eBotanical Prints – December 2023

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Twenty more books were added to the botanical print collection in December– available for browsing on Internet Archive. They were almost the only books I read/browsed in December; I was overwhelmingly busy caring for my parents.

The publication range for this group is 1629-1959 – a lot has changed in those 300 years!

The whole list of 2,781 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the December 2023 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the December 2023 eBotanical Prints!

Niger flora; or an enumeration of the plants of Western tropical Africa * Hooker, William Jackson (editor) * sample image * 1849

Bouquet de Melastomataceae Bresilieannes * Cogniaux, Alfred; Saldanha del Gama, Jose * sample image * 1887

Bryologia javanica V1 * Dozy, Francois; Molkenboer, Julian Hendrik; Bosch, Roelof Benjamin Van Den; Sande Lacoste, Cornelius Marinus van der * sample image * 1855

Bryologia javanica V2 * Dozy, Francois; Molkenboer, Julian Hendrik; Bosch, Roelof Benjamin Van Den; Sande Lacoste, Cornelius Marinus van der * sample image * 1855

Chung-kuo chu yao chih wu tʻu shuo.ho bien Nan-ching ta hsüeh, Shêng wu hsüeh hsi [ho] Chung-kuo kʻo hsüeh yüan, Chih wu yen chiu so.  * Keng, I-li * sample image * 1959

Collection d'orchide - esaquarelles originales. * Missouri Botanical Garden * sample image * 1900

Contribuciones al conocimiento de la flora ecuatoriana * Sodiro, L. * sample image * 1905

Das entdeckte Geheimniss der Natur im Bau und in der Befruchtung der Blumen * Sprengel, Christian Konrad * sample image * 1793

De plantis exoticis libri duo * Alpini, Alpino; Alpini, Prosperi * sample image * 1629

Descriptio?n de l'Egypte recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont ete faites en Egypte pendant l'expedition de l'armee francaise * Raffeneau-Delile, Alire * sample image * 1824

Description des plantes de l'Amerique * Plumier, Charles * sample image * 1693

Descriptionum et iconum rariores et pro maxima parte novas plantas illustrantium * Rottboll * sample image * 1773

Die Coniferen * Antoine, Franz * sample image * 1840

Phyto-iconographie der Bromeliaceen des kaiserlichen königlichen Hofburg-Gartens in Wien * Antoine, Franz * sample image * 1884

Die Flora der deutschen Schutzgebiete in der Sudsee * Lauterbach, Karl; Schumann, Karl Moritz * sample image * 1900

Nachtrage zur Flora der deutschen Schutzgebiete in der Sudsee * Lauterbach, Karl; Schumann, Karl Moritz * sample image * 1905

Die pflanzenwelt Ost-Afrikas und der nachbargebiete * Engler, Adolf * sample image * 1895

Flora Brasiliae meridionalis * Saint-Hilaire, Auguste de * sample image * 1825

Flora Java - Volume 2 * Blume, Carolo Ludovico * sample image * 1828

Flora Peruviana, et Chilensis Plates 1-152 * Ruiz, Hippolito; Pavon, Jose * sample image * 1798

eBotanical Prints – September 2023

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Twenty-two more books were added to the botanical print collection this month – available for browsing on Internet Archive. More than half of the books are Harvard’s Botanical Museum Leaflets from 1932 to 1954…roughly the years between my parents’ births to my own. The publication was dominated by orchids!

The last two books were added well after I had finished the first 20; I opted to include the botanical books from the Natural History of New York series published in the 1800s. The last picture in the mosaic below is of the American Chestnut; I wondered how many other plants documented as being in New York are missing today, like that tree.

The whole list of 2,717 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the September 2023 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the September 2023 eBotanical Prints!

