Flowering Plants (02)
June 25, 2005
Phlomis cashmeriana
Fifth in a series of five photographs featuring plants showcased in UBC Botanical Garden's newly-released book: “The Jade Garden - New and Notable Plants from Asia”.
Kashmir sage, as written by Brent Hine in “The Jade Garden”:
“Every gardener I know loves Phlomis. There is something about this genus's soft, fuzzy look that gives it universal appeal. Phlomis cashmeriana is almost unknown in North American gardens, perhaps due in part to the long standing reliance on P. fruticosa and P. russelliana, both large yellow-flowered plants from the Mediterranean. For something quite different yet equally easy to grow, P. cashmeriana is an obvious choice. Technically classified as a subshrub, it performs as a woody-based herbaceous perennial at UBCBG. It hails from the drier, western Himalayas and Kashmir, as its species name suggests, so it is best suited to sunny and well-drained garden sites.
Phlomis cashmeriana has plenty of appeal as both a focal point in a dry border (it performs best here in the E.H. Lohbrunner Alpine Garden), and as a mingler and a softener among flashier drought-tolerant subjects. Like other Phlomis, it is a natural for the xeriscape garden, and is already being recommended by Denver Botanic Garden. Emerging suddenly into the spring sun with intensely silver and hairy new leaves, it quickly establishes its handsome architecture. By summer it puts on about 60cm of growth, although it can reach 80cm or more in favourable gardens. In this exuberant, grey-green mass are many sturdy, white-felted stems that bear, in the peak of summer, several verticillasters (whorled clusters) of exotic lilac-purple flowers.
This plant, with its subtle colour combinations of silver mixed with pink and purple, calms the senses and invites our touch, while standing uniquely apart from other dazzlingly bright summer flowers. After a few weeks, flowers finish blooming and stems may be cut back, leaving a superb foliage plant, untouched by insect or disease problems, for the rest of the growing season. Stems also may be left on, providing textural interest into the fall and winter seasons. This Asian perennial is both showy and not easily bothered by extremes of climate. Its appeal centers around its strong form, combined with a touch of the exotic.”
The account in the book continues on to include hardiness, cultivation and propagation information.
Interested to learn more about “The Jade Garden”? Read an interview with the authors! Or, visit the publisher's web page about the book.
“The Jade Garden - New and Notable Plants from Asia” is available locally in the Shop in the Garden and other fine bookstores. As UBC Botanical Garden doesn't have an online store, you can purchase online from Amazon.com
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (6)
June 23, 2005
Cornus macrophylla
Third in a series of five photographs featuring plants showcased in UBC Botanical Garden's newly-released book: “The Jade Garden - New and Notable Plants from Asia”.
Large-leaf dogwood, or Cornus macrophylla, as written by Douglas Justice in “The Jade Garden”:
“It is difficult to successfully introduce trees that appear diminished in some respect to more spectacular relatives. Among tree aficionados, for example, Cornus kousa (Japanese dogwood) and Cornus controversa (giant or table dogwood) are currently acknowledged as the most desirable dogwoods for general planting in Western gardens. Both are relatively problem free and exceptionally attractive trees: C. kousa for its long-lasting blooms and striking, starburst habit,among myriad other superb qualities, and C. controversa primarily for its stunning, frosted wedding cake looks. While it is nearly impossible to identify serious shortcomings for either tree, it must be admitted that neither is small after 20 or 30 years or easily accommodated on a typical residential lot. Large-leaf dogwood, however, is well suited to such a situation and one never tires of its subtle good looks.
Large-leaf dogwood forms a small, often low-branched or multistemmed tree, usually no more than 8 or 10m in height when grown in the open in gardens. The species is known to top 20m in the wild, but such plants would have been heavily shaded and very old. In cultivation, branching is much like that of Cornus controversa (table dogwood), with strongly upright stems and horizontal tiers of branches. Each branch terminates with a handful of curving, shortly ascending twigs with prominent pointed buds. The grey-brown bark is smooth and attractively mottled in youth, eventually becoming plate-like with age.
True to its name, the leaves of Cornus macrophylla are large (about 17cm long by 12cm wide), and handsome, with prominent veins and slightly wavy edges. They are often creased down the midrib, making the lighter coloured underside visible. Creamy white flowers are individually tiny, but borne in broad, flattened corymbs at the tips of the branches. Blooming in June or July, they are highly visible against the fully expanded leaves. Once flowering has finished, small (6mm) blue-black drupes form; cross-pollination is usually a prerequisite for fruit development.”
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (4)
June 22, 2005
Paeonia rockii
This is the second in a series of five photographs featuring plants showcased in UBC Botanical Garden's newly-released book: “The Jade Garden - New and Notable Plants from Asia”.
I'd like to mention a couple things before I go into the comments for today's plant. First, it'd almost be impossible for me to write what you are reading with the book excerpts, so I hope you don't get too spoiled reading them! Second, immediately after the series on “The Jade Garden”, Sunday's featured plant (if all goes well - I haven't taken the photograph yet) will be the second plant so far on Botany Photo of the Day that has only been seen by a few people outside of Asia in flower until this year. Quite a coup!
On to today's entry, with a photograph that was taken in early May. Paeonia rockii, as written by Peter Wharton in “The Jade Garden”:
“The genus Paeonia comes from the Greek name Paeon, the physician of the Gods and the discoverer of medicinal properties. This shrub has great popular distinction for its bold, distinctive foliage, vigorous form and exquisite flowers of grand proportions. The tree peonies in general and this species in particular have been especially esteemed by ancient and modern Chinese societies; they symbolize love, affection, and feminine beauty, as well as having a notable position in Chinese pharmacopoeias. This species is known as the zi ban mudan (the purple-blotched tree peonies) in China.
