« Previous Day: Agave vilmoriniana |
Main
| Next Day: Stenocereus eruca »
Nov 6, 2009: Cypripedium montanum
Nov 7, 2008:
Ranunculus aquatilis
Nov 7, 2007:
Quercus suber
Nov 7, 2006:
Pediomelum esculentum
Nov 7, 2005:
Verbascum eriophorum
March 18, 2007 : Azara microphylla
Interested in subscribing? Visit the main Botany Photo of the Day page and fill out the form in the upper right corner!
Keywords: Salicaceae | Azara microphylla Hook. f. | 007147-0050-1973
A few online references claim that the Chilean and Argentinian box-leaf azara has vanilla-scented flowers. I think they smell more like chocolate, myself. If I am giving a tour at this time of year, this is one plant that is on the must-visit list. The striking thing about the fragrance is that you don't have to be close to the plant to enjoy it – the smell of chocolate (or vanilla) can be discerned from 10m away if you are downwind from it. It certainly makes it pleasurable to photograph other plants in its vicinity.
Science resource link: Relationships Among Scientific Paradigms features a map constructed from roughly 800 000 scientific papers that illustrates how scientific disciplines are interrelated. If you're a fan of maps, you can get a free print, though you pay for shipping and handling – follow the link at the end of the article.
.Posted by Daniel Mosquin at March 18, 2007 2:34 AM
Read recent comments on all BPotD Entries
Comments
Posted by: Douglas Justice at March 18, 2007 6:31 PM
Azara microphylla - Z8 - RHS Index of Garden Plants, Griffiths
Azara microphylla - Z8-10 - A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants,Brickell, Cole, Zuk
Posted by: Beverley at March 19, 2007 8:36 AM
Agi,
Te invit la gradina botanica din...(te las sa descoperi).
Sper sa-ti placa !
Dragos
Posted by: Dragos at March 19, 2007 8:21 PM
I hope I translated your Romanian correctly, Dragos. If so, thanks for your kind words.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin 
at March 20, 2007 1:51 PM
40ft tall in the Seattle arboretum. An old one in the UW Frendship Grove 25ft x 2ft 5in (2006) greatly predates multiple others 20ft or more tall seen here and there from Seattle streets. Like gums (eucalypts) these are planted and shoot up quickly between hard winters, only to be zapped eventually - the few old veterans like the UW Friendship Grove specimen being exceptional.
For specific locations of existing large examples see Jacobson, TREES OF SEATTLE - SECOND EDITION.
Posted by: Ron B at March 24, 2007 4:26 PM
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.
I love azaras; I just wish they were a bit hardier. I've lost a couple of species from cold temperatures. One of my favourites is Azara serrata, which is grown not for fragrance, but for its wonderful flowers. These are produced in tight, bushy clusters on the uppersides of the branches like so many golden woolly bear caterpillars. The first time I saw this plant in bloom (against an east facing brick wall at Great Dixter, in southern England) the colour reminded me of Berberis darwinii flowers. A slightly hardier species (at least for me in New Westminster, near Vancouver) with similar flowers, but produced in less elongated clusters, is A. dentata. I planted this species at the nextdoor neighbours', having run out of room for 2 to 3 m tall spreading evergreen shrubs, myself. Every year they go on an exotic vacation in late April and miss the show (which I rave about when they return).