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April 30, 2007
Balsamorhiza deltoidea
Of the three species of balsamroots found in the Columbia River Gorge, I believe this to be Balsamorhiza deltoidea, or northwest balsamroot, but I could very well be incorrect in my identification. The backlit spikes of flowers are lupine, likely Lupinus onustus – these are a week or two behind the ones in the other photograph, the difference between a flatland exposure with other herbaceous perennials forming a shaded cover and a southern hilly exposure with little competition.
This was photographed at the Tom McCall Preserve at Rowena.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 6:54 AM | Comments (1)
April 29, 2007
Rhododendron periclymenoides
BPotD is in brief entry mode on weekends and holidays from April through September. – Daniel
Thank you to Earl B. of the eastern USA for sharing today's photograph with us. This photograph was taken on April 6, 2007.
Pink azalea or Pinxterbloom azalea is a native of the eastern United States. Flower colour and form can be highly variable (see previous link and the Kemper Center for Home Gardening to view examples). This species will be present in UBC Botanical Garden's new Carolinian Forest.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (4)
April 28, 2007
Cedrus deodara
BPotD is in brief entry mode on weekends and holidays from April through September. – Daniel
A thank you to Dr. Iain Taylor for contributing today's image from Vancouver, BC. Iain's had many roles with UBC Botanical Garden; he is currently helping the garden navigate some of its infrastructure projects through the intricacies of the university bureaucracy.
Iain photographed this handiwork of Bernard and Lorraine Portier a couple weeks ago (the excavation made the local news). I think it's fascinating to see the interwoven roots freed of the surrounding soil. This (former) deodar cedar was planted in 1958 by the mother of Mrs. Portier. Thank you to the family for the permission to share this with you.
A note to local residents: Darts Hill Garden Park in Surrey will be open to the public for two days: tomorrow and next Sunday (the open house also includes a plant sale). It's a beautiful garden, and public opportunities to visit it are rare, so do plan to visit if you've the time.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (10)
April 27, 2007
Lewisia rediviva
I neglected to mention in yesterday's entry that if you plan to visit the Painted Hills (and particularly if you'd like to photograph them), I recommend picking a day where the area experiences rainfall in the morning followed by broken cloudy skies with patches of blue sky in the afternoon. The net effect is a combination of saturated colours from the precipitation and changing strength of light and shadows as the clouds move across the sky, offering a mix of dramatic and subtle scenes. Those sorts of days also happen to be good for photographing wildflowers, assuming the rainfall is intermittent or light.
This photograph was taken on such a day, with the saturation evident in the reddish stones and black basalt-rich soil (those with keen eyes will note that the orange patches, sometimes covering entire stones, are due to a crustose lichen – the stone along the bottom edge provides an in-focus example). Water droplets on the partially-opened flowers of the bitter-root affirm the earlier rain.
Lewisia rediviva has previously been featured on BPotD in two entries (here and here), though neither show a close-up of the flower. On a sunny day, the blossom will fully expand and become more noticeable from a distance, much like what is seen in the previous BPotD entries.
To read more about bitter-root, I advise starting with this summary from the North American Rock Garden Society and following that quick read with the excellent article on the Discovering Lewis & Clark site: Lewisia rediviva.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 6:31 AM | Comments (4)
April 26, 2007
Painted Hills, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
The exposed ash fall layers that comprise the most spectacular geological features of the Painted Hills Unit in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument are nearly devoid of plant life. The reasons as to why start with the clay-rich soils. The initial part of any rainfall (and there is little – less than 41cm (16in) per year) is immediately absorbed by the clay component of the soil — think clay-based kitty litter. Once the top layer of clay is saturated with water, it becomes impermeable to any succeeding rainfall, so the rest of the precipitation quickly drains away; in the process, the draining water flushes away any organic matter that might have built up on the clay (through wind, perhaps), eliminating another factor in the establishment of plant life. Little available water and little organic matter equals a very inhospitable environment.
Where the underlying ash fall layers are not exposed, a number of plants can be found including sagebrush, a myriad of grasses, juniper and shadscale.