The specific epithet acknowledges Joseph Rock (1884-1962), the Austro-American explorer, geographer, plant hunter and linguist. The introduction of this plant to the West was fittingly romantic, with a figure no less passionate than Reginald Farrer first describing its charms as “the huge expanded goblets of Paeonia Moutan, refulgent as pure snow and fragrant as heavenly Roses” (Farrer, 1917). Farrer saw this plant in southern Gansu in 1914, but Rock introduced it into Western cultivation in 1926. His discovery of the seed plant in the Choni (Jone) Lamasery in southwest Gansu led to seed being sent to the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts, with seedlings eventually being sent to growers in the United States and Europe.
Our plants appear to be the typical American form of Paeonia rockii originating from Reath's Nursery in Michigan. The distinct English form, originating from Highdown Garden in Kent is another seedling raised from the original Rock introduction.
This imposing shrub can grow into a huge sprawling specimen 2.4m tall by 3m across with a distinctive bronzing to the young leaves before they assume a delightful bluish cast. The foliage contrasts superbly with up to 50 blooms on mature shrubs. The leaves are 2- or 3-pinnate with 17 to 33 leaflets. The leaflets are variable, ranging from lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, entire leaves to mostly ovate-orbicular and lobed leaves (2-11cm long by 1.5-4.5cm wide). The leaf is glabrous on the upper surface and slightly tomentose on the undersides, sometimes locally dense along the leaf veins.
The solitary, captivating flowers (13-19cm) are borne terminally with 3 leaf-like bracts and sepals. The flower consists of 10 white petals, showing conspicuous dark purple blotches at the base. The filaments and flower disc are pale yellow. Flowering usually occurs in May. The fruits are delightfully reminiscent of a jester's hat, consisting of five oblong, densely yellow, tomentose, spindle-like follicles that split to reveal two rows of jet-black seeds.
The Qin Ling is the core area for this king of flowers -- from the Loess Plateau area of Shaanxi-Gansu border, to the northern slopes of the sacred Taibai Shan, and finally to the diverse forests of Hubei's famous Shennongjia Forest District. This species grows in a wide range of ecological conditions, including sunlit openings in deciduous broad-leaf forests, margins of Pinus armandii forest and dense scrub, shady north-facing slopes and limestone crags (Wang, 1961). Forms with red and pink petals occur throughout the shrub's native range, so there are rich opportunities for further flower selection.”
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:31 AM| Comments (14)
June 21, 2005
Alangium platanifolium
This is the first in a series of five photographs featuring plants showcased in UBC Botanical Garden's newly-released book: “The Jade Garden - New and Notable Plants from Asia”.
On Alangium platanifolium, Peter Wharton writes:
“This outstanding understory shrub can become a small, wide-spreading tree of considerable beauty at maturity. At UBCBG, we received this species from Hilliers Nursery, United Kingdom, under the variety macrophyllum (Sieb. & Zucc.) Wangerin. The plant is better placed into Alangium platanifolium as part of the natural variation within this species. The profile of this large shrub is initially vase-shaped in youth and gradually broadens with age to form a flat oval top up to 4 or 5m high by 5m across. It can have a short bole before dividing into several horizontal laterals that may display an undulating muscular appearance. The main branches then divide into dense clusters of twigs at the extremities. These characteristics contribute to a winter silhouette that is both distinctive and ornamental. The shrub adapts well to semishaded forest edges or as a shade-tolerant understory plant in the wild or in cultivation.
The large (16-21cm long by 13-15cm wide), broadly ovate yellowish green leaves resemble those of the London plane (Platanus × hispanica). They are variable in shape but are generally tri-lobed, forward pointing toward the apex, with cordate bases. Often the acuminate lobes are twisted, adding to the distinctive foliar texture of this plant. In the spring the leaves unfold in the manner of hands in prayer and then turn a glorious yellow in the autumn. The flowers are white and appear in late June along the undersides of main horizontal branches often hidden by the verdant foliage. They are borne in 1- to 4-flowered cymes from the leaf axils of the previous year's growth. Each flower consists of 6 petals narrowly strap-shaped and slightly twisted, forming a corolla tube at the base. Each petal reflexes to the midpoint to expose the bright yellow stamens and style. The pendulous, fleshy, egg-shaped fruit, coloured porcelain blue to dark violet, provides a stunning contrast to the golden fall leaf display.
The larger leaf variants occur widely throughout the species' native distribution, growing as an understory shrub in Japan with a host of ornamental forest dwellers such as Cornus kousa, Lindera obtusiloba and Helwingia japonica. The huge natural range of this plant could provide horticulture with a broad spectrum of ornamental variation and environmental tolerance.”
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 4:05 AM| Comments (5)
June 20, 2005
Phyteuma humile
This plant is commonly known as horned rampion - no, I do not make these names up! If you were to visit the Dolomites at high elevations, you might see it tucked close to the ground - it's only 10 cm high or so.
It is a member of the Campanulaceae, or bellflower family. Plants in this family can be found in nearly every part of the world, with the exception of tropical Africa, Antarctica and northern Greenland (source).
Most of the Campanulaceae, including Phyteuma, are herbs, but there are woody plants. Unfortunately, many woody Campanulaceae are threatened or endangered. A sad statistic is that 25% of the woody Campanulaceae once native to Hawaii are now extinct (Mabberley, The Plant-Book 2nd ed., 1997).
