Flowering Plants (07)
February 11, 2006
Abeliophyllum distichum
Depending on your perspective, Abeliophyllum distichum is either a rarity or fairly common. If you are familiar with the plant from a horticultural or gardening background, white forsythia is used ornamentally for its spray of white flowers in late winter / early spring (Paghat has a good gardening write-up for white forsythia). However, from a scientific perspective, Abeliophyllum distichum is rare indeed. Restricted to seven known sites in Korea, its future is tenuous. Yong Shik Kim and Mike Maunder have written an excellent account of the species and its history.
Botany / art resource link: If you've some spare time this weekend, you could do worse than spending it on the Rare Books from the Missouri Botanical Garden Library. Also, it's the first time I've seen a garden other than UBC use some of the web-based services or tools available. They've been using del.icio.us to tag the illustrations for annotation and filtering. Oddly enough, I had the same idea for BPotD yesterday after seeing a demo of a soon-to-be-released service while at Northern Voice. I'll add a reminder that I currently use del.icio.us to keep track of all the BPotD resource links.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:47 AM| Comments (3)
February 10, 2006
Brassica oleracea [Botrytis Group] 'Purple Cape'
![Brassica oleracea [Botrytis Group] 'Purple Cape'](http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/cauliflower_purple_cape-thumb.jpg)
I mentioned sacrifice in the Eurya japonica entry a couple of days ago. For today's photograph of 'Purple Cape' cauliflower, I had to step into the raised beds in the Food Garden. Thankfully, the smell from the manure applied to the beds wasn't as potent on Thursday as it was when freshly applied on Tuesday (the day I initially sought out the cauliflower for a photograph). I'm trying to recall when Tony Maniezzo (the horticulturist who is responsible for the Food Garden) originally suggested a photograph of this cauliflower. Was it Monday afternoon or was it after the application of manure on Tuesday...?
'Purple Cape' cauliflower is a heritage variety. The country of origin is apparently disputed (either South Africa or Italy), though it was first introduced to England circa 1808.
On the topic of heritage seeds and plants, this year's Seedy Saturday events are starting in communities across Canada (I see my old hometown is holding one tomorrow!). Seedy Saturday is a series of independent public events held for the purposes of swapping heritage seeds (thereby helping to preserve them) and learning about agricultural heritage and biodiversity conservation.
In BPotD news, I'm speaking about Botany Photo of the Day in two upcoming conferences. The first is this Saturday at Northern Voice (held here in Vancouver), where I'm part of a panel on Blogging in Education. The second conference requires a bit more travel: Museums and the Web 2006, being held in Albuquerque from March 22 to 25.
The reason that I mention the latter now is because I'm taking two weeks off on either side of the conference to travel through (and photograph for BPotD) Oregon, California, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, western Idaho and eastern Washington. I'm planning to leave a lot to fortune on the trip (esp. the weather since the itinerary will be tight); it already looks like I struck out with the desert wildflowers this year. As Phillip mentioned in the BPotD comments recently, there is a record dry spell in Arizona. Despite not having brilliant displays of colour or rain-induced rarities in some places, I'm sure there will be plenty of interesting plants and landscapes along the way. If you have suggestions for (accessible) sites to visit in any of those states, I'd be interested to hear from you. I'll be travelling by car (so no off-roading), but day hikes to exceptional sites are okay.
Photography resource link: For inspiration, Photographs of Lyme Regis, Devon and Dorset by Lois Wakeman – purposefully subtle, yet more compelling for being so.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:06 AM| Comments (9)
February 9, 2006
Eriophyllum lanatum var. lanatum
Thanks to Sheila Williams who sent along this photograph of woolly sunflower. Sheila and a friend kayaked to the Ada Islands last summer (close to the Winchelsea Islands, near Nanaimo, British Columbia). There, they discovered these treasures.
Eriophyllum lanatum also has a more whimsical common name: Oregon sunshine. It is native to western North America, growing from seaside elevations (as seen here) to 3500m (~11500 feet).
The classification of Eriophyllum lanatum and all of its subspecies, varieties and forms has historically been messy – at one time, over seventy-five different names had been applied to what is now roughly recognized as ten morphological varieties. Unfortunately, the need to apply a name to any particular plant masks the biological reality. Eriophyllum lanatum is a species complex – a group of closely-related intergrading taxa.
Species complexes are ideal groups to study the processes of evolution, as the entities involved may be undergoing speciation into distinct entities, i.e., new species. In the intervening time, however, it can be a nightmare to put a name to these intergrading entities; a biological name is intended to represent something that can be clearly delineated, and members of species complexes often defy clear delineation. Still, on the edge of this plant's native distribution where the inflow of new genetic material is restricted by distance, distinct entities can be more easily recognized, hence the assertion that all of British Columbia's plants are of the variety lanatum. At the centre of the range in California, however, things are more complicated. Entities morphologically intergrade and can produce hybrids, though there can be barriers to the latter: see Mooring, J. 2001. Barriers to interbreeding in the Eriophyllum lanatum (Asteraceae, Helenieae) species complex. Am. J. Bot. 88:285-312.
Botany / photography resource link: Photographic Atlas of Plant Anatomy – a compilation of hundreds of categorized plant anatomy images from the research and teaching careers of Dr. John Curtis and Dr. Nels Lersten, with help from Michael Nowak. Even if you don't understand what you are looking at, the images of plant tissue and cells at the microscopic level has a beauty all its own.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (11)
February 8, 2006
Eurya japonica
Let it never be said that I do not make sacrifices for BPotD. To get this close to a eurya in flower requires setting aside the urge to leave quickly. In the garden's interpretative sign for Eurya japonica, the scent is described as “exceptionally malodorous”. I think I can go one step (but not two) beyond that here – part of the scent is metallic in nature, like that of wet rust or tin. It is safe to assume that the odour of the flowers is the reason for the removal of the eurya growing near the doors of the Shop in the Garden. This was done as part of a recent redesign of the garden's front entrance.