The Nature and Science of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument part of National Park Service web site goes into more detail – fascinating reading.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 6:48 AM | Comments (9)
April 25, 2007
Lupinus onustus (tentative)
A weekend trip to central northern Oregon and southern Washington yielded more than a few photographic opportunities. The wildflowers were out in abundance on both sides of the Columbia River. I found Paul Slichter's Wildflower Viewing Areas in the Columbia River Gorge and Currently Blooming Wildflowers in Oregon & Washington to be invaluable guides in planning the trip.
Paul prefers the name Lupinus latifolius var. thompsonianus for this taxon; if treated as such, it is a Columbia River Gorge endemic, found only on low- to mid-elevation hillsides bordering on a 70km (40mi) stretch of the river. The Integrated Taxonomic Information System, however, synonymizes this variety with Lupinus onustus, a species with a broader range as it is also found in California. The USDA PLANTS database, which nearly always complies with ITIS, suggests a different name. It lists this entity as Lupinus sericeus subsp. sericeus var. thompsonianus. To add to the confusion, the range maps for both Lupinus sericeus subsp. sericeus var. thompsonianus and Lupinus onustus in the PLANTS database exclude Washington state, where this photograph was taken.
Have I mentioned yet that the taxonomy of Lupinus is confusing? “In the New World, Lupinus is notorious for being a very complex and difficult genus. Taxonomic confusion exists in the literature, where numerous taxa or groups are distinguished based on only a few minor and inconsistent morphological characters. Over 1700 names have been proposed for Lupinus. Approximately 200 species clustered in 18 groups were suggested by Smith (1944) for North America. Taking into account new evidence from various approaches, it became clear to modern authors that the complexity of this genus resulted from its high morphological, breeding system, and ecogeographical diversity and the lack of clear diagnostic features to separate species” (quoted from the opening paragraphs of Ainouche, A-K and R. Bayer. 1999. Phylogenetic relationships in Lupinus (Fabaceae: Papilionoideae) based on internal transcribed spacer sequences (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA. Am. J. Bot. 86:590-607.).
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 6:26 AM | Comments (8)
April 24, 2007
Acer palmatum 'Fairy Hair'
Botany Photo of the Day will have brief written entries on weekends, holidays and my vacations from April through September. I'm on vacation today. – Daniel
A few words of thanks are in order to Jacki of Oregon, aka jacki-dee@Flickr for today's photograph (original | BPotD Flickr Group Pool). Much appreciated!
The question as to whether 'Fairy Hair' (or 'Fairyhair', if you prefer) is the original name for this cultivar is a matter of huge debate among maple collectors. Unfortunately, clarity is not easy to find when the history of a particular Japanese maple cultivar may span three continents and decades, if not centuries, of time. Discussions about the possibility of this cultivar being Japanese in origin (with an accompanying Japanese name) can be found in this thread on the UBC Botanical Garden forums and this thread on The Maple Forum.
One final reminder to local enthusiasts: the Collectors' Plant Auction and Gala takes place on Thursday evening. If you're interested in this maple cultivar (whatever its true name), one will be available at the auction. This event is a major fundraiser for the garden, with the net proceeds from the evening supporting the garden's new Carolinian Forest and the Garry Oak Meadow and Woodland Project.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)
April 23, 2007
Rubus spectabilis 'Olympic Double'
Botany Photo of the Day will have brief written entries on weekends, holidays and my vacations from April through September. I'm on vacation today. – Daniel
'Olympic Double' salmonberry is also known as Rubus spectabilis 'Flore Pleno' (the cultivar name 'Flore Pleno' is often used to denote double-flowering forms of plants).
If you're a local resident, you might like to know that this plant is available as part of a Rubus collection auction item in the upcoming Collectors' Plant Auction and Gala on Thursday evening. I think individual smaller plants will be available at either the Shop in the Garden or the Perennial Plant Sale (or possibly both!).
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (9)
April 22, 2007
Tulipa 'Zurel'
Botany Photo of the Day will have brief written entries on weekends, holidays and my vacations from April through September. – Daniel
Tulipa 'Zurel' is coloured purple and white, photographed here en masse with an errant unknown red tulip. One of the charms of the Roozengaarde tulip fields was the presence of uniformity-breaking individuals in different colours scattered throughout the plots – that little dash of “imperfection” spurred dozens of conversations easily overheard by photographers waiting for the breeze to vanish. Those exclamatory conversations were absent in other fields where a strict uniformity of colour was maintained.
