Flowers

The forests and grasslands flare with color, some flamboyantly so, for plants like to advertise the delights and rewards they have to offer, including the ultimate bribe--nectar. Begonias, anthuriums, and blood of Christ, named for the red splotches on the underside of its leaves, are common. My favorite plant is the "hot lips" (labios ardientes), sometimes called "hooker's lips" (labios de puta), whose bright red bracts remind me of Mick Jagger's famous pout or--more appropriately--Madonna's smile. The vermilion poró tree (the bright flame-of-the-forest), pink-and-white meadow oak, purple jacaranda, and the almost fluorescent yellow corteza amarilla are trees that all add their seasonal bouquets to the landscape. And morning glory spread their thick lavender carpets across lowland pastures, joined by carnal red passion flowers, unromantically foul-smelling--a crafty device to enlist the help of flies in pollination.