which until now had only been known from the Sierra de Temascaltepec. It grows on loamy steep slopes and is in winter only recognised by three dry leaves and survives the dry winter as a small bulb, up to 10 mm diameter, similar to Oxalis, 10-30 mm deep in soil.
Our trip in January 2000 included the Pinguicula and T. superinsignis localities on our itinerary, and I was pleased to find 3 large T. superinsignis in flower. I was out of breath as the climb was strenuous over slippery wet stones and oak leaves l Ox 18 cm big and to hold the camera still was not easy. Close ups were not possible as the plants were too far away on a steep wall. This year the Pitcairnias growing in between were not in flower.
In descending, with the slippery oak leaves and the stones underneath, I lost my footing and fell on my chest with the camera in between me and the rocks and I think I cracked a rib. I felt pain in my chest when lying down later that night. My damaged knee and torn trousers need not be mentioned.! Luckily my partner Brunhilde Janke had collected the Pinguicula for me!
After enduring a damp and warm night in Ciudad Altamirano we left at 7 am to look at another rare Tillandsia - T. trauneri L. Hromadnik. Renate Ehlers was here with L.&G. Koehres in November 1999 and I knew it was about 70 km west of Ciudad Altamirano on the main road `Mex 134' on high rocks. After about 68 km and about 80 minutes we saw on a rock on the other side of the road, the large Agave shining in the morning sun and according to the photo we had brought with us the landscape looked familiar. The direction of the road was right as well as the height.
The two women decided to stay with the car when they saw the track. We started up the stony steep creek bed as the sun already started to heat up the air, lovely to be in the shade. After 20 min. we reached the top where we saw these enormous plants, bathed in the morning sun, growing on the rocks, and some were in flower. To take photos was possible but to reach the plants was not, but in the end I did reach one about 10 cm in diameter.
As I went in search of more plants I saw something green which did not seem to belong in this dry leaf covered ground. It was a Fuji film capsule and it wasn't empty as I first thought and there was an undeveloped film in it. I hadn't lost one and asked Erwin and IJhlrich but they hadn't lost any either. Who would lose a film in a desolate place like this? Who would climb around up here except a few confused gringos in search of T. trauneri. ! I decided to take the film home and have it developed so that it might give me a clue as to the identity of the owner. As the further search for plants was fruitless I decided that; when I found out who owned the film I would swap it for some T. trauneri plants.
A bit disappointed we got back down and got ready to continue on our way, which took us back to Ciudad Altamirano and to the locality of Pinguicula oblongiloba on the Patzcuaro. The road to take us there was marked in yellow on the map and we had not travelled that way before. After about 80 km at Erindira we left the `Mex 49' to drive along the unknown road. It was called `Mich.521' on the map, which went over Paso de Nunez, Nocupetaro, Copitero and Villa Madero to Morelia the capital of Michoacan, and is about 126 km long.At first the landscape along this surprisingly well kept road was boring and it was hot, then suddenly after about 50 km we came across deep, steep and seemingly unreachable gorges of the Rio Caracuaro that followed the road on the right for kilometres. These were rockwalls and gorges that make a Tillandsia collector's heart tremble. There must be something interesting growing there? But then the road turns away from hills and the gorge.Irou lean back disappointed in your seat, because the gorges and rocks are now 5-10 km away and would take to much time to explore. Time which we didn't have because the next town with hotels is hours away, and especially if you have not travelled the road before.
But today it turned out differently. Suddenly the road goes along a deep, frightening deep gorge and we stop. I run back a few meters and what I saw, unfortunately already in shade, but could not miss them - Tillandsias! ! ! In flower, and which look like - I could not believe it - T. trauneri!? An until now unknown locality!
Uhlrich and I found a way down that took us through scrub to a rockwall on which T. trauneri was growing. It looked, close up, the same as the one at Ciudad Altamirano, unreachable on the steep wall between the Agave. I got weak in the knees when I saw stones large as a man's head, hanging loose between the Agave which could dislodge any time and hit you on the head. The only reachable plant was about 60 cm across
and so was too big and was left to grow on. iJhlrich went further up the gorge but could not reach any plants. He saw hundreds of plants at head height but the strong flowing Rio Caracara stopped him from reaching them. I went along the top of the gorge but could only look down the spine-chilling hundreds of meters deep gorge and could not find any reachable plants. Even so we were very disappointed, we could say we might have possibly found a new locality of T. trauneri. As the plants have clearly near perpendicular hanging inflorescences and T. trauneri has only slightly hanging inflorescences it may be we had found a new species. Time will tell
These rock growing Tillandsias are just unreachable, the way seemed twice as hard as it was with the plants at the old locality. I wondered why I had found it necessary to climb up the new locality and to climb down again
The locality is in Estado de Michoacan on the `Mich 521' at about 1200-1600 m. In the evening we reached Patzcuaro and stayed over night.
On returning home to Germany Renate Ehlers told me on the phone that Gerhardt Koehres had been the one to lose the film but I did not press my claim for a plant of T. trauneri because they had experienced similar problems of ourselves. Renate confirmed later that the film was developed with no problems so this story has a happy ending. —SeeDie Bromelie