During the process of confirming the family information for this genus, it became apparent that the interpretative sign requires an update. On the sign, the plant is described as a camellia relative – this is now only true in a broad sense. A combination of recent molecular work and a review of the morphological properties has clarified the evolutionary relationships of Eurya, such that placing it in the Theaceae (the tea or camellia family) is no longer supported. Instead, the Pentaphylacaceae is a far better fit. I note with some interest that the Pentaphylacaceae have the familial property of being aluminum accumulators; I wonder if there is a correlation between the scent of the flowers and that property.
Botany resource link: It's been a resource link before, but it certainly deserves the honour of being the first site to receive a second mention – Scott's Botanical Links celebrated ten years of entries yesterday. Since February 7, 1996, Dr. Scott Russell of the University of Oklahoma has been compiling a list of botanical resources on the web. I highly recommend subscribing to the site via email or the RSS feed.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:23 AM| Comments (2)
February 7, 2006
Hamamelis ×intermedia 'Fireglow' and Evernia prunastri
Updated February 7, 2006 at 4:06pm: Thanks to Doug who suggested some alternatives to my tentative identification in the comments, I went out and re-examined the lichen. I'm now reasonably confident that this is Evernia prunastri and not what I misidentified it as, Platismatia stenophylla. I think it's an opportune time to remind you that I'm more interested in having the correct information available to BPotD readers than I am in being “right”. If I ever post something that doesn't sit right with you or if you can add something (including a different perspective!), please comment – Daniel.
Mysteries abound, today. Let's start with the lichen. I'm fairly certain it is Platismatia stenophylla or ribbon rag lichen, but it's difficult to confirm. I've only one image in a book to compare with, since there are no results in image search engines for either Platismatia stenophylla or a synonym, Cetraria stenophylla. Nope, I was wrong – Evernia prunastri is a better match. This taxon's native range of occurring in coastal forests of temperate western North America matches, as does its property of growing on trees – so perhaps I'm right. To help be certain, I'd have to break out the chemistry kit. As I've noted before, lichen identification is often aided by observing reactions to chemical reagents (if you ever see a person in a forest with a satchel of small bottles covered by eyedroppers, you will have encountered a bona fide lichenologist).
For Platismatia stenophylla Evernia prunastri, confirming that it is either KC+ (yellowish) or KC- would help verify my tentative identification. This test would involve first wetting the thallus (body) of the lichen with a ten percent potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution, or the K test. The C test would be a dose of bleach, that is, a solution of sodium hypochlorite. If there is no apparent reaction to the bleach on the KOH-soaked lichen, another bit of evidence would be in agreement with the identification. If the test was positive, however, the thallus would change colour. For this lichen, a change to a yellowish colour would help confirm. If it changed a different colour, I'd be back to scratching my head over other possibilities.
The Oregon Coalition of Interdisciplinary Databases has a good entry on Evernia prunastri, and image search comparisons also suggest a match.
The hybrid witchhazel poses a different sort of mystery. Occasionally in the past few years, some staff time has been invested in attempting to verify that a cultivar 'Fireglow' exists. So far, we've come up short. Staff from the garden have searched online, reviewed the horticultural literature and even contacted the International Cultivar Registration Authority for Hamamelis, all to no avail. Its existence as a cultivar could be due to something as simple as a clerical error in its thirty year history. Or, perhaps it is a locally-developed selection, named and sold only to a select few three decades ago (it was purchased from a now-closed local nursery). Too, it could be a misidentification and actually an entirely different cultivar. We haven't yet figured it out.
Photography resource link: Tripod Therapy, an article by Rod Barbee for Nature Photographers Online. Good advice regarding one of photography's most important tools.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (11)
February 5, 2006
Viburnum ×bodnantense 'Charles Lamont'
This sweet-scented, winter-flowering viburnum is not named after the director of a number of Abbott and Costello films. Instead, the name honours a former assistant curator in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. The Royal Horticultural Society's account for Viburnum ×bodnantense tells the story.
Photography resource link: Subject Matter and Print Size, an essay by Alain Briot for The Luminous Landscape (part of his Reflections on Photography and Art series).
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:25 AM| Comments (4)
February 4, 2006
Rhododendron ririei
There are roughly one thousand species of Rhododedron in the world. Of these, nearly six hundred can be found in China. Just over four hundred can only be found in China (endemics); Rhododendron ririei is one of the these, native only to the southwestern portion of Sichuan.
Like Rhododendron moupinense, it is one of the earliest flowering rhododendrons locally.
The scientific description is available online from the Flora of China: Rhododendron ririei.
No resource link today – instead, I'll invite you to read the tributes and stories from some of the garden's researchers, staff and Friends of the Garden for the recently deceased Christopher Lloyd of Great Dixter: Christopher Lloyd (Christo) 1921-2006.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:21 AM| Comments (6)
February 3, 2006
Erica plukenetii
Eric in San Francisco (Eric in SF@Flickr) shares another image today, via BPotD Flickr Group Pool (original image). As I mentioned previously, Eric has many, many plant photographs on Flickr. Be sure to browse through his image sets, if you haven't already. Thanks again, Eric!
Plukenet's heath was named by Linnaeus in honour of Leonard Plukenet (text-only - images on page are broken), a British botanist who died the year before Linnaeus was born. Erica plukenetii is native to the Cape region of South Africa.
As mentioned previously on BPotD, the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot. For the genus Erica, South Africa is very hot – over 650 species according to the Biodiversity Hotspots site! To put that in perspective for local readers, all of British Columbia contains (very) roughly 3200 species of vascular plants. As an aside, does anyone want to take a guess as to which genus in British Columbia has the most species? I have a suspicion that it'd be the same genus for most Canadian provinces and northern US states.
