Flowering Plants (04)
September 22, 2005
Akebia quinata
Updated Sept. 22, 2005 at 8:50am: see comments re: seedling establishment in recent years.
Long-time readers of Botany Photo of the Day will recall a previous photograph of the female flower of this plant. Here is an image of the fruit taken five months later, from the Alpine Garden at UBC.
Five-leaf akebia, or chocolate vine, is native to southeast Asia. Introduced in 1845 to the eastern United States as an ornamental, Akebia quinata has revealed a tendency to be invasive in that region (all of the groundcover in that photograph). The individual plants at UBC are prolific growers (though almost 20 years old), but seedlings have never been noted and seedlings have now been noted in recent years (see comments) despite favourable conditions nearby.
I've disturbed the fruit in the lower mid-left to show the black seeds. The gelatinous substance surrounding the seeds is edible, and tastes mildly sweet.
In BPotD news, I think the email notification is fixed regarding yesterday's future-dated postings problem. I'll confirm that it's working sometime in the next few days. If you're an email subscriber, you missed yesterday's posting on Hordeum jubatum, so please be sure to read it (the first comment also has an explanation of the future-dated postings problem).
Also, during correspondence with Apple, I learned that they felt that the Botany Photo of the Day Widget is best categorized under “webcam” (and they've moved the Astronomy Picture of the Day Widget there), so here's the direct link: Botany Photo of the Day Widget. If you're a Macintosh Tiger user, download and install it to get BPotD on your Dashboard daily!
Photography resource link: For inspiration, the photography of Ross Wordhouse, self-proclaimed “panoscape” photographer.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:04 AM| Comments (13)
September 21, 2005
Hordeum jubatum
These are scanned seeds of Hordeum jubatum, commonly known as foxtail barley or squirreltail barley. Lauren Brown, in “Grasses - An Identification Guide”, writes “Considered beautiful by botanists and a noxious weed by ranchers because the bristles pierce animals' tongues and can cause serious injury”. As you might surmise, this grass is listed as a noxious weed in many states and provinces with ranchland.
The long swirling parts are variously awns (bristle-like growths extending from the lemma) or long glumes. The family Poaceae has its own set of inflorescence terminology, illustrated succinctly on this page, though a bit on the small side. A larger, but more diagrammatic version, can be seen here (scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “spikelets” under Poaceae).
I should mention two other things: 1) the scale at the bottom of the photograph is in millimetres; and 2) this scan was done by Eric La Fountaine, and yes, the seeds were carefully placed.
Botany resource link: In case you missed it in yesterday's comments, Dr. Tom Volk (University of Wisconsin - Lacrosse) has compiled a huge online resource for fungi, including the Fungus of the Month.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (1)
September 19, 2005
Hedychium coccineum 'Tara'
A big thank you to “Weekend Gardener” of Coquitlam, British Columbia, who submitted this photograph via the Botany Photo of the Day Submissions on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Much appreciated!
'Tara' ginger lily has been the subject of debate among Hedychium taxonomists: Hedychium coccineum 'Tara' or Hedychium gardnerianum 'Tara' or a hybrid? I won't go into a discussion of the topic, because it is covered in detail here, but I will mention that this photograph was submitted as H. gardnerianum 'Tara', while I've chosen to use what we've settled on at UBC with the plants in our collection, H. coccineum 'Tara'.
The long-exserted stamens and stigmas of the flowers of this genus hint at an interesting pollination mechanism. In most flowers, pollen attaches itself to the main body of the insect. In Hedychium, however, pollen transfer occurs via the wings of moths and butterflies. The lepidopterans brush their wings against the floral parts as they move from flower to flower seeking nectar, spreading and pollinating as they go. (source: Zomlefer's “Guide to Flowering Plant Families”, 1994).
For a gardening perspective on Hedychium coccineum 'Tara', check out RHS Rosemoor Garden's Plant of the Month for October 2004, complete with cultivation and propagation information.
Botany resource link: Scott's Botanical Links. If you're the sort of person who likes daily botanical offerings, you will likely enjoy Dr. Scott Russell's Botanical Links. Since 1996(!), Dr. Russell of the University of Oklahoma has shared a link to a botanical resource, with accompanying commentary and a rating. Email and RSS feeds available!
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:30 AM| Comments (5)
September 18, 2005
Ulmus parvifolia 'Seiju'
The species Ulmus parvifolia grows to 20m in its native southeast Asia, but this dwarf cultivar, 'Seiju' Chinese elm or 'Seiju' lacebark elm, will only reach 2-3m under the best of conditions. In this case, though, the physical restrictions on growth caused by being planted in a trough likely means this tree will not grow much beyond its current size. 'Seiju' is a sport selection of Ulmus parvifolia 'Hokkaido'; 'Seiju' is differentiated by its larger leaves and faster rate of growth.
