South America Plant/Nature Pictures
I took these pictures on a trip to Ecuador and Peru in December 1999.
PALMS:
Ceroxylon ventricosum in Quito, Ecuador (9300 feet above sea level)
Parajubaea cocoides in Quito, Ecuador
Smaller P. cocoides in Quito (with agaves in the foreground)
A forest of Iriartea deltoidea on the east slopes of the Andes(Ecuador--near 4000 feet--the highest part of I. deltoidea's range)
Elaeis guineensis--African oil palms (on an oil palm farm in western Ecuador)
Chamaedorea linearis (probably) on the east slopes of the Andes (4000 ft.)
A small coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) at 6000 feet north of Ibarra, Ecuador
One of the highest in the world? Also note that this is a dry area--but this amount of dryness only lasts a few miles along the Pan-American Highway.
Mauritia flexuosa in lowland eastern Ecuador
CECROPIAS:
Cecropias of various species grow at many elevations in South America--from sea level to over 8000 feet!
Cecropia at the Machupicchu (Peru) at over 7500 ft. above sea level)
Cecropia in a canyon below the Machupicchu (6500 ft. above sea level)
Cecropia in the rainforest of western Ecuador (500 ft. above sea level)
OTHER TREES:
Breadfruit Trees (Artocarpus altilis) in lowland eastern Ecuador
Caribbean Copper Plants (Euphorbia cotinifolia) near Baeza, Ecuador (5000 feet)
Eucalyptus at 11,500 feet above Cuzco, Peru
MISCELLANEOUS:
Virgin rainforest in western Ecuador
San Rafael Falls--the highest (top-to-bottom) waterfall in Ecuador (3000 ft. elevation in eastern Ecuador
Waterfalls along a cliff on the west slopes of the Andes (Ecuador, in cloud forest at around 8000 ft.)
Tree ferns on the lower east slopes of the Andes (At San Rafael Falls, Ecuador, at around 3000 ft.)
Looking up the snowy slopes of Cotopaxi, Ecuador (from 16,500 ft.--the peak is over 19,000 ft. elev.)
A trail near the Machupicchu which turns into a big long ladder up a cliff!
A purple bromeliad at the Machupicchu
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