In local news, one of the city papers has covered the upcoming Collectors' Plant Auction: Rare-plant auction boosts UBC garden.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (4)
April 21, 2007
Taraxacum officinale
Botany Photo of the Day will have brief written entries on weekends, holidays and my vacations from April through September. – Daniel
Steve S. of Venice Beach, California has kindly shared today's photograph with us. Thank you!
The common dandelion is ubiquitous in Eurasia (where it is native except for the recent introduction to Svalbard) and North America (where it is not). A brief glimpse at the taxonomy and genetics of dandelion reveals an interesting story (including the fact that there is no type specimen), but more than I can share in a weekend entry – I'll have to follow-up with a different photograph at a future date.
An off-topic reminder to local residents: the garden is hosting a community Earth Day Celebration tomorrow (April 22) from 11am to 3pm.
Botany resource link: I missed announcing this prior to the program being aired, but I suspect it will be shown again: the Nova program First Flower on PBS. I don't have a television, so I haven't seen it, but Stannous F of San Francisco suggested that the link be shared. He's not steered me wrong yet! Though the online site doesn't share the program, it stands on its own as a learning and resource site with videos, links, photos and quizzes.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (9)
April 20, 2007
Trillium ovatum 'Tillicum'
In horticultural parlance, this is considered a “double-flowered form” of western trillium. As noted by Ron B in response to silver_creek's photograph of this same plant at UBC Botanical Garden in this discussion thread, double-flowered trilliums are indeed uncommon, to the point where no named cultivars were known to exist by the authors of a book on the genus. This cultivar predates that book by at least twenty years, but seems to have slipped into obscurity. With the exception of the photographs and discussion on the UBC BG web site, there are no other mentions of it online. Perhaps it has only ever been in the collections of two institutions: UBC BG and the Washington Park Arboretum, the source of the material here at UBC.
An understanding of double-flowering manifestations is continuing to build. It has long been recognized that double-flowered forms are the result of mutated floral organs, e.g., stamens developing as petals. However, the genetics of these transformations, such as which genes are at least partly responsible, has not been well understood until recent years. I'll have to track down the paper this media release is based on, but for now, please read Genes for Unusual 'Flower Within a Flower' are Identified by UCSD Scientists.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 6:11 AM | Comments (2)
April 19, 2007
Epimedium ×versicolor 'Sulphureum'
A thank you to shotaku@Flickr for today's photograph (original | BPotD Flickr Group Pool). Do visit shotaku's Flickr pages for more photographs of plants and landscapes. Thank you!
Paghat goes straight to the matter of common names for epimediums, and I'll agree with her – occasionally, I hear or use the common name barrenwort, but I don't think I've ever heard fairy wings or bishop's hat, so perhaps those common names are in use in other regions.
The × symbol signifies that this is a hybridized entity. In this instance, the parents are known: the east Asian Epimedium grandiflorum and, native to the Black Sea region, Epimedium pinnatum subsp. colchicum. The two taxa were crossed prior to 1850 at the Ghent University Botanical Garden.
This is a stellar garden plant, having received a Plant of Merit award from the Kemper Center for Home Gardening, an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society and a Great Plant Pick designation for the Pacific Northwest. The GPP factsheet provides an explanation surrounding the confusion between the cultivars 'Sulphureum' and 'Neosulphureum' (with the former often being sold under the name of the latter), but also recognizes that both are worthy of the Great Plant Pick designation. To the gardeners, note that this cultivar can grow admirably in one of those most vexing places in the garden, dry shade.
When writing about epimediums, it is always necessary to provide a link to Darrell Probst's The Epimedium Page.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 5:55 AM | Comments (2)
April 18, 2007
Erythronium americanum
Another thank you to David Smith of Delaware for sharing a photograph with us of one of Delaware's native wildflowers (posted in this thread on the BPotD Submissions forum). Appreciated once again, David.
Common names for this eastern North American species include trout lily, American adder's tongue (a reference to the leaves) and dogtooth violet (a reference to the bulbs); an expanded explanation of the common names can be found on the Kemper Center for Home Gardening page for the plant.
