|
| FOSTER BOTANICAL GARDEN |
|
|
| The Foster Botanical Garden is
a short walk from the condo. This 14-acre garden is an astounding collection
of strange but beautiful flora. You need a hard hat to stand under the cannonball
tree. The seed can kill you if it falls on your head. It's a member of the
Brazil-nut family. |
| |
 |
 |
| This beautiful flower gives rise
to the cannonball. Talk about the beauty and the beast. |
| |
 |
 |
| We were so fortunate to see the
Talipot Palm in full bloom since it only blooms once in its life (after
37 years), then dies. Read full story about the tree on the left. |
| |
 |
 |
| Talipot Palm from a distance |
A bottle palm...it's in the Pepsi family |
| |
 |
 |
| The magnificent Kapok Tree. The
seed pod filaments are used for stuffing pillows, mattresses and life preservers. |
| |
 |
 |
| A couple blooming orchids |
| |
 |
 |
| Wildlife in the garden -- a white-rumped
shama (like a spotted towhee without its spots) and a salamander dining
on a bug |
| |
 |
 |
| Corn-roll Tree. Nah, just made
that up but it sure looks like corn-rolls doesn't it? Seed pods come in
an array of different colors. Quite amazing. |
| |
 |
 |
| |
 |
 |
| Pinwheel palm. Not really, but the fronds spiral out like
a pinwheel, don't they? |
Top half of the Quipo Tree. It's native to
Panama and its wood is similar to balsa. |
| |
 |
 |
| In the palm garden |
Bottom half of the Quipo Tree. Interesting
banding on the trunk. |
| |
 |
 |
| Giant artichoke succulent. I made that up,
too. |
Giant seed pod. Looks like a pair of lungs
or buttock. You decide... |
| |
 |
 |
| Giant Baobab Tree, native to central
Africa. Wood prized for many uses -- gum, paper, cloth, rope. Old hollow
trunks used as housing, prisons, and water reserviors. Some natives bury
the dead in the over-sized hollow trunks. This is all really true, honest;
it's in the brochure. |
| |