Trough gardening has long been associated with growing alpine plants, including dwarf trees and shrubs. If you're interested to learn more about troughs, check out this article on trough gardening for tips on how to build a trough and selecting appropriate plants. On the topic of alpine plants, the Alpine Garden Club of British Columbia is holding its Fall Plant Sale on September 25 - always plenty of interesting plants available!
Photography resource link: Understanding Histograms via The Luminous Landscape's Tutorial Series. Nine times out of ten, I look at the histogram after taking a photograph and decide from that whether I need to take another photograph with a different exposure. How important is this? Well, the article concludes with: “It's the greatest invention since the built-in light meter”.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:13 AM| Comments (3)
September 17, 2005
Agastache aurantiaca
I would call this orange hyssop, but this plant is generally sold as orange hummingbird mint (you can guess which name would likely sell more plants). It's native to Mexico, but grows on mountains, so it performs well as a perennial in more temperate climes. Like most members of the genus Agastache, its foliage is aromatic when crushed, but I wasn't able to identify a related scent to be able to describe it to you. I've read “anise” and “licorice” used to identify the scent, but that wasn't my experience.
Botany resource link: Illustrations of Carex spp. (sedges) from Mackenzie's “North American Cariceae”. UBC Botanical Garden received Mackenzie's two-volume set as a donation yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised to find the illustrations from this magnificent work available online.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:37 AM| Comments (2)
September 16, 2005
Oenothera macrocarpa subsp. fremontii 'Lemon Silver'
As you can tell from this photograph taken in the Alpine Garden a couple days ago, autumn is arriving. There are, however, many flowers still in bloom locally, including this cheery 'Lemon Silver' Fremont evening-primrose.
Pollinated by hawk-moths at night, flowers of the species Oenothera macrocarpa open in the evening and begin to close the following morning, lasting only the one day (see Reproductive biology in Onagraceae (Raven, 1979) for a comprehensive examination of how plants in this family reproduce, including mechanisms that they employ to ensure outcrossing). I've added a close-up photograph of the flower, so that you can see the cross-shaped stigma, typical of many plants in the family Onagraceae (see more examples in the Oenothera Image Gallery).
I promised a BPotD announcement for users of the Macintosh Tiger Operating System (10.4). Here it is:
I'm grateful to Steve Milano (aka Do-Boy Software) and BJ Heinley (aka Built By Robots) for teaming up and producing a very slick Botany Photo of the Day Widget! (BPotD widget mirror on the Do-Boy Software site). If you are wondering what a widget is, visit Apple's site for a demo.
If you are a Macintosh Tiger user, you can download the Botany Photo of the Day Widget directly from here (UBC site - no worries about bandwidth) or here (Do-Boy Software site). The BPotD widget has been accepted by Apple in its catalogue of widgets, but right now it's listed in the “webcam” category, so the link to it is likely going to change. Still, you can download it from Apple's site by following Widget Browser -> Just Added -> Botany Photo of the Day Widget. The advantage of downloading from Apple is that the widget might find its way into the Top Ten, giving the widget a much higher profile (and frankly, it deserves to be in the Top Ten - Steve and BJ did top-notch work!). Thanks Steve and BJ!
In other news, one of the small joys of running a weblog is discovering who is linking to you. I was pleasantly surprised to see a weblog in Andorra (a country of 70500 people) linking to BPotD: La imatge del dia, where, if my translation of Catalan is correct, the poster states, “and the newest [of daily image sites], but incredible, Botany Photo of the Day”. Thanks for the compliment!
And in yet more BPotD news, I've installed a “Commenter Email Whitelist”, which is good news for frequent commenters. I have always considered comment moderation a necessary evil; although most of the over ten thousand spam comments I've received over the past five months have been blocked by the various tools I use, a few still slip through that are only caught by comment moderation. The whitelist allows me to flag known commenters as “trusted” and in no need of moderation. So, I've started to do that for some people who have commented frequently. The best way to find out if you are on the whitelist is to comment. If you're not on it and you're a frequent commenter, please don't be offended - I've certainly missed some people in the first round. If you're not on it and don't comment often, the only way to get on is to comment frequently enough that I begin to recognize your name and email address and I will eventually add you.
Photography resource link: Petteri Sulonen's Mastering Wide-Angle tutorial illustrates the different techniques required for the challenges and complications of wide-angle photography. Wide-angle photography is very alluring to me, but disheartening so far - my ratio of “keepers” to junkers is very low.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:46 AM| Comments (5)
September 15, 2005
Mammillaria elongata 'Crest'
Much to the chagrin of zombies everywhere, this is not —and I quote— “BR-R-R-RAIN-NSss”, but rather a “brain cactus”. This is a morphological variant of the species Mammillaria elongata DC., or golden star cactus. The distinct morphology of this and other brain cacti, known as cristate or crested growth, is caused by an apical meristem gone awry.
The shoot apical meristem is the site of growth that elongates the plant. It's located at the growing tip (apex). In the case of this cristate variant, the apical meristem no longer performs cell division from a single point. Instead, the formation of new tissue occurs as cells divide laterally from an elongated meristem. For another example of cristation, see this photograph of a cristate saguaro cactus (you can also read some speculation on the whys of cristation in saguaros: Crested Saguaros - What is the Rhyme or Reason? in PDF format).