Like many woodland understorey plants in eastern North America, Erythronium americanum produces leaves and flowers early in the spring, prior to the canopy trees flushing with leaves. This temporal adaptation is a method to maximize growth when light is most available to the plant, despite the cool temperatures associated with early spring. As it turns out, though, plant growth is optimal at cooler temperature regimes: see Lapointe, L and Lerat S. 2006. Annual growth of the spring ephemeral Erythronium americanum as a function of temperature and mycorrhizal status. Canadian Journal of Botany. 84:39-48. The researchers found that bulb biomass was increased for the set of plants exposed to a lower temperature regime (and that net nutrient uptake was not reduced for this set).
A scientific description of the genus Erythronium and Erythronium americanum can be found in the Flora of North America, while Missouri Plants has more photographs of the species and a shorter description.
Botany / horticulture resource link: I've linked to this site in a few previous entries, but not as a resource link – California Rare Fruit Growers “is the largest amateur fruit-growing organization in the world”. That 2007 Festival of the Fruit in San Diego is looking very appealing...! The site provides a number of excellent resources, including fruit factsheets.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 6:00 AM | Comments (7)
April 17, 2007
Tulipa 'Ile de France'
A change of plans on the weekend yielded an opportunity to attend the 24th Annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival near the Mount Vernon / Burlington area of Washington. Fortune favoured me for once, and I toured while the flowers were at their peak. Tulipa 'Ile de France' was one of about four dozen cultivars of tulips that could be seen in the fields, bordered by hundreds of people. Though I didn't photograph during my preferred times of the day (i.e., early morning and late evening), the weather was in my favour – cloudy with sunny breaks provided light that was suitable for midday photography as it gave a changing environment of soft diffuse light and harsh direct light. The latter is usually not so desirable, but with tulips, it is an opportunity to take photographs with backlighting. Today's photograph is one of 381 that survived my first round of discarding lower-quality shots.
'Ile de France' is a multi-use tulip; it is suitable for cut flowers, bedding plantings or container plantings. It was my favourite of the day; since the bulbs can be planted close together, the effect of the mass planting was a solid ribbon of red which I found very appealing (other cultivars require more space between individuals, so the en masse colouration was not as dense).
Although some of the tulips in the fields are sold as cut flowers, much of the field production of tulips in this instance are sold as bulbs.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:35 AM | Comments (8)
April 16, 2007
Citrus aurantium subsp. bergamia
This is the last in the series on tropical and subtropical fruit. These two photographs are shared by Friedrich K of Heidelburg, Germany, aka fuchsiafred@Flickr (original image 1 | original image 2 | BPotD Flickr Group Pool). Friedrich has put together a small series on these bergamot oranges to illustrate the making of a traditional liqueur flavoured by the rind of these citrus fruits. Thank you, Friedrich!
The origins of Bergamot orange are unknown, according to an industry web site, Consorzio del Bergamotto: Reggio Calabria (warning: Flash site). The industry site lists experts having traced its origins to places such as China, Greece, Spain (near Berga) and Turkey — and then fancifully suggests it is of mythical origin as a spontaneous mutation discovered in the city of Fata Morgana, a mirage city purportedly observed in the Strait of Messina (between Sicily and Calabria in Italy). Whatever its origin, somewhere around 90% of the world's production of Bergamot oranges occurs in Calabria.
The economic uses of Bergamot orange are not restricted to flavouring traditional liqueurs, though. Prominent among its modern applications is its use as the major flavouring ingredient for Earl Grey tea. Historically, oils were also extracted from its rind in the production of the original Eau de Cologne (the oil from the petals of Citrus aurantium, the sour (or bitter or Seville) orange are also used). Unfortunately, there have been some consumer difficulties with the oil from the Bergamot orange rind – turns out it can discolour skin and cause burning when exposed to light (i.e., it is phototoxic). The industry is fighting against the trend toward using synthetic Bergamot oil replacements by finding alternative uses for the fruits, such as oils for aromatherapy, juices and marmalade.
A word of caution I should add from Mabberley's “The Plant Book”: he notes that the rind oil is allegedly carcinogenic. The PAN Pesticides Database lists its carcinogenic properties as unknown (it is also used as a dog, cat and insect repellent).
