Showing posts with label Plants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Plants. Show all posts

Wednesday 8 June 2016

Gothenburg Botanical Garden - Spring 2014

The Gothenburg Botanical Garden (in Swedish: Göteborgs botaniska trädgård)  is one of the larger botanical gardens in Europe. I actually visited that place several times and for plant collectors and enthusiasts its worth checking periodically, because in their shop sometimes can be found pretty rare flowers and plants in general, which otherwise may be nearly impossible to be found for sale even on-line. Today I'll post a few pictures from the garden and its plants. At that time of the year there were many flowering wild species of tulips, which in my opinion was the best part from the visit. In that regard I'd say that this was very large collection, that if not surpassing is at least rivalling the one in Kew Gardens.


Bulb (spring)  flowers section

Tulipa humilis var. 'alba' with unusually long flower stems
Tulipa humilis var. 'alba'


Tulipa aitchisonii var 'clusianoides'
Tulipa aitchisonii var 'clusianoides'


Tulipa bakeri


Tulipa orphanidea
Tulipa bithynica






And in the end there is mini forest with a hill overseeing part of Gothenburg

Animals and plants that can be seen while hiking in Bulgaria



I made this video from a few short clips I took while hiking in Bulgaria. These animals and plants are some of the more common species which can be seen by the casual hiker. Of course there are bigger and more memorable beasts like bear, red deer and others, but they are not something that is easy to be found in the wilderness.

Species shown:
1. Spotted nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)
2. Fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra)
3. Scarab beetle (Scarabaeidae spp)
4. Bumblebee  (Bombus spp)
5. Birch Sawfly (Cimbex femoratus)
6. White-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus)
7. White Long-headed poppy - (Papaver dubium dubium L. var. albiflorum)
8. Gall wasp (Cynipidae)
9. Duck mussels (Anodonta anatina)
10. Thyme (Thymus spp)
11. Roman snail (Helix pomatia)

Friday 27 May 2016

Meadow Buttercup (Ranunculus acris) possible mutation

I found this flower on 30 April 2016 while I've been hiking trough Lyulin Mountain in Bulgaria, at approximately at 1300 m (4300 ft) above see level in the outskirts of grass field bordering with forest, partially in shade. There were Meadow Buttercups (Ranunculus acris) nearby and while I am aware that there are cultivars and variations of the species with many petals, this one looked different. It may not be significant difference, but the petals were narrower then these of the cultivar "Multiplex" for example and also the flower didn't look so "packed" with petals, next the leafs where very deeply cut and sitting on long (more then 50% of the length of the flower stem) stems.

When I found it, I was unable to say nothing more then it looks like Meadow Buttercup, but at least I was able to appreciate that it is noticeably different and is in far too remote place to be simply escaped house plant or cultivar. Then I started looking for another one, but even after 6 hours of searching I couldn't find anything similar. Now there are three options of what it could be, first one and most likely is that I found either cultivar or hybrid that by some odd coincidence got in very remote place in the middle of the forest in that mountain, second possibility is that it as a rare naturally occurring mutation of the Meadow Buttercup and the third is that it is some closely related, but different and much less common species and that is why I can't find exact match in internet. The most exiting would be to happen that I stumbled across some new species, variety or at least mutation, but because we talk about Europe, where every stone was turned in the last several centuries by all kind of explorers and researchers, I know that this is very unlikely, but still who knows, it may have been missed somehow until now. Anyway, I'll keep researching the subject and if I find anything new, I'll post an update.
Growing at the outskirts of grass field and forest in partial shade
Close up, note the narrow petals
Close up of leaf, lower were sitting on very large stems and all were deeply cut
No visible or at least yellow coloured sepals
See also: Hiking through Lyulin Mountain

Monday 16 May 2016

White Long-headed Poppy (Blindeyes)

White Long-headed poppy - (Papaver dubium dubium L. var. albiflorum) called also Blindeyes from North-West Bulgaria, May 2016. Despite the white form being rarer variation of the typical red one, I found in this area only white and none of the red. Anyway, these white poppies are very beautiful and kind of unusually looking in the midst of the much more common red ones.
White Long-headed poppy - (Papaver dubium dubium L. var. albiflorum)called also Blindeyes
White Long-headed poppy, another view

Friday 13 May 2016

Red Persian Buttercup

These bright red buttercups were shining in the silver-green surrounding after the rain.




Devil's Apple (S. linnaeanum) from Bni Bouayach, Morocco

I took these pictures an year ago during my visit to Morocco. While the quality is not great, the plant itself is interesting. I stumbled across few of these just outside of the village Bni Bouayach. The temperature was around 46C and the ground was completely dry and burning hot, but seems they were thriving there. I would assume it is a Devil's Apple (S. linnaeanum), but I am not 100% sure, so if I am wrong, correct me, please. It looks a bit like spiny tomato and is pretty easy to be mistaken with the wild eggplant, which is actually closely related species. Also it is worth mentioning that the species is poisonous, so be careful if you come across one.
Devil's Apple (S. linnaeanum) from Bni Bouayach, Morocco
Devil's Apple (S. linnaeanum), closer view