Distant Latin America bears too much history, culture and ecology. If you really want to find a place in your heart that you must visit in this life, it is Amazon!

When I was a child, I didn't have a smart phone, a computer or the Internet, so I was always looking forward to the trade show. In addition to food and play, there are book stands. I saw the real picture from Amazon for the first time at the booth.

That book was published by 1989, when I was just in primary school. That year, many great events took place at home and abroad; That year, Eslite Bookstore was just established; That year, picture books were still scarce. I was a treasure at the fair of Niuhui in Beigang at that time. In the center of the photo is a hornbeam tree growing by the water. I still remember the impact of the full-page color photos in this book, compared with the exquisite hand-drawing in Little Newton magazine or Han Sheng Encyclopedia.

Since then, I have been collecting pictures of fish and plants, and all the information related to the tropical rain forest. Understanding of Amazon, with the accumulation of one book after another; The yearning for Amazon is also deepening in color photos.

There are so many kinds of plants in the Amazon rainforest that you can't even leave at dusk. However, when I first received an invitation from teacher Wen Youjun to travel with Amazon, I felt uneasy and wanted to refuse several times. As if I was afraid of being close to home, I looked for various reasons in my mind-no one helped me take care of the plants, I couldn't walk very far when I was sick, my foreign language ability was not good, and the time was not suitable for traveling far ... and so on. On the contrary, my family and close friends kept encouraging me to go, and everyone offered to water my flowers.

The whole process seems to be deliberately arranged by God, and everything is ready. All the work was staggered automatically, and the recurrent disc herniation suddenly improved.

After years of disobedience, I finally packed my bags and set off quietly to fly to Quito.

A week before I left, I compiled a list of plants I wanted to see and might see. When I got to the local area, as I imagined, the diversity of plants far exceeded what I knew and understood. Amazon's grandeur can't be presented by photos or movies.

At that time, the exhibition of flora in Taiwan Province province of China was in full swing. I missed the grand event, but God gave me a more beautiful and spectacular rainforest exhibition.

Coming out of Marshal Sucre International Airport in Quito, I turned on the search radar and paid attention to everything I saw along the way. As soon as I arrived at the hotel, I couldn't wait to start observing and photographing various native American plants. From here, I started my pilgrimage to plants.

A pineapple that can live by absorbing moisture! Growing on a tree? Quito, the capital of Ecuador, is located in the Andes, with an altitude of more than 2,800 meters, close to the equator. The temperature changes little in the four seasons, with an annual rainfall of 65,438+000 mm, and the rainy season is from June to September.

As I expected, Quito can see some aerial pineapples sporadically. Although there are not many species, species commonly known as sphagnum can be seen everywhere on trees and wires. My heart secretly rejoiced, as if I had opened the treasure manual and made a tick: "Wild pineapple, found it! 」

Ball moss air pineapples can be seen everywhere in the capital. According to the author, on the day I entered the Amazon rainforest from the Andes, I always stared out of the window with one eye and always paid attention to the change of altitude. In the process of changing scenery, the bromeliad family on the tree was gradually replaced by the water pineapple and green pineapple of the silver-leaf air pineapple.

In the next few days, bromeliads came from all over the world, big or small, and it was difficult to tell who was who, even the genus. Some are very huge, with leaves hanging down more than one meter; Some are very small, about the size of a copper coin.

Impressed, the Dona secondary forest in Dojak, Ecuador has plants planted on palm leaves, probably dragonflies and pineapples [Note 3]! There is also a pineapple in the French ladies' restaurant, which is born on smooth bamboo.

Pineapple tree in the cloud forest of the Andes. Not pineapples grow into trees, but trees are full of pineapples! I understand all the reasons given by the author, so why are there pineapples on the wires? There is a row of emptied phoenixes on the wire of Otava Luo market, which looks like postcards against the blue sky and street view. On the big tree of Centennial Manor, water pineapple and air pineapple appear at the same time, as if changing clothes for the big tree. There are also queen pineapples on the gravel ground on both sides of the ecological trail near the crater lake in Kukocha [Note 5] and giant rajesh air pineapples [Note 6], which are also amazing. And near the hot spring hotel, there are pineapples with drooping inflorescences everywhere [Note 7], and they are also introduced in Taiwan Province Province of China.

There are also many pineapples growing on the wires in Luolian, Otava. It is speculated that this species should be air pineapple with ball moss. I still remember that I knew water pineapple because of poison dart frog. The book Indoor Ornamental Plants published by Zhang Jinyu in 1990 is my first picture book that records many plants of the family Bromeliaceae. At that time, there were not many kinds of ornamental pineapples on the market, and there were few players. When I went to Taipei to study in 2000, I saw many photos of the origin of pineapples from the online forum Tower Botanical Garden and the illustrated Manual of Aerial Pineapples in Japan [Note 8], and I learned more about these strange plants [Note 9].