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (9)
April 15, 2007
Psidium guajava hybrid
BPotD is in brief entry mode on weekends and holidays from April through September. – Daniel
The second last in the series on tropical (and subtropical) fruits is again courtesy of Eric in SF@Flickr (original | BPotD Flickr Group Pool). Another thank you for you, Eric!
Guava is cultivated in tropical regions worldwide, so it is difficult to discern its origin. It is thought to be native to Central America and Mexico. Again, dozens if not hundreds of cultivated varieties exist, hence the addition of the word hybrid to the name. Read more via Fruits of Warm Climates: Psidium guajava.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)
April 14, 2007
Eriobotrya japonica hybrid
BPotD is in brief entry mode on weekends and holidays from April through September. – Daniel
A contribution from fancymefoxy@Flickr gives us today's photograph to add to the series on tropical (and subtropical) fruits (original | BPotD Flickr Group Pool). Thank you!
Loquat is a member of the rose family, and native to southeastern China and (possibly) Japan. Read more via Fruits of Warm Climates: Eriobotrya japonica.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:00 PM | Comments (5)
April 13, 2007
Annona muricata
Thank you to sabagal of Kansas City, Missouri for today's photographs from her time on the Caribbean island of Saba (in the Netherland Antilles). sabagal has posted the original photographs of these and other tropical fruits in this thread in the BPotD submissions forum. Do keep the thought in mind while reading sabagal's commentary on the images that Saba is only 13 km2 (5 square miles)! Thank you for sharing, sabagal.
I particularly liked what sabagal shared about her experiences with this fruit: “Soursop is so popular that people will pick it too green and even steal it. If you knew of a bush in a corner you never told anyone about it. We made smoothies, ice cream and cheesecake with it.” Sounds precious!
I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but yet again, Morton's Fruits of Warm Climates provides the most detailed information about this species online: Annona muricata. As noted in that article, soursop isn't the most marketable of names for this fruit. Neither is the Dutch common name, zuurzak, which translates to “acid bag” (source: Wikipedia). Chinese gooseberry became popular once it began to be sold as kiwifruit – perhaps a similar effort will one day be made on the behalf of soursop.
A few bits of BPotD news, all to do with maintenance. First of all, there were a few hours yesterday when the site was down as we were upgrading the operating system on the web server. Usually, this means about five minutes of downtime so it's not worth mentioning, but we ran into some difficulties – this is discussed in a bit more detail in this discussion thread (since there were a few concerns about wonky behaviour).
Secondly, the building that contains the garden's web sites server will be undergoing electrical upgrades this weekend. Due to this, BPotD and other parts of the web site will not be available from 5:30pm on Friday, April 13 to noon on Saturday, April 14 (local time). The BPotD entry will be published later than usual, @ 2pm (local time) on Saturday.
For good measure, though, if you're an email subscriber, you won't receive email notification until the evening. The UBC email system is also undergoing a major upgrade on Saturday, from 7am to 7pm local time, so no emails will be sent out until that is complete, sometime after 7pm.
Fortunately for locals, the Alpine Garden Club of BC Spring Show is on this weekend. If you attend the show (and visit VanDusen Gardens while you're there), you'll barely notice that this web site is offline for a bit.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 6:16 AM | Comments (5)
April 12, 2007
Nephelium lappaceum cultivar
Continuing with the small series on tropical fruits, today's image is thanks to aegisd@Flickr (original | BPotD Flickr Group Pool). It was very clever to place the rambutan on a platter with a clover illustration for a mirroring effect. Thank you!
Julia Morton's Fruits of Warm Climates once again provides one of the best online references: rambutan. Rambutan is native to Indonesia, though it has been subsequently introduced into cultivation throughout much of the tropics. Its family, the Sapindaceae, also includes the southern China natives lychee and longan.
Morton refers to a number of cultivars of rambutan; noting that this appears to have been cultivated in Thailand, I'm going to assume this fruit is from one of the cultivated varieties, but I'll have to leave it to others with more expertise to determine the name of the one in this photograph (if that's possible on fruit and origin alone).
