« Previous Day: Crassula capitella |
Main
| Next Day: Dendrobium speciosum »
May 13, 2008: Boschniakia strobilacea
May 13, 2007:
Rosa 'Ausmas'
May 13, 2006:
Lobelia tupa
May 13, 2005:
Enkianthus campanulatus
September 18, 2006 : Schima sericans var. sericans
Keywords: Theaceae | Schima sericans (Handel-Mazzetti) T. L. Ming var. sericans | 037453-0413-2004 | PW.107A
I was excited about having another BPotD “exclusive” to share with you today, i.e., a species that doesn't appear on search engine image results. Unfortunately, I was scooped on this one: “growin”, a member of one of the web's largest gardening sites, posted a few photographs of this particular plant a week ago (though I'll note that he did have to walk in the bed to get these photographs, something not encouraged for garden visitors). Small consolation, perhaps, but today's BPotD pics at least seem to be the first few photographs of this plant in flower on the web.
Taking the time to smell the flowers elicited an “oooooo” from me. I thought it smelled of a sweet vanilla; Douglas thought it had elements of banana. We both agreed, though, that the fragrance was fleeting – you could only smell it for a brief time before becoming desensitized to it.
A native to the Yunnan province in China as well as Tibet, Schima sericans was published as a species in 1997. The draft treatment of the Theaceae in the Flora of China agrees with the assessment of this as a separate species segregated from the (slightly) more common Schima wallichii. Despite some reservations about the assertion that this is one of a number of closely-related species (instead of much morphological variation within a single broad species), we're treating it as distinct for the time being at UBC.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at September 18, 2006 12:00 AM
Read recent comments on all BPotD Entries
Comments
Posted by: Beverley at September 18, 2006 5:27 AM
Nice flower shape.
Posted by: Van at September 18, 2006 6:40 AM
Some of us photographers do make extreme efforts to stay out of the planting beds, but sometimes - if it's rare or exquisite, we just have to get a little closer. Respectfully, of course.
Posted by: Van at September 18, 2006 6:49 AM
this is an interesting website
Posted by: jimbob at September 18, 2006 11:37 AM
Nice pictures. I might even be able to recognize this plant from the pictures. Is there a competition to see who can be the first to get a picture of a plant?
Posted by: dori at September 18, 2006 11:50 AM
No, no competition. I just think it's nice when I can help show a unique plant on BPotD that can't be found elsewhere.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin 
at September 18, 2006 11:58 AM
Put coarse mulch down to allow walking around the plants without causing soil compaction. This won't prevent the possible problem of water molds and the like being tracked in, of course. But, how are visitors supposed to make use of specimens that do not hang right over the paths?
I've had gardeners at both Strybing Arboretum (San Francisco) and Van Dusen Botanical DISPLAY Garden bellow at me from some distance away for stepping into beds to read labels (Strybing) or DISPLAY SIGNS(!) whose writing could not possibly be made out from the path. Ridiculous! I wasn't running around like an unleashed dog, either, my body language should have conveyed I was being careful. Accomodation of garden users was clearly not the priority.
Posted by: Ron B at September 18, 2006 12:17 PM
Dan,
I was wondering how you feel about spraying plants with an atomizer for effect. I remember my father-in-law (he was avid amateur photographer) telling me how one of his photography classes was taught to do this for effect. Now, whenever I visit a flower display and see droplets on the flowers, I wish the earnest photographer had not sprayed them. I can't help thinking (with just a bit of regretful humor) "fake, not natural!" Thanks again for your efforts.
Posted by: Burton W. Noll at September 18, 2006 5:42 PM
Hi Burton. I've never done that, and can't see a reason to ever start doing it. Not only because I can't be bothered, but in the “documentary-style” photography I did here, it would be fake. I suppose if I was doing an abstract that called for many spots of reflection or sun in droplets, I'd test it out. Thousands of photographs so far, and I haven't felt the need, though.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin at September 18, 2006 7:02 PM
(and, just to offer some evidence, you can see that the mulch is wet in the last photograph)
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin at September 19, 2006 2:09 AM
Thanks for sharing I've loved it.
Posted by: rosa at September 21, 2006 2:24 AM
It's lovely! I just loved it.
Posted by: barsha at March 18, 2008 3:39 AM
Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!
Post a comment
XML Feeds: Atom | RSS 2.0 | RSS 1.0 | What is RSS? | RSS Tools
Botany Photo of the Day and all associated images are licensed under a Creative Commons License except when otherwise specified in the accompanying written entry.
About Botany Photo of the Day | Submit Your Photos via Flickr | Submit Your Photos via UBCBG's Discussion Forums
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.
Schima - requires a sheltered position such as woodland - Hillier Manual of Trees & Shrubs, 2003