| Wercklea hottensis | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malvales |
| Family: | Malvaceae |
| Genus: | Wercklea |
| Species: | W. hottensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Wercklea hottensis (Helwig ex Urb.) Fryxell | |
Wercklea hottensis is a species [2] of Malvaceae endemic to the mountains of the Massif de la Hotte in South-Western Haiti.
The species forms shrubs to 2.5 m tall. Stems, leaves, buds and fruit are viciously armed with prickles. Flowers are large and either red or yellow-green. [3]
Wercklea hottensis was first found in 1929, in the Central Massif de la Hotte, on morne Bonnet Carre near Saint Louis du Sud. In 1989 and 2013 it was also discovered in the Occidental Massif de la Hotte near and in Pic Macaya National Park. The persistence of the population on morne Bonnet Carre was confirmed in 2018. In 2019 a new, formerly unknown population was discovered in Grand Bois National Park, in the Western most mountains of the Occidental Massif de la Hotte.
The species seems to prefer moist and open habitats between 1000 and 1300m above sea level. [1] It is growing on moist ridges in elfin forest. It has also been found in moist furrows on sunny and exposed mountain sides, either alone or together with shrubs and forest fragments.
On Morne Bonnet Carre the species is not rare and seems to persist or even spread in areas that are grazed by cattle. The red and the green flowered morph have been documented there in 2018. In the same year small birds were observed visiting the flowers on that mountain. In Peak Macaya National Park the species is common, the red flowered morph has been documented from there. In Grand Bois National Park, the species is very rare and only a single small population, that consists of individuals with exclusively green flowers, is known from this site.
The species has been given the specific epithet "hottensis", as it occurs in the Massif de la Hotte in Haiti. [4]
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Pic Macaya National Park is one of two largest national parks of the Republic of Haiti. It is located in the country's southern peninsula, within the Massif de la Hotte. Featuring the country's last stand of virgin cloud forest, it encompasses more than 8,000 hectares. Elevations in the rugged park reach a maximum height of 2,347 meters above sea level at Pic Macaya, the second highest point in Haiti behind Pic la Selle. A majority of the park is composed of two tall peaks: Pic Macaya and Pic Formon.
Pic Macaya is the second-highest mountain in Haiti, rising to an elevation of 2,347 metres above sea level. It is located in the Massif de la Hotte, 36 kilometres northwest of Les Cayes and 195 km (121 mi) west of Port-au-Prince. The mountain is located in the Pic Macaya National Park.
Erik Leonard Ekman was a Swedish botanist and explorer.
The short-nosed green frog or shortsnout robber frog is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae endemic to the Massif de la Hotte, Haiti. Its natural habitat is dwarf cloud forest, although it can also be found in clearings. It is found under ground cover, and the eggs are laid on the ground. It is threatened by habitat loss; while the species occurs in the Pic Macaya National Park, there is no active management for conservation, and the habitat loss continues in the park.
Eleutherodactylus counouspeus, also known as Counou robber frog and yellow cave frog, is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae. It is endemic to the Massif de la Hotte, southwestern Haiti. The specific name counouspeus refers to its type locality, Counou Bois Cave, with speus being Greek for "cave". Hedges and colleagues suggested in 2008 that it should be placed in its own monotypic subgenus, Schwartzius, reflecting its distinctiveness and honoring Albert Schwartz for "his contributions to the herpetology of the West Indies."
Eleutherodactylus glandulifer is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae endemic to the Massif de la Hotte, Haiti. Its natural habitat is closed-canopy forest, usually near streams. Its most distinctive feature are its striking blue sapphire-colored eyes—a highly unusual trait among amphibians.
The spiny giant frog or Norton's robber frog is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae. It is named after James W. Norton who accompanied Albert Schwartz in his 1974 expedition to Hispaniola and collected the holotype.
Eleutherodactylus semipalmatus is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae. It is endemic to Haiti and known from the Massif de la Hotte and Massif de la Selle. Its common name is foothill robber frog. Its natural habitat is streams and their vicinity in mesic hardwood forest at elevations of 303–1,697 m (994–5,568 ft) asl.
Eleutherodactylus thorectes is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae. It is endemic to Haiti and known from the Massif de la Hotte at high elevations. Specifically, it is known from Pic Macaya and Pic Formon at elevations of 1,700–2,340 m (5,580–7,680 ft) asl. Its natural habitats are closed pine montane forest and cloud forest with shrubs, tree ferns, bromeliads, and climbing bamboo. With a snout-vent length of 12–15 mm, this slightly arboreal species is one of the smallest of the world's frogs. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by charcoal logging and agriculture. It is known from the Pic Macaya National Park, but habitat degradation is occurring in the park too.