In a blink of an eye, more than 20 years have passed, and the hometown of pineapple plants in Ecuador has brought all this back to our eyes. The scenes of new experiences are blended with memories, and a new page has been added to my rainforest travel passport.

The natural umbrella in the Andes entered the cloud forest in the Andes, and the vegetation landscape began to change. Waterlogged pineapples, flamingos and tree ferns appeared one after another. At this time, I began to fidget and couldn't wait to get off and observe. But because I believe I will meet you in the future, I have been patient and patient.

Not long after, on the winding mountain road, I noticed two kinds of plants with huge leaves at a glance. Finally, I couldn't help it. I stopped with a cry of excitement and rushed directly to those plants. This is an unexpected meeting in my heart. I didn't expect it to come so quickly and suddenly. Just around the corner, two kinds of ants came into view.

Ant tower, also known as big leaf grass, is a very special taxonomic group. The new classification belongs to Macrophylla, Macrophyllaceae and Macrophylla, with more than 60 species, which are distributed in Latin America, East Africa, Malay Archipelago and Oceania and like warm and humid environment. Because the leaves are huge and have ornamental value, they are cultivated in many botanical gardens abroad. In addition to the wild plants on the roadside, the hotel I stayed in later also cultivated a lot, which was both lucky and happy.

Ant Tower is practicing in my hotel. The author provides look! The altitude of sloth's favorite plant keeps decreasing, reaching about 1000 meters, and my favorite big-leaf plant, Elaeagnus cornuta, begins to appear. I jumped up from my seat and eagerly shouted to the members, "Look, look, that's a hornbeam tree." In hindsight, everyone should not know why I am so excited!

Moving on, on the main road in Archidona, a fallen tree began to appear on the roadside. The driver stopped halfway, and the tour guide kept learning about the road ahead by phone. I took the opportunity to sneak out of the car to check. At this time, the altitude is more than 700 meters. Horned trees, ice cream beans, Panama grass, Dictyophora dictyophora, heptacodium miconioides, tree pepper, mimosa, Meconopsis prostrate and arrowroot appeared one after another.

I can finally kiss the cornucopia in my hometown, and I can finally observe the symbiosis of ants at close range. Unfortunately, because of the protest, they were lying on the roadside one by one.

Horned trees that were cut down because of protests. According to the author, after contacting the local area, the tour guide decided that there was no way to get to Turner, so he had to temporarily find a hotel in Archidona. In retrospect, this sudden decision was packaged as an unexpected gift, which enriched the places and opportunities for observing plants.

The driver avoided the main road and turned into the gravel road. At this moment, the distance between Amazon and me is only separated by a glass window. Soon, we were forced to get off and walk. But I am very happy in my heart.

Horn trees, palm trees, tree ferns and various climbing vines are intertwined, and the jungle is full of sense. Next, the huge dichotomous Panama grass stands in front of you. I just know that the grass I have cultivated at home for many years actually has a chance to grow taller than me.

When I first entered the Amazon jungle, I met the tall dichotomous Panama grass. The author provided a careful observation of the local trumpet trees every day, and found that three kinds of plants grow like this, two are trumpet trees and the other is Amazon grapes [note 1 1]. These two kinds of trumpet trees are different from those I cultivated. They are completely different species.

Walking in the jungle with a big camera on my back, I looked up at three o'clock to see if I could find the sloth. Because it's always been my dream to take a picture of a sloth holding a hornbeam tree. Although I didn't see any sloths in the hornbeam tree, I was happy to see a white-bellied spider monkey with its tail wrapped around the tree [note 12] and a living fossil musk pheasant [note 13] [note 14].

White-bellied spider monkey in hornbeam tree. The author provides a microscopic trip abroad, builds a small rainforest and walks into it. Besides looking at plants, he will also pay attention to the traces of various animals. After all, I like all kinds of animals like all children since I was a child. I didn't go deep into the rainforest until I learned more about animals and found that many species call it their home.

Over the years, I have cultivated many plants in my own rainforest, such as cornucopia, Panama grass, dichotomous Panama grass and so on, trying to simulate the scenery of Amazon. Only in the past, I caught a glimpse of Amazon from photos or movies, but at this moment I am in it. Facts have proved that my imagination is right; It turns out that when you can't go abroad, you can also miss the beauty of Amazon in your own light rainforest.

-This article is taken from Forgotten Latin America-Nostalgic Flora of Formosa, 202 1, Mehaus. Related tags: Amazon white-bellied spider monkey water pineapple air pineapple horn tree ant tower rainforest Yahoo salamander pi radar carnation