Sunday 13^th November

Hearty breakfast (I must stop writing that), then we headed east to a location given to Nick by our friend Mark Fillan, who had stumbled across an old reference to a dahlia (yes, another dahlia), apparently in wooded areas 7km east of Tulancingo.  So, 7km pretty well to the metre we pulled into an obvious pull in place then walked into a wooded area.  Sure enough, there was a dahlia.  Dahlia neglecta, apparently, and not in UK cultivation.  

Dahlias not being my thing, I started to wander about and, with Nick, noticed a rather coarse looking grassy plant.  Closer inspection suggested it could be a nolina – certainly the edges of the leaves cut through my hand like one.  No sign of any current or past inflorescences, so impossible to say for sure, but everything pointed to it being a nolina.  In which case, it could possibly be a new one.  Trunkless, or more accurately with an obviously clumping underground system of stems, forming a multi-headed mass of scruffy foliage to around 2m diameter.  Someone should know of this!

Onwards, again, towards our next place of interest - Parque Nacionale Mineral del Chico - passing through the gorgeously quaint picture postcard town of Huasca de Ocampo. 

Mineral del Chico is fascinating – a mix of temperate pines, abies and oaks festooned with tillandsias, all the way to 2500m and beyond.  

Saw some interesting plants en route - of note a wild colony of Beschorneria yuccoides ssp dekosteriana and a cultivated plant of B. tubiflora growing out of somebody’s wall.

Best of all, as the afternoon was drawing to a close, we saw a Furcraea inflorescence in the distance above the trees on an exposed rockface at around 3000m.  We struggled through some brush to get to it, but took the wrong route and ended up too far away.  Saw some younger plants, though.

By chance we ended up next to what must be the finest form of Agave salmiana I have ever laid eyes upon.  It was really compact and chunky – huge fat middle - with amazingly thick leaves at the base.  We referred this plant as ‘Otomi’ in recognition of the local Indian population.  The picture does it no justice at all - it really is something special.

Drove in the dark to Ixmiquilpan (Iks-mik-IL-pan) and found a good hotel.  Restaurant next door was handy, but I had some dodgy looking bifstek some of which I am sure was a colour not usually seen in nature.

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