Orchid culture in Ceylon and the East  * Price, F. A. E. * sample image * 1918

Cactaceae of the Boundary * Engelmann, George * sample image * 1858

Botanic contributions relating to the flora of western North America * Engelmann, George; Gray, Asa; Fremont, John Charles0; Torrey, John * sample image * 1853

Report on the botany of the expedition * Torrey, John; Bigelow, John Milton; Engelmann, George * sample image * 1857

Botanical Museum leaflets V1 * Harvard University * sample image * 1932

Botanical Museum leaflets V2 * Harvard University * sample image * 1934

Botanical Museum leaflets V3 * Harvard University * sample image * 1935

Botanical Museum leaflets V4 * Harvard University * sample image * 1937

Botanical Museum leaflets V5 * Harvard University * sample image * 1938

Botanical Museum leaflets V6 * Harvard University * sample image * 1938

Botanical Museum leaflets V7 * Harvard University * sample image * 1939

Botanical Museum leaflets V8 * Harvard University * sample image * 1940

Botanical Museum leaflets V9 * Harvard University * sample image * 1941

Botanical Museum leaflets V10 * Harvard University * sample image * 1942

Botanical Museum leaflets V11 * Harvard University * sample image * 1945

Botanical Museum leaflets V12 * Harvard University * sample image * 1947

Botanical Museum leaflets V13 * Harvard University * sample image * 1949

Botanical Museum leaflets V14 * Harvard University * sample image * 1951

Botanical Museum leaflets V15 * Harvard University * sample image * 1952

Botanical Museum leaflets V16 * Harvard University * sample image * 1954

Natural History of New York Div 2 Part 1 * Kay, James, e. De * sample image * 1843

Natural History of New York Div 2 Part 2 * Kay, James, e. De * sample image * 1843

Missouri Botanical Garden – June 2023 (1)

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So much to see at the Missouri Botanical Garden…

The Climatron is full of lush tropical plantings. Intimate landscapes of ferns and bromeliads…

Flowers (including orchids) and seeds tucked into the greenery….

Cycads….

Flowers and stems different than we see in temperature parts of the world.

Out in the summer sunshine…cone flowers and sunflowers thrive.

Daylilies are blooming profusely.

There was a very odd plant in Linnean House. I took several views of it…and should have taken a picture of the tag too!

I found myself interested in objects where the light was not overly bright or overhead.

And there were some places/plants that became immediately special: a large puffball under a bald cypress that was growing before the garden was started, button bush (one of my favorite native plants), and a woodland area with a gurgling stream (artificial but made to look natural, I enjoyed a short rest on a bench).

I appreciated the Stumpery garden….learning a bit about the history too.

And a few more plants I enjoyed photographing….before we went into the restaurant for lunch (and air conditioning) before we headed home.

eBotanical Prints – May 2023

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Twenty more books were added to the botanical print collection this month. The first one is a monograph about oxalis, the next three are journals from the California Botanical Society from 1916-1936, then 16 volumes of the Australian Orchid Review from 2006 - 2009. For the orchid volumes, I picked sample images that demonstrated the publications’ photography – particularly of orchids growing in natural settings and slipper orchids. There are Australian Orchid Review volumes I’ll browse in June as well.

The whole list of 2,633 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the May 2023 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the May 2023 eBotanical Prints!

Monographie der amerikanischen Oxalis-Arten  * Zuccarini, Joseph Gerhhard * sample image * 1825

Madroño : a West American journal of botany V. 1: no. 1-3 (1916-1922) * Jepson, Willis Linn (editor); California Botanical Society * sample image * 1922

Madroño : a West American journal of botany V. 2 (1930-1934) * Jepson, Willis Linn (editor); California Botanical Society * sample image * 1934

Madroño : a West American journal of botany V. 3 (1935-1936) * Jepson, Willis Linn (editor); California Botanical Society * sample image * 1936

Australian Orchid Review 2009 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2009

Australian Orchid Review 2008 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2008

Australian Orchid Review 2008 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2008

Australian Orchid Review 2008 (June/July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2008

Australian Orchid Review 2008 - 2009 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2009

Australian Orchid Review 2008 (February/March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2008

Australian Orchid Review 2008 (April/May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2008

Australian Orchid Review 2007 (February/March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2007

Australian Orchid Review 2007 (August/September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2007

Australian Orchid Review 2007 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2007

Australian Orchid Review 2007 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2007

Australian Orchid Review 2007 (June/July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2007

Australian Orchid Review 2007 - 2008 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2008

Australian Orchid Review 2006 - 2007 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2007

Australian Orchid Review 2006 (February/March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2006

Australian Orchid Review 2006 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2006

eBotanical Prints – April 2023

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Twenty-one more books were added to the botanical print collection this month, and all are about orchids: the Australian Orchid Review from 2009 - 2012. I picked sample images that demonstrated the publications’ photography – particularly of orchids growing in natural settings. Most times people see orchids are in cultivated settings: conservatories, green houses, flower arrangements. Seeing them in the wild is a challenge. The ones native to North America are often small or rare…or both! The Australian Orchid Review has articles primarily on Australian orchid growing…and native orchids of Australia and its nearest neighbors.  I’ll continue browsing more volumes in May!

