Colombia 2015
In December 2015, I made my first trip to South America. It was a life-changing experience — the people, plants, and culture of northern Colombia made a lasting impression with me, and I’ve been glad to be able to return many times since.
During this trip, I went to Páramo del Sol in western Dept. Antioquia with Wilson Rodríguez (to my right in this photo), Eduardo Posada (who took this photo), and Esteban Dominguez. This paramo, which is several hours northwest of Medellín, is relatively well known and has been thoroughly collected, but is home to many unusual lycophytes. These were our primary goals, and we collected lots of interesting specimens, including Phlegmariurus josesantae, an endemic species then unknown to science.