Tomorrow, I'll begin a five-part special series on Botany Photo of the Day.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (10)
June 19, 2005
Banksia baxteri
Today's photograph was contributed by a co-worker, Eric La Fountaine. If you participate on UBC Botanical Garden's discussion forums, you'll know Eric as a frequent contributor and helpful administrator.
Eric visited Australia last year, and snapped this photograph of bird's nest banksia (also known as woollybear banksia (or not, see comments)). Banksia baxteri grows natively in tall shrublands with sandy soils along the south coast of Western Australia. This region is one of the world's “biodiversity hotspots”.
We've successfully (if temporarily) grown species of Banksia at UBC, and to our knowledge, the flowers we saw on Banksia marginata in 2002 and 2003 were the first occasions that a Banksia has flowered in Canada. Sadly for us, the plants were tender to the harsh winter of early 2004 and have since died. That hasn't stopped Brent Hine from acquiring other banksias which he believes will be hardier - all in the spirit of science and horticultural experimentation.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (11)
June 18, 2005
Grindelia chiloensis
On occasion, I like to share more than one photograph about a plant - this is one of those days. The previous occasion was Babiana ringens, if you're new to the site.
Gum plant, or as it is known in its native Patagonia, Bóton de Oro (gold button? - someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks Dana for the correct translation - it means “golden blossom”) contains high levels of resin in its leaves (hence the English common name), so much so that it has been researched for potential use in industrial applications. The resin contains a class of hydrocarbons known as terpenes.
I think it's fair to say that the general consensus is terpenes are quite foul-smelling (Nope, I'm wrong! See floater's comments below this post. Thanks for the correction!). If you visit UBC's Alpine Garden or see this plant elsewhere, touch the white glossy surface on the flower heads (note of caution: I'd avoid doing so if you are allergic to rubber or latex). It has a gummy texture, although from its appearance you'd think it would be slimy. If you smell your fingertips after, I think you'll find yourself mildly disgusted. As an aside, I wish that the language of smells was easier to evoke, so I could be more descriptive.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:06 AM| Comments (12)
June 17, 2005
Anchusa officinalis
Spikes, racemes, corymbs -- these are a few of the many types of inflorescences. Of all the different possibilities for the arrangement of flowers, my favourite is this: the helicoid cyme, an inflorescence often seen in members of the borage family.
This common bugloss grows in UBC's Physic Garden, which is thematically centred on ancient European medicinal plants (hint: whenever you see a specific epithet on a plant that says “officinalis” or “officinale”, you can be assured that it was used in herbal medicines hundreds of years ago by Europeans).
Update (June 17, 2005 9:30 AM PST): Dr. Scott Russell at the University of Oklahoma, author of the daily (and highly recommended) Scott's Botanical Links, sent me a note with the news that Botany Photo of the Day was highlighted by the Internet Scout Project in this week's “The Scout Report”. A reader of The Scout Report (which you can subscribe to via email), Tim, also sent along the news. Thanks Scott and Tim!
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:22 AM| Comments (6)
June 16, 2005
Yucca baileyi var. navajoa
Bang! I was inspired to photograph this alpine yucca after Judy Newton, UBC Botanical Garden's soon-to-be-retiring education coordinator, featured it in a lecture on Tuesday. Despite being native to New Mexico and Arizona, this plant does quite well in our well-drained alpine garden. Not the typical sort of plant one expects to see in Vancouver!
Yuccas have only one group of pollinators: yucca moths. The two sets of organisms have a special kind of relationship called obligate mutualism, in which both organisms benefit from each other, and indeed rely on each other - if one were to go extinct, the other would follow.
The yucca moths are highly specific pollinators for the yucca (not just any insect will do!), so they are necessary if seed production is going to occur. While pollinating the flowers, the yucca moths also lay their eggs. The hatched moth larvae are picky eaters, only feasting on developing yucca seeds (and leaving quite a few behind to germinate into new yucca plants). In short, no yucca seeds, no yucca moths. No yucca moths, no yucca seeds.
If you're interested in further reading on the topic, I'd suggest reading Tegeticula, the yucca moths from The Tree of Life Project, as well as the web page of Dr. Olle Pellmyr from the University of Idaho. Dr. Pellmyr has published a paper asserting that there is evidence to believe that the yucca - yucca moth obligate mutualism relationship has existed for forty million years.
In other news, the latest edition of Tangled Bank is out: Tangled Bank #30 via The Geomblog. Tangled Bank is a “gathering of science weblogs” that promotes the best science weblog writing on a bi-weekly basis (and now switching to weekly). The Botany Photo of the Day submission for this edition was the entry on Raoulia australis, since I figured a shape-heavy photograph would have at least a little relevance to a weblog devoted to computational geometry.
Lastly, I hope everyone reading this is alright with the moderation of comments. For yesterday's photograph, about 25% of the comments were spam, but none of them slipped through because I deleted them before they were made public. I'm not going to moderate out criticism and pointed questions (both of which were received yesterday), but I am going to try and keep out anything inappropriate.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:51 AM| Comments (22)
June 15, 2005
Lonicera 'Mandarin'
Featured by Martha Stewart in 1999 as one of her “Plants of the Month”, Mandarin honeysuckle is a UBC Botanical Garden Plant Introduction. While at UBC, Dr. Wilf Nicholls crossed Lonicera tragophylla and Lonicera × brownii 'Dropmore Scarlet', and 'Mandarin' was the result. Dr. Nicholls is now the Director of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Botanical Garden (and a kinder man you cannot meet).