For those interested in heathers, there are very active heather clubs around the globe, such as The Heather Society (UK) and The North American Heather Society.
Photography resource link: For inspiration and interest, the photography of Janet Davis. Janet is a Canadian-based garden writer and photographer and a good friend of UBC garden's David Tarrant. Her site, Beautiful Botany, also contains samples of her garden writing.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (0)
February 2, 2006
Salix gracilistyla 'Melanostachys'
If you had trouble accessing the site yesterday, it was because of some flakiness in the connection between the university and the rest of the world that affected both incoming and outgoing communications. I hope you weren't inconvenienced too much.
I doubt this photograph would win any awards for technical composition. However, I think the subject is a good companion to yesterday's image with its similar shapes and patterns, so that's why it's posted. I should mention (full disclosure!) that I cloned out a distracting branch with catkins in the lower left.
Black willow or black pussy willow is a dark-bracted variant of rosegold pussy willow, Salix gracilistyla. The species is native to east Asia, but this particular cultivar has its origins in the gardens of Japan. To read more, Paghat has an excellent account about it: Salix gracilistyla 'Melanostachys'. You'll note that on her site (and in many other places), Salix gracilistyla var. melanostachys is used; I'm speculating, but I suspect that when this plant was first described by scientists, its garden origin was not known and so was thought to be a naturally-occurring variety (hence var. melanostachys). When it was determined to be of cultivated origin, the scientific name could no longer apply, hence the transformation to a cultivar name, 'Melanostachys'.
In other news, I submitted the BPotD entry on Taxodium distichum to the latest issue of the Tangled Bank (#46). If you'd like to read some of the best science weblog writing on the web or discover other science-themed weblogs, the Tangled Bank is for you!
Natural history resource link: I had reason to visit the web site of the Natural History Museum in London, England yesterday, and was quite impressed – much to explore (don't miss the “Nature Online” section) and it is presented crisply.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (10)
February 1, 2006
Camellia transnokoensis
Let's start February with one of my favourite photographs; coincidentally, it is also a personal favourite plant: Camellia transnokoensis. I don't think there's a common name for it in English, though Mount Noko camellia has a pleasant fluidity when spoken. The epithet transnokoensis means “of across Noko”, alluding to a native distribution across Mt. Noko of Taiwan.
January in Vancouver has been extremely wet this year, including a stretch of weeks with daily precipitation that missed the record of consecutive days of rainfall by mere hours. I haven't therefore had much opportunity to take photographs. When I did attempt some picture-taking on January 26, I noted that this camellia's first flower of the year had opened. This photograph, however, is from last February in the David C. Lam Asian Garden.
For photographs of the plant in flower and habit, you can see the thread on the garden's discussion forums from late March 2003: Camellia transnokoensis. There are not too many other images available online of this rare-in-cultivation plant.
Photography resource link: Woodsong Nature Photography is the site of Cindy Mead, who also happens to be a frequent contributor at Nature Photographers Online. You might recall the Orton imagery technique I used in a BPotD entry last month. Cindy is also a fan of the technique, and has an entire gallery of Orton Method Imagery. She also has a weblog, WoodSong.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (10)
January 31, 2006
Asclepias syriaca
Thank you to Barbara (aka Monceau@Flickr | BPotD Flickr Group Pool | original image) for this photograph of a milkweed taken in Pennsylvania last summer.
Asclepias syriaca, or common milkweed, is widespread throughout eastern and central North America. It is often considered a weed due to its economic impact on crops and toxicity to livestock, but monarch caterpillars consider it otherwise (monarchs feed exclusively on Asclepias spp.). To read more about Asclepias syriaca, Missouri Plants has a good summary, while Purdue University's Center for New Crops and Plant Products discusses its (potential) economic value.
Botany resource link: All of the vascular plants of Antarctica on one web page, by the British Antarctic Survey.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:15 AM| Comments (10)
January 29, 2006
Lewisia pygmaea
The last milestone before BPotD's one year anniversary, this is entry number three hundred.
An alpine plant native to western North America, pygmy bitterroot is found at elevations of 2300m to 4200m in the mountains stretching from California north to British Columbia, with disjunct populations in Yukon and (in some references) Alaska (distribution map). In the book The Genus Lewisia, Brian Mathew comments that “this species presents us with perhaps one of the most tricky taxonomic problems in the genus Lewisia for it is extremely widespread and variable and there is apparent pattern to the variation.” Mathew goes on to describe a half-dozen geographic variants, generally at the southern extreme of its range. Some of these variants are reflected in the Flora of North America description for the species. For an online horticultural account of Lewisia pygmaea, visit the North American Rock Garden Society's site.
This photograph was taken in late May of 2004 at the University of Alberta's Devonian Botanic Garden, where I had a highly enjoyable visit (and so should you if you are ever in Edmonton).
Botany resource link: Scott's Botanical Links recently featured ALGAL-ED, a site with a goal “to provide educational tools for the student interested in learning about freshwater algae”. The site includes images and movies – yes, movies of algae! Check out Chlamydomonas as an example of a motile green alga.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (2)
January 28, 2006
Centaurea cyanus
Guestblogging today is UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research's data technician, Eric La Fountaine. Eric also scanned these seeds. – Daniel.
Although they look somewhat like deep sea creatures, the objects in this scan from the John Davidson Seed Collection at UBC Botanical Garden are the seeds of a popular garden annual, Centaurea cyanus. Its common names include bachelor's button and cornflower. This species easily escapes from gardens and is a widely spread naturalized weed in North America, to the point of being classified as an invasive in some jurisdictions. However, in the United Kingdom where it reaches the northern limits of its native distribution, the species is considered endangered!
