Published by Daniel Mosquin on April 19, 2017
Local readers can likely guess that these photographs weren’t taken this year because of the cloudless blue skies and sunshine. The first photograph is from March 29, 2016, while the second was taken on April 2, 2015. This is approximately the stage of flowering as of today–2.5-3 weeks later than the two previous years.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on April 18, 2017
Urospermum dalechampii is known by the common name smooth golden fleece or Mediterranean daisy. It is in the daisy or sunflower family, aka the Asteraceae. A perennial species, it typically reaches 25-40cm (10-15 in.) in height each year. The hermaphroditic flowers are 5 cm (2 in.) wide, and appear between March and August (in its […]
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on April 17, 2017
Long-time readers may have been able to deduce my bias to featuring the plants of my mother’s garden of my youth: irises, larkspurs, and lady’s-slippers. One notable omission, though, has been lilacs. These featured prominently in our Canadian prairie farmyard, as both a hedge alongside the road and a few plantings in the garden.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on April 14, 2017
In the USDA’s Plant Profile map for Cerastium arvense, it shows the species occurring across North America and as both native and introduced in most states, provinces, and territories. Why?
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on April 13, 2017
Hubricht’s amsonia or Arkansas bluestar is one of approximately twenty plant species endemic to the Ouachita Mountains of central Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on April 12, 2017
The genus Humidicutis contains approximately eighteen known species worldwide. Nine species, including Humidicutis taekeri, have been recorded in Australia; others are native to North America, Central America and Europe. A collection of photographs of some of the other beautiful Humidicutis species has been published by the Atlas of Living Australia.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on April 11, 2017
In Alaska’s Kenai Fjords National Park, glaciers can be found at or near sea level. As they retreat (and all glaciers below 1500m (4905 ft.) in Alaska are retreating), sheer walls of bedrock cliffs are sometimes exposed. Once this new habitat becomes available, organisms quickly begin to colonize.
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