On occasion, I like to share more than one photograph about a plant - this is one of those days. The previous occasion was Babiana ringens, if you're new to the site.
Gum plant, or as it is known in its native Patagonia, Bóton de Oro (gold button? - someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks Dana for the correct translation - it means “golden blossom”) contains high levels of resin in its leaves (hence the English common name), so much so that it has been researched for potential use in industrial applications. The resin contains a class of hydrocarbons known as terpenes.
I think it's fair to say that the general consensus is terpenes are quite foul-smelling (Nope, I'm wrong! See floater's comments below this post. Thanks for the correction!). If you visit UBC's Alpine Garden or see this plant elsewhere, touch the white glossy surface on the flower heads (note of caution: I'd avoid doing so if you are allergic to rubber or latex). It has a gummy texture, although from its appearance you'd think it would be slimy. If you smell your fingertips after, I think you'll find yourself mildly disgusted. As an aside, I wish that the language of smells was easier to evoke, so I could be more descriptive.
Daniel, I am highly sensitive to smells and have allsorts of ways of describing yucky stinky things. I wear an indian style silk scarf most days; if I have to walk around with odors seeping, leaking, evaporating or descending on me all over the place, I want my silk scarf to cover my conk - also, it helps one cultivate a coy and alluring appearance. My worst Vancouver summer stinkers are the smell of soured milk dropped by sloppy gelati eaters onto the sidewalks of Robson and Denman and the resulting babybarf smell of the re-emiting fumes releasing from the sun scorched concrete, and then, of course, Alma & 4th, the low point of Vancouver where the sewage settles out and we all know what that septic stink is like. Need help describing a stink? I'm your "man". :)
Laura - I don't get offers like that everyday! I'm fairly sensitive to smells myself, which is quite rewarding in the garden when near pleasing wafts of fragrance or seeking out subtle scents. But when it comes to some plants, well...
Wow! Those pictures are great! Is that plant related to thistles, because it looks a bit thistle-ish. Also, what are those berries in the background of the second pic? Blueberries?
Mustela - yes, it's related to thistles, sunflowers, dandelions, lettuce and Raoulia australis. The fruit in the background are on a Berberis or barberry, I think perhaps Berberis darwinii, but I'd have to confirm.
Very nice pic!
the top photo kind of look's like a opium poppy.
Regarding Babiana ringens - April 30,2005:
Thank you so much for the two beautifully reproduced pictures. As the genus goes ,I am still referring to Lewis's 'The Genus babiana', Supplementary Volume No.111 of the Journal of South African Botany, 1959, at which time 'owing to insufficient knowledge' the species was excluded. So thank you again for filling a loveley omission
I must disagree with any consensus that says "all" terpenes are foul-smelling. Many (most, I wouldn't be surprised) of scents that all gardener love are terpenes. Think of limonene, citronella, turpentine, menthol (which are quite strong and not enjoyed by everyone). But also the smell of thyme and many other spices, pine needles, cypress. Pick a scent you like, and you will find that in that mixture of compounds, you will probably find a terpene. Terpenes consist of a basic 5-carbon building block, the isoprenoid unit, which plants have turned into an infinite variety of compounds. And not just scents, also color compounds.
floater - I happily stand corrected. Thank you.
Does G. chiloensis have any medicinal applications, as G. robusta and G. squarrosa?
I have some of the local gum plants, Grindela Integrifolia drying now in my apartment. The scent is lovely and aromatic. They grow by all the highways here in Victoria. They are the only things that are lush and green following our drought. They are said to do better in droughts.
If you want something that stinks of turpenes, try Inula root. It also tastes like turpentine.
As a patagonian, i can tell you one more thing about the boton de oro. It favours disturbed soil, so it's very common by roads and oil wells. A while ago, a bride choose them as her church flowers. The photos do not do them justice, they are indeed stunning...but the wedding was an evening one and the flowers were all closed by then!
They do smell bad, but just the sap, the flowers have a strong honey like scent, very popular with bees and flies.
Here in OR we have another gumweed, endemic to Willamette Valley,Grindelia integrifolia which is the preferred nectar plant for the Great Copper butterfly--indeed one of the few plants available in the dry heat of the summer. Females are known to nectar on the resin --perhaps for additional protein for egg laying. Males nectar on the central flowers--high carbohydrate source for quick energy.