I just finished watching a talk on plants of the Mexican volcanic belt in habitat. You can watch it through Monday April 19, 2021. It was about family Crassulaceae (Echeveria, Graptopetalum, Sedum, Thompsonella, Villadia) but the habitats shown contain a LOT of Mexican orchids. I only saw a few orchids in the photos, and they were not commented on. But you can learn a lot about habitat.
It was put on by the Cactus and Succulent Society of America. Only members could watch the live presentation. Everybody can watch it at the CSSA Facebook page through Monday:
Facebook: Cactus and Succulent Society of America
This part of Mexico gets summer rain between May and October only, then is dry the rest of the year. At lower elevations most of the forests are deciduous. At higher elevations there are mixed pine-evergreen forests that are quite cool and misty in winter despite no rainfall.
Most of the plants shown are small, and not hard to grow as indoor-outdoor plants in temperate climates. They do better under lights in the winter, but need very little water in that season.
This is the blurb about the talk:
Julia Etter & Martin Kristen: Crassulaceae of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt
The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt is an active volcanic arc running from Nayarit in the west to central Veracruz in the east. This area shows extensive volcanic activities seen in hot springs and geysers, but also in active volcanoes such as the Colima and Popocatepetl and many more sleeping ones. It is also the densest populated region of Mexico. The volcanic belt covers a distance of about 620 miles between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and several of its highest peaks are covered with snow all year long. Crassulaceae in this area occur from 1200 ft. all the way up to 12,000 ft. altitude.
Since we live in Jalisco on the western side of the Eje Volcanico Transversal, as it is called in Spanish, we will be taking you on a tour from west to east to see as many Crassulaceae as possible that can be found along the volcanic belt. Some of the species such as Echeveria colorata, E. subrigida and Sedum clavatum are highly ornamental and well-known, but others like Villadia ramirezii, Thompsonella garcia-mendozae, and Sedum ocuilense, to name just a few, are much less known and probably even less shown in presentations.
Biographies: Julia Etter & Martin Kristen
Originally from Switzerland and Austria, we have settled down in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, about 15 years ago and are (almost) Mexican. Coming from another scientific background, our interest in botany with the main focus on Agavaceae and Crassulaceae started in 1989 with a small collection of succulent plants in Switzerland. Since 1997 we are busy doing field research and since 2009 we are members of the scientific research team of the Institute of Biology of the Mexican university UNAM. Although our investigative work focuses on the two above mentioned plant families, we are not blind when it comes to nature's beauty and we are also taking pictures of cacti, ordinary plants, animals, and landscapes. Our photographs and articles have been published in books, journals and on the Internet.
Learn about plants in habitat in Mexico
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