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November 15, 2006 : Colletia hystrix 'Rosea'
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Keywords: Rhamnaceae | Colletia hystrix 'Rosea' | 016223-0342-1977
It's been at least a month since I've shared a Lensbaby photograph, so I suppose I can sneak a couple in today.
Colletia hystrix is commonly known as crucifixion thorn or barbed wire bush. If you discount the cacti in UBC Botanical Garden, then this species competes with Erinacea anthyllis for the title of “most likely to puncture skin if handled carelessly”. Its photosynthetic thorns are viciously sharp, which, as you can see, makes it difficult to smell the small, fragrant flowers.
The species is native to Chile and Argentina. The cultivar 'Rosea' is so named because of the pink buds which gradually fade as the flower matures.
Colletia and other closely related genera in the Rhamnaceae (and the not-as-closely related Ceanothus) are actinorhizal, i.e., they have nitrogen-fixing root nodules formed in association with Actinobacteria. This phenomenon is summarized by Luis Gabriel Wall in The Actinorhizal Symbiosis - Plant Communication with Other Organisms - Chemicals are the Words from the Journal of Plant Growth Regulation in 2000 (19 (2): 167-182).
Horticulture / agriculture / history resource links: In a tangential response to this question about Eucalyptus in and around San Diego, a few interesting links were uncovered about eucalypts in California: San Diego's Eucalyptus Bubble by Leland G. Stanford in the Journal of San Diego History and The Eucalyptus of California: Seeds of Good or Seeds of Evil? by Robert L. Santos, Librarian / Archivist at California State University, Stanislaus. Thanks to Aussiebob on the UBC Forums for the second link.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at November 15, 2006 12:37 AM
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Posted by: Alex Jablanczy at November 14, 2007 7:48 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!
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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.
Actually given all the praise of this site there is one thing I dont like perhaps because it reminds me of a failing developing and aggravating with age the reminder by the blurred focus photos of my eyes failure to accommodate as when I switch from very close say my teacup to medium close a book to slightly farther the computer screen to still farther the TV screen to still farther outside the window the street or further afield the stars and the sky. Each step in a youthful eye results in immediate accommodation that is perfect focus but fatiguing old eyes cant. So I have to squint and shake my head rub my eyes and wait a few seconds before I can see what I am looking at the letters on the monitor screen or on the Weatherchannel.
So when I am looking at plant esp flower photos I dont want to be reminded of struggles with blurred vision and no matter how far I lean forward aquint shake my head the background is still blurry.