Travel--Cloud Forest in Ecuador

I visited the cloud forest of Ecuador in May. As mountains everywhere rise, they block the movement of clouds. Day after day, clouds full of water, rising off the ocean, hit the same areas on the mountains. On the Pacific slope of Ecuador, that is at about about 3000 feet in elevation. Every day, the clouds roll in, shading everything, covering the forest in fog. Actual rainfall is moderate (80", more than most of the eastern U.S. but low for tropical rainforests) but the humidity is 80-90% most of the time. Under these conditions, a very tall mountain forest grows, lush with epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants), mosses, vines, orchids...all kinds of botanical wonders. Which then support diverse animals. 

clouds on Ecuador forest

Plant Story--Black Medic, Medicago lupulina

Blooming near you in North America, generally ignored, is black medic, Medicago lupulina (pea family, Fabaceae). This is a little invader from Eurasia that is found all across the North America. 

black medic, Medicago lupulina

Fly Pollination

 Flies don't get much respect, we think of them mainly as pests. However, they are important pollinators.

Travel Story--Chicago Botanic Garden

Botanic gardens have many functions: as places to grow and protect rare plants, as places to show diverse plants to the public, as places to recommend yard and garden plants, as places to breed plants for human uses, and more. The Chicago Botanic Garden is no exception.  website

I visited for the first time in June. It is beautiful.

Chicago Botanic Garden

Plant Story -- Scentbottle Orchid, Platanthera dilatata

This post is about a native orchid, the scentbottle, Plantanthera dilatata (orchid family, Orchidaceae).

scentbottle orchid, Plantanthera dilatata

Plant Story--Coreopsis, Pretty Tickseeds

The bright yellow flowerhead nodded in the breeze, peeking out among a variety of leaves. Look! A coreopsis!

tickseed, Coreopsis grandiflora hybrid

Coreopsis is a genus of 35 species, most native to North America, in the daisy family, Asteraceae. They have the typical flower head structure of the family: a group of disc florets in the middle surrounded by ray florets which provide petals. Most are naturally some shade of yellow. Native ranges of the 28 species in the United States are mostly along the East Coast or California, but a few are found in every state. 

Gardeners discovered them long ago, so there are many color patterns and varieties, and the plant you see growing in a garden is probably a hybrid, not a natural species.

Rocky Mountain Wildflowers of July

It was a shady walk in the Colorado mountains at about 7000' elevation. Lots of wildflowers bloomed along the path. 

sidebells penstemon, Penstemon secundiflorus

One was sidebells penstemon (Penstemon secundiflorus, plantain family, Plantaginaceae), distinctive as a common species which has all its flowers on one side of the flower stalk. (Colorado has 61 species of Penstemon, often it is hard to determine which one you saw.)