Eye On The Rainforest

23/10/2026

¡De un pequeño arbolito a un árbol lleno de posibilidades!

Trece años después de su siembra, un Cornutia obovata en Las Casas de la Selva está produciendo, por primera vez, una abundancia espectacular de frutos morados.

Fue uno de aproximadamente 120 arbolitos que recibimos del Servicio de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de Estados Unidos en 2013. Ahora, con unos 20 pies de altura, nos brinda la oportunidad de cultivar una nueva generación de esta rara especie endémica de Puerto Rico.

🌱 Su propagación por semilla ha sido un verdadero desafío. Durante aproximadamente diez años, hemos probado distintos métodos con cientos de semillas y solo hemos logrado establecer tres plantas, aunque sí hemos propagado la especie exitosamente mediante esquejes.

Nos encantaría conectar con viveristas, investigadores y personas con experiencia en propagación que quieran recoger frutos, probar métodos y compartir sus resultados. Los frutos están listos ahora: escríbannos pronto por mensaje privado para coordinar una visita.

La conservación continúa mucho después de que termina una subvención. Regar, proteger las plántulas, observar su desarrollo y mantener los viveros requiere años de atención. Gran parte de este trabajo se sostiene aquí con tiempo y esfuerzo no remunerados. Los donativos nos ayudan a darle continuidad a este cuidado esencial.

Lee la historia completa en nuestro blog y comparte esta publicación con alguien que pueda ayudarnos a convertir estas semillas en árboles. 💚

Thirteen years after planting, a Cornutia obovata at Las Casas de la Selva is producing its first abundant fruit crop—a joyful milestone rooted in our collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Its seeds offer a fresh opportunity to investigate propagation methods and engage more growe...

23/10/2026

From a young sapling to a tree full of possibility!

Thirteen years after planting, a Cornutia obovata at Las Casas de la Selva is producing its first spectacular abundance of purple fruit.

It was one of approximately 120 saplings provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2013. Now about 20 feet tall, this tree offers a chance to grow another generation of this rare Puerto Rican endemic.

🌱 Growing it from seed has proved challenging. Over approximately ten years, hundreds of seeds and many different approaches have produced just three established seedlings, although we have successfully grown new plants from cuttings.

We’d love to hear from experienced growers, nursery practitioners, and researchers willing to collect fruit, try propagation methods, and share what they learn. The fruit is ready now—please message us soon to arrange a visit.

Conservation continues long after a grant ends. Watering, protecting seedlings, monitoring their progress, and maintaining nursery facilities take years of care, much of it sustained here through unpaid effort. Donations help support that continuing work.

Read the full story in our blog below—and please share with someone who might help these seeds become trees. 💚

Thirteen years after planting, a Cornutia obovata at Las Casas de la Selva is producing its first abundant fruit crop—a joyful milestone rooted in our collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Its seeds offer a fresh opportunity to investigate propagation methods and engage more growe...

22/10/2026

💜 Thirteen years of care—and now an abundance of purple fruit!

In 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided Las Casas de la Selva with approximately 120 Cornutia obovata saplings, which we planted into the forest. One planted at the homestead now stands about 20 feet tall, and this year, for the first time, it is producing a spectacular abundance of these beautiful little purple fruits.

Today we collected fruit for seed, a rewarding moment in a planting project that began thirteen years ago, and an opportunity to help grow the next generation.

🌱 Would you like to grow Cornutia obovata from seed? We invite interested growers to come and collect some fruit. The timing matters: the fruit is ready now, so please message this page soon to arrange your visit.

A donation to support our ongoing conservation work at Las Casas de la Selva would be warmly appreciated. Help us turn this abundance into more trees!

22/10/2026

💜 Trece años de cuidados… ¡y ahora una abundancia espectacular de frutos morados!

En 2013, el Servicio de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de Estados Unidos nos proporcionó aproximadamente 120 arbolitos de Cornutia obovata, que sembramos en Las Casas de la Selva. Uno de ellos, sembrado cerca de la casa principal, ya alcanza unos 20 pies de altura. Este año, por primera vez, está produciendo una abundancia espectacular de estos hermosos frutos morados.

Hoy recolectamos frutos para obtener sus semillas. Es una gran satisfacción ver cómo un árbol que sembramos hace trece años nos ofrece ahora la posibilidad de cultivar muchos más.

🌱 ¿Te gustaría cultivar Cornutia obovata a partir de semillas? Invitamos a las personas interesadas a venir a recoger frutos y ayudar a cultivar la próxima generación de árboles. ¡Hay que aprovechar pronto! Los frutos están listos ahora. Escríbenos por mensaje privado para coordinar tu visita.

Agradeceremos cualquier donativo para apoyar nuestro trabajo continuo de conservación en Las Casas de la Selva. ¡Ayúdanos a convertir esta abundancia en más árboles!

21/10/2026

30/09/2026

El Yunque’s 150 anniversary celebration was at El Portal, Puerto Rico, where scientists, forest staff, educators and community partners gathered to honor the people behind its long history of conservation.

The day was dedicated to Dr. Frank H. Wadsworth, whose guidance shaped our early work at Las Casas de la Selva. Frank believed Puerto Rico could grow beautiful hardwoods and build a wood industry if its forests were managed sustainably. He encouraged us as we began harvesting our trees in the early 2000s, and later took great pride in Puerto Rico Hardwoods’ recovery of valuable fallen timber after Hurricane María.

Frank, we salute you!

El Yunque’s 150th anniversary brought together the people, science and history behind one of Puerto Rico’s most treasured forests. The celebration honored Dr. Frank H. Wadsworth, whose guidance helped inspire Las Casas de la Selva’s work in sustainable forestry & rainforest enrichment and the ...

29/09/2026

25/09/2026

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22/09/2026

If mechanical clocks weren’t everywhere, what other signs of the time might we look for? On sunless days, could we judge the hour by Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon (Tragopogon pratensis) and other lively blooms with predictable daily movements?

Carl Linnaeus evidently thought so. In 1751, he published a list of more than forty of these plants with their timings for his region. He proposed that floral clocks ‘are to be worked out’ for any climate ‘so that anyone can make a calculation of the hour of the day without a clock or sunshine’. That thrilling notion inspired scientific experiment and extraordinary poetry – and continues to fascinate and resound in new ways today.

If mechanical clocks weren’t everywhere, what other signs of the ti...

22/09/2026

This lecture details the botanical, cultural, and political history of breadfruit’s world travels. Breadfruit’s first journey saw this crop dispersed by ancient Polynesians throughout Oceania, where it is now cultivated on nearly every inhabited island of the Pacific. The second journey resulted in breadfruit’s transplantation to the Caribbean by British colonialists to support their slavery-dependent plantations. Today, breadfruit’s third major journey is taking it worldwide as it is being simultaneously ‘discovered’ both as ‘superfood’ by people focused on plant-based nutrition and as a tool for sustainable development by organizations fighting climate change and world hunger.

Based upon five years of historical and field-based research, the lecture ties together themes of tropical horticulture, Indigenous knowledge, colonial food and economic systems, and contemporary efforts toward nutrition and sustainability.

This lecture details the botanical, cultural, and political history...