As you can tell, this is a “studio shot”. This cactus is one of roughly one hundred different kinds of plants for sale at this year's Indoor Plant Sale (more information). UBC's Friends of the Garden have been enthusiastically running this event for twenty-eight years. As far as I'm concerned, it's the best selection of plants I've seen yet (I've seen six sales), and the selection includes some particularly striking carnivorous plants. Please consider attending today or tomorrow, if you're a local reader. All funds raised support research and education at the garden.
In BPotD news, there'll be an announcement tomorrow for Macintosh Tiger users.
Botany resource link: Linked above, Cal's Plant of the Week (by Cal Lemke of the University of Oklahoma). Cal is the botany greenhouse grower, so the plants he features tend to be tropicals; the site is a good complement to BPotD for that reason, since it is rarely convenient for me to feature such plants.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:43 AM| Comments (10)
September 14, 2005
Ericameria nauseosa
Updated February 24, 2006 at 2:17pm PST: Changed name from Chrysothamnus nauseosus to Ericameria nauseosa after reviewing Nesom, G and Baird, G. 1993. Completion of Ericameria (Asteraceae: Astereae), Diminution of Chrysothamnus. Phytologia. 75(1): 74-93. – Daniel
First of all, welcome to new readers who are discovering Botany Photo of the Day via their local public library! One of the providers of “information portals” to public libraries has selected Botany Photo of the Day as a “hot link”, so there's been a boost in new visitors from libraries across North America.
On to the plant: common rabbit-brush is distributed throughout western North America. It's a shrubby, wood-forming member of the aster (or sunflower) family, yet another display of the diversity of form and structure within this family (for more on that topic, see the entry on Raoulia australis). Perhaps not surprising, considering that the Asteraceae contain over 10% of the dicotyledonous plant species in the world.
Ethnobotanically, I note that it has been used to treat sore throats, colds and coughs. Also mentioned in that link is that it was used as chewing gum, which I'll try next time I encounter it. I have already tried another historic chewing gum, pine resin - I doubt that this could be worse.
I should mention for the sake of being complete that some taxonomists have placed this species in the genus Ericameria instead of Chrysothamnus, so after I review some of the literature, I may have to change the name of this entry.
Astute observers will note that tonal differences between the two photographs. The colour difference is attributable to one photograph being taken in direct sunlight, the other when a cloud passed by overhead.
Lastly, there will be a couple BPotD announcements in the next two weeks, at least one of which will be a “goodie” that some readers will be able to take advantage of.
Nature / Photography resource link: Photographs tagged with “Burns Bog” via Flickr seems an appropriate link given that I mentioned the fire two days ago. The still-burning fires are front page news locally and have made the national news.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:47 AM| Comments (9)
September 13, 2005
Aeonium arboreum 'Atropurpureum' (tentative)
This image is courtesy of Michael from Washington, DC, a frequent (and appreciated) commenter on BPotD images. He submitted this photograph via the BPotD Submissions on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Readers of the thread where Michael submitted his photo will note that this is a tentative identification.
The genus Aeonium is distributed throughout the Canary Islands, Madeira, Morocco and eastern Africa. This photograph of “'Atropurpureum' shrubby aenium” was taken in San Jose, California, where it is obviously growing very successfully in a climate similar to its native one. Each of the succulent stems will flower and fruit only once and then die back; in a single word, the plant is monocarpic.
Botany / Photography resource link: Photo Gallery for The Ruth Bancroft Garden of Walnut Creek, California. Oodles of images of succulents, particularly from Africa.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:33 AM| Comments (4)
September 11, 2005
Ribes sanguineum
The fruits of red-flowered currant are edible, but not particularly palatable - it's best to leave them for the birds. Other gooseberries and currants are better choices for those with an appetite.
The family for Ribes, the Grossulariaceae, is an “exception to a rule” of botanical nomenclature. In most instances, the name of a plant family is based off the name of a valid genus within the family, e.g., Rosaceae and Rosa or Salicaceae and Salix. However, even though the genus Grossularia is no longer recognized as a separate taxonomic entity, the Grossulariaceae as a family name has been nomenclaturally “conserved” due to (I'm assuming with these) long-standing use of the name and the anticipated disruption a change in the name would cause.
Botany resource links: The online Atlas of Canada has several ecological maps of interest to Canadian botanists, including maps of Endemic Plant Diversity and Rare Plant Diversity.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 4:45 AM| Comments (2)
September 10, 2005
Allium turcomanicum
When onions are permitted to seed, this is the result. This species is native to Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, and is rare in cultivation (the UBC Alpine Garden is one of the few places it can be seen). The genus Allium contains approximately 1250 different species, including the wild progenitors of culinary requisites such as garlic, leeks and chives.
