Published by Daniel Mosquin on July 19, 2019

Inflorescences of Syneilesis aconitifolia
Most of the horticultural admiration for shredded umbrella plant is for its leaves, but I think the inflorescence has a certain charm as well.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on July 9, 2019

Flowers of Degenia velebitica
Degenia velebitica (no common name in English) is endemic to rocky slopes and screes of Croatia’s Velebit and Kapela mountain ranges. It is a monotypic genus (containing only the one species), therefore the genus occurs nowhere else in the world.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on June 26, 2019

Iliamna rivularis, or mountain hollyhock
It had been ten years since I last knowingly encountered Iliamna rivularis, so it was a highlight for me at last weekend’s Botany British Columbia gathering in Rossland.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on June 17, 2019

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.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on June 10, 2019

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.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on May 31, 2019

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.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on May 27, 2019

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.
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