The whole list of 2,613 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the April 2023 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the April 2023 eBotanical Prints!

Australian Orchid Review 2012 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2012

Australian Orchid Review 2012 - 2013 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2013

Australian Orchid Review 2012 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2012

Australian Orchid Review 2012 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2012

Australian Orchid Review 2011 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2011

Australian Orchid Review 2011 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2011

Australian Orchid Review 2011 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2011

Australian Orchid Review 2011 - 2012 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2012

Australian Orchid Review 2011 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2011

Australian Orchid Review 2011 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2011

Australian Orchid Review 2010 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2010

Australian Orchid Review 2010 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2010

Australian Orchid Review 2010 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2010

Australian Orchid Review 2010 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2010

Australian Orchid Review 2010 - 2011 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2011

Australian Orchid Review 2010 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2010

Australian Orchid Review 2009 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2009

Australian Orchid Review 2009 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2009

Australian Orchid Review 2009 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2009

Australian Orchid Review 2009 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2009

Australian Orchid Review 2009 - 2010 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2010

eBotanical Prints – March 2023

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Twenty more books were added to the botanical print collection this month and most are about orchids: 19 volumes of the Australian Orchid Review from 2012 to 2015. I picked sample images that demonstrated the publications’ photography and drawings. I’ll continue browsing more volumes in April! The very first volume on the list is the only one not from Internet Archive; it is a recently published book - Pollinator-Friendly Parks - that I am using as a reference as I reduce the ‘turf’ in my yard. It is available free from the Xerces Society.

The whole list of 2,592 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the March 2023 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the March 2023 eBotanical Prints!

Pollinator-Friendly Parks * Frischie, Stephanie; Code, Aimee; Shepherd, Matt; Black, Scott; Hoyle, Sarah; Selvaggio, Sharon; Laws, Angela; Dunham, Rachel; Vaughan, Mace * sample image * 2021

Australian Orchid Review 2015 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2015

Australian Orchid Review 2015 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2015

Australian Orchid Review 2015 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2015

Australian Orchid Review 2015 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2015

Australian Orchid Review 2015 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2015

Australian Orchid Review 2015 - 2016 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2016

Australian Orchid Review 2014 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2014

Australian Orchid Review 2014 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2014

Australian Orchid Review 2014 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2014

Australian Orchid Review 2014 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2014

Australian Orchid Review 2014 - 2015 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2015

Australian Orchid Review 2013 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2013

Australian Orchid Review 2013 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2013

Australian Orchid Review 2013 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2013

Australian Orchid Review 2013 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2013

Australian Orchid Review 2013 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2013

Australian Orchid Review 2013 - 2014 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2014

Australian Orchid Review 2012 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2012

Australian Orchid Review 2012 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2012

eBotanical Prints – February 2023

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Twenty more books were added to the botanical print collection this month and they are about orchids: 20 volumes of the Australian Orchid Review from 2016 to 2019. I picked sample images that demonstrated the publications’ photography and drawings. I’ll continue browsing more volumes in March!

The whole list of 2,572 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the February 2023 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the February 2023 eBotanical Prints!

Australian Orchid Review 2019 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2019

Australian Orchid Review 2019 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2019

Australian Orchid Review 2019 - 2020 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2020

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 - 2019 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2019

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 - 2018 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2016 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2016

Australian Orchid Review 2016 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2016

Australian Orchid Review 2016 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2016

Australian Orchid Review 2016 - 2017 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2016 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2016

eBotanical Prints – July 2022

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20 botanical print books in July. The topics include: plant relations/structures/geography (3), roses, gardens, orchids, ferns, water plants/lilies (3), wildflowers (3), and The Plant World periodicals (7). I will continue to browse The Plant World periodicals into August.  