If you are interested in horticultural or gardening information about 'Mandarin', a factsheet for nurseries was made by UBC Botanical Garden. It's available online: Lonicera 'Mandarin'.
I hinted yesterday that today's plant would be in the same family as Linnaea borealis - well, things have changed from how I learned these plants! While Lonicera remain in the Caprifoliaceae, researchers have determined through studies in the late 1990s and early 2000s that Linnaea is too distantly related to the main members of the Caprifoliaceae, so it ought not be in the same family as the honeysuckles. Instead, twinflower is part of a family that is named after it, the Linnaeaceae.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (39)
June 14, 2005
Linnaea borealis
Commonly (and aptly) named twinflower, this is one of my favourite plants. For me, it provokes memories of when I started to learn about botany and plant names, as it was one of my early “discoveries” in the woods near my home.
As I mentioned in a previous entry, the epithet borealis refers to “of the north”, and fittingly, this is a plant of the boreal forests of the northern hemisphere. The genus name, Linnaea, refers to the scientist Carolus Linnaeus, the “Father of Modern Taxonomy”.
Twinflower is a small shrublet, reaching perhaps 15cm (6in.) in height. The stems creep along the ground of coniferous forests, creating small mats of evergreen leaves awash in pink when in flower. I've only noticed it in soils with seeping near-surface water, but it apparently can also grow in sites that are quite dry.
A couple words I'd use to describe this plant are dainty and subtle. Tomorrow's photograph will feature a plant in the same family that is anything but dainty or subtle.
Update (June 15, 2005 12:02 AM PST): While reviewing the relationships between the various members of the honeysuckle family (to which I thought Linnaea still belonged), I see that Linnaea is now a member of a family named after it: the Linnaeaceae. So, the picture for June 15 still features a relative, but a more distant one perhaps than originally suggested.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:45 AM| Comments (30)
June 13, 2005
Fabiana imbricata f. violacea
Believe it or not, this Chilean plant is in the same family as the previously featured Iochroma australe, and therefore a relative of tomatoes and potatoes. As I mentioned a few days ago, we are surrounded by amazing diversity; botanical gardens are great places to appreciate that.
There seems to be much confusion as to whether this lilac-flowered form is actually a cultivated selection (in which case the name would correctly be Fabiana imbricata 'Violacea' - this is how it is often sold), or whether it has been scientifically published and described as being a naturally-occurring form (hence forma violacea). We've opted to use the latter at UBC, despite not being able to verify that the plant was ever properly published under that name, because a few well-respected information sources like the RHS Plantfinder suggest it.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:40 AM| Comments (8)
June 12, 2005
×Halimiocistus wintonensis 'Merrist Wood Cream'
It doesn't have the longest plant name in UBC Botanical Garden, but it comes close. As you can guess from its cultivar name, Merrist Wood Cream rockrose is the yellowish flower with red markings. The purple flowers are a type of Spanish lavender, Lavandula stoechas subsp. pedunculata, I think.
Why the × in front of Halimiocistus? It's there to denote that this is a hybrid between two genera (an intergeneric hybrid), Halimium and Cistus. Typically, hybrids are between two species of the same genus (an interspecific hybrid), and in those cases, the × symbol to denote a hybrid is placed between the generic name and the epithet, like so: Rosa × odorata.
The Cistus and Halimium web site goes into some detail about this rockrose, as does Paghat.
In Botany Photo of the Day news, I was kindly emailed by Sharyl to inform me that Botany Photo of the Day was the Yahoo! Pick of the Day for June 10, solving the mystery about all the web site traffic from Yahoo!. Fred (thanks, Fred) also emailed me to let me know that Botany Photo of the Day was added to the front page of Refdesk in the “Daily Pictures” section, nestled among daily photos from organizations that are anywhere from five to a thousand times larger than UBC Botanical Garden. Humble thanks to both of those sites, and I hope we at the garden can continue to live up to those standards.
I know this is getting long, but I do want to reiterate for new readers that Botany Photo of the Day owes much credit to two people: Tim Bray, who seeded the idea in a technology lunch we had at the garden; and Dr. Quentin Cronk, the garden's director, who has fostered a garden that allows seeds of ideas to grow.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (10)
June 11, 2005
Lilium columbianum
Columbia lily is native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. Fittingly, this plant is located in UBC's Native Garden, alongside the main path. If you are able to step in to the garden sometime in the next couple of weeks, be sure to stop by this plant and drink in the fragrance (the lilies are also starting up in the Asian Garden).
Dr. Richard Hebda, Curator of Botany at the Royal BC Museum, has written a Natural History Research Paper on Lilium columbianum. Dr. Hebda writes that the bulb of the plant apparently has a peppery taste, and was used by First Nations for flavouring, much like the modern use of garlic.
Photo note: I didn't use the “flower photographer's trick” of spraying with a mist bottle to produce water droplets; they were already there from afternoon showers.
As a final note, if you are one of the hundreds of people reading Botany Photo of the Day because it was featured in a Yahoo! Group email sent on Friday, please drop me a line to let me know the name and purpose of the group, as well as the name and email of the mailing list admin so I can send her or him a thank you note.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (9)
June 10, 2005
Raoulia australis
Before I get into the details of this New Zealand native, a word about australis / australe since the word appeared yesterday as well. Contrary to what I've read on some nursery sites, this is not Latin for “of Australia”, but rather for “south”, as in the southern hemisphere. Aurora borealis - northern lights, Aurora australis - southern lights: that's how I remember it.
