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November 30, 2005
Polytrichum juniperinum
Juniper haircap moss is a botanical citizen of the world, occurring on every single major continent (including Antarctica!). Haircap mosses are so named because of the fibrous covering which protects the developing sporophyte from water loss. In botanical terms, the haircap would be known as a hairy calyptra, and is present within most genera of the group. When the sporangium matures and the spores are ready to be released, the calyptra falls off so that the spores can be dispersed unimpeded. To see what the mature sporangium looks like underneath the hairy calyptra, scroll down to the last four photographs on this page for the closely related Polytrichum commune.
Some of the other images on that page show cross-sections of the Polytrichum stem. Unlike most other mosses, members of the subclass Polytrichidae have tissue specialized for the transport of water and nutrients (the hydromes and leptomes), analogous to what can be found in ferns, gymnosperms and flowering plants. The presence of conducting tissue allows this group of mosses to be relatively large compared to other mosses, and indeed, the tallest known moss, Dawsonia superba of New Zealand, can grow to a height of 50cm. I haven't been able to find an online image that illustrates the size of Dawsonia superba, but you can get an idea by checking out Dawsonia grandifolia (image number 7) on this page with plants from New Guinea, though I only estimate the height of those mosses to be 20cm or so.
Botany / photography resource link: Epimediums via Darrell Probst, Epimedium guru. If you're interested in reading more about Darrell, check out this interview from Fine Gardening magazine.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (4)
November 29, 2005
Alpine Meadows near Black Tusk
Today's image is another scan of a hand-painted lantern slide by John Davidson from the early 1900s.
British Columbia is famous for its stunning alpine meadows. They occur in a few select areas where the right combination of ecological factors such as water, sunlight, fire and (particularly) soils are not conducive to tree colonization. Instead of the trees which dominate most mountains up to the treeline, open vistas of brightly-coloured wildflowers explode for a few weeks every year. Two of the finest (and most easily accessible) examples are the Taylor and Black Tusk Meadows in Garibaldi Provincial Park.
Sadly, due to a policy of fire suppression and the result of global warming, it is likely by the lifetimes of your children's grandchildren (if not sooner) that most of alpine meadows of British Columbia will either be lost or mere remnants of their former glory. The trees will gain the upper hand and colonize these fragile areas. For some reading on the topic in the broad sense, see The State of Ecological and Earth Sciences in Mountain Areas, and particularly “Effect of Rising Treeline on Connectivity of Alpine Meadows for Butterfly Populations” by Roland, Keyghobadi and Matter.
If you'd like to learn more about Garibaldi Provincial Park and you live in the Vancouver area, please consider yourself invited to my talk on Thursday night at VanDusen Botanical Garden's Cedar Lecture Series (registration / tickets). The title of the presentation is “The Flora of Garibaldi Provincial Park - A Historical Retrospective”; the talk incorporates many of Davidson's lantern slides of the area he helped explore and map in the 1910s and 1920s.
Photography resource link: The Art of Photography by Michael Reichmann of The Luminous Landscape, with commentary on light, focal lengths, the zen of photography and cost. One point often made by many of the professional photographers (and reiterated in this article) is that they say that they only take one or two images worth sharing or exhibiting after an entire day of photography. I suppose I have a lower standard of what is worthy of sharing by necessity of the daily pace, because I certainly couldn't spend every single day taking the “one best” photograph to share the next day (well, I suppose I could, but I don't think I'd stay employed very long).
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:16 AM | Comments (6)
November 28, 2005
Bolax gummifera
Just like yesterday's plant, I can't help myself when I see this plant. I have to touch it. The sensation, though, is quite different – imagine (but I don't suggest you try it) pushing down with your hand on a swath of keys on your keyboard. That would be very similar to the feeling of pushing down on the foliage of the plastic-like Bolax gummifera. The common name for this cushion-forming oddity is “balsam bog”, but I know a few members of staff simply call it the plastic plant.
Bolax gummifera is a member of the carrot family, but similar to yesterday's Erinacea anthyllis, a casual glance at the plant would not make it readily identifiable to its family. Within the broadly distributed Apiaceae (though typically north temperate), this plant belongs to a subfamily found only in the Southern Hemisphere, the Azorelloideae. Accordingly, Bolax gummifera is native to southern South America, including the Falkland Islands.
From an ecological standpoint, a recent study by L. Cavieres et. al. (2002) found evidence that cushion plants such as Bolax gummifera provide a “nurse plant effect” in arctic and alpine plant environments. The morphological structure of the cushions create a favourable microtopographic and microclimatic environment for the seed establishment of other plant species (see: Cavieres, L.et. al. 2002. Nurse effect of Bolax gummifera cushion plants in the alpine vegetation of the Chilean Patagonian Andes. Journal of Vegetation Science. 13(4):547-554.).