Photography resource links: Although I didn't use them for this photograph, nearly half of the images I take for Botany Photo of the Day utilize reflectors. What difference does it make? View the articles Using Reflectors and Diffusers for Macro Photography and All Day Macro Photography to see comparisons of photographs with and without reflectors. Both articles are written by Jim Erhardt of Nature Photographers Online Magazine.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 5:17 AM| Comments (1)
September 8, 2005
Xanthoceras sorbifolia
Xanthoceras sorbifolia is native to China. This species has been noted by others as a good garden plant, an assessment which I'd say we provisionally agree with at UBC (via informal conversations about the plant with horticulturists and curators).
Commonly known as yellowhorn, it is a member of the soapberry family, and hence closely related to maples, horse-chestnuts and lychee. For a photographic overview of a traditional taxonomic understanding of the family (i.e., without maples and horse-chestnuts), see the Sapindaceae by Dr. Gerald Carr of the University of Hawaii.
Photography / Marine Life resource link: Marine Life of the Northeast Pacific showcases underwater photography by two divers, Jon Gross and Keith Clements. There are a few algae (fulfilling this weblog's botanical mandate), but the majority of images are of animal life. On the oceanic theme, here's another plug for the weblog Deep-Sea News.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (1)
September 7, 2005
Arisaema consanguineum
I've dipped into the archives for today's photograph. The original out-of-camera image is here, and if you compare the two (ignoring the tighter crop of this image), you'll note that this image is sharper and cleaner. I ran it through some of the digital processing tools I now use to see if it could be improved, and I think it is.
From our interpretative sign for this plant: Aroids (the family Araceae) produce a characteristic spathe and spadix flower arrangement. The woodland aroid, Arisaema consanguineum, has a purple-green spathe with narrow, white, vertical stripes and a hood with a filamentous tail-like tip. The spathe encloses the club-like spadix (itself extended by a whiplash tail), which has all over its surface hundreds of tiny flowers. In late summer, the spathe withers and exposes a head of tightly packed red-orange berries. The species, native over much of eastern Asia, is one of nearly two dozen arisaemas in the David C. Lam Asian Garden at UBC Botanical Garden.
You can see more photographs of Arisaema consanguineum (including the spathe and spadix flower arrangement) via the web site of the International Aroid Society.
Photography / Photoshop resource link: Image Processing Workflow via The Luminous Landscape. It's not the workflow that I do, as I rely on plugins and tools to accomplish some of what is outlined, but when I first started dipping my feet into processing digital images, tutorials like these proved invaluable to understanding the fundamentals.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:36 AM| Comments (10)
September 6, 2005
Hemerocallis 'Penny's Worth'
With over eighteen-hundred cultivars listed in the Royal Horticultural Society's Plant Finder, it is not unwarranted to say that daylilies are among the most popular of garden plants (for a little game, see if you can find any other genera of plants with higher numbers of species and cultivars - I found one). Not coincidentally, daylilies are also among the most photographed of plants, so I'm under no illusion that I'm sharing something radically different today.
For a comprehensive look at daylilies, visit the American Hemerocallis Society web site. Highlights include a dictionary of daylily terminology and a list of frequently asked questions about daylilies, including “Why is the daylily the perfect perennial?”
Botany resource link: Since it is back-to-school for most children locally, I thought I'd point out something to share with youngsters: Missouri Botanical Garden's Biomes and Aquatic Ecosystems of the World.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 5:14 AM| Comments (1)
September 5, 2005
Cynara scolymus
This globe artichoke, photographed in the Food Garden at UBC, is past its harvest date. Despite the gastronomic loss, allowing the 15cm wide composite flowers to bloom offers a visual delight.
Photography resource link: Sharpening 101, a tutorial by Thom Hogan on what I believe to be the most important “digital darkroom” technique.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:16 AM| Comments (1)
September 4, 2005
Stachys byzantina 'Silver Carpet'
If you were to lightly rub the leaves of this plant, you'd understand why it is commonly known as lamb's ears. This was photographed last week in the trough section of the Alpine Garden, during a light rain.
Botany resource link: The Wikipedia entry for the leaf is a great introduction to understanding leaves and leaf terminology.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:43 AM| Comments (0)
September 3, 2005
Lupinus sulphureus subsp. kincaidii
(Quentin Cronk, Director of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research has kindly offered to guestblog today -- Daniel)
A crabspider (Misumena vatia) is here seen capturing a bumble bee (Bombus sp.) on the rare Kincaid's lupin (Lupinus sulphureus subsp. kincaidii) in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Kincaid's lupin is interesting as it is the host of the even rarer Fender's Blue Butterfly. The lower flowers of the Kincaid's lupin are turning brown. Surprisingly, this is natural pigmentation and not an indication that the flowers are dying. Another rare plant of the Willamette Valley, the thin-leaved peavine (Lathyrus holochlorus), has the same brown colour in the petals but both the function and the biochemical basis of this trait are unknown. Photographs of some of the Rare and Endangered Plants of the Willamette Valley are available online, thanks to the Institute for Applied Ecology. The Willamette Valley in Oregon is a fertile mosaic of drained farmland interspersed with remnant wetlands of immense nature conservation importance.
