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Costa Rica, home to some of the most beautiful flora in the world is the basis for a brand new horticultural-art exhibit at Selby Gardens, Pura Vida! Pura vida or “pure life” is a phrase Costa Ricans use to remind each other to enjoy life, and all the riches it has to offer. Here at Selby Gardens, that means the riches of the botanical world, including the diverse flora of Costa Rica. Their plant life is so beautiful and abundant, we have over 500 specimens in our living collection from that country, and have built this exhibit around our ongoing field work there.
When botanists conduct field work, they travel into the forest to document the plants they find there. Using equipment like this, they collect pressed specimens for herbariums, or live plants for greenhouse collections. Selby Gardens specializes in epiphytes, which are plants that grow high in the tree canopy, so we have to use some unique tools to harvest our specimens. In the last 40 years, our botanists have conducted over 200 expeditions to tropical America, and have described over 2000 new species!
Let’s take a look at some of our fascinating specimens from Costa Rica. Psychotria poeppigiana is known as hot lips for its pouty red bracts that attract hummingbirds to pollinate its yellow flowers, yielding bright blue berries. Osa pulchra is an extremely rare species- it is estimated that only 30-40 trees are left in the wild. It’s large pendant flowers are sweetly fragrant at night. This epiphytic member of the African violet family was discovered by a Selby Gardens botanist in 2003, and this new species was given its name, Drymonia decora, which means “graceful”.
Our Pura Vida exhibit also features a vibrant orchid display, including many species that occur naturally in the forests of Costa Rica. Encyclia cordigera is related to our native butterfly orchid. This colorful species has some of the largest flowers in the genus, and smells of roses. Maxillaria tenuifolia is known as the coconut orchid for its unique tropical perfume, produced by tiny maroon flowers buried deep in the foliage. Oncidium Sharry Baby is called the chocolate orchid because of the unmistakable smell of its cranberry colored flowers. It’s is a manmade hybrid, but its origins are from Costa Rica. Delicious!
It’s no mistake that this exhibit occurs at the same time as our famous Rainforest Masks exhibit in the Mansion, featuring the intricately carved and painted traditional masks of the Borucan tribe in Costa Rica. We have several of these beautiful masks on display in the Conservatory, as well as a number of animal forms the artists have painted for us. Come and experience the “pure life” yourself until April 10, 2015.
For more information about upcoming exhibits, please visit https://s33944.p20.sites.pressdns.com/events/category/exhibits/ or contact Marilynn Shelley at (941) 366-5731, ext. 239.