Botany / agriculture resource link: Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages – top-notch information on 117 spice plants.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 4:30 AM | Comments (11)
November 27, 2005
Erinacea anthyllis
You might have difficulty believing that prickly anthyllis or hedgehog broom is a member of the bean family until you see an image of its flowers. Erinacea anthyllis is native to stony slopes of Mediterranean France, Spain and northern Africa. When giving a tour, I always invite visitors to gently touch the viciously sharp spiny modified leaves. I can never resist the temptation to float my hand on the tips, since it's a bit of an odd tactile sensation.
Botany / photography resource link: Biodiversity of the Hengduan Mountains Region, China, a site hosted by the Harvard University Herbaria and originally assembled by Dr. Richard Ree. Rick spent a year in 2002-2003 at the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research as a post-doctoral researcher with the garden's director, Dr. Quentin Cronk.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (5)
November 26, 2005
David C. Lam Asian Garden
A scene from this past week's foggy Monday in the David C. Lam Asian Garden.
Botany resource links: The American Chestnut Foundation – “Once there were 4 billion trees. Then came the blight...” and Chestnuts and the Introduction of the Chestnut Blight.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:27 AM | Comments (3)
November 25, 2005
Agave palmeri
Palmer's century plant is native to northwestern Mexico, Arizona and New Mexico. Despite the common name, it only has a lifespan between five and twenty-five years. In its final year, it will produce a flower stalk from 4.5m (14 feet) to 9m (27 feet) high. After flowering and during the development of the seeds, the plant begins to senesce. In other words, fruit are produced only once in its lifetime, a botanical phenomenon termed monocarpy.
The Plant Sciences Center of Sierra Vista, Arizona has an interesting write-up about Agave palmeri, with a focus on salvage, reclamation and restoration. The site also alludes to the importance of Agave palmeri as a food source for migratory bats. In “Following the Nectar Trail”, Dr. Theodore Fleming writes about the relationships between lesser long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris curasoae) and plants in the Cactaceae and Agavaceae, including Agave palmeri.
In BPotD news: it isn't entirely bug-free yet, but I'm working on this for those of you who would like to know where the photographs were taken (and where the plants are)...
Photography / art resource link: “Catching The Eye”, an article by Robert Genn on “Photo Familiarity Syndrome”, photography and painting. If you're a photographer and easily offended, steer clear. But, if you enjoy learning about different perspectives on photography, the article and most of the accompanying comments are well worthwhile.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:10 AM | Comments (6)
November 24, 2005
Oryza sativa
Guest-blogging today is one of my colleagues, Eric La Fountaine. Eric's been responsible for the scanning of the seeds and John Davidson slides that have been shared to date on BPotD (along with many other tasks). – Daniel
You might not recognize the seeds in this image as a common food source – rice. Oryza sativa is a staple part of the diet of almost fifty percent of the world’s human population. Needless to say, understanding the genetics of rice is crucial to understanding and protecting this valuable resource.
Rice is a cultigen, a “species” that is the result of human hybridization and selection, i.e., Oryza sativa did not exist prior to human intervention. General consensus is that the wild progenitor of Oryza sativa is Oryza rufipogon (see: history of rice cultivation), though some scientists disagree (read the subsection on botany and origin of rice).
Botany resource link: The Saxifrage Society has an excellent site dedicated to the genus Saxifraga and relatives. The highlight is their database, Saxbase, which you can use to browse through (great) images of many of the plants.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:28 AM | Comments (4)
November 23, 2005
Acer carpinifolium
The last time I took a photograph of this hornbeam maple, I was jokingly criticized for not taking a picture of its leaf, one of most distinctive features of this species. As you can tell, this maple's leaf is not the typical palmately lobed leaf of many maples, but rather a pinnately-veined simple leaf, much like those seen (as a relevant example) in the genus Carpinus. I was mindful this time to take a photo of both the specimen and the leaf, so that I could use the leaf photograph to make the online copy of the text for the interpretative sign a bit more relevant.
For a few more photographs of non-palmately lobed maple leaves, see Botanical Characters of Maples via The Maple.
Photography / nature resource link: The Flora and Fauna of the Paraguayan Gran Chaco from the talents of Thomas and Sabine Vinke. Beautiful (and exotic, to me) subjects combined with an eye for composition make every page on this site worthwhile to visit (don't miss out the amphibian page). As a related aside, one of the things I find most deeply satisfying is when the garden's discussion forums are used by people around the world to puzzle over something botanical and come to an educated conclusion. Check out this lichen identification conversation that involved Thomas & Sabine from Paraguay and folks from British Columbia, California, Colorado and Washington. Made my day.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (6)
November 22, 2005
Anemone patens var. multifida
Nick from Fort St. John, British Columbia, sent in this photograph of a prairie crocus (or pasqueflower) taken in the Peace River region in the early spring. After reading about BPotD in the National Post, Nick was inspired to send this little gem along to be identified and shared. I was quite happy to oblige, as its scientific name was one of the first I had ever learned. Many thanks, Nick!