For photographs of the flower, see Centaurea via the site of Andrea and Friedrich A. Lohmüller.
Photography resource link (by Daniel): For inspiration, the landscape photography of Leping Zha. Of his several galleries, my favourite is Nature's Melody. Discovered via Metafilter.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:05 AM| Comments (4)
January 27, 2006
Musa (unknown hybrid)
Alejandro, aka janrito@Flickr, shares his photograph of platanos cultivated in Ecuador with us today (via the BPotD Flickr Group Pool | original image). Many thanks, Alejandro!
Edible plants generally have good sources of information online, and the banana is no exception. I'll step aside today and guide you to two excellent references: for a quick overview, read Musa from Cornell University; if you'd like to read about bananas in detail, spend some time on Mark Rieger's Banana and Plantain page, part of his comprehensive Fruit Crops site.
From what little I know of identifying bananas, I think it'd be particularly difficult (if not outright impossible) to pin down the precise name of this banana from the photograph. Examining Mark Rieger's site suggests that some crucial missing pieces of information include the sweetness of the banana and the thickness of the berry's skin. At the very least, it is certainly something of hybrid origin and cultivated – the native distribution of edible Musa species is southeastern Asia to northern Australia.
Agriculture / conservation resource link: Saving the Bottle Gourd from the New Agriculturist; Lagenaria siceraria is estimated to have been in cultivation for over ten thousand years, but indigenous knowledge of the plants is being lost with the use of plastic containers and changing diets. How to stop the loss? A Gourd Museum. Discovered via the IPGRI Public Awareness weblog – listen to an interview with people involved in creating the Gourd Museum here.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (1)
January 26, 2006
Acer tegmentosum
Alternating veins of wax and chlorophyllic bark suggest this maple is a member of the section Macrantha, or snake bark maples (a section is a grouping of closely-related species within a genus). In this instance, it is indeed a snake bark: Acer tegmentosum, the Manchurian stripebark maple or Manchu striped maple.
Douglas Justice writes in Snake Bark Maples at UBC Botanical Garden (PDF from the Davidsonia):
“The most recognizable feature of the snake barks is their attractive stems. Stem striping is due to waxes that are produced and accumulate in the longitudinal fissures of the expanding bark (Oterdoom & De Jong, 1994). While the most common species exhibit strikingly striped stems, not all species do. To complicate matters, a few maples belonging to other groups have striped bark, particularly in youth; e.g., some forms of A. stachyophyllum (Section Glabra). ... On most species [of snake barks], the most obvious stripes occur on young shoots and gradually disappear as the outer bark becomes increasingly corky on older stems. ... Some stem shading is usually necessary to prolong the life of both bark stripes and the photosynthetic capacity of the stems, although this varies considerably between species and among individuals.”
This particular plant is growing in moderate shade. Photographed here is the main trunk of a twenty year old tree, at approx. 2m from the ground. I chose to retain the natural angle of the trunk for this photograph, instead of adjusting the stripes to be vertical or nearly so like they would normally appear on a trunk perpendicular to the horizon.
Photography resource link: Landscape Photography Composition (part I), an article by Guy Tal for Nature Photographers Online. Know the rules, break the rules.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (9)
January 25, 2006
Plumbago auriculata
This image of a South African plant growing in a South American botanical garden is courtesy of Andreas of Bogotá, Colombia (aka Quimbaya@Flickr | BPotD Flickr Group Pool | original image). Thank you again, Andreas!
Plumbago auriculata is also widely known as Plumbago capensis, a name used so often that it is even reflected in one of this species' common names: Cape plumbago. Other common names include Cape leadwort and blue plumbago.
The confusion over the scientific name is explained by Alice Aubrey of Africa's Witwatersrand National Botanical Garden in her account of Plumbago auriculata. In brief, Plumbago auriculata was named in 1786 by Lamarck from cultivated plants in the East Indies. Eight years later, Thunberg assigned the name Plumbago capensis from specimens collected from its native home in South Africa – it was this latter name that caught on and became commonly used. However, since Plumbago auriculata is the earlier published name, the botanical rules of nomenclature suggest giving credit where it's due, hence Plumbago auriculata should be used. I think the difference between this scenario and the story behind Thujopsis / Dolophyllum is the era in which the “clerical” error was discovered – in recent years, conserving long-standing names occurs fairly often when a name change would generally be required for a technical reason.
The botanical garden in Colombia where this picture was taken, the Jardín Botánico José Celestino Mutis, is named in honour of a prominent Spanish botanist. Read more about José Mutis via the Encyclopedia Brittanica Online. “His Flora de Bogotá o de Nueva Granada, containing more than 6,000 illustrations, was so massive that the Spanish government could not afford to print it.”
Conservation resource link: Julie, writer of the Human Flower Project weblog, has an entry on Penstemon grahamii. It has long been argued that Graham's beardstongue should receive some legal protection due to its rarity (less than 10 000 individuals exist). The need for protection has become yet more critical with recent proposals to explore and extract oil from the oil shale substrate on which Penstemon grahamii grows. If you are a United States citizen, you can help if you so choose – public comments are invited.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 4:00 AM| Comments (11)
January 24, 2006
Euphorbia mellifera
Brent Hine only recently planted this spurge in 2005, so I've yet to see and smell its flowers. I'm particularly anticipating the fragrance. If you're familiar with the common name for another organism, Apis mellifera, you can likely guess that the flowers are honey-scented. This photograph shows the other reason it is popular in gardens – its foliage. Indeed, garden designer Mary Newstead gives it high praise: “arguably the finest member of the Euphorbia family”.
