Symbolanthus elisabethae, Roraima.

Climbing Mount Roraima - Part 5

The main feature of plants you find on the summit plateau of Roraima is that they are weird. Well, what else would you expect in this kind of landscape?

Stenopadus sp., Roraima.

Bromeliads Brocchinia tatei, Roraima.

Orectanthe spectrum, Roraima.

Small bromeliads are everywhere. Some of them look like little flowers even when they are not blooming. Sometimes you can count 10-15 species on 1 sq. m of sandstone rock.

Orectanthe spectrum, Roraima.

Sauvagesia imthurnii, Roraima.

Celiantha imthurniana, Roraima.

Paepalanthus sp., Roraima.

Almost all plants taller than a few centimeters have something else growing on them - mosses, lichens, tiny epiphytes, or algae. Surprisingly, there seem to be very few mushrooms on the plateau - may be they rot too fast.

Juvenile Schefflera chimantensis var. rugosifolia, Roraima.

Unidentified plant (Monochaetum bonplandii?), Roraima.

Orectanthe spectrum bromeliad, Roraima.

Bejaria imthurnii, Roraima.

There is an unusual density of insectivorous plants, and a lot of large, beautiful delicate flowers, mostly white, red or pink, and only seldom yellow, blue or green. Many are pollinated by birds.

Stegolepis guyanensis, Roraima.

B. imthurnii, Roraima.

Ledothamnus guianensis, Roraima.

Gaultheria (?) erecta, Roraima.

To see Roraima plants in full bloom, you have to visit the plateau during the rainy season. The problem is, you risk being stuck in the fog for the entire trip, and never seeing the scenery. I was lucky to have a few breaks of reasonably good visibility.

Psychotria concinna, Roraima.

Maguireothamnus speciosus, Roraima.

Rogersonanthus quelchii, Roraima.

One reason there's so many flowers on Roraima is that there are very few pollinators. Flowers have to stay open for a long time to ensure pollination, especially in cold weather.

Brocchinia tatei bromeliad, Roraima.

Roraima marsh pitcher (Heliamphora nutans), Roraima.

Roraima marsh pitcher, Roraima.

Marsh pitchers are the most abundant of Roraima's carnivorous plants. Their pitchers have side slits for draining excessive rainwater.

Roraima marsh pitcher, Roraima.

Marsh vegetation, Roraima.

Gran Sabana sundew (Drosera felix), Roraima.

Roraima probably has the highest concentration of sundews in the world. These tiny insectivorous plants form extensive mats in plateau swamps, sometimes giving them a strange reddish tint. How they all manage to catch insects is a mystery.

Roraima sundews (Drosera roraima).

Kukenan sundew (D. intermedia, left) and Roraima sundew (right), Roraima.

Roraima "azalea" (Bejaria imthurnii), Roraima.	Bladderworts are another common group of carnivorous plants on the plateau.	Roraima "azalea", Roraima.
	Roraima bladderwort (Utricularia quelchii).
	There aren't many trees on the plateau. Bonnetia roraimae and Schefflera rugosum are the most common ones.

Lycopodium club moss, Roraima.

Part 6. Orchids

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