I suppose I should have held onto this photograph (since I don't have one of my own for this species) until March 16, 2006. That day is the one-hundredth anniversary of this plant receiving Royal Assent to be adopted as the floral emblem of Manitoba, after having been selected by school children of the province. After the blizzards of last week, though, I think Manitoba readers might appreciate this harbinger of spring as a reminder that winter will ultimately pass.
If you search for more information on this plant, you ought to be aware that it has a number of scientific names (synonyms). Of these, the one used most often as an alternative is Pulsatilla patens subsp. multifida, a taxonomic view which places this plant in a different genus in part due to the long plumose achene beaks seen when the plant is in fruit. Phylogenetic analyses, however, suggest that Pulsatilla should be subsumed into Anemone. For a discussion on the topic, see the entry on the genus Anemone in the Flora of North America (you can also read more about Anemone patens var. multifida in the FNA).
Nature resource link: It might seem a bit odd, but I'm going to link to an earlier BPotD. Picea sitchensis 'Bentham's Sunlight' was originally written to coincide with the release of John Vaillant's book “The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed” (ISBN: 0393058875). Two weeks ago, the book received the 2005 Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction. If you haven't read the original post and accompanying resources (and the book), it's a fascinating story with a UBC Botanical Garden connection.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (7)
November 21, 2005
Nerine pudica
Like all nerines (including Nerine bodwenii), Nerine pudica is native (and endemic) to South Africa. Floristically speaking, Nerine pudica is found within the bounds of the Cape Floristic Region, a biodiversity hotspot. There, it is one of roughly nine thousand species of plants that occur in an area one-third the size of the United Kingdom. For comparison's sake, the entire UK flora contains roughly fifteen hundred species of plants (source: Calflora.net's Flora of the Western Cape).
There are between twenty-three and thirty species of Nerine; you can read a brief account of why there is not a firm number here.
Photography resource link: The Art of Disconnection, an article by Niall Benvie on Nature Photographers Online. The piece starts out with a discussion on the recognition (or lack thereof) of the artistic merit of nature photography and ends with a commentary on the decline of natural history in education. I'll let you decide if the transition between the two points is a smooth one.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:56 AM | Comments (1)
November 20, 2005
Acaena magellanica subsp. laevigata
Updated November 21, 2005 at 12:09pm: Changed the common name based on Maire's comment below – thanks, Maire! Also, read Brent Hine's comments below re: the name discussion from the entry.
Commonly called “bidibid” or “piripiri” by New Zealanders, the species Acaena magellanica is native to both New Zealand and Patagonia. This particular plant is labelled as variety laevigata in the Australasian section of the Alpine Garden. This warrants some investigation, as I think that variety laevigata is strictly South American (so either the label is incorrect, the identification is wrong or the plant's been in the wrong bed for a long time – since 1983!) .
I thought I discovered the perfect paper to supplement this entry: Lee et al., 2001. Fruit features in relation to the ecology and distribution of Acaena (Rosaceae) species in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 25(1): 17–27 (or direct link to the PDF article). As it turns out, they don't cover two of New Zealand's nineteen species of Acaena in the article, and Acaena magellanica is one of them. Still, it's worth investigating. Keep in mind while reading it that this Acaena is in the Section Ancistrum, or “spined fruits with barbs” section – I suspect similar conclusions can be drawn about Acaena magellanica as are drawn about other species in the same section.
Botany resource link: Adaptations and economic uses of rainforest plants via the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 4:30 AM | Comments (5)
November 19, 2005
Daphniphyllum macropodum
The genus Daphyniphyllum occurs only in southeast Asia, and remains uncommon enough in horticulture that no common name has been settled upon (although Dave Creech of the SFA Mast Arboretum suggests false daphne). An uncritical glance at the plant would suggest that it is either a rhododendron or closely related, but despite similarities in superficial morphology such as habit and leaf shape, it is not even in the same order of plants. Orders are a level above families, so to compare Rhododendron and Daphniphyllum: Rhododendron is in the family Ericaceae, one of a number of families in the Order Ericales, while Daphniphyllum is in the family Daphniphyllaceae, a member of the Order Saxifragales. With this knowledge, you can draw the conclusion that even though they are still distantly related (different families), Daphniphyllum is more closely related to saxifrages (Saxifraga) than it is to rhododendrons.
Photography resource link: With A New Eye – The Digital National Parks Project by pioneering digital photographer Stephen Johnson. Although the web images are small (though they give you a taste), I can only imagine that the prints are stunning; Stephen uses a 144 megapixel BetterLight Model 6000K.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:09 AM | Comments (7)
November 18, 2005
Grevillea victoriae
Although November is probably the nadir for plants in bloom within UBC Botanical Garden, flowers aren't entirely absent. Between the collections in the Winter Garden and the Alpine Garden in particular, there are easily over a hundred different species in flower, including this plant from southeastern Australia, the royal grevillea.
This individual plant was propagated from a successful larger plant (photographed here), which has since been removed for being too successful. I think that's the reason, anyway – maybe Brent Hine will chime in on the comments.