To put this plant in context, you first need a few more facts than what this image can provide. Start by checking out this perspective image of Raoulia australis, which will give you an idea of just how small this vascular plant really is when you compare it to the nearby gravel. Second, you need to know that this plant is in the family Asteraceae. Third, you also need to know that the Asteraceae also includes sunflowers, which are perhaps two thousand times as high as this little mat-forming plant. For comparison's sake, that's roughly the difference between my height and the tallest building in the world doubled.
If you're like me, you can only marvel, simply marvel, at the amazing diversity of forms and structures that have evolved.
So what are the ecological advantages of being low and small? In this case, I suspect it has to do with prevention of water loss. Raoulia australis, or scabweed, grows in dry, rocky areas of the South Island of New Zealand, ranging from high coastal elevations to alpine. Mat growth forms are ideal for water conservation: a low surface area prevents wind dessication; water requirements for nutrient transportation are low due to compact growth; and, in this case, water is “stored” in the peaty decaying layer of older leaves below the fresh growth instead of draining away into the rock or sand. In the perspective image, you can see a black fringe surrounding the mat, particularly the bottom left - these are exposed decaying leaves. It seems to me that this might be an indication that the plant is not doing well, and is contracting instead of expanding.
I only took this photograph at the prompting of Joe Keller from the Alpine Garden Club of BC, who said it would make a great “Stumper” for UBC's online forums. The calibre of the people on the forums is just too good though, and it was answered by the second person to reply. Stumpers is a new forum where the most active forum members can challenge everyone's plant knowledge by asking a plant-related question with only a few clues. Yes, we're plant geeks, but it's fun, and everyone can learn something.
If you've read this far, you deserve a reward. Here's a near full-size image of Raoulia australis for you to use (subject to the Creative Commons License, of course).
Update (June 10, 2005 9:45 AM PST): Two small bits of book-keeping. First of all, I was displeased to note that a trackback ping from an unsavoury site was received only a few hours after posting this, so I've taken off trackbacks for the time being. Second, thanks to Neil for pointing out to me that relative links don't work in Bloglines (and I assume some of the other feed services), so I've made the necessary changes.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (11)
June 9, 2005
Iochroma australe
Another beauty from South America (the woods of Argentina and Bolivia), there are a few plants of “mini angel's trumpet” in the Alpine Garden. Conventional wisdom was that this plant would only be hardy to -5°C, but it survived the winter two years ago which dipped to -13°C. Admittedly, much of the above-ground part of the plant died, but it seems to have recuperated.
Iochroma is a member of the plant family Solanaceae, one of my favourites. I can't help but admire a group of plants that includes potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, hot peppers and deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna).
A few notes for locals. First, tomorrow is the last day for commenting on the proposed Vancouver-UBC Transit Plan through the online workbook. If you haven't already, please consider adding your input after reading that page.
Secondly, the Vancouver Garden Show starts today and runs until Sunday, (warning if you visit the web site: it doesn't render correctly in Firefox and there are a number of typos, but you can still get the relevant info from the site). Despite the web site, the positive buzz I've heard from people setting up exhibits is that the garden show is returning to its roots, meaning a renewed emphasis on plants and gardening. Attending is a great way to support VanDusen Botanical Garden. I'll be checking it out myself. Also, if you want to step in and say “Hello”, I'll be volunteering at the UBC Botanical Garden booth on Sunday at 2pm.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:22 AM| Comments (13)
June 8, 2005
Sinocalycanthus chinensis
Quite a few gardens and nurseries cite this commonly as the Chinese sweetshrub, but I prefer the name used by Dr. Gerald Straley, Chinese wax shrub. The tepals of the flower are rather thick and, as you guessed from my preferred common name, waxy in texture.
You can see an end-on perspective of the fruit of Sinocalycanthus chinensis posted on the garden's discussion forums.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:08 AM| Comments (1)
June 7, 2005
Embothrium coccineum
Despite there being roughly eight thousand different taxa of plants at UBC Botanical Garden, only a precious few are remarked upon year after year in the lunchroom. The first magnolia blossom in spring. Melliodendron xylocarpum. And this, Embothrium coccineum, from the Alpine Garden.
If you don't know this plant, it will perhaps not surprise you to learn that it is commonly known as Chilean fire bush. The colour, I think, is anything but common, though. It's difficult as heck to photograph well - the reds are so strong that they are often blown out.
This is also one of those plants that gets me excited about the future at UBC every time I think of it (Embothrium creates a vivid enough memory that one doesn't have to see it to recall the experience). UBC Botanical Garden was never “completed”. Any gardener will agree that a garden is never finished, but when I say never completed, I mean that the original design of the gardens (at their modern site) from the early 1970s ran out of funding and areas were left either fallow or planted without an overall landscape scheme in mind.
When the time is right, these sorts of areas represent opportunities for a garden. The time is right. One of the planned new gardens is an Araucaria Grove, featuring the flora of South America: an en masse planting of monkey puzzle trees, punctuated by southern beeches (Nothofagus spp.), exotic South American bamboos and, of course, a number of Chilean fire bushes. It's going to be bold and beautiful.
If you're inclined and able, there are a number of ways you can support the garden and help make gardens like the Araucaria Grove a reality, some of them only requiring a moment or two of your time. Every little bit helps.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:02 AM| Comments (4)
June 6, 2005
Meconopsis betonicifolia
Yes, this is a repeat entry; a flower from the same group of plants was the Photo of the Day on May 28, 2005. Still, I think it's worthwhile to compare the two photographs, as the flowers are in different stages of maturity.