Often cited as being native to the Canary Islands (which it is), honey spurge can also be found in the Madeira Islands. If my translation of Portuguese is correct, in the Funchal Ecological Park of Madeira Island, it grows as an understory shrub or small tree. In colder temperate climes, though, it grows as a small shrub or shrubby perennial.
Botany / science resource link: Electronic Sites of Leading Botany, Plant Biology and Science Journals links to the web sites of nearly one thousand scientific journals. A quick browse of the list reveals the depth and breadth of botany sensu lato (in the broad sense).
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:29 AM| Comments (7)
January 21, 2006
Rhus glabra
The autumn colour of smooth sumac displayed via a scan, by Maureen from Montana, aka MontanaRaven@Flickr (BPotD Flickr Group Pool | original image). Many thanks again, Maureen.
Smooth sumac is distributed throughout the continental United States and overflows into both southern Canada and northern Mexico. In a photograph by Hugh Iltis on the Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium's page for Rhus glabra, you can see evidence of its ability to propagate vegetatively, allowing it to form a contiguous mass of clonal plants. The Virginia Tech Forestry Department also has a series of photographs for smooth sumac that are worth investigating.
Photography resource link: Levels of Abstraction – Are Your Photographs Real?, an essay by Michael Reichmann of The Luminous Landscape. “For some reason there are photographers who believe that photographs and the real world have more than a passing relationship to each other. When they see a photograph that has been in some visible way altered, modified or manipulated they cry "foul" – taking on the mantle of protectors of the sanctity of the inviolate image.”
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 4:49 AM| Comments (2)
January 19, 2006
Rhododendron moupinense
Rhododendron moupinense is one of the earliest flowering rhododendrons locally. Its delicate flowers are susceptible to hard rains, so a late January or February storm can leave this plant (specimen image) looking as if someone emptied a swimming pool onto it all at once.
Although some sites give it a common name of dwarf rhododendron, that name is applied to so many rhododendrons as to be functionally useless. Moupin rhododendron would be a better choice, referring to its occurrence in a mountainous region in Sichuan, China. Another alternative would be Baoxing rhododendron, as Baoxing County is the modern name for Moupin. This area of China, near the Tibet border, is famously known as the area where the European missionary and naturalist, Père Armand David, first encountered the (skin of a) giant panda. Incidentally, Rhododendron moupinense was named and described from specimens collected by David.
For a taxonomic description, see the Flora of China account for Rhododendron moupinense.
Botany / mycology resource link: Rogers Mushrooms by noted British author Roger Phillips. Geared toward North American and European mushrooms, the site includes identification keys, photographs and recipes for you mushroom aficionados.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:00 AM| Comments (3)
January 18, 2006
Aciphylla squarrosa (tentative)
Sixth in a series featuring photographs and writings from other staff and researchers at UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research. Again, an image by David Tarrant from a November venture to New Zealand. – Daniel
For this plant, David noted: “This photograph was taken in an outstanding new bed on the north slope of the Larnach Castle grounds. Larnach Castle is located on the Otago Peninsula of New Zealand's South Island.”
There are thirty-nine or so species in the genus Aciphylla, and from this image alone it is impossible to be certain of its identity. Douglas Justice and David have tentatively identified it as Aciphylla squarrosa, one of the most common species in cultivation.
Common names for Aciphylla squarrosa include taramea, speargrass, and my favourite, common Spaniard. To understand the latter, you'll need to recall that when these plants were first learned of by European explorers, the Spanish were associated with swords. The resemblance of the sharp, long leaves and bracts to the Spanish weapons doesn't require too much lateral thinking.
Plants for a Future Database's entry on Aciphylla squarrosa includes references that suggest the cooked root is edible – perhaps not surprising, as it is related to carrots and parsnips. Using other plants in a family as a guide to determine potential edibility is not advised, though. After all, all three are also related to the deadly poison hemlock.
Photography resource link: There is much to like about the work of Daniella T. from California – I particularly like the images from Joshua Tree National Park and Sequoia National Park in Winter.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (6)
January 16, 2006
Xeronema callistemon
Fourth in a series featuring photographs and writings from other staff and researchers at UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research. David Tarrant, UBC BGCPR's Public Relations and Programs Coordinator, took this photograph on a recent trip to New Zealand. – Daniel
David took this photograph in Te Kianga Marire private garden. In David's words, “This entire garden is exquisitely landscaped with New Zealand native plants.”
Commonly known as “Poor Knights lily”, Xeronema callistemon and the related Xeronema moorei are the only two members of the plant family Xeronemataceae. This plant was first discovered in 1924 on inland cliffs of the Poor Knights Islands, and later also found on the island Taranga (Xeronema moorei is native to New Caledonia, 1500 km to the northwest).
Xeronema callistemon is considered a threatened plant in New Zealand, because of the extremely restricted range. However, because of its attractive inflorescence, it is becoming more common in cultivation. Two forms are taxonomically recognized: the typical Xeronema callistemon f. callistemon and the minor genetic variant, Xeronema callistemon f. bracteosa (links contain photographs and descriptions of both via the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network).
Photography resource link: For inspiration, the photography of Oregon's Zack Schnepf.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (1)
January 13, 2006
Gossypium darwinii
The next few days will feature photographs and writings from other staff and researchers at UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research. To start the series, photographs from the Galapagos Islands and comment by Dr. Quentin Cronk, the garden and research centre's director. – Daniel
Darwin's cotton, photographed near Urbina Bay of Isabella Island. Although this cotton is endemic to the Galapagos Islands, it is closely related to Gossypium barbadense, or Egyptian cotton. See: Wendel, J. F. and R. G. Percy, 1990. Allozyme diversity and introgression in the Galapagos Islands endemic Gossypium darwinii and its relationship to continental Gossypium barbadense. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 18:517-528.