Grevillea victoriae attracts both hummingbirds and bees as pollinators, similar to another member from the family Proteaceae featured previously on BPotD, the South American Embothrium coccineum. Whenever you see members of the same plant family having representatives in both South America and Australia, it should spark your biogeographical curiousity. Indeed, a further examination of the family reveals a distribution throughout the Southern Hemisphere, suggesting that the origins of the family date back to the time (and place) of the Gondwana supercontinent roughly 130 million years ago. This assertion is bolstered by the fact that molecular and fossil evidence combined suggest an origin 119 to 110 mya (Anderson, C.L., Bremer, K., & Friis, E.M. 2005. Dating phylogenetically basal eudicots using rbcL sequences and multiple fossil reference points. American J. Bot. 92: 1737-1748. + abstract).
Botany / conservation resource link: The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has started a Top 50 Plants Campaign, a series highlighting plant species of concern in various regions around the world. The first in the series focuses on the Top 50 Mediterranean Island Plants. “Written in simple, non-technical language, these profiles should interest policy makers, the media and general public. Each profile, illustrated with a photograph or drawing, includes a description of the plant as well as information on conservation status, distribution, habitat and ecology, economic and cultural value, threats, reasons for decline, conservation actions in place, and actions needed to help save the species.” Discovered via the always-excellent Scott's Botanical Links.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:54 AM | Comments (13)
November 17, 2005
David C. Lam Asian Garden
A quick entry today, since I spent a bit of time making a few renovations on the site instead of researching and writing – more on that at the end of this entry.
The highlight of this small scene in the David C. Lam Asian Garden is Cotoneaster perpusillus, or rockspray cotoneaster. I've used the nomenclature from the RHS Plant Finder, but I suspect the scientific name used in the link from the common name will prevail, since that is the name used in the Flora of China treatment of Cotoneaster (PDF), i.e., Cotoneaster horizontalis var. perpusillus. By any name, though, I still find the bright pinkish-red colour appealing on a grey, rainy day.
Today's BPotD renovations: 1) I've changed the Creative Commons License for use of the photographs taken by myself and others at UBC – it is now less restrictive, in that derivative works are allowed (but attribution and non-commercial motives are still required for use, same as before). 2) In a similar vein, I've added an image use and attribution section on the About Botany Photo of the Day page. 3) Lastly, a new feature: Recent Comments across all BPotD entries. Often, people post a comment to older entries, but there's been no tidy way to notify everyone that the conversation is continuing. This is one small, imperfect step in solving that problem. For your convenience, I've added a link to the recent comments page at the bottom of each day's entry. I'm hoping this will inspire a few more comments, since it should (in theory) make comments on previous entries more readily available to people who check in once a day to see the current photo and current comments, but don't look back on older entries to see follow-up conversations.
Photography resource link: Develop Your Creative Vision, an essay by Glenn E. Mitchell II on the subject of “Taking the Ordinary and Bringing Out the Extraordinary” via The Luminous Landscape.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:12 AM | Comments (7)
November 16, 2005
Callicarpa bodinieri var. giraldii 'Profusion'
A warm welcome today to readers of one of Canada's national daily newspapers, the National Post. For those who don't have access to the newspaper, you can read today's article (minus the photographs) about Botany Photo of the Day here: “In Science, Beauty. In Beauty, Science.”
For those investigating the site after reading the paper, I'll add links to the rest of the BPotD entries featured in the full-page article after seeing the paper copy, but here are a few for now: Linnaea borealis, Vitis vinifera 'Cabernet Franc' and Gladiolus flanaganii. You might also like to read the first BPotD entry Melliodendron xylocarpum, read a bit more about Botany Photo of the Day, check out the main page of the UBC Botanical Garden site, ask a question on the garden's discussion forums or, if you are a Mac OS 10.4 user, download the BPotD Widget. A word of note on commenting on BPotD entries – though comments are greatly appreciated, they are moderated to prevent spammers from polluting the site. I'll be pretty quick about approving comments today, though. Lastly, a minor correction to the last paragraph of the article: I chose this Lilium sp. as a flower picture for stress relief that day.
Today's plant is yet another award-winner for gardeners, 'Profusion' beautyberry (RHS Award of Garden Merit and a Great Plant Pick). For a gardening perspective on the plant, check out Paghat's article on beautyberry. Paghat mentions that the berries are not highly preferred by birds, which I agree is true for most years. However, in observing two different plantings of beautyberry at UBC in the past month, I've noted an atypical decrease in the number of fruit on the plants (atypical in the fact that it is so early). Attributable to birds? Perhaps – I was joined by a rufous-sided towhee feeding on the fruit while taking photographs of this plant yesterday, which was a bit odd considering the amount of its typically preferred food available.
