Awkward Botany

Cover of the book Understory: A Year Among Weeds by Anna Chapman Parker

This is going to be a fun read :)

I remember bunnygrunt #floatingwitchshead

a rounded, green leaf with toothed margins covered in a thin layer of icy, frost

violet leaves in the frost

age old question

small pink-purple flower with 5 distinct petals next to a fuzzy flower bud atop a stem with slender leaves

An early January phlox flower in the Boise Foothills

I'm dreaming of a rainsoaked Christmas

cover of the book When the Earth Was Green by Riley Black

Finally going to finish reading a book club book on time for book club #lifeonsabbatical

shrub with prominent spiny branches and spiny leaf margins; closeup on leaves and cylindrical, blue-ish fruits hanging from bright red pedicels

wintergreen barberry (Berberis julianae) in December

two very tiny, darkly colored mushrooms emerging from sandy soil

mystery mushrooms growing in the sand at Elephant Rock Loop (Boise Foothills)

weathered old gate that is falling apart

brand new gate that is not falling apart

Before and After. Not perfect but definitely an improvement. Up next: new garden beds

Photo of the trunk of the palm showing numerous, needle-like root spines pointing slightly downward. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

Many plants defend themselves with physical defenses. Spikey armaments, at various scales, are the subject of this week’s posts. Let’s start with root spines: Adventitious roots that harden & become sharp. Cryosophilla palms do it best. 📷: Cryosophila warscewiczii #root #Arecaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

best birb

Day 1 of a 39 day break from work. First project on the list: build a new gate.

deep red to merlot-colored, simple leaves on branches of shrub

fall color on Korean spice viburnum (Viburnum carlesii)

persimmon tree planted

green, angular, cylindrical fruits with pointed tips arranged upright above clover-like foliage

fruits of creeping woodsorrel (Oxalis corniculata)

hope springs eternal

lovely photos

Photo of a leafy shoot of a red maple. The leaves are opposite at each node, but one leaf has a longer petiole than the other. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

Anisophylly means “unequal leaves” & refers to the production of unequal leaves continuously & concurrently (not a growth stage). Maples (this is Acer rubrum) produce a pair of leaves at each node, but one leaf has a longer stalk than the other. #Sapindaceae #anisophylly #Acer #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

faint purple, oblong fruit split open lengthwise at a seam; textured, gray-colored center within a white pith

the fruit of chocolate vine (Akebia quinata)

May the underdog win

you can find me at the lo-fi show

Also baseball. Go Ms!!

It's fall y'all. Plant something every day.

a cluster of small, white flowers surrounded by deep green foliage; flowers have four petals in the shape of a cross, and small cylindrical seed pods are forming below the flowers

the flowers of watercress (Nasturtium officinale)

wiry, green stems criss-crossing with a small, yellow flower and a tuft of wind-dispersed seeds in the center

stems, flowers, and fruits of rush skeletonweed (Chondrilla juncea)
#weedsofboise

pink-white trumpet-shaped flower with a purple center

not sure if we'll get any sweet potatoes, but we do have flowers

indian tamarind, painted by amanda almira newton, 1908

indian tamarind, painted by amanda almira newton, 1908

small yellow flower with 5 yellow petals fused together; three small lobed leaves

Weeds of Boise: a tiny buffalo bur in a friend's yard (Solanum rostratum)

two yellow composite flowers and one flower bud on very slender stems raised up above a rosette of lance-shaped leaves with toothed margins

Weeds of Moscow Idaho: hairy cat's ear (Hypochaeris radicata)