Botany Photo of the Day

Thanks once again to Ian Crown of Panoramic Fruit, a western Puerto Rican fruit farm, for sharing a few of his images (and stories) with Botany Photo of the Day. Ian writes of Adonidia merrillii:

"It [Adonidia merrillii] is very common, admittedly but what drew me to shoot several photos from flower to developing seed to ripe seed to the whole plant was the killer bees swarming the flowers by the hundreds [second photograph]. They love it and you can hear the hum of whizzing feeding bustling bees from 20 feet away. I was able to stand about 2 feet away (but not much closer or some bees come toward you to warn you to step no closer) and the frenzy of nectar and pollen collection up this close is quite a kick...Since the hives are not near these plants, the bees are not aggressive. The flowering trees I have in front of my hives require you to be much more respectful. Much more. You can not even drive up in a jeep, the engine noise or vibrations agitate them. But our worst attack ever was from an avocado tree by the house that had a swarm enter and occupy overnight. This went poorly for man and dog when the crew showed up for work the next morning."

Interested in the "killer bees"? Read more about the Africanized honey bee via the University of Florida's Featured Creatures.

Native only to the Philippines, Adonidia merrillii is sometimes known as Manila palm. However, it is cultivated in tropical areas (and, apparently, shopping malls) around the world. It is also referred to as Christmas palm, alluding to the red fruit clusters prominent in December.

Growing information is available via palm-trees.org and additional photographs can be found on Arkive: Adonidia merrillii.

These photographs were taken along the edge of a small lake in Brandywine Falls Provincial Park during late July (after the conclusion of the Whistler BioBlitz). Between the solid soil of the shore and the body of the lake was a 10-15m (33-50ft) zone of thick sphagnum moss -- perhaps the first successional steps in the formation of a raised bog. Within this thin ribbon of moss grew both species of sundews native to British Columbia, Drosera rotundifolia (round-leaved sundew) and Drosera anglica, or great sundew. Despite the descriptor "great", plants grow to approx. 18cm (7in.) tall. In order to avoid trampling the plants in this fairly fragile plant community, I had to locate individuals growing near the edge of the mossy mat (on the soil side) and photograph them with most of my body on the soil -- sloped downward, with the blood rushing to my head.

Great sundew has a circumboreal distribution, occurring in much of central and northern Europe, northeast Asia and northern North America. It can, however, be found as far south as northern California and Portugal. Interestingly, Wikipedia and the International Carnivorous Plant Society both cite the species as also being native to Kauaʻi as a subtropical variant (in which the seeds do not require exposure to cool winter temperatures to sprout), but the USDA GRIN database does not make mention of this as part of the species' distribution.

As you may note from the second photograph (or the third image, cropped from the second), the species is insectivorous (I was fortunate to see this plant capture its prey while photographing it). Upon capturing an insect with its stalked mucilaginous glands, a thigmotropic response occurs, such that the tentacles, and eventually leaves, surround the prey and maximize digestive surface.

For the interest of local readers, there are usually a few sundews available at the Garden's annual indoor plant sale in mid-September.

Thank you to Weekend Gardener of the UBC Botanical Garden Forums for contributing today's photographs to help conclude the "Biodiversity of China" series (original thread with additional photograph via the BPotD Submissions Forum. Much appreciated!

Often lumped with Dicentra (in this case, as Dicentra scandens), the genus Dactylicapnos has recently been reasserted as taxonomically valid. According to the Flora of China, Dactylicapnos is a group of scandent (vine-like) herbaceous annuals and perennials, containing twelve species from the western Himalayas to China. Dactylicapnos scandens is distributed widely throughout the region, occurring from northwest India to northern Thailand, and reaching southern China.

If you are fortunate enough to have access, you can read an excellent account of Dactylicapnos scandens in Curtis's Botanical Magazine (complete with illustrations). If not, you can investigate some briefer accounts of the species in gardens via The Hegarty Webber Partnership weblog: "The Charms of a Chain Bracelet" or Paghat. Visiting UBC Botanical Garden? You can see this species near the entrance to the Asian garden, growing along Upper Asian Way (just past the first major intersection of paths).

Lastly, you'll likely have noticed some design changes to BPotD. Much of the past week, including weeknights and Saturday, were spent on updating the inner workings of the site to a) take advantage of some of the possibilities of the software; and b) fix bugs and improve performance. I had more success with a) than with b), because even though I had to abandon attempts to upgrade the site a second time, I could still take advantage of some features that I hadn't incorporated from the last time an upgrade was done nearly two years ago.

So, new things include being able to promote BPotD via social networking services (at the bottom of each entry), tag clouds, a search engine specific to BPotD, a functional archives page with links to all previous entries, a right-hand sidebar on every BPotD page, more links to information about UBC Botanical Garden and being able to register as an authenticated commenter (this is in addition to continuing to be able to comment anonymously). The "On This Day" feature has been moved to the archives. I'm a bit concerned about making each page as wide as it is, but trends are showing rapid uptake of wider monitors. The alternative is to trim the width of the daily photographs, but as this would automatically affect all older entries, it might cause some strange-looking entries.

There are more changes on the horizon, as we will be redesigning the entire UBC Botanical Garden web site before the end of March -- and it is almost a certainty that some of the redesign will also be applied to BPotD.

Continuing with the series on "Biodiversity of China", here's another orchid contribution from Eric in SF@Flickr (also see: orchidphotos.org). The original image can be viewed via the Botany Photo of the Day Flickr Pool. Always grateful for your contributions, Eric.