The whole list of 2,432 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the July 2022 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the July 2022 eBotanical Prints!

Plant relations * Coulter, John Merle * sample image * 1901

Plant Structures * Coulter, John Merle * sample image * 1906

Popular geography of plants; or, A botanical excursion round the world  * Catlow, Maria E.; Daubeny, Charles * sample image * 1855

Roses and their Cultivation * Sanders, Thomas William * sample image * 1917

The Flower Garden * Sanders, Thomas William * sample image * 1919

Select orchidaceous plants [First series] by Robert Warner ; the notes on culture by Benjamin S. Williams. * Warner, Robert * sample image * 1865

Select ferns and lycopods * Williams, Benjamin Samuel * sample image * 1873

The Water Garden * Tricker, William * sample image * 1897

Water-lilies and how to grow them * Conard, Henry S.; Hus, Henry * sample image * 1907

The waterlilies: a monograph of the genus Nymphaea  * Conard, Henry S. * sample image * 1905

Wild flower preservation; a collector's guide * Coley, May; Weatherby, Charles Alfred * sample image * 1915

Useful wild plants of the United States and Canada * Saunders, Charles Francis; Aring, Lucy Hamilton (illustrator) * sample image * 1920

California Wild Flowers * Saunders, Elisabeth Hallowell * sample image * 1905

The Plant World Vol VI 1903 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1903

The Plant World Vol V 1902 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1902

The Plant World Vol IV 1901 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1901

The Plant World Vol III 1900 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1900

The Plant World Vol II 1899 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1899

The Plant World Vol I 1898 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1898

The Plant World Vol VII 1904 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1904

Phillips Landing Park

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My husband signed up us for 4 Delmarva Birding field trips as a last excursion to the eastern shore before we move to Missouri. The first field trip was at Phillips Landing Park near Laurel DE. It was a weekday so most of the other participants were retirees like us; we had two guides that were very familiar with the area…so we saw more than we would if we’d gone on our own.

Shortly after we started, my camera had a problem and I was challenged to work around it by using the eye piece rather than the screen for the rest of the morning….not what I usually do so my focusing/composition was not as good as usual even though the skew of pictures toward botanical rather than birds was probably about the same as it would have been with the camera working perfectly.

The plants are at the height of their variety in the spring with blossoms and unfurling leaves – the bright greens of mosses growing rapidly in the new warmth – unfurling ferns….good for photography although my eyes were itchy from the pollen laden air.

The high point of the botanical sightings: One of our guides pointed out a native orchid in bloom beside the path. They aren’t the large showy orchids of warmer climates; it takes a sharp eye to notice them!

There was an area near the path that looked like an egg laying site for a reptile….but something had found the eggs before they could hatch. There were eggshells among the acorns.

I did managed to photograph a few birds: courting cowbirds in the parking lot, a yellowlegs among the reeds, and a prothonotary warbler high in a tree.

The park was a good mix of habitat – watery area near the parking area (Broad Creek that flows into the Nanticoke River nearby) and a path through forest.

As we returned to our car, I saw a tiger swallowtail flit across the grassy area nearby. A good finale to a morning field trip!

Brookside Gardens South Conservatory in February

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Update: This blog post is about a visit to Brookside Gardens early in March. Like all Montgomery County Parks facilities the conservatories are closed today as part of the strategy to slow the spread of COVID-19. Check the garden web site for more information.

Continuing about my walk around Brookside Gardens into the South Conservatory…

This is where the butterfly exhibit will be housed by the later part of April. For now, it is full of blooms. The snapdragons are dominant. The day I went was sunny and I enjoyed trying to get positioned so that the throats of the flowers were fired by the sun – making them look more like dragons.

The sun coming through the Amaryllis blooms make the edges pop.

But my favorite Amaryllis shot was one in the shade.

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All kinds of flowers take on a different look depending on whether the light is behind or above or in front of the flower.

I took a last look back at the conservatory and used the zoom to get two more flowers…

Then went outdoors to find out how far along the spring bulbs in the garden were.