Daniel adds: Dr. Keith Adams from the UBC Centre for Plant Research uses Gossypium to understand the evolution, expression and function of duplicated genes.
Conservation resource link (by Daniel): The Charles Darwin Foundation “exists to provide knowledge and support to ensure the conservation of the environment and biodiversity of the Galapagos Archipelago through scientific research and complementary actions.”
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:30 AM| Comments (0)
January 12, 2006
Cirsium occidentale var. occidentale
Dale submitted this thistle image taken in Carmel Highlands, California (Dfunk@Flickr | BPotD Flickr Group Pool | original image). Many thanks again, Dale!
There have been a few BPotD entries where the plant's scientific name is apparently duplicated. Does the duplication of an epithet (e.g., var. occidentale) add extra information? Yes! Without knowing anything else about this taxon, it gives two additional pieces of info:
- this was (almost certainly) the plant first described by a taxonomist as representative of the species. Often, but by no means always, this also represents the most common biological form, based on the notion that the most common taxa within a species will often have been collected and described first.
- there is at least one other biological entity recognized at the same level. In the case of Cirsium occidentale, there are at least four varieties recognized.
The duplication of epithets occurs from a practical and use perspective when a taxonomist makes an evidence-based decision to split up a species into taxa below the rank of species, i.e., subspecies, varieties or forms (note: contemporary requirements include also that the evidence and rationale must be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal). As soon as one of these infraspecific taxa is carved off from what was once a singular species, the remainder of the species gets tagged with the duplicate name to differentiate it from the new entity. I'll give a hypothetical example. Say there was a species named Aa ee and someone came along and said, “This part of that species is different.”, I'll publish it as Aa ee var. ii – it is now necessary that the remainder of the original grouping have a name that can be used to communicate about it separately, i.e., Aa ee var. ee. The entire species, including all of its varieties, can still be discussed by using Aa ee. For a shorter version of what I just wrote, see Article 25 of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
For the purposes of this cobweb thistle, knowledge of the reasoning for the name is required to understand its distribution. The entire species Cirsium occidentale has a distribution that includes Oregon, California and (possibly) northwest Mexico. However, Cirsium occidentale var. occidentale is native only to California.
Photography resource link: To my mind, one of the best contemporary nature photographers rarely has nature in his images. He is one of the few whose every image provokes an emotional response in me. Edward Burtynsky. (Oil fields No. 1 | C.N. track No. 8 | Rock of Ages No. 7 | Three Gorges Dam Project, Feng Jie No. 6)
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:37 AM| Comments (9)
January 11, 2006
Hamamelis mollis
Chinese witchhazel is native to southeastern China. Its family, the Hamamelidaceae or witchhazel family, has a curious distribution from a biogeographic viewpoint (map). If you're a long-time BPotD reader, you'll remember that the biogeographical link between plant families of southeast Asia and North America is well-established (see this entry). The distribution across southern Asia into Europe is also understood (and easy enough to imagine). However, the presence of the family in southeastern Africa and Madagascar is a bit of a headscratcher to me. While digging around, I reviewed the paper from the entry on another hamamelid, Disanthus cercidifolius (Li et al. 1999. Phylogenetic relationships of the Hamamelidaceae inferred from sequences of internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA. Am. J. Bot. 86:1027-1037). As it turns out, there is not enough evidence (yet) to clearly understand the biogeography of southern hemisphere Hamamelidaceae, so it remains a puzzle for now.
Two other links to add: 1) Hamamelis mollis interpretative sign at UBC Botanical Garden; and 2) Great Plant Picks shrub selections, which include a link to a PDF profile about this plant.
Botany resource link: The Parasitic Plant Connection by Dr. Dan Nickrent of Southern Illinois University. Scroll down the page for links to pages on parasitic plant families.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:39 AM| Comments (6)
January 9, 2006
Prunus serrula
Photographs of the peeling bark of paperbark cherry (or Tibetan cherry or birch cherry) are fairly standard fare for winter articles in gardening magazines and web sites, so I thought I'd create a second, and fanciful, version using a technique similar to yesterday's Orton Imagery for a different take.
The horizontal yellowish blisters are lenticels. These fractures in the cork layer of the bark allow the diffusion of gases (particularly oxygen) into the metabolically active cells beneath the bark surface. For microscopic cross-sections of a lenticel, see here or here – note that these are from much smaller (and longitudinal) lenticels.
For the second image, I used the Calculations command and did a red-red color burn with result on "New Document". With the new black-and-white image (which I also find compelling), I first changed the image mode to greyscale. Then, following the same process as the latter parts of the Orton Imagery technique, I moved the image as a new layer onto the original image, and blended the layers using luminosity at 84%.
Horticulture / landscaping resource link: PlantAmnesty, whose mission is to “end the senseless torture and mutilation of trees and shrubs”.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:53 AM| Comments (7)
January 8, 2006
Garrya ×issaquahensis 'Pat Ballard'
Today's images are a follow-up to the December 22, 2005 entry for Garrya ×issaquahensis 'Pat Ballard'. I thought I should have a photograph of the flowers in full bloom as an accompaniment. The previous entry has some links about the plant from both botanical and horticultural perspectives, so I won't add more for this entry.
Photography / art resource link: If you're curious about the second image, I've used what Darwin Wiggett has called “Orton Imagery”. For a step by step guide on how to accomplish this with both film and digital images, Darwin has written “Orton Imagery – A How To Guide for Photographers via Nature Photographers Online. You can also check the Orton in Orton Imagery here: Michael Orton Photography.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:08 AM| Comments (6)
January 7, 2006
Anemone coronaria
Today's entry was contributed by Tamar Yadin of Israel, whose brother Ofir sent it along as a suggestion. Tamar is quite the creative person, with a real eye for design – her web site (currently only works in Internet Explorer) showcases her photographs and other works. Thank you, Tamar (and Ofir!).
