I Speak For The Trees

Various and assorted Bomareas.  Photo one was taken in the Quito Botanical Gardens, Pichincha Province.  Photos two and three are from Guarumal Grande, Pichincha Province.  Bomarea is the second genus in the family Alstromeriaceae, the first being the more commonly known Alstromeria, or Lily of Peru.  The genus has pan-Andean distribution, with many of its species endemic to Ecuador.  Habitats range from middle to high altitude cloud forests and even into the marginal paramo.  As with many cloud-forest natives, most species are considered rare and threatened.

Bomarea are primarily vines and climbers and are thus found in both the understory and middle canopy of the forests.  Red to yellow, and occasionally pink, spotted flowers are borne at the terminus of the vines, in clusters of between three and fifty; after pollination bright red berries containing the seeds develop.  As with all other members of the Alstromeriaceae, the leaves are resupinate - they twist through a full 180 degrees from the base, so that the “upper” visible surface is in fact the underside of the leaf.  Bomarea prefer moist, mossy soils with good drainage, bright shade, abundant water, and require something to climb.  The common name “Ashpa Coral” is a mixture of Quichua and Spanish, and means “Coral Bells.”