The genus Callicarpa is distributed in Central America, the southeastern United States, tropical and subtropical Asia and northern Australia. The beautyberry found in the southeastern US, Callicarpa americana, is a candidate plant for UBC Botanical Garden's new Carolinian Forest garden (mentioned in brief here). Many of the plants planned for the Carolinian Forest have relatives in the flora of southeast Asia, a biogeographical pattern observed in roughly sixty-five different genera of plants that has long been recognized and studied. Indeed, this pattern is one of the research and educational rationales for the Carolinian Forest, particularly for the UBC biologists examining the evolutionary relationships between these plants. If you have institutional or library access to scientific journal articles, a good introduction to the subject is Wen, J. 1999. Evolution of Eastern Asian and Eastern North American Disjunct Distributions in Flowering Plants. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 30:421-455.
Conservation / philosophy resource link: Two resources on Dr. E.O. Wilson, noted biologist and author, both touching on the idea of reuniting science and the humanities: the first is a filmed lecture from Harvard University, “On the Relation of Science and the Humanities”, and the second is an interview in Salon, “Living in Shimmering Disequilibrium”.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:51 AM | Comments (12)
November 15, 2005
Eucharis amazonica
Updated March 26, 2007: Changed from Eucharis × grandiflora to Eucharis amazonica based on the identification from Dr. Alan Meerow (see comments). Thank you, Alan!
Another round of thanks to Darrell (aka “dweeb” on Flickr) of the University of California, Davis, this time for his picture of an Amazon lily via the Botany Photo of the Day Flickr Group Pool (original photograph). Gracias, Darrell!
The × symbol between the genus and the specific epithet for this plant indicates that it is a hybrid between two species. The parent species for Eucharis × grandiflora are thought to be Eucharis sanderi and Eucharis moorei. Where cross-pollination between the two parent plants is possible in the wild, it is also possible that Eucharis × grandiflora may result.
If you're a gardener, here is a factsheet on Eucharis.
The genus Eucharis is native to Central and South America. It has the sad distinction of containing a plant that has become extinct in the past one hundred and fifty years, Eucharis lehmannii.
Botany resource link: The Hebe Society web site not only features plants from the genus Hebe, but also a number of other plants from New Zealand. These include such rarities as the blue-pollened Fuchsia excorticata.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:02 AM | Comments (12)
November 14, 2005
Juniperus horizontalis
The collections of UBC Botanical Garden are not limited to living plant material. The garden also has a small number of seeds and cones collected by some of the university's early botanists (and former garden directors) and their correspondents. One of these correspondents was Miss Neville, who either lived or travelled near Carcross, Yukon (considering the size of Carcross, I'd presume travelled) in 1927.
The “berries” are not true berries in the botanical sense, but rather seed cones that are described as “berry-like” (Juniperus in the Flora of North America). Along with popular use in ornamental landscapes (though some would say overused), junipers have another important economic aspect – the berry-like seed cones of Juniperus communis are used in the distillation of gin, and are responsible for the distinctive gin flavour.
Photography resource link: Jef Maion's (aka Nomads' Land Photography) images of the taiga, or northern temperate forest in Eurasia. Great pic of cotton grass (Eriophorum sp.) on the first page.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (4)
November 13, 2005
Elaeagnus glabra
Smooth oleaster is often described as a shrub, but it's not a typical shrub; it's best described as a climbing shrub or a sarmentose shrub (Dr. Jim Croft's Botanical Glossary defines sarmentose as “producing long, flexuose runners or stolons”). The long, extending branches act in a vine-like fashion, scrambling up nearby trees and hooking onto tree limbs. The second photograph shows a branch that has flopped away from the main plant, seeking outward to find yet another victim to climb up; the growing tip of the branch is to the left of the image. If the branch were upright, the small hook-like branchlet in the centre of the photograph would be pointing down, perfect for latching on and supporting the vine-like branch.
Douglas Justice describes the tubular flowers of smooth oleaster as “intensely fragrant – gardenia-like with a hint of orange blossom” (and they were). I should add that it took quite a few sessions to capture an acceptable image of the flowers, as the glossy foliage in poor light conditions kept on throwing off the exposure settings with the small point-and-shoot camera I was using at the time.
Botany resource link: Plants and Us is a top-notch site that simply and directly presents the utility of plants in a number of categories with “top ten lists”, e.g., the top ten in plants and economics. If anyone ever says to you, “But plants are boring! What good are they?”, direct them to the Plants and Us site.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (7)
November 12, 2005
Stapelia gigantea
This photograph is courtesy of “ChasMTx”, an Austin, Texas member of the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. ChasMTx submitted this image via the BPotD Submissions Forum in this thread (check it out to read a personal story that's worth a chuckle on the risk of this plant flowering during family events). Thanks ChasMTx!
As with many plants, Stapelia gigantea has a suite of common names. These include carrion flower, giant toad flower, Zulu giant, starfish flower and (in Australia) dead horse plant. Most of these are fairly descriptive – it does smell like carrion, it comes from Africa, it's big, it resembles a starfish and it attracts flies like a dead horse. I haven't been able to deduce the reason for toad flower, though (perhaps also because of the flies?).
You have probably guessed that this odd plant is pollinated by the blow-flies it attracts. For commercial or hobbyist stapelia growers, mimicking the pollination function of the flies by hand (and preventing unwanted pollination by flies) is not an easy task, but a necessary one as plants of the same genus (or even across genera) will readily hybridize under greenhouse conditions.
