These plants look somewhat like pineapples, but they are pinuelas, also called piros. They are 1 - 1.5 meters (3-4.5 ft.) high and, as shown in this photo, they grow in very thick patches.They are native to the dry forest lowland areas of Guanacaste, from sea level up to about 800 meters (2,500 ft.), growing in areas partly shaded by trees. The scientific name is bromelia pinguin.
Tomorrow and the next day I will show the fruit and a close-up of a leaf. This patch happened to be along a hike in Rincon de la Vieja National Park, although patches of pinuelas can be seen in many places in the region around Tamarindo.
That reminds me that I ate the most delicious pineapple when I was in Costa Rica.
ReplyDeleteThe lush green in this picture is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they are sharp if you brushed up against them. They look like they would be.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. And another thing I'm interested in : which is the one US state you HAVEN't visited?
ReplyDeleteSydney Daily Photo
Sally,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, and to answer your question, just like Barack Obama in the last Presidential election campaign, the one state I have not visited is Alaska. Washington, Oregon and Idaho were the last states I visited to reach 49 states, so it was the Pacific Northwest region that was my deficiency.
I would actually love to visit Alaska. I have hiked on the Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina, and visited glaciers in Norway, and Alaska I know is beautiful. My mother-in-law raves about Alaska, and she even named one of her dogs "Sitka."
In the 1970's I worked for a member of Congress who was on the Interior Committee and was heavily involved in the Alsakan lands legislation that set aside millions of acres for preservation. (My boss also inserted a provision in the law to prohibit any billboards on the drive to and Denali National Park because he did not want any billboards in the same vista as Mt. McKinley.)