The May 28 photograph illustrates bluer petals, developing anthers (the orange oval-shaped structures) without any evidence of pollen, and a stigma (the fuzzy central surface) and style (the slender structure below the stigma) coloured an unexposed-to-sunlight green.
Contrast that flower with this one, perhaps a day or two further along in its development. The petals have faded in colour, although I suspect some of the difference in blueness is due to the ambient light conditions. As well, masses of orange-red pollen have erupted from the mature anthers, while the female stigma and style appear to have accumulated sunshine-transforming chlorophyll and are consequently greener in colour.
Within another day or two, the faded petals will fall off, along with the spent stamens (the anthers and their supporting filaments). The pistil, which includes the stigma, style and blimp-shaped ovary bearing the fertilized ovules, will change from hanging downward at the angle shown in the photographs to being borne upright.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:31 AM| Comments (1)
June 5, 2005
Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum'
One of approximately one hundred different kinds of maples grown in UBC Botanical Garden, golden fullmoon maple stands out from most others at this time of year, if colour is the criterion. About two minutes after I took this photograph, the evening sun hit this plant at an angle that made it glow (“photographer's light”). By the time I'd set up the camera again and waited for a suitable gap in the light breeze occurring, the light had changed enough that the bottom line of leaves was in shadow. Needless to say, I was slightly disappointed.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:38 AM| Comments (3)
June 4, 2005
Maianthemum oleraceum
Thanks to the convergence of powerful computers, molecular phylogenetics and statistical techniques, a tsunami of change is being experienced in the field of plant systematics. The understanding of the evolutionary relationships between different plants continues to advance, and as that occurs, the conventions scientists use to communicate about the plants must change. Since the names of plant taxa (a grouping of related plants, e.g., similar species or similar families) are one of those conventions, used to symbolically represent relationships between different groups, advancing knowledge often means scientific name changes.
This plant is an excellent example of name changes during relatively recent times. Fifteen years ago, I would have likely learned this beautiful plant as Smilacina oleracea in the plant family Liliaceae. To this day, if you would like to purchase this plant from a nursery, that's the name you'll need to use in your communications. Perhaps five years ago, I would have learned the plant as Smilacina oleracea in the family Convallariaceae, or maybe as Maianthemum oleraceum in the same family. Within the past two years, thanks to intensive study of many of the plants in the traditional Liliaceae, the current understanding of this species is that it is a member of the family Ruscaceae, and it is properly named Maianthemum oleraceum. Will it change again? Perhaps.
I'm comfortable with the notion that the names of plant species can change. I think that it not only communicates a rich scientific history, but that it also represents the dynamism of science: the to-ing and fro-ing of ideas and arguments on how to best reflect reality and truth. Yes, it's messy. It's certainly uncertain. But, life is like that.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:14 AM| Comments (1)
June 3, 2005
Magnolia sieboldii
An intimate look at the flower of Siebold's magnolia, also known as Oyama magnolia. Magnolia flowers are thought to closely resemble those of the first flowering plants; a spiral arrangement of floral parts, floral parts that are unfused, and stamens that are not differentiated into anthers and filaments are some of the similarities between magnolia flowers and ancient flowers from the fossil record.
Unlike Arthur Evans and Charles Bellamy, I've an inordinate fondness for pendulous flowers (though beetles are cool!). Flowers that hang down, though, can be the most challenging to photograph, if one's goal is to illustrate some of the floral parts. Magnolia sieboldii isn't so bad - at least some of the flowers hang at eye level or below, and the plant is dense enough that you can photograph into the tree without the sky blowing out.
Styrax japonicus, on the other hand, is difficult. Every year I try and photograph it, every year I'm only mildly pleased at best with the results. The good thing about photography at a botanical garden as opposed to the travelling to photograph is that there's always next year...
As an aside, Botany Photo of the Day and the UBC Botanical Garden Weblog were featured on MetaFilter yesterday via Steven (aka plep). MetaFilter is one of the premier community weblogs in the world, so that was a welcome surprise.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:17 AM| Comments (1)
June 2, 2005
Scilla peruviana
Photographed in the Alpine Garden during the early morning. Despite the specific epithet “peruviana”, this plant is actually native to the western Mediterranean. The common names are frustratingly wrong: Cuban lily. Peruvian lily. Caribbean lily. Star of Peru. It does grow “wild” in those places, but that's because it has been introduced and naturalized (there and elsewhere!). For the interesting history of this plant, I recommend visiting Scilla peruviana on the Mediterranean Gardens Society site
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:46 AM| Comments (3)
June 1, 2005
Trillium grandiflorum
One of the reasons for greater plant diversity in the deciduous hardwood forests of eastern North America compared to the coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest is light penetration to the forest floor. If you've hiked some of the old growth or second growth coniferous forests in British Columbia, you'll know that there can be very few plants growing beneath the trees throughout the year, perhaps only the occasional saprophytic orchid or straggly huckleberry.
This photograph, taken in the deciduous forest of the Old Baldy Conservation Area along the Niagara Escarpment in Ontario, illustrates the opposite. In early spring, before the trees have fully leafed out, the first wave of perennials grow and flower, such as these large-flowered trilliums (more on trilliums). Later in the year, summer sunlight dapples the forest floor, and another wave of flowers bloom. Finally, as the tree leaves colour and begin to fall, asters and goldenrods flower to complete the annual parade of herbaceous colour.
Sam Roberts, also the photographer of Conopholis americana from last week, contributed this photograph. I've set up an area in the garden's discussion forums for Botany Photo of the Day Reader Submissions, if you are a participant on the forums. If you would like to contribute using Flickr instead, I'm still in the process of setting that up (thank you and apologies to Jennifer, who kindly emailed me with an offer of help last week - I'm sorry I haven't replied yet, but I'll be in touch soon!).