(I'm adding this part -- Daniel). Nature resource link: David Neiwert, a Seattle-based freelance journalist, has posted a written and photographic account of his recent experience with killer whales near Vancouver Island. A bit off-topic for this weblog, perhaps, but I can't help but share this fine piece of nature writing.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 5:45 AM| Comments (2)
September 2, 2005
Euphorbia myrsinites
Donkey-tail spurge or myrtle spurge is a study in perspectives. From a gardening point of view, you see a structurally-interesting plant that is drought-tolerant and ignores poor soils. In fact, the Royal Horticultural Society has given this species its Award of Garden Merit.
The relative ease in which it grows and propagates itself in a garden setting, however, is a red flag for qualities associated with a potential invasive under the right conditions, and thus a plant of concern to ecologists and conservation biologists. It has indeed displayed invasiveness; it is listed as a “noxious weed” in the states of Washington, Oregon and Colorado (source: USDA Plants Database). However, the invasiveness potential seems to be restricted to the western USA. The distribution map shown as part of the Plants Database marks no plants in the wild in Missouri, even though it seems to be a popular garden plant in that state.
Photography resource link: For inspiration, the photography of Eric Fredine. Prairie water landscapes, something I consider a “fresh” subject for photography. One challenge of many photographs is to not take pictures of the “same old, same old”. Eric's accomplished that.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (30)
September 1, 2005
Lilium philadelphicum
Wood lily is the provincial flower of Saskatchewan, and this entry marks that province's centennial today. Apologies to Alberta and its concurrent centennial celebrations, but I don't have an image of a Rosa acicularis (prickly wild rose) to share.
According to “Plants of the Western Boreal Forest and Aspen Parkland”, First Nations people used the underground bulbs, seeds and flowers (!) as food. The bulbs, it is noted by the authors, are “strong-tasting, peppery and bitter — definitely an acquired taste!”, but the authors make no mention of the taste of the flowers. I'm mildly curious about what of the flowers was eaten, and how it would taste, but not curious enough that I'd contribute to the decline of local populations by picking a flower. Overpicking of the flowers for amenity has led to a perceptible decline in the numbers of Lilium philadelphicum near human-settled areas.
As an aside, this also marks the one hundred and fiftieth Botany Photo of the Day entry.
Botany / photography resource link: Images of Diatoms from the University College London's Micropaleontology Unit. My favourite is Lyrella lyra. Scroll to the top of that lengthy page to learn more about these algae with siliceous skeletons.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:10 AM| Comments (5)
August 30, 2005
Aconitum uchiyamai
Like all monkshoods, this Aconitum contains aconitine, a lethal neurotoxin. Recognized for over two millenia as one of the strongest poisons, it is not surprising that accounts of aconite surface often in mythology.
This particular species is native to Korea (and planted in the UBC Asian Garden), though the genus is distributed throughout the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and subtropical southeast Asia.
Botany resource link: From Florida State University, Microscopy of Thin Tree Sections features microphotographs of wood from North American trees. I find them compelling both scientifically and artistically. One of my favourites is the cross-section of Tilia americana (basswood).
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (0)
August 29, 2005
Cypella herbertii
“Goblet flower” is an iris-relative native to eastern South America. Each blossom lasts only one day, but an established plant can produce hundreds of flowers in a single summer. As it is also easy to grow, it is no wonder that this plant is a favourite of bulb enthusiasts.
Photographed yesterday afternoon in the South American section of the Alpine Garden, its orange tones mirror the seasonal shift in colours now perceptibly occurring in the garden.
Interested in other iris relatives? Check out Mauro Peixoto's Iridaceae of Brazil or Rodney Barton's North and South American Native Irids.
Photography resource link: Learning Photo Composition is a tidy assemblage of images illustrating some “compositional rules” of photography. The author of the site, John Harvey (a local photographer), has also written a few other pieces on Learning Photography.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:34 AM| Comments (3)
August 28, 2005
Gentiana septemfida var. lagodechiana
Kind regards to Jim, aka “Hairy Potter”, who used the Botany Photo of the Day Flickr Group Pool to submit this photograph from his Vancouver area garden.
I've mentioned before on this weblog that my interest in plants began with my parents and family. One memory that I recall in particular is my mother taking me to see a patch a roadside gentians near our home. It was something special, made moreso because I've never noted gentians to be particularly abundant anywhere I've travelled (I've not been to the mountains of Europe and Asia Minor). Then again, perhaps it is precious to me because I've not been able to see the patch since; the landowner nearby began to dump his lawn clippings (full with spruce needles) in the ditch where they once grew. In any case, thanks Jim for eliciting the memory.
Crested gentian is a member of the Gentianaceae, a family with a near-cosmopolitan distribution. Although this plant family is perhaps associated by gardeners in temperate climates with Europe and North America (due to the horticultural popularity of the genera Gentiana, Swertia and Eustoma), its centre of biodiversity is in Central and South America (source: Gentian Research Network).