Known commonly as poppy anemone, windflower or crown anemone, Anemone coronaria is native to the Mediterranean. Tamar and Ofir both communicated to me that the wild populations of this anemone are on the decline in Israel due to increasing urbanization and agriculture; populations of it are now found mainly in the north of the country, near Galilee. Tamar also added that it is now a protected plant in Israel.
The colour of flowers in wild plants of the species is highly variable, ranging from white and pink through red and purple to blue (Google image search for A. coronaria). Whenever you see an attractive flowers with variability, you can be near certain that generations of domestication (i.e., plant breeding) will have produced a number of cultivars as a general rule. Anemone coronaria is no exception. As an example, Anemone coronaria [De Caen Group] is a popular group of hybrids originally bred in France.
Photography resource link: New Year's Resolutions for Photographers care of Bob Johnson at Earthbound Light. Bob also has oodles of other photography tips. Discovered via the weblog static photography.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (5)
January 6, 2006
Zanthoxylum oxyphyllum
An uncommon plant today, I suppose; there's not a single image in Google's image search for this species!
Andy Hill, one of the garden's horticulturists, walked into my office as I was prepping this photograph for BPotD and exclaimed, “Oh, Zanthoxylum. That's fun to prune...not.” This climbing shrub gets my vote as the most “vicious-looking” plant in the Asian Garden, and from what I understand from Andy, doesn't just look vicious – it is vicious. To give an idea of scale, this section of the stem near the base of the shrub is about as thick as a baseball bat (a little below 7 cm in diameter).
Zanthoxylum is a member of the citrus family, the Rutaceae, so its relations include oranges, lemons and limes. However, instead of a hesperidium, the fruit of Zanthoxylum is a small, single-seeded capsule. I like to pinch these between the tips of my fingers and then enjoy the scent, which certainly has elements of citrus in it.
This particular plant was grown from seed collected by Keith Rushforth, plant explorer and author. Keith obtained the seed near the village of Chendebji in Bhutan at 2500m / 8200'. If you are interested in seeing the landscape of the area, perhaps the film “Travellers and Magicians” might appeal – I haven't seen the movie, but most of the villagers of Chendebji appear in it!
A few more photographs of it on the garden forums: Zanthoxylum oxyphyllum.
Science / conservation resource link: Mangroves, Fishponds, and the Quest for Sustainability, an essay by scientist Dr. Jurgenne H. Primavera of the Phillippines. “We scientists in developing countries need to come down from the Ivory Tower and disseminate results not only in peer-reviewed journals but also through advocacy and the popular media. We must not forget our hearts even as we apply our minds. We do science not in a vacuum but against the grinding poverty and environment-unfriendly character of modern times, and we can use our scientific knowledge to reduce suffering and make life more full for fellow humans and creatures.”. Discovered via Science Matters, an article by Dr. David Suzuki.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (8)
January 4, 2006
Dichopogon strictus
Adding to the recent trend of south of the Equator images, this photograph from Tasmania is courtesy of Ray in the town of Launceston (sparramc@Flickr | BPotD Flickr Group Pool | original image). Thanks for sharing again, Sparra!
Another day, another plant with a name that's flip-flopped back-and-forth for nearly half a century. Chocolate lily (to Australians – that name means something else to North Americans) has been known as both Dichopogon strictus and Arthropodium strictum over the years. Though many still use Arthropodium strictum, I've opted to use the name suggested by the Census of Australian Vascular Plants. Still, that's tentative – if I could find the resource alluded to by the Pacific Bulb Society (don't forget to check out the image of its roots, quite unique), I might be convinced otherwise.
This species is native to southeastern Australia and northern Tasmania. Unlike the North American chocolate lily, which is described as having an “odour not unpleasant” in the Flora of North America, the Australians sagely call this chocolate lily because it smells like chocolate. I do admit some curiousity in that the scent is sometimes also described as being that of vanilla; I've made a similar association of “smells like chocolate or vanilla” with the South American shrub Azara microphylla (to be featured on BPotD sometime before mid-March). I don't know enough about scents to discern whether the two smells are chemically related in some manner. However, while researching it, I did find this interesting article: Vanilla patch cures sweet tooth: “Scientists have come up with a way to beat chocolate addiction – a vanilla-scented patch.”. It seems like there is some sort of relation, at the least. If you happen to know that the chemistry of these two scents is somehow similar, please add a comment.
For Vancouver area folks: you might like to consider attending this Thursday's meeting of the Native Plant Society of BC South Coast Group. Ron Long is presenting a set of his photographs of British Columbian plants from locations around the province. Who's Ron Long? In his words: “For thirty-six years I have been employed as a full time photographer at Simon Fraser University. For fifteen of those years I photographed exclusively for the Biological Sciences Department so I have a considerable amount of biology in my background and an abiding interest in nature photography.” The meeting is at 7:15pm at the Vancouver Museum, and non-members are welcome to attend! If you'd like more information, please see the link to the NPSBC page.
Botany resource link: Trillium and the Trillium Family – if only information on all genera would be so handily gathered and organized!
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (5)
January 3, 2006
Tristerix longebracteatus
(A bit of a treat today! Quentin Cronk, Director of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research has photographed and written today's BPotD weblog entry. – Daniel)
Tristerix longebracteatus photographed on the Cotopaxi Volcano of Ecuador, c. 3800m. Tristerix is a genus of 11 species of South American Loranthaceae (tropical mistletoe family), with striking hummingbird-pollinated flowers. This species parasitizes shrubs in the paramo of the high Andes. Paramo is a vegetation type above the treeline that consists of cold resistant shrubs and tussock grasses.
