Guateflora: Falsa Uva (False Grape)

The hoja de falsa uva (false grape) or Parthenocisus inserta as it is known scientifically is a trepadora (climbing) plant. In the trepadoras category the most often used are the hiedra (ivy), uña de gato (cat’s claw), falsa uva (false grape), collar de la reina (queen’s collar), and of course the ever-present bugambilea (bougainvillea). The trepadoras (climbing) category in the Guateflora book has 34 different plants, so I have homework to do. 😉

Obviously I am not going to cover consecutively the over 400 plants shown in the Guateflora book because it would take over a year to show the most often used plants in La Antigua Guatemala gardens. Nevertheless, all this flora is an important aspect of the antigüeño lifestyle, so I will come back the guateflora category often to do mini-series of flowers and plants. For now, I still have a few more shots to come (including our Guatemalan poison ivy known as chichicaste). So stay tune!

The Guateflora category takes its name on a wonderful compilation book by the name of Guate Flora: Plantas ornamentales más utilizadas en jardí­nes guatemaltecos (Guate Flora: Ornamental Plants Most Often Used in Guatemalan Gardens). The books compiles more than 400 photos of the plants most often used in Guatemalan gardens along with technical description about the plants’ categories, and how to grow them. Many of the photographs in the book were taken from gardens in private homes, hotels, restaurants, parks, green houses, mini-malls or on the streets around La Antigua Guatemala; this fact is what prompted me to try to take shots of the ornamental plants as I encounter them in my comings-and-goings.

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