Botany Photo of the Day

Connor Fitzpatrick is responsible for today's write-up:

Ouratea is a genus of tropical plants within the Ochnaceae. Ouratea is widespread throughtout the tropics, with species in places such as Costa Rica, Mexico, Brazil, Jamaica, and Kenya. Nine of these species can be found on the IUCN Red List, including Ouratea elegans — critically endangered and represented by a single individual. Hurricane disturbance is the major threat to this species, whereas the others are faced with habitat loss / degradation.

From the few images of the fruit of this plant available on the web, the individual in this photo seems to look like Ouratea lucens (via the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute). This species spans Mesoamerica from Mexico to Colombia (from VAST specimen lists).

One species found quite abundantly in Brazil is Ouratea hexasperma. Within an area in Brazil known as the cerrado, Ouratea hexasperma, along with numerous other species, contribute to one of the most species-rich places in the world. The cerrado exhibits a range of ecosystems including grasslands, tropical forests, and many intermediate types. The plants found in the forested areas of the cerrado are frequently disturbed by wildfires. Medeiros and Miranda (PDF) recently investigated the ability of these plants (including Ouratea hexasperma), to survive and resprout after a fire. Exploiting the cerrado plants' natural tenacity may be a means of energy. In another article, Felfili and Vale (PDF) evaluated the use of the cerrado plants as a source of renewable energy, possibly in the form of firewood and coal. It's interesting to ponder the reciprocity between these two articles. The first examines the extent to which plants can resist the disturbance of fire and how they do this, while the second looks at the possible gain by completely incinerating them.

Thanks to Russian in Brazil@Flickr for a great photo from Brazil (via the UBCBG BPotD pool). See more photographs of Ouratea, as well as other Ochnaceae, in Russian in Brazil's Ochnaceae set.