This one might be a native wildflower in Costa Rica, where I saw it often. But it's a complete mystery to me. Thanks for an ID if you can.
Not such a tough one, it's a creeper that's widely planted around the world in warm climates, namely Pyrostegia venusta.
Well, Tony, thank you. That had been a mystery plant for me for some time. I think I first saw it as an escapee in Costa Rican forests, where it climbs trees and looks like exotic tree-blossoms. That fooled me. Later I saw it growing decoratively on Costa Rican garden walls—actually in some very money-poor little places—and I was surprised this "jungle denizen" would have a home in town. So I was really quite baffled. Now that I have the name, I can easily find out more. (And I have photos to label.) It turns out we're neighbours. You live just across the water from me. —er, that is, 7800 miles of water. Thanks again.
Have a look at its Tropicos page - http://www.tropicos.org/NamePage.aspx?nameid=3700580&tab=specimens (plus succeeding pages) Looks like its native range is probably Bolivia-Paraguay-Argentine-S&C Brazil. Records from elsewhere in the American tropics probably represent cultivated plants. Even here in Sydney at 34 South it's a popular ornamerntal.
Tropicos gives me a whole new site, now duly bookmarked. I've studied mainly birds for the past, um, 53+ years. There are only 10,000 species worldwide. My botany friends tell me, "Yes, but birds don't hold still." But I feel overwhelmed (especially in the tropics) by the sheer number of plant species, and the sheer magnitude of my ignorance in what I really need to know: a perspective on ecological plant communities. There are courses, but everything I do, including travelling, has to be done for free or almost-free. My plane fare is the most expensive part of my trips (—as it is to the planet, too). Years ago, working in the Rocky Mountains, I had a good basic understanding of the botanic communities, and I could identify their basic representatives. In Costa Rica, I rarely know what kind of tree a bird is in, or what flowers it may be eating. So I just enjoy myself with what I see and learn. Thanks very much again.
