Published by Daniel Mosquin on January 19, 2006
Rhododendron moupinense is one of the earliest flowering rhododendrons locally. Its delicate flowers are susceptible to hard rains, so a late January or February storm can leave this plant (specimen image) looking as if someone emptied a swimming pool onto it all at once.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on December 31, 2005
A “seasonal” image to complete 2005: candystick or sugarstick, with its red and white stem striping, obviously deserves its common names. The photographs lack visual cues (other than the moss) to give perspective, so I’ll mention that this particular plant measured roughly fifty centimeters (nearly two feet) high. Photographed in early July of 2004, this […]
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on December 14, 2005
Strawberry tree is native to Mediterranean Europe, western France and southwest Ireland. The origin of the disjunct population of plants in Ireland seems to remain a matter of debate, with some lay references suggesting a human origin, some suggesting a post-glacial advance into Ireland from France when the English Channel was dry and others advancing […]
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on December 9, 2005
It is almost possible to find a rhododendron in bloom every day of the year at UBC Botanical Garden. This species, Rhododendron thomsonii, has a few flowers emerging now. Many of its flower buds, though, were hit by the cold weather and aborted, littering the ground beneath the rhododendron with brussel sprout-sized green blobs. Fortunately, […]
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on October 23, 2005
The (dare I say it) edible, tasteless fruit of Gaultheria mucronata provide a mass of lilac-coloured blueberry-sized globes lasting throughout the winter in the Pacific Northwest of North America.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on July 27, 2005
The flaking bark of Arbutus menziesii in evening sun, photographed in a part of UBC Botanical Garden that will soon be renamed the “Mixed Borders”.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on July 18, 2005
Indian-pipe, or ghost flower, is startling enough to most people who don’t know it that they seek its name–see these threads on the UBC Botanical Garden forums for evidence. The reaction is understandable; the sight of a non-green plant is not an everyday occurrence.
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