Update (June 1, 2005 2:40 AM PST): The latest edition of the Tangled Bank is out, Tangled Bank #29, and it features the Botany Photo of the Day entry on Kadsura interior. For those of you who aren't familiar with Tangled Bank, it is a semi-weekly showcase of science-based writing in weblogs, hosted by a different weblog every edition. It's a great way to discover other weblogs, and well worth a visit.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (0)
May 31, 2005
Coprosma petriei
This is not a wheat field, despite its superficial resemblance to an early morning landscape in the rolling hills near Swift Current, Saskatchewan. The tiny violet in the middle of the photograph suggests you're looking at something much smaller in scale. Indeed, this patch of turfy coprosma is perhaps one of the densest concentrations of flowers in UBC Botanical Garden - I'd estimate ten thousand in a square metre, maybe more.
Coprosma petriei is a coffee relative. It's a mat-forming shrub, native to New Zealand. Although Coprosma is typically associated with New Zealand, members of the genus also occur in the islands of Polynesia, Australia, the Juan Fernandez Islands of Chile and Hawaii (e.g., Coprosma ernodeoides).
This particular plant is female: you can see a close-up of the twin stigmas of the flowers in this photograph of Coprosma petriei (for close-ups of both male and female flowers of Coprosma, scroll down the page on Coprosma ernodeoides linked above).
You can see this plant in the Australasian section of the Alpine Garden. Like yesterday's photo of the day, this is another plant that leaves a memory when touched. I'm not certain how best to describe it, but brushing your hand lightly across the stigmas is worth a second of your time.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (0)
May 30, 2005
Rhododendron campanulatum
I'm very pleased with this photograph. Accurately capturing the blue-green colour on the upper surface of the leaves was the challenge, and I think I was successful.
Rhododendron campanulatum is a showstopper of a rhododendron, grown in cultivation primarily for its foliage. The blue-green colour on the upper surface of the new leaves is due in part to a thin layer of hairs. Brush off the hairs with your finger, and you discover a typical glossy green upper leaf surface underneath. The bottom of the leaves are a tactile treat - there, the velvety hairs grow so thick that rubbing your fingers along them is like touching a beaver felt hat. This isn't your everyday sort of sensation. As the leaves age, the hairs on the upper surface are lost, while the velvety hairs below turn colour from the white seen here to fawn then finally to cinnamon. The velvety hairs are collectively known as the indumentum.
Speaking of colours, check out Beautifully Blue. This is from a botany weblog which I discovered today: Art and the Bryophyte, run by Julie Ryder and Dr. Christine Cargill in association with the Australian National Botanic Gardens.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (0)
May 29, 2005
Lupinus sp.
Update (Feb. 28, 2006 2:13 PM PST): Changed accession number on entry to reflect Brent's comments below.
Ideally, every plant in a botanical garden should be identified and named. Sometimes, for any of a number of reasons, the ideal is not reached.
This lupine is a good example. Wild collected in Patagonia in the early 1980s, it is labelled (and in our database) as Lupinus sp. aff. mutabilis. The original assessment of the plant was that it resembled Lupinus mutabilis, but the collector was not willing to affirm its identity one hundred percent.
For twenty-three years now, this plant has quite happily grown in the South American section of the Alpine Garden. In that time, none of the staff or researchers have been able to decipher its true identity due to a gap in our library. Generally we'd need either a comprehensive guide to either the plants of Chile and / or Argentina (a flora) in our library, or, alternatively, a scientific work that describes the Lupinus of the region or the world (a monograph). Without a step-by-step key to identify plants in the genus Lupinus of that region, any moniker we attach to the plant is scientifically known as a “guess” - and makes the plant even less valuable to researchers. In the case of using plants for research, it is better to be uncertain than to be wrong. So, for the time being, this plant remains a beautiful mystery.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (3)
May 28, 2005
Meconopsis betonicifolia
Well, waking up at 5:30 AM yesterday morning was worth it, photographically-speaking. The early morning light was magnificent, and the garden is both quiet (except for all the birds) and filled with fragrance at 7 AM. It seems like it is the only way to take good botanical photographs during hot summer days and evenings, so I'll be switching my sleep patterns a bit.
The Himalayan blue poppies are just one of the many delights right now, although it seems to me there are fewer blooming this year than in previous years. The genus Meconopsis is found typically in the mountains of southeast Asia. There is a disjunct species in Wales and western England, Meconopsis cambrica. The people at the Meconopsis Group think it is doubtful that this disjunct species will remain a Meconopsis with a taxonomic re-examination. In the Asian Garden, you can find some plants flowering here and there at this time of year, although the largest patch of hybrid Meconopsis is yet to bloom near the fallen grand fir at the far end of the garden.
I promised that I would make a small request of local residents in today's photo of the day entry. Here it is: A Request for Help. In summary: the garden has been without adequate public transit service for three years. The plan for the next five years is to maybe have a shuttle bus that stops at the garden in the summer. It's frustrating and deflating, because (speaking unasked on behalf of the staff and volunteers), we have so much to share and so many people who want to share at the garden, and yet it is planned to have us continue to be difficult to access. We've ten thousand plants with stories to tell at the garden, and while the stories can be told through venues like the Photo of the Day, they still need to be experienced (P.S. The contest from a few days ago is still open).
Anyway, if you're a local (or a tourist who uses public transportion) and can spare a few minutes to add a few comments in support of restoring year-round public transportation to the garden after reading through that piece, I'd be much obliged.