Longwood Gardens – September 2019

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Now for the highlights from the rest of the Longwood Gardens. Before the waterlilies we enjoyed the plants around the main entrance to the conservatory.

We always stop at the indoor children’s garden at the very beginning since later it will be a busy place. This time we got there before any families, so it was very quiet. The place it full of accessible water and natural materials made into art.

On the way to the waterlily courtyard, I noticed different colors of cannas and a bird-of-paradise flower.

After the waterlilies we walked through several more ‘rooms’ of the conservatory including one with plantain and banana plants (both with heavy pods of fruit). And the orchid room was there too.

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Then it was outdoors to the trial gardens. They are particularly lush right now after growing all summer. The sunflowers were heavy with the forming seeds.

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We walked to the chimes tower going up the steps of the tower

And then more steps to follow the water to the Eye of Water. Last time we’d come to Longwood, the eye had been closed for renovation, so we wanted to see it this time.

We trekked to the other side of the visitor center for the flower garden walk. There were beginning to be more people around by this time. A hummingbird flew ahead of us but wasn’t stopping for long; too many people about. Just past the Whispering Bench, there were pots with pitcher plants. I remembered them being there last time as well.

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We made our way around the Large Lake to the Italian Water Gardens.  I zoomed in on some of the sculptures. The renovation several years ago is holding up well.

The day was warming up, but we decided to head out to the meadow anyway. The plants are well established now, and we hiked all the way across to the Forest Edge kiosk/bench. I saw taller Joe Pye Weed than I’d ever seen before…lots of goldenrod…a few thistles…skippers and buckeyes…large dragonflies. We were glad to get back to a shady part of the trail. It was a good morning to be at Longwood!

Brookside Gardens Conservatory– February 2019

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The Brookside Gardens conservatory was much warmer than outside – one of the immediate pleasures of stepping inside on a winter’s day. And then all the beautiful flowers that are all around draw attention. I did some quick photography using the zoom rather than taking the time to get closer to the flowers. I find that it’s faster and I like the results of the blurry or dark backgrounds. My favorite picture of the morning was shades of purple against a black background…curves and creases.

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The flowers in the conservatory are always colorful and even more appreciated in winter when the outside is so brown and black. In the conservatory there are always pinks and oranges and yellows and reds…with green framing.

I couldn’t resist documenting the cycads near the door back toward the gift store as we were leaving. There wasn’t as much vegetation around the plants, so the structures were more visible than usual. When I see cycads, I always think of dinosaurs since this type of plant was around that long ago…and somehow survived whatever killed off the dinosaurs.

Longwood Gardens – Part II

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My favorite plants to photograph in the Longwood Gardens Conservatory are orchids, fiddleheads, and hibiscus.

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The only time I used my clip-on macro lens for my phone was to attempt to capture some very tiny orchids. This was good practice for photographing native orchids which are very small in our part of North America.

Then I noticed the different kinds of slipper orchids. They are probably my favorites. There was a couple in the room with us that had been growing orchids for years and they told me that the slippers are often the easiest ones to grow…good to know if I ever get the yen to grow orchids. They warned me that the hobby can be addictive.

Another bit of orchid-lore from them: some orchids have a butterfly mark in their center!

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Fiddleheads are always fascinating to look at closely. They are always spirals – sometimes spirals within spirals - that will eventually unfurl into the fronds of ferns. Often there is a fuzz covering the spirals that will be green – maybe shiny – when they are totally unfurled. The fuzz in white

Or brown (tree ferns). I am always surprised at how large the primitive plants can be – realized that earlier in earth’s history, ferns were the ‘big trees.’

There were some that were unfurled enough that the ‘fidddle’ was more of a ball of green.

I managed to see and photography several that were the spirals within spirals. Maybe these are ideas for a Zentangle tile!

Finally – hibiscus. I like their huge petals, the blends of color, the gentle curves, and the complex centers.

Tomorrow – I’ll post about the Longwood water lilies.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 28, 2018

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Go Orchids: North American Orchid Conservation Center – A great site for learning about orchids…mentioned in my second post about the class I attended at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.