Eleutherodactylus ventrilineatus is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae. It is endemic to Haiti and only known from the Pic Macaya and Pic Formon at elevations of 1,700–2,340 m (5,580–7,680 ft) asl. Its natural habitats are open areas in montane closed pine and cloud forests. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by logging and agriculture. It is known from the Pic Macaya National Park, but habitat degradation is occurring in the park too.
Nectandra caudatoacuminata is a species of plant in the family Lauraceae. It is a tree endemic to the Massif de la Hotte in southwestern Haiti.
The Massif de la Hotte is a mountain range in southwestern Haiti, on the Tiburon Peninsula. About 2.5 million years ago, Massif de la Hotte was separated from the Massif de la Selle by a deep, wide sea channel, and formed a separate island. This resulted in a hotbed of endemism in la Hottes bird, plant, and reptile communities. The Massif de la Hotte is subdivided into the Oriental la Hotte in the East, the central la Hotte and the Occidental la Hotte on the Western tip of the Tiburon peninsula. The Occidental la Hotte is relatively remote and is one of the most biologically diverse and significant areas of all of Hispaniola. It also supports some of the last stands of Haiti's dense cloud forest on its peaks.
Maxillaria donaldeedodii, synonym Ornithidium donaldeedodii, is a species of orchid native to Haiti. It was "discovered" in April 2010 when DNA analysis showed that a wrongly labeled orchid at the University of California Botanical Garden in Berkeley, California, was actually a distinct new species. The "new" orchid, which had been mislabeled as Maxillaria croceorubens since the 1990s, was named after orchidologist Donald D. Dod (1912–2008), who collected the specimen in the 1980s in Haiti. The new orchid was officially described in Lankesteriana, an international journal on orchidology, by authors James Ackerman of the University of Puerto Rico and W. Mark Whitten of the Florida Museum of Natural History, as Ornithidium donaldeedodii. It was transferred to Maxillaria in 2011.
The wildlife of Haiti is important to the country because of its biodiversity. According to the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Haiti is considered to be "one of the most biologically significant countries of the West Indies". With an estimated 5,600 plant species on the island of Hispaniola, some of which only occur in Haiti, 36% are considered as endemic to the island. A mountainous area country, it is situated in the western three-eighths of Hispaniola and shares a border with the Dominican Republic. There are nine life zones, from low desert to high cloud forests, as well as four mountain ranges, and hundreds of rivers and streams and the coral reefs in the seas that surround the islands. Issues of environmental damage, expanding population, deforesting and erosion are of concern; less than 2% of the original forest remains on account of deforestation. This degradation is traced from the 17th century to 19th century starting with the French colonization of the Haiti and population explosion during the 20th century and for the purpose of forestry and sugar-related industries, degraded the forests. and the environment.
Miconia revolutifolia is a rare tree from Haiti, specifically in Sud. It is endemic to the Morne Formon-Pic Macaya region of the Massif de la Hotte mountain range. Along with the other species of Miconia from the area it is called "macrio", or "bwa pijon" in Haitian Creole.
Haiti National Trust is an international, non-governmental, and non-profit environmental organization dedicated to protecting the biodiversity of Haiti. The Haiti National Trust seeks to establish more protected areas, including national parks, and to stop the destruction of forests, which is the primary cause of species loss in Haiti. The trust also advocates protection of the country's fragile coral reefs and coastal ecosystems. It was founded in 2015 by Philippe Bayard, president and founding member of the Audubon Society of Haiti, and S. Blair Hedges, Laura H. Carnell Professor and director of the Center for Biodiversity at Temple University.
Grande Colline National Park is a national park in Haiti established on July 23, 2014 with an area of 1,510 hectares. The park contains the Grande Colline mountain range at the core of the Occidental La Hotte Massif in southwestern Haiti, west of Pic Macaya. There are five named peaks: Morne Desbarrières, Morne Grande Colline, Morne Petite Colline, Morne Grenouille, and Morne Lézard.
Samuelssonia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Acanthaceae. It has only one known species, Samuelssonia verrucosa, a small tree which grows to 5 meters tall which is native to the Massif de la Hotte in Haiti.
Clavija domingensis is a species of plant in the family Primulaceae.
Magnolia ekmanii is a species of plant. It is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN.
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