I should sneak in that Stapelia gigantea is considered an invasive plant in Hawaii and a weed in Australia.
For more reading on smelly plants, Wayne Armstrong has written an excellent account of Stinking Flowers.
Photography resource link: The nature photography of Shirley Denton features the wild landscapes, flora and fauna of Florida. Of the ones I browsed, my favourite was her photograph of Appalachicola National Forest.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (19)
November 11, 2005
Acer griseum
University of Georgia horticulturist and tree guru Michael Dirr describes Acer griseum as a true “specimen tree”, and with good reason. The paperbark maple’s compact ultimate size (to 12m), cold-hardiness (USDA Zone 5), pest and disease resistance and broad garden adaptability make it ideal for residential landscapes, but the peeling, cinnamon-red bark and neat trifoliate leaves are the primary attractions. The bark imparts warm, rich tones and attractive shadows (especially with low-in-the-sky winter sun) and its waxy, blue-backed, dark green leaves practically ignite into orange and red shades in autumn. It is no wonder that Acer griseum has a Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit, is a Great Plant Pick (of the Pacific Northwest and is a Missouri Botanical Garden's Plant of Merit.
Botany resource link: Learn about the botanical oddity Welwitschia mirabilis via Alice Notten of Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden in South Africa (more photographs).
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (6)
November 10, 2005
Mycena sp. and Hylocomium splendens
I think the mushroom is one of the over two hundred species of the genus Mycena, but after reviewing a number of books, I still can't be absolutely certain. Mushroom identification is perilous without spore prints and other information from the field (does it smell? does it ooze if broken?). If I'm wrong, please add a comment and I'll update.
The moss, however, I'm certain of the identification. Hylocomium splendens, or stair-step moss, really deserves a photograph of its own to reveal its illustrative common name – you only get a hint of its arching main shoots in these photographs. I didn't photograph the moss on its own while at Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park, but Hylocomium splendens can also be found in UBC Botanical Garden, so watch it for in an upcoming BPotD.
The reason for today's two similar photographs is to illustrate the difference in depth of field by changing the F value via the camera's aperture priority mode (read more in this tutorial). The first photograph was taken at F11 while the other was snapped at F4.5. For my purposes, I consider the first image more technical as it supplies more information about the Mycena's environment, while the second isolates the subject, which I find more aesthetically-pleasing. Finding a balance between providing enough technical detail and making a visually-appealing photograph is one of the challenges of scientific photography.
Meeting that challenge is where having a digital camera shines, because of the opportunity to take multiple images at essentially no additional cost. In almost all of the images shown on BPotD, my method has been to bracket the photographs using changes in F-value, i.e., taking a number of images with different depths of field. I then choose one or two out of a batch of up to a dozen to keep (sometimes at opposite ends of the depth of field spectrum, like these two). Of course, this means making decisions, or else the hard drive quickly fills up. Still, it's a pretty good recipe for success if you're disciplined and ruthless. As an aside, I was inspired to write on this topic because of a posting on one of my favourite non-science weblogs, Creating Passionate Users – read Kathy Sierra's article on “If you could change only one thing...”.
Photography resource link: Science and Photography Through the Microscope, by award-winning photomicrographer Dr. Dennis Kunkel. Plenty of botanical images (and others) under the Search the Image Library link.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (18)
November 9, 2005
Xanthoria elegans
Elegant sunburst lichen seems to be distributed throughout every province and territory in Canada (the national lichen?), most of the western United States, and parts of the northeastern US and southern Appalachians. According to “Lichens of North America” (ISBN: 0300082495) by Brodo, Sharnoff and Sharnoff, it prefers open rocks rich in nutrients. A bit of perspective is required – an open rock rich in nutrients to a lichen is one that is often “fertilized” with the excreta of birds or mammals. The authors also write that Inuit hunters could use concentrated groupings of the lichen to locate the burrows of hoary marmots. You can read more about this lichen from the authors here, on the site that ties in with the book.
Botany resource link: Two articles today, both on the same subject and written by Dr. David Hershey on ActionBioscience.org – Avoid Misconceptions When Teaching about Plants and More Misconceptions to Avoid When Teaching about Plants. I read both with an eye to seeing if I'd propagated any misconceptions, and I think I've avoided any of these pitfalls so far.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (14)
November 8, 2005
Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii
The droplets of water on the foliage of large Mediterranean spurge hint at an ecological adaptation to hot, dry environments. During episodes of intense heat and dry air, the amount of evapotranspiration (the combination of evaporation and plant transpiration) can be so high that plants are unable to draw enough water from the soil (or internally) to retain biochemical balance and turgor, so they begin to wilt and burn. If this environmental stress continues long enough, the plant will shrivel and die.