For more photographs, I'll again suggest the USDA's Pacific Basin Tropical Plant Genetic Resources unit's images of its accessions: Nephelium. Wikipedia draws some of its information from Morton's work, though there are some particularly interesting additional tidbits regarding the reproduction of rambutan plants if you read the entire article: Nephelium lappaceum.
Updated on April 12 at 9:30am local time: I forgot to mention this bit of news re: the garden's web site. The building that contains the server that hosts the garden's web sites will be undergoing electrical upgrades this weekend. Due to this, the web site will not be available from 5:30pm on Friday, April 13 to noon on Saturday, April 14 (local time). The Photo of the Day entry will be published later than usual, sometime after noon (local time) on Saturday.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 6:35 AM | Comments (7)
April 11, 2007
Artocarpus odoratissimus
Eric in SF@Flickr is not only responsible for today's photograph (original | BPotD Flickr Group Pool), but also for suggesting a series on tropical fruits. Sounds like a good idea to me, though I have few (if any) photographs to add to the mix since my trip to a tropical area was postponed by a year. If you have any tropical fruit images, it'd be an ideal time to add them to the Flickr pool or BPotD submissions forum. Thanks again, Eric!
The genus Artocarpus is a member of the Moraceae, or mulberry family (sometimes called the fig family). In addition to the marang shown in today's image, the genus includes the better-known breadfruit and jackfruit. Unlike the jackfruit, however, the fruits of marang are relatively light and small, weighing only 1kg (2.2 lbs). Not many fruits can compare to the 50 kg jackfruit in size, though.
Marang is a local delight in the regions where it is grown. As noted in the Under-Utilized Tropical Fruits of Thailand (where it is cultivated; the species is native to Borneo and the Philippines), Artocarpus odoratissimus “has low yield and short shelf-life as compared to jackfruit”, making broader distribution of the fruit as an economic crop difficult. Too bad in some ways, as it seems to be the highest-prized fruit among the genus.
The USDA's Pacific Basin Tropical Plant Genetic Resources unit has a series of photographs of fruits in the breadfruit genus, including marang.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 5:02 AM | Comments (11)
April 10, 2007
Solanum quitoense
Andreas of Bogotá, Colombia, aka Quimbaya@Flickr, is the photographer of today's images (original 1 | original 2 | BPotD Flickr Group Pool). Thank you once again, Andreas!
Andreas shares his observations along with his photographs: “Very aromatic fruit; the pulp is used to prepare a delicious juice. In Colombia it is known as ‘lulo’, in Ecuador as ‘naranjilla’.”.
Learning or knowing that the species is named after Quito, Ecuador (the second-highest capital city in the world) gives you an idea of its native distribution range: higher elevations in subtropical South America and Central America.
Julia Morton's Fruits of Warm Climates provides a detailed account of the horticulture and botany of Solanum quitoense, including accounts of a few (sadly) abandoned attempts to expand the commercial production of this fruit.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 6:23 AM | Comments (8)
April 9, 2007
Nemophila menziesii
BPotD is in brief entry mode on weekends and holidays from April through September. – Daniel
Today's image is courtesy of Cliff aka The Marmot@Flickr (original | BPotD Flickr Group Pool). Thanks again, Cliff
Read more about baby blue eyes via Calflora.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (4)
April 8, 2007
Pulsatilla vulgaris var. rubra
BPotD is in brief entry mode on weekends and holidays from April through September. – Daniel
A nod of gratitude to Meighan aka Meighan@Flickr for today's image (original | BPotD Flickr Group Pool). Much appreciated!
There seems to be some disagreement as to whether this should be considered a botanical or cultivated variety (i.e., variety rubra vs. 'Rubra'). I've opted to follow the Royal Horticultural Society convention.
Read more about the European pasque flower via the Kemper Center for Home Gardening. The RHS also has an article on the species.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
April 7, 2007
Sanguinaria canadensis
BPotD is in brief entry mode on weekends and holidays from April through September. – Daniel
Thank you to David Smith of Delaware for contributing today's photograph in this thread on the BPotD Submissions forum. We're grateful!