Update (May 28, 2005 11:02 PM PST): Jordi from Spain wrote to me today to request a larger version of this file for desktop wallpaper. So here it is: Meconopsis betonicifolia, at two-thirds the size of the original photograph. The photo is not perfectly in focus, a fact which is revealed more strongly at larger image size - but that's just an excuse for me to try again. If you do want to use it as a desktop wallpaper, and have Photoshop, I recommend making it purposefully more blurry or alternately running a few passes of unsharp masking on it.
Also, I've substantially changed some of the text to add a few more links and more detail on some facts.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:37 AM| Comments (4)
May 27, 2005
Dodecatheon pulchellum
Photographed a few weekends ago in Merritt, BC.
Sorry, only the shortest of blurbs today - I wasn't able to post last night, and it is now very early AM, so I'm going to take advantage of being up so early and I'm out the door to go photograph!
I promised to make a request of local residents in today's post, but I won't be able to do it -- early morning light beckons -- I will make the request with tomorrow's post, though.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 5:44 AM| Comments (1)
May 25, 2005
Conopholis americana
Today marks another first for the Botany Photo of the Day - first photograph from someone not affiliated with UBC. This photograph was forwarded to Judy Newton, the garden's education coordinator, from a personal friend to see if Judy or someone else at the garden could identify the plant. With a little help from Holmgren's “Illustrated Companion to Gleason & Cronquist's Manual of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada”, we were able to positively identify it as Conopholis americana (usually, I post emailed ID requests to our Plant Identification Discussion Forum so everyone can learn but since it is being shared on Photo of the Day, that isn't necessary).
Conopholis americana is commonly known as American cancer-root, and is distributed throughout eastern North America. This photograph is from a few days ago, and was taken in Frozen Head State Campground near Wartburg, Tennessee by Sam Roberts. American cancer-root is a member of the plant family Orobanchaceae, and like most members of that family, it lacks chlorophyll and is wholly parasitic, in this case stealing nutrients from the roots of woody forest plants. Some orobanchaceous plants are only partly parasitic with a partial reliance on chlorophyll, like Castilleja, featured previously on Photo of the Day (and originally posted incorrectly under its previous family name, Scrophulariaceae).
Apparently, the ancestral plant of this family was either non-parasitic or partially parasitic, as it seems the strategy of being completely parasitic evolved on more than one occasion within the family (for references, see the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group entry on Orobanchaceae).
As I mentioned earlier, this is the first photograph on the Botany Photo of the Day by someone not affiliated with UBC. I think it'd be a good idea to continue with this and perhaps make it a once-a-week feature. It would help mix up the images a little more in terms of style and content, as well as de-emphasize the Pacific Northwest of North America. I'm thinking of setting up a couple systems - a Flickr tag as well as an area on the garden's discussion forums where people can submit photos for review. There'd have to be a few common-sense conditions, like “it has to be your photograph”, “you have to be comfortable with the Creative Commons license used” and “there's no guarantee your photo will ever be used”, but I don't think they'd be a barrier for most people. Would anyone be interested in contributing?
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (3)
May 23, 2005
Calypso bulbosa
The first duplicate entry on Botany Photo of the Day, I previously wrote about Calypso bulbosa on May 2, 2005. Still, I couldn't resist sharing this photograph - it is the first time I've ever seen the plants congregated so closely together. It's also interesting to me because it shows the plants in various stages, from fully-emerged flowers to flowers which are senescing.
Photograph taken north of Princeton, BC on May 16.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (1)
May 22, 2005
Erythronium grandiflorum
Yellow glacier lily from Manning Provincial Park last weekend. It started to snow while I was taking this photograph, so I was taking pictures quickly and without my usual tripod. I wasn't too keen on being caught at the top of the mountain with an icy downhill road (and no one else likely to venture up the side of the mountain that afternoon / evening), so I didn't spend as much time there as I would have liked.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (4)
May 21, 2005
Delphinium nuttallianum
Photographed last year near Merritt, BC (with a different camera than usually used for the Botany Photo of the Day). My visit to the same site last weekend was a week too early, as only a few had started to bloom. I was hoping to get a photo en masse, because it was exciting to see the blue ribbons on the dun hillsides, but I suppose it will have to wait another year.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (2)
May 20, 2005
Castilleja hispida var. hispida
Updated Oct. 10, 2006 at 2:39PM local time: I had this incorrectly identified as Castilleja miniata. It is actually Castilleja hispida var. hispida, as corrected by Mark in the comments. Thanks Mark!
This red paintbrush was photographed near Merritt, BC, last weekend. The red parts of the plant are not actually petals, but modified leaves (bracts).
Apologies for the brief commentary for today (and the next few days), as I'm out of town.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (3)
May 17, 2005
Phlox diffusa
Spreading phlox forms mats of flowers at mid- to high elevations. This photograph, taken at roughly 1500m (@ 4900 feet) above sea level, was the lowest I observed the plant, while driving up the switchbacks on the side of the mountain capped by Blackwell Peak in E.C. Manning Provincial Park. Phlox diffusa can have flowers in colours ranging from pink to lavender to white, and the full diversity of colour was seen at this roadside site.
As an aside, I'd like to thank Steven (aka “plep”) for mentioning the Photo of the Day in his Monday, May 16th list of links. Steven compiles and reviews high-quality cultural, historical, literary and scientific web sites every weekday on his site; I like to think of his site as “The Journal of the Human Endeavour”. Well worth a visit.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (1)
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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.