Photography / nature resource link: Since I mentioned family outings to see nature, I thought I'd share something my aunt forwarded to me on the topic: Last Child in the Woods, an argument by artist Robert Genn that what kids need is a “dose of nature”.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:23 AM| Comments (5)
August 26, 2005
Fallopia japonica
Updated September 2, 2005, 1:27AM PST: I've read some of the published works about this plant, and I'm now inclined to believe the argument that it should be Fallopia japonica, so I've changed the name and body of this entry.
My home is near a decommissioned “yard and garden waste dump”. This has one small advantage for me; whenever I want to photograph a local weed or invasive plant, I'm pretty much guaranteed to find it nearby -- and in quantity. In the wide-angle shot, you can see three of southwestern British Columbia's worst invasives on the slope of a berm: Rubus armeniacus (Himalayan blackberry), Cytisus scoparius (Scotch broom) and today's plant, Fallopia japonica (Japanese knotweed).
Biologist Dr. Jennifer Forman Orth has created a web site devoted to Japanese knotweed. The site includes details on this plant's many scientific and common names, appearance throughout the year and control measures. Another site with excellent information is the UK-based Japanese Knotweed Alliance.
Nomenclaturally, it is noteworthy that the scientific name for this plant seems not to be agreed upon by taxonomists; North Americans generally use Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. & Zucc. (but the Flora of North America does not), while Europeans tend to use Fallopia japonica (Houtt.) Dcne. The distinction centres on whether the genus Fallopia is recognized scientifically and genetically as being distinct from Polygonum. For the time being, I've opted to use the “North American” Polygonum cuspidatum out of convenience, until I can read some scientific papers on the subject and confirm or switch the name of the entry. From what I've read, I'm now swayed that Fallopia japonica should be used.
Botany / conservation resource link: Invasive Species Weblog. Another web site by Dr. Orth, the Invasive Species Weblog tracks the spread of invasive species around the world. From my perspective, there are few other science webloggers as inspiring as Jenn (I can call her that since that's how she posted her name in a comment on the BPOTD entry for Lonicera 'Mandarin'). Since early 2002, she has written almost daily about the impact of invasive species on natural communities. To top it off, her writing style makes the subject matter approachable by people of any biological background, from none to expert.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:29 AM| Comments (17)
August 23, 2005
Picea glauca and Arceuthobium pusillum
White spruce is typically a tree of the boreal forest (although not exclusively). In Manitoba, it can be seen at the southern limit of its range in Spruce Woods Provincial Park (map / satellite), 75km southeast of Brandon. Many of the spruce trees in this population show signs of a phenomenon commonly called witches' broom, seen here at the base of the dying left-most tree and mid-height in the centre (dead) tree. The right-most tree seems to be uninfected (for now).
The cause of witches' broom in these trees is another vascular plant, Arceuthobium pusillum, or eastern dwarf mistletoe. After germinating on the twigs of the spruce tree, this parasite invades the host with root-like structures that penetrate into the bark and wood of the spruce branch. These endophytic structures absorb nutrients from the host plant, both weakening the tree and altering the normal hormonal regime. This change in hormones is the stimulant for the abnormal growth of witches' broom. For more information, see the USDA Forest Service's Forest Insect and Disease Leaflet Number 158 or the life cycle of Arceuthobium from the Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Parasitic Plants course.
Botany resource link: Common Tree Diseases of British Columbia. This is perhaps too localized of a resource for some readers, but it is chock-full of information and photographs.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:26 AM| Comments (4)
August 22, 2005
Euphorbia donii 'Amjilassa'
Grown from seed collected by the Kew, Edinburgh, Kanchenjunga Expedition to northeastern Nepal in 1989, the cultivar name for this spurge is the same as the name of the Nepalese village from where it was nearby collected. This plant was then introduced into cultivation by Thompson & Morgan Seed Company via an agreement with RBG Kew. For background on the species name and cultivation information, see (subscriber access only) Sinnott, Mike (2004). Plate 484. Euphorbia donii 'Amjillasa' Euphorbiaceae. Curtis's Botanical Magazine 21 (1), 39-44.
Wayne Armstrong explains the inflorescence of this plant, known botanically as a cyathium.
Photography resource link: Photo.net's Photo of the Week Gallery. Always good for inspiration.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:29 AM| Comments (1)
August 21, 2005
Agastache rupestris
Threadleaf giant hyssop or “root beer plant” is native to Arizona and New Mexico. I didn't crush the foliage of this plant (as I usually do with a mint family plant), so I can't confirm the accuracy of the root beer plant moniker.
Although most species in the genus Agastache are native to North America (including Mexico), at least one member of the genus is native to southeast Asia. It is a relatively rare floristic distribution pattern for there to be more species in North America than in Asia when a genus occurs on both continents, but other genera that share the pattern include Trillium and Lesquerella (see: Qian, Hong (1999). Floristic analysis of vascular plant genera of North America north of Mexico: characteristics of phytogeography. Journal of Biogeography 26 (6), 1307-1321).
