FLORA AND FAUNA OF MICHOACÁN: MOST REPRESENTATIVE SPECIES - BIOLOGY - 2025

The flora and fauna of Michoacán is represented by species such as the devil's palm, the red dahlia, the yellow bream and the Pátzcuaro acocil, among others. Michoacán is a state of Mexico, which is located in the center-west of the country. Its capital is the city of Morelia.

Geographically, two large mountain chains can be distinguished: the Sierra Madre del Sur and the Sierra Volcánica Transversal. This region is geographically traversed by the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, the Sierra Madre and the inter-mountainous valleys.

Red dahlia. Source: Prsjl Yellowbill. Source: Arjan Haverkamp

The weather is varied. On the coast, the average temperature is 28 ° C, while in the center it is 22 ° C. In higher altitude areas, these reach freezing point.

Flora of Michoacán

Devil's palm (

The devil's palm is a species of cycad that belongs to the Zamiaceae family. It is endemic to Mexico, thus being found in the states of Guerrero, Durango, Michoacán, Jalisco and Nayarit. This plant is usually found in pine-oak and oak forests.

The stem is cylindrical, growing erect approximately up to 1 meter in height. However, in old species, some trunks more than 2 meters high could be found.

The leaves are numerous, flat, and bright green. They are 1.5 to 2 meters long. The emerging ones are tomentose, brown in color. These become glabrous when they are adults, except for the underside of the leaflets and the rachis.

Each leaf of the comb, as this species is also called, has about 93 to 104 lanceolate leaflets, inserted at right angles to the rachis. Those found at the base are usually reduced to thorns.

As for the seed cones, they are ovoid in shape and light brown or white in color. They are 20-30 centimeters long and 15-20 centimeters wide.

Red dahlia (

This plant is part of the Asteraceae family. It is native to Guatemala and Mexico, however, for its showy flowers, it is cultivated almost all over the world.

Dahlia coccinea is a herbaceous species, which can be up to 3 meters tall. In addition, it is perennial, with tuberculous roots. The stems grow erect and can be green. Likewise, they are striated and glabrous or they could also be sparsely hairy.

In relation to the leaves, these are compound, with serrated margins. The length could be up to 35 centimeters long. The inflorescence is sloping or erect, occurring in large capitula, with 8 orange, red or yellowish ligules.

Each flower head has 70 to 160 hermaphrodite flowers, about 1 centimeter long. As for the fruit, it is a black achene, measuring 0.8 to 1.3 centimeter long.

The chalihuesca, as this species is also known, is a ruderal plant that prefers sunny spaces. Because of this, it can opportunistically colonize disturbed areas in the areas where it lives.

Applications

In addition to being cultivated for ornamental purposes, the red dahlia is attributed various medicinal uses. In the field of traditional medicine it is used to combat cold sores, colic and cough. During pre-Hispanic times, tubers were consumed in Mexico, due to their high nutritional value.

Royal Palm (

This elongated palm is endemic to Mexico, thus inhabiting the states of Guanajuato, Campeche, Guerrero, Nayarit and Michoacán. It is located in pine-oak forests, palm groves and in the low deciduous forest.

The plant could be around 15 meters tall. It has a smooth, gray trunk, 15 to 35 centimeters in diameter. The leaves, 15 to 20 in number, are green, with a long petiole. This penetrates, to a lesser or greater degree, into the leaf blade, thus causing it to fold back on itself.

As for the inflorescence, it is arched with 3 orders of branching. The bracts are glabrous and have approximately 6 to 7 flowers per centimeter.

The flowers are 4.4 to 6.7 millimeters in length. They have a dome-shaped calyx or it could also be urceolate. The petals are obovate and membranous, with a length of 1.8 to 2.7 millimeters.

The fruit of the round palm, as the Sabal pumos is also known, is spheroidal, thus being wider than it is long. It is green or dark brown in color, with an adherent-type pericarp.

Michoacan fauna

Yellow-billed (

This bird is one of the largest in the Cardinalidae family. It lives in Guatemala and Mexico.

The yellowbill's eyes are dark and the legs are gray. As for the beak, it is large, strong and triangular in shape. It is black or dark gray in color, being more subdued on the lower jaw.

The plumage presents strong contrasts of white, yellow, black or gray. The lower areas, the head and the rump are yellow, while the rear part is black, with yellow spots.

In relation to the tail and wings, they are black with notable white spots. The upper caudal covers are also black, but have white tips.

Females are similar to males, however the upper area is darker and they have dark lines on the back and crown. In addition, in these, gray replaces black.

Acocil de Pátzcuaro (

This decapod crustacean is part of the infraorder Astacidea. It is endemic to Mexico, coming from Lake Pátzcuaro, located in the state of Michoacán. This lake is volcanic, being 2,000 meters high, with a temperature that varies between 15 and 25 ° C.

In nature, Cambarellus patzcuarensis is gray-brown in color, being more intense and darker after molting. The orange-hued species (Cambarellus patzcuarensis var. Orange) is obtained through genetic selection.

The females are up to 40 millimeters long, while the males are smaller, measuring around 30 millimeters.

Males have, in the first pair of the abdominal appendix, rigid structures ending in pincers. They use them, among other things, to turn the female during copulation. On the other hand, in females these pleopods are flexible.

The body of the Pátzcuaro acocil has a cylindrical shape, widened at the head. It is divided into two parts, the abdomen and the cephalothorax. This species is omnivorous. Its diet is based on detritus and small invertebrates and vertebrates found in the muddy bottom where it lives.

Red warbler

The red warbler is a passerine bird that belongs to the Parulidae family. Its habitat is the understory shrubs, in the middle or low levels.

The weight of this animal ranges between 7.6 and 8.7 grams, having an approximate length of 13.5 centimeters. The adult bird is red, with an ear spot on both sides of the head, white or dark gray. The tail and the wings are of a darker red, being bordered in a red-pink tone.

The legs are reddish brown, while the beak, which is thin, is gray-pink, with a dark tip. The iris can be black or dark brown.

Regarding the coat, it presents little variation between the male and the female. However, this usually has the colors a little more opaque or with more orange tones. The adult Cardellina rubra molts once the breeding season is over, which could be from August.

This species emits various vocalizations. Their songs can only be heard in the morning hours, in the mating season. It is an insectivorous animal, which does not have the bodily adaptations to climb trees.

However, it can climb regularly, with the intention of hunting the insects that are in the bark and in the branches.

References

1. (2019). Michoacan. Recovered from en.wikipedia.org.
2. Encyclopedia britannica. (2019). Michoacán, state, Mexico. Recovered from britannica.com.
3. Quero, HJ (1998). Sabal pumos. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 1998. Recovered from iucnredlist.org.
4. Nations encyclopedia (2019). Michoacan. Recovered from nationsencyclopedia.com.
5. Vovides, A., Chemnick, J. (2010). Dioon tomasellii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010. Recovered from iucnredlist.org.
6. Enciclovida (2019). Royal palm (Sabal pumos). CONABIO. Recovered from encyclovida.mx.