Plants growing in hot, dry environments, have evolved a number of strategies to reduce the likelihood of “death by thirst”. This Euphorbia illustrates one example. Its leaves are covered by a thick epicuticular wax that prevents the loss of water from the leaf surface via evaporation; the wax forms an impenetrable barrier that water cannot pass through and be lost. The waxy layer works from both directions, though; the hydrophobic lipids of the wax repel the water molecules and prevent adhesion, while water's cohesive properties cause the beading.
Photography resource link: for study and inspiration, the flora and fauna photography of Sean and Jennifer McCormick of Alberta, Canada.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (14)
November 7, 2005
Verbascum eriophorum
This mullein species has no English common name (mullein is the common name for the genus), which is not surprising considering its rarity in horticulture. In fact, a Google search for the name suggests that the alpine garden at UBC is one of the few places in the world you can see it in cultivation. To see it in the wild, you would need to travel to the Balkan Mountains.
If you were to visit the garden at UBC though, you'd notice that it is labelled as “Verbascum sp. (seedling of Verbascum eriophorum)”. It is a prime example of the difficulty in maintaining the genetic integrity of the plants in garden collections. From a research perspective, the most valuable plants in collections are often those of documented wild origin. These plants are known to share the genetic makeup of their wild counterparts, and can therefore be assumed in research undertakings to represent the true taxon. Plants of cultivated origin, or n generations removed from the wild populations, may have hybridized at some point – a particular risk in botanical gardens where a number of species from the same genus or closely related genera may exist in close proximity. With the possible introduction of foreign genes, it is impossible to be absolutely certain that the plant continues to be representative of the wild type, making it less valuable in research that relies on genetics.
Woody plants that do not reproduce for decades are the easiest plants to retain as known and documented wild origin, followed by woody plants with shorter generation times. Some perennials are difficult to keep genetically intact, while plants that are biennial or annual are virtually impossible (they would require seed to be collected from wild populations to be sown every one to two years). This is the case with this Verbascum, a biennial. The original seeds were wild-collected, and the first generation of the plant could be said with certainty to be of known and documented wild origin. As this is now the second generation, the possibility of hybridization has occurred, making the plant less valuable from a research perspective. Outward appearance and comparison of the second generation plants to the first generation (photographs – yes, it is over 2.5m tall) make me comfortable enough to write that it seems to be a similar enough genetic entity for the purpose of BPotD, but I would not bet a Ph.D. on it.
Botany resource link: The name Acacia retained for Australian species via the Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research in Australia. Long-time readers of BPotD will know I often write about name changes – here's an instance where a decision was made to keep a name, instead of a strict interpretation of the rules.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:03 AM | Comments (4)
November 6, 2005
Osmanthus heterophyllus
Holly osmanthus, false holly and holly tea olive are just a few of the common names attached to this fragrant shrubby member of the olive family. As I mentioned in the BPotD entry on Osmanthus suavis, the genus has a reputation for sweet fragrance; indeed, the word Osmanthus is derived from the Greek osme, meaning fragrance, and anthos, meaning flowers.
Osmanthus, however, is not the only fragrant genus in the family. Other members of the Oleaceae known for their scent include Syringa (lilacs), Chionanthus (fringetrees), Jasminum (jasmines) and Ligustrum (privets).
Photography resource link: For inspiration, the incomparable photography of Mike Moats.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 4:36 AM | Comments (8)
November 5, 2005
Camellia sasanqua 'Setsugekka'
Updated February 6, 2006 at 11:58pm: Found the label, and my tentative identification was correct.
I couldn't find a label on this camellia in the winter garden, but based on the location, the plants in the location, and a bit of sleuthing I'm fairly confident it is Camellia sasanqua 'Setsugekka'.
As a name, setsugekka is composed of three parts: snow (setsu), moon (getsu), and flowers (ka). “Setsugekka no toki mottomo kimi wo omou”, from an ancient poem, translates into When I see the snow, moon, or flower, I always think of you. (source). Yasunari Kawabata, in his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, discussed the phrase setsugekka; Professor Isamu Kurita goes into more details in an article entitled: “Japanese Art and the Japanese View of Nature”.
Botany resource link: Economic Uses of Algae, a small site produced by the Smithsonian Institution. The secondary products pages are worth a read.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:55 AM | Comments (4)
November 4, 2005
Vineyard near Osoyoos, British Columbia
Osoyoos, British Columbia and its surrounding area is Canada's only bona fide desert (receiving less than 250mm of precipitation annually). Hot summers, mild winters and (despite locally low precipitation) readily-available water for irrigation provide an ideal environment for viticulture.
As you might imagine, though, Canada's only desert and surrounding region contains (or contained) a number of species that are very sensitive to encroaching development and agriculture; the South Okanagan-Similkameen region holds roughly thirty percent of the provincial red-listed species (source: “Canada's Endangered Desert Country”). These threatened species include plants like the Columbian carpet moss, endemic to semi-arid regions of western North America. As the link reports, one of the few remaining populations of this moss was possibly eradicated by the establishment of a vineyard.
Ensuring that the natural denizens of the region are not displaced or exterminated by expanding agriculture and development is obviously one of the challenges in the area. Some of the wineries recognize this fact and participate in conservation initiatives. As an example, the winery where this photograph was taken from supports conservation directly through sales and fundraising events and indirectly through public education – at the very least, a good start on tackling the challenges.
