Freak midge orchids (Corunastylis apostasioides / Genoplesium apostasioides) near Monga, NSW. Very small self-pollinating flowers rarely open fully (if at all) and sometimes only one single flower at a time. I've only ever seen one fully-open flower on any plant at this location (in 2021!)
I've wasted my money each year on membership in plant science professional societies that remain inaccessible and ageist (when it comes to what age they find acceptable to be a student).
I've let that dwindle down. There's still one or two I haven't quit, but wouldn't it be novel to pay a professional society fee where I really felt part of the group? Part of the community in question?
April 9, Plant Needs! 3:30 - 4:30pm US Pacific time
"Join K–12 Learning Coordinator Kristin Brisbois for monthly virtual office hours, where you can drop in to ask questions and receive support regarding The Huntington’s primary sources and their application in your classroom."
Open Cultural Studies (www.degruyter.com/CULTURE) invites submissions for a topical issue “Critical Plant Theories and Cultures: Exploring Human and More-than-human World Entanglements” @plantscience
@temptoetiam En parlant de galles, deux trouvailles hier (respectivement sur églantier et ronce), appartenant à Diplolepis rosae (la galle s'appelle bédégar) et Diastrophus rubi. Au premier abord j'avais cru que la blanche pouvait être une chrysalide (y'a de petits fils de soie au sommet) avant de voir les trous et surtout qu'elle émanait bien de la tige.
Made my semi-annual trip to the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden. It's pretty early in the season so there's not much going on outside, but the conservatory is always worth a look.
1/4 #gardening #houseplants #botany #greenhouse #rhododendron
Many rhododendrons are tropical and won't survive outdoors even in the mild #PNW climate. Like this Rhododendron rugosum from Borneo. Gorgeous leaves. Flowers are nice too.
2/4 #gardening#houseplants#botany#greenhouse#rhododendron
Rhododendron Soecies Botanical Garden thread part 3. Lots of other cool plants in the greenhouse too. That Begonia looks deadly. The plant with the purple flowers is a Prumulina I think (there was no tag).
RSBG is in Federal Way, #Washington, between #Seattle and #Tacoma. Stop in if you can, it makes a great stop on a road trip. April and May are the best months to visit.
3/4 #PNW#gardening#houseplants#botany#greenhouse#rhododendron
Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden part 4. My haul. They have a plant store onsite. I have a membership, which allows me priority online ordering at a discount and it's so worth it. Buying memberships and plants helps fund the garden and its conservation work.
4/4 Http://rhodygarden.org
Looking into the grass for something interesting to photograph, I was surprised to see these tiny flowers.
I think there must be some adaptive pressure to evolve a way to reproduce that will not get mowed every week, so these tiny, close-to-the-ground flowers make sense for weeds in these manicured lawns.
But I don't really know. No idea what plant this is.
Eriochilus cucullatus (Eastern Bunny Orchid - aka 'Parson's Bands') near Mongarlowe, NSW. Very widespread autumn-flowering orchid in eastern Australia - can also sometimes be seen out in late summer at this location.
Lasthenia chrysantha and Triphysaria eriantha starting to bloom at Jepson Prairie Preserve in the Lower Sacramento Valley. #Botany#Flowers@plantscience
So, this lens was cool but I was struggling with focusing, so I redesigned the part to make the top movable to allow me to have better control over the focus.
You can find the design on Printables if you want to make one.
Greenhood orchid (Pterostylis sp.) near Mongarlowe, NSW. Possibly P. rubescens but there are several very similar 'tiny greenhood' species also found nearby(ish). This group of smaller-flowering greenhoods (AKA Speculantha) can be tricky to ID without dissection - so not 100% sure what this one might be ;)
Here's a wildly optimistic tī kōuka/NZ cabbage tree that I spotted yesterday in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ. It's growing five storeys above the ground in the top of the spouting of an abandoned, earthquake damaged building.
The building is still waiting for demolition and in the meantime the tī kōuka is doing its best to turn the building into a forest.
On Google Street View the plant was there in August 2023 about a third the size.