Published by Daniel Mosquin on April 16, 2020
Two flower colour morphs of bird’s-foot violet are common: the solidly lilac-coloured flowers in today’s photograph and a bi-coloured version, with the upper two petals coloured a dark purple.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on December 24, 2018
Was this purple foxglove intentionally planted against the orange lichen-encrusted wall? The effect of having all three of the secondary colours adjacent to one another is pleasing to me, whether it is by design or not.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on October 23, 2018
If, like me, you are a fan of the word “bletting”, then medlar is the fruit for you. Bletting is a process whereby the astringent and firm tissues of the fruit are broken down with time into an edible sugary mush. Side-by-side photos of semi-ripe fruit and bletted fruit are available via Wikipedia: Mespilus germanica.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on September 14, 2018
Common names range from the poetic to the descriptive to the eminently practical. A number of common names for Kalmia angustifolia land in the latter part of the spectrum: lambkill, sheepkill, and even calfkill.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on September 11, 2018
Mexican ball moss is not a true moss. Like its close relative, Spanish moss, it is a member of the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae).
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on September 5, 2018
Large-flowered sandwort is primarily native to mountainous regions bordering the western and central parts of the Mediterranean Sea. Aptly illustrated in the first photograph, the typical habitat is dry, rocky sites.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on August 20, 2018
Alfalfa, or lucerne, lined the roadsides in many places during my recent trip across Canada’s Prairies. In a few places, it was also cultivated as a crop for hay.
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