Botany / Evolution resource link: Understanding Evolution. Billed as “an evolution website for teachers”, the site has broad appeal as an excellent primer for anyone wanting to an introduction to evolutionary biology.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:53 AM| Comments (4)
August 20, 2005
Roscoea sp. EN.2489
Photographed yesterday evening in the Asian Garden, Roscoea is one of the few members of the Zingiberaceae (the ginger family) that can be grown outside of tropical / subtropical climates, owing to the fact that it is a high altitude plant in its native range. The name of the genus honours William Roscoe, an English lawyer, politician and botanist. Roscoe was also the founder of Liverpool's first botanic garden.
Photography resource link: Boring Photographs is an article by Petteri Sulonen on the art of photography. Sulonen: “Something horrible tends to happen to people when they suddenly realize that the camera they hold can produce things that are pretty in and of themselves. They suddenly stop making interesting pictures -- the pictures that fill their albums, tell stories, evoke emotions, preserve memories. They go into a rictus of squeezing out endless flower macros and portraits of ducks.”
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:46 AM| Comments (8)
August 19, 2005
Eschscholzia californica
Today's photograph is courtesy of Juliane, another contributor to the Botany Photo of the Day Flickr Group Pool. Thanks Juliane!
The state flower of California, California poppy is also the most widely-distributed species of the genus: its range extends north to Washington state and south into Mexico. Both the genus Eschscholzia and this particular species were named and described by the German poet and botanist, Adelbert von Chamisso.
The California of Chamisso's time, the early 1800s, would have looked quite different from the California of today. According to Conservation International's Biodiversity Hotspot site, the naturally occurring vegetation of the California floristic province is today only a quarter of its original extent, due to commercial farming and (sub)urbanization. Over two thousand plant species can only be found in this ever-declining area, including most of the other members of the genus Eschscholzia.
Botany / Photography resource links: Two links today! First of all, the superlative Human Flower Project is a weblog that explores the cultural link to flowers -- “how people live through flowers”. The entry on Feral Flowers, Cultured Eyes led me to this site: Feral Flowers, by photographer Richard Dickey. Richard's photographs are both breathtaking and heartbreaking; breathtaking because they reveal rare and ephemeral beauty, but heartbreaking because most of the land featured in the photographs is threatened by development. Recall that three-quarters of the California floristic province has been lost already...
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:49 AM| Comments (9)
August 18, 2005
Coryphantha vivipara
Thanks to _Eskay_, a contributor to the Botany Photo of the Day's Flickr Group Pool, we get to enjoy this image of a pincushion cactus (or beehive cactus) flower.
The specific epithet for Coryphantha vivipara refers to one method the plant employs to reproduce, albeit vegetatively: vivipary, or reproducing by producing buds which grow from the main body of the plant, drop off and become new plants.
Taxonomically speaking, the Cactaceae family is challenging, which I've noted to be typical for a plant family with a relatively recent evolutionary origin. As the writer for the Cactaceae account on the web site of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group points out, “Depending on the author, the number of genera in the family varies by a factor of ten, the species by a factor of two...”
Photography / Photoshop resource link: I know I linked to “The Luminous Landscape” a few days ago, but I think it's also valuable if I highlight specific bits from resource sites occasionally. Want to make your images pop off the screen or print? This tutorial on local contrast enhancement in Photoshop is a darn good solution. Almost every photograph on Botany Photo of the Day that I've taken has gone through this simple alteration. After running the process, I also do Edit -> Fade Unsharp Mark and adjust the slider to judge how much of the effect to apply. One warning, though - if the image already has areas that are highly saturated with colour, the effect might be over the top.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:29 AM| Comments (4)
August 17, 2005
Rudbeckia 'Herbstsonne'
If you look up this plant via a search engine, you'll find there are at least three names bandied about for it: Rudbeckia laciniata 'Herbstsonne', Rudbeckia nitida 'Herbstsonne', and the one I've used, Rudbeckia 'Herbstsonne'. From what I've been able to determine so far, this plant is purported to be a cross between Rudbeckia laciniata and Rudbeckia nitida, so neither of the first two names can be valid, as they imply that only one species is in the genetic background of the cultivar. I'm still trying to verify that it is indeed a cross, though.
In any case, 'Herbstsonne' coneflower is a relative of the commonly-known black-eyed susan. Rosie Lerner at Purdue University has a small article on Rudbeckia that includes a comparison photograph of the two plants grown together. BBC Gardening also has some information about Rudbeckia 'Herbstsonne' from a gardening perspective.
In Botany Photo of the Day matters, I want to thank those of you who've submitted photos to the Flickr pool or the garden's forums. I'll be featuring a few of those photographs over the next few days, since I hadn't used any while I was on vacation or the past catch-up week.