Of the twenty-five to thirty thousand species of orchids in the world, China boasts approximately 1400. Of these, nearly 500 are endemic. Cymbidium sinense, despite being named after China (sinense), is not among the endemics -- it has a range extending to Japan, India, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam. Chinese cymbidium has been cultivated and hybridized for nearly a millenia (since at least the Southern Song), with 'Da Shun' being one of the dozens, if not hundreds, of cultivars.

One of the main attractions of Cymbidium sinense is the fragrance. From what I've read (but haven't experienced), each cultivar produces a slightly different scent. On 'Da Shun' (and the species in general), Eric describes the fragrance as "...heavenly and intoxicating. There are multiple high-end perfumes based on [the scent of the species and cultivars of Cymbidium sinense]".

In the wild, the species grows in "forests, wet and well-drained shaded places in thickets along streamsides" at elevations of 300-2000m (1000-6500ft.), according to the Flora of China.

A brief interlude from the "Plant Biodiversity of China" series (and only a brief entry), since I'm presently concentrating on trying to repair the weblog software after an "upgrade" yesterday morning. I think I have the notification system working (we'll see with this entry, and sorry about the new entry notification yesterday due to a spam comment(!)), but I still have to fix the commenting system -- so, no comments on today's entry or previous entries until that is repaired.

For those of you who have received duplicate notices about today's entry, I apologize. I had to give up on an attempt to "upgrade" the software that runs Botany Photo of the Day because it broke more things than it fixed. So, after publishing today's entry with the upgraded system (and seeing how much it broke), I decided to revert to the old system, with a database backup from Monday at 2am local time (no comments were lost, though, since there hadn't been any). So, while I sort out what to do next, we'll stay on this version of the software for the time being.

Wyethia helianthoides is known as white mule's-ears or white-rayed wyethia, and is native to the northern Great Basin region of the USA. Additional photographs are available from CalPhotos: Wyethia helianthoides and the Malheur Experiment Station: Wyethia helianthoides.

Continuing with the "Plant Biodiversity of China" series, here is a species we grow in UBC Botanical Garden. The first photograph is from 2002 or 2003, while the second was taken in January 2005 (I've added it for those of us currently experiencing summer conditions). The write-up for today's entry is again courtesy of one of the students from Dr. David Brownstein's "Research in Environmental Geography" course, Eva Lillquist. A thank you to Eva for the work. Eva writes:

Metasequoia glyptostroboides (common name dawn redwood) is an ancient tree species that once existed in abundance worldwide. Due to glaciation, almost all Metasequoia were killed, with the exception of a few populations in a restricted area of central China. First discovered in the early 1940s, scientists Dr. Wanchun Cheng and Dr. Hsenhsu Hu later uncovered plants growing in several sites in the Sichuan, Hubei and Hunan regions of central China. Prior to the discovery of living trees, Metasequoia was thought to be extinct, as it had only ever been encountered in fossilized form. As it was once nominated to be China's national tree, Metasequoia glyptostroboides holds significance to the national identity of China.

In 1980, the Chinese Government deemed the Metasequoia glyptostroboides to be critically endangered in the wild (although the species has been cultivated in roughly 50 countries). Estimates suggest there are currently only 5,400 trees still living in central China.

Efforts for conservation have been concentrated within Hubei, where the largest number of dawn redwoods reside. Conservation efforts, however, face challenges: due to population growth and an increased need for land development, habitat loss is a significant threat (particularly from rice cultivation). Another hurdle for conservation is the considerable debate about why Metasequoia glyptostroboides is endangered. While conservationists argue that the species has reached near extinction due to human disturbance, others, particularly those employed in the logging and wood harvesting industries, argue that numbers of trees are declining due to natural causes, creating a rationale that does not support the future conservation of the species.

Currently, the Chinese government has made significant efforts to address immediate conservation problems through policy work and the creation of protected wilderness areas. However, due to conflicting views about the use of land, and the use of Metasequoia wood for construction, the government must now focus on gathering greater support from different parties, including non-governmental organizations, stakeholders, and the public to generate awareness about threats to the species, the tree's significance to science, biodiversity, and national identity, and how these issues link with local industrial practices.

Another round of thanks to J.G. in S.F.@Flickr for contributing an image to BPotD (original image | Botany Photo of the Day Flickr Pool). This continues the series on the plant biodiversity of China.

Eomecon chionantha is known in English as either dawn-poppy or snow-poppy. The species is widespread in eastern temperate China, where plants grow in woodlands with moist soils and dappled shade.

Christopher Grey-Wilson, in his 1993 book Poppies, extols the virtues of Eomecon chionantha as a garden plant. In addition to the "simplicity of its elegant white flowers", he mentions that the leaves retain interest for much of the growing season. For a photograph of an entire plant, scroll down this page on perennials growing at the Botanic Gardens and Arboretum of Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry, in Brno, Czech Republic. You can also read about an Ontarian gardener's experience with Eomecon chionantha at Teza's Garden. Grey-Wilson concludes his account of Eomecon chionantha with "Amongst the gaudier and more brazen races of poppy this ones makes a pleasant and subtler contrast and for that reason it is often dismissed as a 'planter's plant'. This is generally taken to mean that none but the most dedicated gardener would dream of growing it, or, indeed would want to but this surely would be wholly unjustified."

The underground components of Eomecon chionantha have a couple interesting properties. First, the lengthy underground stolons "ooze an orange-red sap when cut", according to Grey-Wilson. Secondly, an extract from the rhizome (or root-stalk) has been investigated as an economic source of a molluscicide by Chinese scientists. Gardeners will be familiar with molluscicides, such as snail or slug bait, for control of these sometimes pests. The impetus for researching Eomecon chionantha, however, was for a different reason: to find a potential method to control fresh-water snails. Snails, particularly in Asia, Africa and South America, can carry the parasite that induces schistosomiasis, "the second most socioeconomically devastating parasitic disease after malaria".