Bat Pollination

Bats are important pollinators in the tropics. 

Queen of the night, Epiphyllum oxypetalum, bat-pollinated cactus
of the American tropics, now grown all over the world.
 Fitbit mini for scale. Flowers can be 12" long and 12" across

Plant Story--Blue Eryngo, Sea Holly, Eryngium planum

Blue eryngo, Eryngium planum, is the most common garden plant in the genus Erygnium. The eryngiums are a group of some 250 species native from southern Europe to Mexico and South America. They are also called sea holly. 

Eryngium planum, blue eryngo, sea holly

Plants and Tasks of the Past

Diving into the history of plants frequently shows me crafts and professions that I knew little about and that are now largely forgotten. Some have gone from household tasks to highly industrialized and so are out of everyday sight, for example, cloth production. Others, like carriage repair, have been replaced as the technology moved on and exist only for hobbyists. 

early modern loom,
National Wool Museum, Wales

Plant Story--Beautiful Hardy Fuchsia, Fuchsia magellanica

They are beautiful flowers 

Fuchsia magellanica flowers

Fuchsias are a group of some 105 species, native mostly to South America, in the evening primrose family, Onagraceae. 

Another Anniversary

This blog began in February 2013. So it is turning 13. 

Amazing! And I find no shortage of material to write about yet. 

Plant Story--Carnations, the Clove Pink, Dianthus caryophyllus

The familiar, elegant carnation is a plant with a long and interesting history, mostly forgotten, despite its importance as a decorative flower today.

carnations, Dianthus caryophyllus

Carnation is the current common name of plants with the scientific name Dianthus caryophyllus, in the carnation family, Caryophyllaceae. It and virtually all its close relatives are native to Eurasia. A pretty flower usually pink, wild carnations grew all across southern Europe. Long ago they were transferred to gardens and domesticated, moving them all across Eurasia. For example, ancient Rome used flowers lavishly, in celebrations large and small and they grew carnations for cut flowers in great numbers. 

From the Airplane

The view from airplanes is a gift we too often take for granted. C.J. Cherryh wrote, in Visible Light (1986), that when the plane takes off, she thinks of the countless generations of people from before the invention of airplanes who would have so loved to fly. I have remembered that vision for decades. We grow jaded, and we shouldn't.

the world below