WenboChen Photography

Lucky me, found a brown-throated sloth in the Atlantic Forest near Rio de Janeiro. This is a female one, because if you look carefully, she is carrying a baby on her belly.

Sloths are not rare, but they are difficult to spot in the Amazon because they stay high in the canopy and barely move. Photographing it, especially its face, is another challenge; they always make sure their faces are behind branches and leaves. This is a pale-throated sloth near Manaus. 白喉三趾树懒

Didn't know there are ant-house plants in Melastomataceae. This Venezuelan shrub, Miconia tococa, is famous for myrmecophytism - it has a pouch (domatia) at the base of each leaf that provides shelter for ants, and in return, the ants defend the plant and reward it with nutrients (ants' organic waste).

Heliamphora nutans x glabra, a naturally occurring hybrid on the summit of Mt. Roraima. It is larger and more vigorous than both its parent species and is apparently easy to grow in cultivation.

In the Venezuelan savanna, I saw this interesting sedge species, Bulbostylis paradoxa. Looks like a mini Xanthorrhea from Australia, and it is also pyrophilic; the difference is that Xanthorrhea takes weeks to flower after a wildfire, and this flowers within 24-72 hours, fascinating!

Miltonia regnellii, a beautiful orchid from the Atlantic forest of Brazil. 短唇丽堇兰。

Stegolepis guianensis, a distinct perennial herb endemic to the Guiana Shield, has long, flat leaves and tall, bright yellow flowers. It thrives on wet, rocky, and acidic soils. The ones at the foot of Mount Roraima are significantly larger than the ones on the summit.

Saw an eastern small-eyed snake on the way home at night. This beautiful reptile is native to eastern Australia (QLD, NSW, VIC) and is highly venomous, a member of the cobra family (Elapidae).

Orectanthe sceptrum, endemic to the Guiana Shield, grows on wet rocks and rocky terraces. Striking perennial subshrub up to 2 m tall, with densely crowded, glaucous leaves resembling a pineapple and blooms with bright yellow flowers.

A pretty Rutaceae shrub from Mount Roraima: Raveniopsis ruellioides. 芦莉草彩笛香

Air plants can be easily spotted in the parks and gardens in Rio de Janeiro. I particularly like this little Tillandsia stricta, which can be found on most tree trunks with rough and mossy bark.

Bonnetia rubicunda, the other Bonnetia species on Mount Roraima. Compared to B. roraimae, it is shorter with much larger foliage, but relatively rare. I only spotted a few individuals. They grow sporadically and never form a thick vegetation like B. roraimae.

Bonnetiaceae is a new family to me. The species in this family are mostly shrubs and trees, such as this lovely shrub Bonnetia roraimae, which dominates the forest vegetation on the summit of Mt. Roraima.

Another beautiful Maxillaria species in the cloud forest of Mt. Roraima that I am unable to identify.

Epidendrum secundum on the summit of Mt. Roraima. This species is poorly understood, and there are dozens of varieties in South America with different colours. This one probably has the brightest red in orchids I've ever seen.

Syzygium ingens is endemic to the subtropical rainforests of eastern Australia (NSW and QLD). It produces an enormous amount of red berries, which serve as an essential food source for fruit-eating birds, flying foxes, and possums. It is also a larval host plant for native butterflies like the Bronze Flat (Netrocoryne repanda). I couldn't help but imagine that cassowaries also fed on these fruits on the forest floor thousands of years ago, when they still roamed the lowland rainforests of SE QLD and NE NSW.

Visiting an indigenous village in the Amazon.