Read more about the eastern North American bloodroot via the Kemper Center for Home Gardening.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (1)
April 6, 2007
Prunus ×yedoensis 'Akebono'
A one-day reprieve from starting to do brief entries on weekends and vacations. Today's entry (and photographs) are courtesy of Douglas Justice. – Daniel
Prunus ×yedoensis 'Akebono' (daybreak cherry) is a medium sized tree with a stiff, upright-spreading crown, eventually becoming umbrella shaped, flowering in March or April, immediately following the purple-leaf plums in the Vancouver area. Flowers are produced abundantly, shell pink fading to nearly white. This cultivar is a seedling of Prunus ×yedoensis (Somei-yoshino cherry) that was selected by a California nursery in 1925. 'Akebono' is noted for its essentially rainproof flowers (often with an extra petal, as pictured here), tough constitution and freedom from disease. Autumn leaf colour is yellow to pumpkin orange.
This spring has been good for cherry blossoms. Cool and humid conditions tend to promote flower longevity and we've had plenty of that. The first cherries to flower in Vancouver are always downtown and in the West End, where pavement and buildings create a significant heat island effect. 'Akebono' was in full bloom at the Burrard Street Skytrain Station on the Spring Equinox, nearly two weeks earlier than here at UBC. You could hear the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival organizers heaving a huge sigh of relief at their big opening ceremony, the Cherry Jam, there on the 22nd. (Note from Daniel – we've started a Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival discussion forum to discuss the trees and identifications plus share photographs and stories.)
Speaking of good timing, Ohanami, the annual cherry viewing festival held at Nitobe Memorial Garden is happening this Saturday, 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Most of the cherries on display at Nitobe are Somei-yoshino—the cherry made famous through Japanese cherry blossom viewing festivals, as well as the celebration held by the American National Parks Service in Washington, DC. [I think I overheard Dr. Peter Raven, who was visiting Nitobe Garden earlier this week, remark that our Somei-yoshino were more impressive than any he'd seen in Washington.] Nitobe and the surrounding area boasts an interesting selection of flowering cherries, including those already mentioned and (also in bloom) 'Ojochin' (the rare “lantern” cherry, so named for its plump buds), and 'Shirotae', the beautiful Mount Fuji cherry. Later in the season, 'Pink Perfection', 'Kanzan', 'Shogetsu', 'Shirofugen' and the wonderfully fragrant 'Jo-nioi' will captivate visitors.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM | Comments (8)
April 5, 2007
Ribes sanguineum
Ribes sanguineum, or red-flowered currant, was previously featured in fruit on Botany Photo of the Day. There have been a few recent plant identification requests on the forums that turned out to be this species, so I thought it timely to highlight it.
It seems like every popular account I read about this western North American native showers it with compliments, and deservedly so. I particularly like Sarah Gage's account of Ribes sanguineum for the Washington Native Plant Society's Plant of the Month series, which includes a tidbit on how popular this plant became when it was introduced into cultivation in London. A similarly entertaining article is shared by Ketzel Levine.
Ribes is the only genus in the Grossulariaceae. It has an interesting distribution: much of Europe, Asia, and North America, mountainous regions of Central and South America and a small area in northern Africa. If you scroll down on that page, you can compare the Grossulariaceae distribution range with its closest familial relative, the Saxifragaceae. The similarities are very curious, and suggest that the families share limitations that prevent them from becoming cosmopolitan in distribution.
In BPotD news, today is the second anniversary of this weblog. The past year has been a mix of successes and disappointments. What I am most pleased about is the continued generosity of the folks from around the world who kindly share their photographs for use in BPotD. To those who do, thank you very much! I wish there was the time and space to be able to use all of them on BPotD. Since there isn't, I'd also like to thank all of those who contribute for their understanding that the one-a-day process means I can't use every image.
I'm also pleased that between the forums and BPotD, the garden's web site has as much “reach” (as determined by Alexa.com) as any of three of the largest botanical gardens in the world, Missouri, New York and Kew (here's the comparison graph) – on roughly 1/50th of the institutional budget. Again, though, that is in large part thanks to the hundreds of people who contribute freely of their time on the forums, for which we at the garden are very grateful.