Photography resource link (by Daniel): Photomacrography.net is dedicated to macro photography, and includes user forums and some articles. It skews toward insect photography, but the techniques remain the same as for plants.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:51 AM| Comments (2)
January 1, 2006
Crocosmia masoniorum
Like all crocosmias, swan crocosmia is native to southern Africa. I suggest reading the excellent account on Crocosmia masoniorum by the South African National Biodiversity Institute for more information.
On behalf of the researchers and staff at UBC Botanical Garden, best wishes to you for 2006!
Photography resource link: For inspiration, photographs of Virginia and West Virginia by Ian J. Plant.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:08 AM| Comments (4)
December 31, 2005
Allotropa virgata
A “seasonal” image to complete 2005 – candystick or sugarstick, with its red and white stem striping, obviously deserves its common names. The photographs lack visual cues (other than the moss) to give perspective, so I'll mention that this particular plant measured roughly fifty centimeters (nearly two feet) high. Photographed in early July of 2004, this plant has nearly completed its flowering for the year, though a few blossoms have yet to senesce on the uppermost part of the plant.
Like the closely related Monotropa uniflora, Allotropa virgata is a mycoheterotroph, or one of the “ghostly fungus-robbers”. Lacking chlorophyll and therefore the ability to produce sugars, Allotropa virgata insteads taps sugars (and other nutrients) from an underground fungal network (which itself garnered the sugars from an association with a nearby conifer!).
Photography resource link: Ten Tips for Becoming a Better Landscape Artist, an article by Guy Tal for Nature Photographers Online.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (4)
December 30, 2005
Lantana camara (tentative)
Bill from San Jose, California (aka bbum@Flickr) provides us with today's burst of colour (BPotD Flickr Group Pool | original image). Bill's weblog, bbum's weblog-o-mat, spans everything from photography and nature to programming and restoring pinball machines – quite fun! Thanks for the pic, Bill.
I've had to tentatively identify the plant as Lantana camara, as there are at least a few cultivars with lookalike flowers. Absent any other details about the plant, it is impossible to be certain.
Known simply as lantana, or shrub verbena, Lantana camara is a species whose native distribution is not easy to determine; I've looked through ten different web sites for native distribution and came up with nothing definitive. The Jepson Manual treatment for the species states “naturalized more or less worldwide [tropical and sub-tropical], perhaps native to Caribbean”. The USDA Plants Database claims it is native to the US (Texas?), but it is certainly introduced elsewhere in the southern US. Another site states it is native to the tropical Americas and western Africa. My unqualified-to-say thoughts? Likely Caribbean in origin, and introduced everywhere else.
Though it seems to behave in California, Lantana camara is an invasive shrub in many places, including Florida, Hawaii, South Africa and Galapagos.
Botany resource link: Protea Atlas Project, coordinated by the National Biodiversity Institute of South Africa, “aims to encourage amateur involvement in Botany. The ultimate objective is to stimulate amateur awareness and enjoyment of the veld thus engendering a conservation ethic” (and other objectives). It seems like they've succeeded – a project with only a few staff but over four hundred seventy-five volunteers!
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 AM| Comments (3)
December 28, 2005
Scaphosepalum antenniferum
Andreas from Bogotá, Colombia (aka Quimbaya@Flickr - check out his other orchid photos!) submitted this photograph of an orchid cultivated by noted Colombian orchid grower, Sócrates Forero (BPotD Flickr Group Pool | original image). Thank you Andreas!
Scaphosepalum antenniferum is native to northwestern South America, i.e., Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. Its plant family, the Orchidaceae, contains over eight hundred described genera and roughly twenty-five thousand species. With so many different kinds of orchids, it is necessary to divide the family into smaller chunks to be able to effectively communicate about the plants within it. Orchid enthusiasts and biologists will use subfamily, tribe and subtribe as intermediate groupings between family and genus. In the case of Scaphosepalum, it is often described as being a pleurothallid orchid, meaning it is in the subtribe Pleurothallidinae (tribe: Epidendreae and subfamily: Epidendroideae). The Pleurothallidinae contains ~30 genera (roughly 3.5% of all genera), but those 30 genera contain over four thousand species – ~16% of all orchids! Scaphosepalum is a small genus within the Pleurothallidinae, containing only thirty or so species.
Botany / technology resource link: Plant Life for Virtual Terrain is part of the Virtual Terrain Project, whose goal is “to foster the creation of tools for easily constructing any part of the real world in interactive, 3D digital form”. It's a fascinating site that discusses the challenges of rendering plants digitally for video games, animated movies, computer simulations and scientific modelling. It also evaluates the tools available and provides an extensive list of resources.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 4:11 AM| Comments (7)
December 27, 2005
Populus tremuloides
Today's image is another photograph courtesy of Maureen from Montana, aka MontanaRaven@Flickr (BPotD Flickr Group Pool | original image). Thanks again, Maureen, and also thank you for your writings and photos on your weblog, raven's nest.
Maureen has written a short piece accompanying the photograph, which I hope is alright to share here. She writes:
“Aspens are my all-time favorite trees. I love the way each individual tree, although connected by underground roots and genetically related, like a close family, to all the other trees in it's vicinity – each tree takes on it's own personality and character as it matures. These have the twisted, dancing shapes that come from years of bending under heavy winter snows. The stark white bark stands in contrast to the darker forested background. A beautiful sight on any winter day, but especially on days like today, when the sun seems like it's purposely spotlighting this grove. Ah, what a great place to hang out, even when the temperature is only 10F!”
For more on the clonal reproductive strategy of aspens (both the North American Populus tremuloides and the Eurasian Populus tremula), see Aspen – Boreal Symbol via Scotland's Trees for Life.
Photography resource link: The colour-rich photography of Marc Adamus.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:19 AM| Comments (6)
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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.