Thursday, November 19, 2015

All the pretty flowers.

 Helwingia! It has epiphyllous (growing from the leaves) flowers.
 Two different Hoya spp. They are vines.

 Phalaenopsis orchid.
Tea plant! Camellia sinensis. The flowers don't smell that great.

 I don't know what it is, but it's leaves have parallel veins, and it smells great!
 This is a Gnetum gnemon fruit. They are tropical evergreen gymnosperms.
 And this is a male Gnetum gnemon showing off it's naughty parts. The tree grows nearly to the roof of the greenhouse, and this is the first time it has produced an influorescence, allowing us to determine it's sex.

Friday, November 13, 2015

When it's cold and rainy outside, it's warm and humid inside.

When it's cold and rainy outside, it's warm and humid inside. Hence the proliferation of powdery mildew inside. Also, some plants are responding to the changing of the seasons, are dropping their leaves, and going into hibernation.

 A snail. I thought they were our friends, eating the leaves that fall from the canopy, but alas...no. They are not wanted. I reminds me of this song I listened to as a kid (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESsQGJZOsH4).

This is another bromeliad. We have quite a collection.


It's a plant in the cactus collection. It looks like a spiny alien, and it's flowering!

 This is a red Anthurium. We also have a pink one. They are both really easy to take care of.

 This orchid has the tiniest flowers, but the fragrance of vanilla is delightful!


 I was cleaning out one of the greenhouses, and found a bag of sand, which I poured into the compost. This little skink was inside the bag. I think it could have been hibernating. I tried to pick it up, but it was awfully slippery. I'm not used to handling lizards and I was scared it would drop it's tail or bite me. I got it to climb up into my sleeve and grab my arm. I transported it outside and had to encourage it to leave, having just found a warm, dark place to hang out. After it left, it scaled the wall of Hesler like a pro!
 These starfruit (Averrhoa carambola), took months to ripen (Even in this state, they are not completely ripe, as there is still some green. However, I enjoy crisp, underipe, green pears to mealy, squishy, ripe ones). I was working late one night, got hungry, and gobbled them up. As I was leaving, I remembered the Biology 111 students were learning about different types of fruits in 3 weeks, and I felt immediately guilty that I wouldn't be able to share these fruits with them.