Photography / nature resource link: Digital Morphology via the University of Texas. “A dynamic archive of information on digital morphology and high-resolution X-ray computed tomography of biological specimens.” The site favours vertebrates, but there are a few plants on the site (click on Browse the Library by Common or Scientific Names), including a tulip – be sure to try the “dynamic cutaway” movies.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (1)
November 3, 2005
Near Cache Creek, British Columbia
Updated November 3, 2005 at 4:18pm PDT: The server is back up and running. Right now, I'm not aware of any bugs. If you find something amiss, please let me know. -- Daniel. Please note the following – The garden's web server will be down for maintenance on Thursday, November 3rd from 7:45 AM PDT until completion (anticipated to be early afternoon). BPotD will not be available at this time.
Today, I'm dipping into the archival photographs from the John Davidson lantern slide collection (read more about this collection). Originally taken in black-and-white, this slide has been hand-painted, including all of the roughly five hundred pink flowers of bitter-root, Lewisia rediviva.
I'm guessing on the location (near Cache Creek), but the other slides in sequence are from the area. I was also in the region earlier in the year scouting for a similar profusion of blooms, and although I found some plants, I was at least two weeks too late. Had I found them, though, I likely wouldn't have been able to take a photograph like this; it was a cloudy day, and the flowers only open in the sun.
The epithet rediviva translates to “restored to life”. The story, via Plants of Southern Interior British Columbia by Parish et al., is that the pressed herbarium specimen from a plant collected by Meriwether Lewis in 1806 still showed signs of life months after being dried. When the herbarium specimen was planted (!), the plant grew, duly earning its name.
Botany resource link: The controversial, but interesting, botanist Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz – “an overly enthusiastic, but accurate observer driven by a monomaniacal desire to name every object he encountered in nature.”
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
November 2, 2005
Abutilon 'Nabob'
Darrell (aka “dweeb” on Flickr) of the University of California, Davis, supplied this photograph of a deep-red abutilon via the Botany Photo of the Day Flickr Group Pool (original Flickr post). Thanks, Darrell – much appreciated!
A search of Google images reveals a diversity of floral morphology and colour within Abutilon that reflects its popularity in horticulture, particularly indoors.
Abutilon is a “traditional” member of the mallow family, Malvaceae, along with other plants such as cotton, okra and hollyhocks. Recent studies, however, support a notion of a much larger Malvaceae that includes the previously separated families Tiliaceae (the lindens), Sterculiaceae (the cocoa family) and Bombacaceae (the silk-cotton tree family, which includes baobabs). For an excellent resource on the changes, check out Malvaceae Info.
Photography / conservation resource link: Images for Conservation Fund – “Conservation of wildlife through sustainable development using the power of photography while integrating art, education and natural history.” via Nature Photographer Online Magazine's Nature Photography Supports Conservation.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)
November 1, 2005
Lilium sp.
After spending most of the past twenty-four hours wrestling with the garden's web server (with more to go since it's still not working properly), I know I'd appreciate a flower picture today for a bit of stress relief. In case the problems caused you to miss yesterday's photograph, here's the link: Solanum laciniatum.
Today's photograph features an as-yet unidentified lily from UBC's David C. Lam Asian Garden, photographed in July of this year. If you were to look at the label for this plant, you would observe that it's been designated Lilium sp. SICH.2255. “SICH.2255” is the plant's wild-collected number, and signifies that this plant was collected during the Sichuan Expedition to western China. When the plant is finally identified, it will retain the wild collected number, since the number is the only identifier attached to the propagated plants distributed post-expedition and the associated herbarium specimens. It can then be used to synchronize the identification with the distributed material.
Speaking of expeditions, Peter Wharton, curator of the Asian garden, is the garden's resident “plant-hunter”. He is soon to travel to Burma Vietnam to scout the region for what hopefully will become a long-term project on plant conservation in the area. I'm hoping that when he returns, he'll share some of his photographs with all of us on BPotD.
In BPotD news, the main page of the AOL web site on October 28 mentioned BPotD in their LiveWeb Blog section. Not sure how I feel about the site being listed under “more online distractions”, but it's still a welcome plug.
Lastly, Circus of the Spineless Number 2 is live. I didn't contribute any BPotD entries this time, but I'm still compelled to recognize the effort behind putting together an assemblage of writings about organisms and biodiversity. I particularly like this item from it: the creosote bush katydid.
Botany resource link: From the University of Pennsylvania, the Ethiopian Famine Food Field Guide delves into the wild plants consumed in Ethiopia. Be sure to click on Field Guide, then use the Category links across the top to dive into the information on the one hundred or so species of plants detailed (with photographs).
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:44 AM | Comments (2)
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Botany Photo of the Day and all associated images are licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Botany Photo of the Day is a project of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, located in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. UBC BGCPR is a department of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems within The University of British Columbia.