#herbarium

Carnation-type flowers. Botanical illustration, medieval Italy by Ulisse Aldrovandi. 

Inspiration: Pressed Flowers

Mrs. E. M. Cotton
Illustrations of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of the Falkland Islands.
London: L. Reeve & Co., 1921

Tripleurospermum inodorum

Iris germanica

Juniperus sibirica

Moscow State University Herbarium

Region: Chukotka and Kamchatka, Russia

Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago

Veronica wormskjoldii

English: Speedwell, Wormskjold’s alpine speedwell

Helianthus petiolaris

Prairie Sunflower

Visiting Death Valley in 2021 was a disappointment compared to 2020, but there were some die-hard plants still flowering despite the dryness of the year. Phacelia crenulata was one of the few we saw, thriving at the edge of roads where the asphalt sheds water and can help keep it from evaporating as quickly.

Phacelia, AKA scorpionweeds for the curled inflorescences they grow, is native to North and South America though Phacelia tanacetifolia is making headway as an introduced species in Europe.

The scorpion-tail cymes of P. crenulata’s purple flowers mature into capsules full of orange-brown seeds which will hang out in the soil for as long as half a decade waiting for decent conditions to germinate and grow for a year – an endurance which may be necessary in the arid climates to which they are native. I took some seed heads home to photograph and grow, but so far I haven’t gotten them as large as they were growing even in that dry year!

Argemone glauca, or Pua kala, is one of the prickly poppies (family Papaveraceae) and is endemic the Hawaiian islands where it exists at many altitudes. A. glauca (named for the glaucous = gray green/blue leaves) produces a classic white flower with yellow center and has spiny leaves which along with toxic alkaloids deter herbivores from grazing. While not possessing the opioids for which poppies may be best known, the alkaloids Pua kala possesses made it useful to native Hawaiians for treating various medical conditions such as ulcers, toothaches, and warts.

Like its mainland counterparts, A. glauca prefers fairly dry habitats, doing well in places with little rainfall. Though native to only north and south America, various species of Argemone have been introduced throughout the world, including different species though within the native range of the genus. Argemone mexicana is a fairly close relative of A. glauca and has been introduced to the Hawaiian islands, benefiting from adaptation to similar environments.

Capparis sandwichiana, the Hawaiian Caper, or maiapilo, is a sprawling, low-growing shrub which inhabits only the Hawaiian islands in coastal and near-coastal ranges. It shares its genus with Capparis spinosa which is commonly used in Mediterranean cooking and shares some traits such as a preference for little water which might be surprising when hearing it is endemic to these tropical islands. The white flowers are fragrant and quite large, serving as nectar source for Manduca blackburni and a forage source for larval Plutella capparidis moths, both of which are also endemic Hawaiian species. The plant is threatened in the wild.

This image was created by pulling the sharpest segments from 62 separate images at different distances from the subject to produce an image showing the subject entirely in focus.

[Wrapped specimens] kimono/obi depicting bunch of flowers and bugs arranged in a lattice pattern for a lovely modern take on herbarium/curiosity collections.

This pattern also comes in pastels: