aidthebotanist

[aidthebotanist]

how the human brain works:

electricity tickles the meat so that different slimes come out. sometimes the slime feels good sometimes bad. some people make more bad slime than good slime. that’s called clinical depression.

[aidthebotanist]

strange botanical item #4395020

okay so story time:

my lichen and bryophyte biodiversity professor has been researching lichens (communities of special fungi and photosynthetic algae working together for food and shelter) and mosses for about 20-30 years now. for the past 20 years or so, he and another botany professor at my university have led annual excursions into the subarctic wilderness of the canadian boundary waters, an area known for its lichen diversity and the fact that you can only travel in groups of up to ten so the canadian government can keep track of you in case they need to fly in and bail you out. you know how it is. 

today, he took our class into our university’s herbarium, where dead and dried plant, fungus, and lichen specimens are kept in giant vaults for research. he reached into a locker labeled “OVERSIZED LICHENS” and pulled out a clear specimen bag with this. 

apparently on the 2008 trip, he found a moose skull sporting NOT ONLY a nice lichen, but a moss species that LIVES ONLY ON LICHENS and is also apparently a relatively unique find. so he did the logical thing and like, you know, stood in the canadian wilderness and casually sawed off the more interesting part of the skull, which now resides in the collection with the correctly labelled species of lichen and moss as formal instances of those species because we all know what the REAL notable part of this specimen is.

also this is the same dude who once accidentally came into close range of a mother bear and her cub while collecting mosses so like 

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newly potted azeleas. 2•25•18

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when am I not at the greenhouse haha

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echeveria dondo pals.

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i’m just stunned at this string of pearls, look at those beautiful blooms

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pictures from this morning! i love the golden morning light so much ☺️

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I just NEEDED a close up of this plant!!

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Canadian photographer Eiko Jones

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A Japanese farm introduced a new crop this winter: an organic banana with a peel that’s thin enough to eat. In a nod to this appealing outer covering, Setsuzo Tanaka, the banana’s inventor, has named his creation the Mongee (“mon-gay”) banana — which means “incredible banana” in Japanese.

“Setsuzo’s original purpose was to make a delicious banana with no pesticides,” Tetsuya Tanaka, a spokesperson for D&T Farms, the company behind the banana, writes in an email. Setsuzo Tanaka spent four decades tinkering with tropical fruit before the Mongee was born.

A Banana Grown At Subzero Temps Also Has An Edible Peel

Photo: Courtesy of D&T Farm Inc.

[aidthebotanist]

fave thing: when botanists go on expeditions into jungles with other botanists and spend like a week living in the jungle collectively freaking out over the plants, then immediately coming back and writing a paper for an academic journal just gushing about the plants and not even really trying to keep a formal tone anymore 

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Flying Squid (Alocasia plumbae)

New acquisition from Josh’s Frogs! Easily one of my weirdest plants. Pretty excited to see how it develops!

I hate the new “Photos” by Apple. I sincerely apologize for the quality of my photos the last few posts; the lighting is all wrong and I can’t smooth out anything because it keeps causing the app to crash. Hopefully they release an update soon and fix it!

[aidthebotanist]

Have you guys ever seen the inflorescence of a tropical pitcher plant? YOU HAVE NOW

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Some small tattoo designs

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hey

please remember to take some time and have some water !!! ���

[aidthebotanist]