And now for a bit of bad news: starting with tomorrow's entry, and continuing through to the end of September, BPotD will be image + the-briefest-of-text on weekends, holiday weekdays and (my) vacation days. I've done this in the past, so it's nothing too new, but it will occur more frequently. Since I've failed to secure help with summertime relief for the web site, pulling back a little is the only available option. I curtail my weekend travelling come October, so BPotD will likely return to the more typical 7 days-a-week image+text format then.
Photography resource link: Flower Photography: Art and Techniques by Heather Angel, an article written for Nature Photographers Online – a lot of information packed into one essay!
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:13 AM | Comments (13)
April 4, 2007
Tussilago farfara
Today's image is courtesy of marcella2@Flickr (original image | BPotD Flickr Group Pool). Thank you!
Coltsfoot is native to much of Europe and neighbouring Asia and Africa. It is no surprise that historic medicinal and food uses caused it to be introduced to Canada, USA and New Zealand (Wikipedia also cites South America, but that doesn't match this list). Unfortunately, Tussilago farfara has qualities that make it somewhat invasive in the introduced countries: “Namura-Ochalska-Anna (1993) reports that the success of Tussilago farfara L. in colonizing disturbed environments, after its seeds reach the site and germinate, is a function of several of the important traits of this species: 1) tolerance of seedlings and juveniles to a wide range of changeable external conditions, 2) fast growth and development of individuals, 3) a high degree of adaptability in reaching successive stages of development, 4) guerilla type growth, 5) intense spreading and renewal of individuals of generative and vegetative origin, 6) high effectiveness of vegetative reproduction, 7) adaptable allocation of resources to above-, and underground shoots.” (quoted from the Global Invasive Species Database).
Fortunately, its preference for colonizing disturbed environments suggests it has relatively low impact on natural areas that haven't been degraded. Instead, it seems to be a problem in agricultural areas.
Invasive.org provides more photographs of the plant, including the leaves which emerge post-flowering. Kurt Stüber's botanical images library contains this illustration, as well.
Science / conservation resource link: In case you don't follow the garden's plant news weblog, here's a recent entry: A Blooming Crisis about the risk of extinction for over half of the world's magnolia species.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 5:53 AM | Comments (3)
April 3, 2007
Strelitzia sp.
Thank you to Josh, aka joshbailey@Flickr for today's photograph (submitted via the Flickr group pool – do check out the original image at maximum resolution). Much appreciated!
The family Strelitziaceae (Strelitzia reginae shown in flower here) is native to South America, southern Africa and Madagascar. The stem-group for the Strelitziaceae is dated to 78 million years before present. South America, Africa and Madagascar, at 78mybp, were already separated by bodies of water (though not so distant from one another as present day), so either there remains older fossils to be found or the present-day distribution requires some dispersal events in its history (or a combination of the two!). If dispersal events were part of the history, they'd be relatively ancient: each of the three continents / subcontinents have their own genera (Strelitzia in Africa, Ravenala in Madagascar and Phenakospermum in South America).
In local news, Dr. Peter Raven of Missouri Botanical Garden is giving two public lectures today. The first is scheduled for 2pm at VanDusen Botanical Garden: How Many Plant Species Will Survive the 21st Century?. This will be followed by a 7:30 pm UBC Biodiversity series lecture, The Future of Plant Survival.
Art resource link: Living plant ephemeral sculptures, or Weedrobes, by Vancouver artist Nicole Dextras (also see this Flickr set) was brought to my attention via this thread on the forums.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 5:53 AM | Comments (3)
April 2, 2007
Isomeris arborea
Today's post is a follow-up to the January 28, 2007 entry on Isomeris arborea. I thought I would share why the common name for this plant is bladderpod.
These photographs were taken at the south entrance to Joshua Tree National Park, in the Sonoran Desert portion of the park (the north part of the park features the Mojave Desert).
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:52 AM | Comments (3)
April 1, 2007
Rhododendron traillianum
The underside of the leaves of Rhododendron traillianum are apparently sweet-smelling, but I didn't think to try it so I can't describe the scent. Perhaps Douglas will describe the scent in a comment.
This species is native to southwest China and Tibet. The Flora of China provides a detailed description, while the American Rhododendron Society provides a quick factsheet. More images of Rhododendron traillianum can be found in the photo galleries of Asperupgaard, a Danish garden.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 7:20 AM | Comments (7)
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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.