Flowers of Aristolochia arborea
It is always intriguing to find the outlier in a plant family. As noted in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group summary, the Aristolochiaceae, or birthwort family, “…are more or less herbaceous plants (they are quite often vines)”. The epithet arborea, though, reveals the habit of this species: a (small) tree.
Mats of Penstemon davidsonii var. menziesii near Whistler, British Columbia
Menzies’ penstemon or Menzies’ beardtongue is native to British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. Despite growing in rocky, well-draining soils, plants can be spectacularly floriferous as shown in today’s photograph.
Inflorescence of Orthosiphon aristatus var. aristatus
Cat’s whiskers seems like a fitting common name for this taxon. Another name is Java tea, which gives hints to both its native distribution (tropical Asia and Queensland) and how it is consumed as a medicine.
Peteria thompsoniae in habitat
Like the Opuntia aurea in the previous entry, Peteria thompsoniae is also a species of the American Southwest. It is commonly known as spine-noded milkvetch; the spines are readily apparent in another of Andrey’s photographs: Peteria thompsoniae.
The flower and pads of Opuntia aurea
Golden prickly-pear is narrowly-restricted to a small area of southern Utah and northern Arizona. Perhaps the easiest place to observe this species is within Utah’s Zion National Park if the iNaturalist observations of Opuntia aurea are any indication.
Newly-emerged needles of Larix laricina
Flowers get most of the attention at this time of the year in northern temperate areas, but emerging foliage deserves some as well. The tactile experience of brushing one’s fingers along the needles of a branch of Larix laricina is another delight of spring.
A mass of inflorescences on Pimelea ferrugina ‘Bonne Petite’
The Australian Native Plant Society has an excellent write-up on pink rice flower, including the etymology of its generic name: “from Greek pimele, “soft fat”, presumably referring to the oily seeds or fleshy cotyledons”.