Botany Resource Link: What is a Cultivar? via the Australian Cultivar Registration Authority
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:40 AM| Comments (0)
August 16, 2005
Bouteloua gracilis
Perhaps my favourite grass, blue grama is native to much of North America. Despite being relatively common, it still delights me everytime I see it, at least in part because of the chaotic, pointing-in-every-direction spikes. Although not as economically important as grasses such as wheat, rice, oats or barley, it is a valuable rangeland plant and an attractive drought-tolerant ornamental.
I didn't quite get the effect I wanted with this photograph (I wanted more of the spikes set against the sky), but I was already on my stomach with the camera on the ground, so I suppose I would have needed to dig a hole to get the camera any lower. Such are the restrictions of photographing a low plant.
Photography / Conservation Resource Link: Why It's Good to Talk - an article by Niall Benvie discussing the need for collaboration between nature photographers and scientists: “... photographer Daniel Dancer has ... characterised the objectified, sumptuously-lit portraiture that fills so many nature calendars and books as eco-porn. This type of idealised imagery is imbued with a sense that nature is there simply for us to enjoy and that we are excused any moral obligations towards it other than "saving it" for our continued amusement. Scientists can provide the harmony to the photographic melody, in the process finding a voice for the communication of their ideas and concerns.” Benvie continues on to explain the concept and strategy of “photo-lobbying”.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (4)
August 14, 2005
Parnassia glauca
The genus Parnassia is sometimes thought to be a member of the saxifrage family due to Cronquist's scheme for classifying flowering plants. However, molecular evidence has confirmed the systems of other taxonomists (see Parnassiaceae): Parnassia is not a saxifrage, but rather a member of its own family. In fact, it is now understood that it is actually in a separate order (a classification grouping that can contain many families) from the saxifrages - the Celastrales instead of the Saxifragales.
Henrietta Chambers of the Oregon Flora Project writes about the changes in classification (along with more information about the genus) in this article about Parnassia in Oregon. The plant photographed here does not grow in Oregon, though - fen grass-of-Parnassus has a distribution within the northeastern states of the US and eastern provinces of Canada.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:39 AM| Comments (5)
August 12, 2005
Hydrangea robusta
Photographed yesterday in the David C. Lam Asian Garden at UBC, this hydrangea is a favourite for its “lilac-dusted leaves” caused by petals falling from the senescing flowers. The effect is barely visible in this photograph, but if you are sharp-eyed, you can spot it on some leaves in the lower left of the plant. Long-time readers of Botany Photo of the Day might also recognize the Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum' previously featured in June.
From The Jade Garden:
The name Hydrangea comes from the Greek hydro meaning “water” and angeion, meaning “a vessel”, in reference to the dehiscent seed capsules, which are shaped like a Grecian water jar.
The Flora of China's written account of Hydrangea robusta is accompanied by an illustration of the seed. If you're curious, compare that drawing with a photograph of a Grecian urn to see if you agree with the literal meaning of Hydrangea.
As an aside, I note that in Keats' “Odes on a Grecian Urn”, the poem ends with 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty'--that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.. Was it inspiration for Botany Photo of the Day's tagline of In science, beauty. In beauty, science. Daily.? Not consciously, I promise.
In UBC Botanical Garden news, the mythical monster has arrived (mentioned cryptically in the BPOTD entry on Vaccinium 'Northland'). Check out Minotaur Unleashed! for a photograph and information about this temporary art installation, part of the Vancouver Sculpture Biennale.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:03 AM| Comments (9)
August 10, 2005
Salix sp.
“Pine-cone willow gall” is caused by a gall midge, Rhabdophaga strobiloides. This dipteran (related to flies and mosquitoes) deposits an egg in the developing terminal leaf buds of the willow in early spring. The larva releases a chemical which interferes with the typical leaf and branch development of the willow, instead causing the formation of this cone-like structure. The adult dipteran emerges the following spring, after having spent the winter in the gall.
Check out a few more photographs of pine-cone willow gall via the Cornell Plant Pathology Herbarium or read more about galls courtesy of the Michigan Entomological Society. Douglas Justice has also identified the phenomenon in the past on the garden's discussion forums.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:20 AM| Comments (5)
August 9, 2005
Liatris ligulistylis
Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) were in abundance during my recent visit to Manitoba. While the caterpillars feed exclusively on milkweeds (Asclepias spp.), the butterflies have a more varied palate for sources of nectar. Perhaps most favoured of the many flowers that the butterflies visit are species of Liatris (the “blazing-stars”), such as this meadow blazing-star.
Dr. Tom Barnes of the University of Kentucky writes in an article on attracting butterflies with native plants (of Kentucky!) that Liatris ligulistylis emits a specific odour for attracting monarchs. I wish I would have known that prior to my trip, as I would have patiently waited for a monarch imbibing nectar from one of these flowers for a photograph. Next time.
If you're a gardener, Kim Hawks of Brooklyn Botanic Garden has some good advice on growing Liatris.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:47 AM| Comments (4)
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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.