In praise of drawing - The Painters Keys – This is post originally written in 2006 but still very applicable today. I looked more at Internet Archive for some of the ‘how to draw’ books that were mentioned in the article; it’s amazing that in a 40-year period in the 1800s so many were published. A more recent post – from a science education perspective – was published in 2015: Rediscovering the forgotten benefits of drawing. I am contemplating taking a ‘next step’ from Zentangles to realistic drawings.

Time-Lapse Videos Capture Echinopsis Cacti in Bloom – Eye candy videos…beautiful.

Free Technology for Teachers: 7 TED-Ed Food Science Lessons – We could all learn a little more about the food we consume….educate ourselves to eat wisely.

Research Dollars Go Farther at Less-Prestigious Institutions: Study | The Scientist Magazine® - Interesting finding. I wonder if it will change how some organizations that award research dollars make decisions in the future.

Material formed from crab shells and trees could replace flexible plastic packaging -- ScienceDaily – This type of technology gives me hope. Recycling can’t do everything. We have to reduce the non-compostable materials in our packaging…have a net decrease in what has to be (expensively) recycled and/or go to the landfill.

Recovery: America’s Giant Squirrel Back from the Brink – Cool Green Science – I’ve seen signs about the Delmarva Fox Squirrel when we have gone to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge but have never seen one. It’s good to hear a environmental improvement story!

As usual – I can’t resist the ’25 birds’ posts from National Geographic. Here are two that have come out recently: Top 25 Bird Interactions and Top 25: Wild Birds with Spectacular Catches

BBC - Future - The complicated truth about a cat’s purr – We all like to think that when our cat purrs that it is a sound of happiness…but is it?

Compound Interest - Volcanic eruptions: the chemistry of lava and volcanic gases and Compound Interest - The chemistry of spinach: the iron myth and ‘spinach teeth’ – Two posts from Andy Brunning. In the first one – click on the graphic and the larger version of the infographic will appear....a timely post with the volcanic event in Hawaii this summer.

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center - Part II

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Continuing about my day at SERC last Friday…

I got to SERC early enough that I walked around a small pond and took my first pictures of marshmallows.

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There were more of them in the marsh near the boardwalk as we made our way out to Hog Island. They were – by far – the biggest flowers of the area.

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A tiny flower that I photographed along the trail from very close up was a mint. I was careful to look for poison ivy and plants with thorns before I positioned myself to take the picture.

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And then there were trees…trees with lichen…a canopy of green…a pathway lined with green.

There are ongoing studies that make exact measurements of tree trunks over time. Metal bands are used; they expand as the tree grows and the amount they have expanded is measured.

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There were trees with holes in their trunks. The rows of holes are probably made by a bird – a yellow-bellied sapsucker. I remembered seeing a similar tree during my last hike at Belmont and being thrilled that the campers already knew the bird that made the holes!

There are young paw paw trees in the forest and I realized that I had seen these at Belmont as well. I know the tree from its bark but not is leaves!

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There was a standing dead tree that had the thickest collection of shelf fungus I’ve ever seen.

A sickly dogwood had more colorful bark that I am used to seeing on a dogwood.

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As we got back to the cluster of buildings – on the road by the geothermal well area – there were some sycamores – with a few skeletonized leaves…something was eating them…and the last flower of the day:

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Some black eyed susans.

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After the hike, we had lunch followed by a lecture about orchids. The North American Orchid Conservation Center is based at SERC and there are 9 native orchids that have been found there! We saw one on the earlier hike (the cranefly orchid) – unfortunately I didn’t get a good picture of it. The website for the organization - https://northamericanorchidcenter.org/ - is full of get information about native orchids and there is a colelction of orchid-gami printables if you want to make paper models of orchids!

Brookside Conservatories – March 2018

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After my walk around the outdoor parts of Brookside Gardens, the warmth of the conservatories was much appreciated. Both are currently open although one will close to prepare for the Wings of Fancy Butterfly exhibit in early April. There were not many people about so I had the luxury of moving myself to the best location to capture the photos I wanted. There was lots of color from flowers like poppies, begonias, and orchids as well as the foliage of variegated croton (and they were blooming too!). Of course the greens were well as well since outside we are still mostly brown. I like the shapes of papyrus, water droplets on big leaves, and the unfurling ferns. I like conservatories in general but appreciate them the most on visits in the depths of winter.