Diary of a Mad Natural Historian » plants

Orchid Flickrstream Redux

dr.hypercube — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 11:39:15 +0000

I’ve mentioned Karlboms orchids’ Flickrstream before. It actually turned out to be a pretty popular post – ought to add it to the ‘Greatest Hits’ category – wait, getting off topic here… Some of their recent photographs are so interesting that I’m moved to post them here in addition to favoriting them on Flickr.

Bulbophyllum saltatorium var. albociliatum

Lepanthopsis barahonensis – now that’s micro!

Bulbophyllum dearei

Pleurothallis penelops

Shelving the Carnivores

dr.hypercube — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:25:59 +0000

As my Sarracenia collection has expanded, my backyard table’s become covered with mini-bogs. I figured I’d reclaim it, so I threw together a shelf out of salvaged cinderblocks, chimney tile, disk rotor and strapping. Further proof that I am a DFH – swamp yankee subsp. [n.b. - some of the photos below, rather than embiggening when clicked as is our normal practice, will instead link to the main Flickr photo page so you can see attached notes.]

Sarracenia unknown’s hood (maybe Tarnok?)

A side (yard) note – the cherries are ready and the new growth bamboo is leafing out.

Water Garden Tour

dr.hypercube — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:43:01 +0000

Last Sunday, the Seacoast Water Garden Club hosted the first of it’s summer garden tours. Mr. Smith’s ponds are beautiful – he’s working with the features and plants already on his property and the result is a critter and plant paradise.

A map – I’ll refer to this when I indicate where my photos were taken.

One of many big green inhabitants of the Frog Pond.

The ponds were swarming with damsel and dragonflies. (Duck Pond)

I saw 4 Northern Water Snakes basking in the Silt Trap Pond.

I could live here. (Water Works Pond)

Near the Small Beaver Pond.

A Day at Black Jungle – Plants

dr.hypercube — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 00:40:14 +0000

Today was Black Jungle’s 16th anniversary Open House. A couple of other froggers and I made the trip down – it was a great day for a road trip (shout-out to S for doing the driving!). Black Jungle has an amazing selection of carnivorous plants and the Sarracenia are in tip-top shape at this time of year – flowers, new growth – wow.

A Sarracenia minor hybrid – the windows (fenestration) on the leaf is an S. minor characteristic.

Sarracenia flava – the hood is perfectly shaped to channel rainwater away from the pitcher’s mouth.

Sarracenia catesbaei – I’m mostly (but not dogmatically) a species guy, but for this beauty, I make an exception. It’s a naturally occurring (flava x purpurea) hybrid, named for a naturalist who should be better known: Mark Catesby.

But it wasn’t all carnivorous, all the time – Calopogon tuberosus – a beautiful little bog orchid.

And not all bog, either. A Hoya macgillivray’s flowers getting ready to open. They are going to be huge – the buds, unopened, are larger around than a quarter.

The Harvard Herbarium

dr.hypercube — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 17:40:09 +0000

First, let me acknowledge peacay as undisputed champion of Internet cool-stuff-finding. Today’s Butterfly Album post is a multi-dimensional winner. First, there are the images. I’m particularly partial to a painting containing what I think is a Giant Water Bug:

Then there’s the intriguing info on where the insects were collected:

The only other information known is that the butterflies and insects were collected from the Aralia (spikenard) and related Tetrapanax papyrifera (pith paper tree) plant species.

Followed by a link to the Harvard Herbarium for more info on the pith paper tree. The Herbarium rates a big marker pin on my mental map – it’s close, houses the Blaschka’s glass plant models and – most important for me – was the base of operations for Richard Evans Schultes (prev. posts here and here). I’ve wandered around the Herbarium website before, but today – thanks to peacay – I kicked around the Botany Library On-Line Exhibits (not sure I’ve ever happened upon this part of the site before). There’s a nice series on book covers/bindings:

a section on the ‘other’ Amanita (phalloides)

and then there’s this, from the Economic Botany Clipping File:

Dr. Schultes teaching in the Nash Lecture Hall

Painting by Hannah Barrett, November 1994

The caption in the tiles says, “Richard Evans Schultes, Director Emeritus, demonstrating the blowgun in the Nash Lecture Hall, the Botanical Museum, Harvard University, 15 November 1994.” Ethnobotanical explorer in lab coat? Check. Blowgun, darts and quiver? Check. Little potted cactus ($100 says Lophophora williamsii)? Check. More interesting details that I’ll leave for you, the reader? Check. I’m curious as to what molecule is diagrammed on the chalkboard…

One last picture to end the post – from the book Beata Ruris Otia Fungis Danicis Impensa. Enjoy!

Cypripedium acaule

dr.hypercube — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 12:59:22 +0000

From the dottir’s place – they have one of the finest ladyslipper patches I’ve ever seen.

All thing must pass.

Messing with the macro lens again

dr.hypercube — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:21:02 +0000

[maximal embiggenation rule in effect]

Siberian Iris

Aphid in an Epiphyllum blossom.

Cypripedium reginae flaskling

Second shakedown ride

dr.hypercube — Sun, 30 May 2010 20:01:38 +0000

One nice thing about transitioning from ‘old guys who get fat in the winter‘ to just old guy out for a ride is that stopping to see the sights is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I’m not in any particular hurry and if I see something I want to check out, I do.

Semi-hidden patch of flag iris. Sorry about the quality – I don’t know what was up with the cell.

A BIG white oak. I’ve known about this tree for years, but today was the first time I stopped and said hi.

I saw the Goggomobil Dart in town yesterday and popped by to make sure it was not for sale (it’s not). Out back there was a second Goggo.

Goggomobil Dart (Australian)

Goggomobil TSxxx (Bavarian)

Plants and spiders ‘compete for the same food supply’

dr.hypercube — Wed, 12 May 2010 13:39:21 +0000

When food was scarce, the team found that the spiders built larger webs to improve their chances of catching prey, but at the expense of the plants.

BBC News – Plants and spiders ‘compete for the same food supply’.

Abstract from Proceedings of the Royal Society B is here.

Victoria regia (amazonica)

dr.hypercube — Fri, 07 May 2010 10:26:56 +0000

Via a tweet from peacay, some fantastic images of Victoria amazonica at botanicus.org.

The victorias are a bit of a grail plant for me (I use that expression a lot – sorry) – from the Amazon basin (or the Paraguay/Parana – home to a fish on my wish list), featured in Victorian photographs with folks standing on them, intricate, thorny leaves – what’s not to love?

An image shamelessly ganked from Bibliodyssey (thanks for assembling it, peacay) – clicking on it will take you to the originating post, “Gould Hummingbirds“.

A web site with more info – if you’re curious about what it’s take to grow one of these beauties – is here.