Ptilotus is a genus of over one hundred species of plants native to Australia and the Malesian islands of Flores and Timor. The plant in today's photographs is a seedling selection of Ptilotus exaltatus, a widespread plant in Australia commonly known as pink mulla mulla, tall mulla mulla or showy foxtail. Habit photographs of this species from the amaranth family are available from the preceding link or here: Ptilotus exaltatus.

As it is a seedling selection propagated via seed of Ptilotus exaltatus, Ptilotus 'Joey' may fall into the trap of being too variable to be considered a "good" cultivar (see this opinion piece, "Not What They Seem" by Tony Lord). Sharon Cohoon cautions that Ptilotus 'Joey' is likely to have variability compared to the tissue-cultured Ptilotus 'Platinum Wallaby' in her posting on Ptilotus 'Platinum Wallaby' vs Ptilotus 'Joey'. Add into the mix that Benary suggests that Ptilotus 'Joey' is a trademark (cultivar names can't be trademarks), it seems like it might take a while (yet again) to sort out what the proper horticultural name for this entity is. One day, perhaps, intellectual property law, commercial law and horticultural naming conventions will become crystal clear (see the paragraph on Why do we need stable plant names?. Perhaps.

Today's photographs are courtesy of UBC's Randal Mindell. As you've likely surmised from following some of the above links, these close-up photographs are a detailed perspective on the flower spike. To explain what is in the photographs, I'll quote directly from one of the links above (Electronic Flora of South Australia): "perianth [outer parts of the flower] to c. 2 cm long; perianth-segments plumose [feathery] with loose denticulate-nodose [with nodes and a finely-toothed margin] white hairs and dendroid [tree-like] hairlets beneath, the glabrous [smooth] apices [tops] fading to rosy and stramineous [straw-like]".

I'll sneak in one more photograph from my Pacific Northwest travels before we return to a more global selection of plants.

Scarlet gilia was featured once before on BPotD. I can now confirm that the crushed foliage does indeed smell skunky, with an overtone of tar. The smell isn't entirely pleasant, but it's worth making the acquaintance when spotting the plant in a new location.

The genus Ipomopsis is distributed almost entirely in western North America. One species, Ipomopsis rubra, is found throughout most of the eastern USA and another single species is native to southern South America, Ipomopsis gossypifera. This latter disjunct species is considered to be "a particularly obvious case of amphitropical dispersal from North America to South America" by Porter et al., 2009, Phylogenetic Systematics of Ipomopsis (Polemoniaceae): Relationships and Divergence Times Estimated from Chloroplast and Nuclear DNA sequences (PDF). In other words, a long-distance dispersal occurred from North America to South America. This likely occurred via the sticky mucilaginous coating surrounding the seeds being attached to a bird during migration. Ipomopsis gossypifera's nearest relative is Ipomopsis pumila.

Two varieties of Oregon anemone or blue windflower are recognized in the Flora of North America: variety felix, with 60-75 stamens, is found in sphagnum bogs west of the Cascades in Washington and Oregon, while variety oregana (with 30-60 stamens) has a broader distribution, extending east across the Cascades and south into California. The latter variety is a species of "shaded, moist woods, open hillsides" (FNA), and indeed this is where I encountered it for the first time at the end of May, growing in a second-growth coniferous forest with an Acer circinatum understorey, with abundant Trillium ovatum and an occasional Prosartes. For those familiar with Gifford Pinchot National Forest, this was along the access road to the Guler Ice Caves.

Quoting from the Flora of North America, the etymology of the name Anemone is not definitively known. It is "probably Greek anemos, wind", but also "possibly from Naaman, Semitic name for Adonis, whose blood, according to myth, produced Anemone coronaria".

Today's photograph and write-up are courtesy of Ian Gillam, UBC Friend of the Garden and long-time member of the Alpine Garden Club of British Columbia. Thank you, Ian!

Species of Pelargonium do not occur in Europe. The first few examples to reach there from the Cape of Good Hope (Cape Province, R.S.A.) did so during the 17th century and were recognized as being similar to species of Geranium, native to Europe. It was not until a century later that enough examples were known that it became apparent that these African plants were distinct and the new name Pelargonium was proposed in reference to the similarity of the developing fruit to the head and bill of a stork (pelargos in Greek) and to that of Geranium, named for a crane (geranos). This proposal took many further years to become accepted and is the cause of "geranium" being the popular name of the garden hybrids that are botanically pelargoniums. Critical differences between the genera are the following. True geraniums have ten stamens and five identical petals giving the flower rotational symmetry, usually in the form of a bowl. In pelargoniums, petals are of two types, two upper ones distinct in size and/or colour or markings from three lower ones, creating mirror symmetry about a vertical line (not all species have this full complement of petals). Fertile stamens are usually seven and the flowers have a spur containing a nectary providing reward for pollinators, absent in Geranium.

In southern Africa, about 200 species of Pelargonium are now recognized with a few more in other extra-tropical parts of Africa. Even fewer are scattered as far as Australasia and the remote islands of St. Helena and Tristan da Cunha. Two species occur in western Asia, far to the north of the centre of diversity. One of these is Pelargonium endlicherianum illustrated here. It is native to mountains of Asiatic Turkey, where the climate is hot and dry in summer and cold and snowy in winter, largely similar to the interior of B.C. The plants illustrated have come through the recent difficult winter on the E.H. Lohbrunner Alpine Garden and are flowering well, whereas many other plants in the African, Australasian and South American sections suffered severe damage. Cultivation here requires exceptional drainage or overhead protection from winter wet.

As can be seen, this is a species where the two upper petals are large and showy and the lower ones are absent. The stamens protrude a considerable distance and anthers are functional before the equally long stigma unfurls its five lobes and becomes receptive, probably indicating pollination by a long-tongued, hovering insect (hawk moth?). The flowers in the wild are gathered for sale at local markets as medicine for expelling intestinal worms. Pharmacologists report they are effective.

Further east in the region of the Turkish-Iraqi border, a distinct but similar species, Pelargonium quercetorum, is found, should any collector venture there. This is in cultivation, though not apparently here in British Columbia.

Nymphaea odorata subsp. odorata is found in most North American states and provinces, though its presence in western North America is by way of introduction (see Non-native Invasive Freshwater Plants -- Fragrant Water Lily from the Washington Department of Ecology). It is also found in Mexico, Central America and the West Indies (and naturalized in parts of South America).

Various vernacular names are used for this taxon, but as odorata means "fragrant" or "scented", my preference is fragrant water lily. However, American white water lily and variations thereof are also common.

Several adaptations are required for plants to survive in an aquatic environment. For water lily, these include having stomata (pores for gas exchange) solely on the upper leaf surface (in most dryland plants, stomata are concentrated on the lower leaf surface) and air chambers running the length of the stem to deliver oxygen to the plant's rhizomes (more photos of Nymphaea odorata, including rhizomes). Interestingly, stomata in the related Nymphaea lutea have lost the ability to regulate the size of the opening for gas exchange and instead remain permanently open (and presumably this is the case for Nymphaea odorata as well). This is unsurprising, though, as water loss through gas exchange pores is not a concern for aquatic plants.

Foxtail or squirreltail barley is featured once again on BPotD, though from a different perspective (previous entries: Hordeum jubatum seed, Rumex crispus and Hordeum jubatum, and close-ups of Hordeum jubatum).

Heavy spring rains in the high desert of south-central Oregon likely contributed to an excellent year for Hordeum jubatum. The saltscrub flats where this species is the dominant vegetation would have been inundated with water, forming ephemeral alkali lakes. By the time I visited the area in early July, most of these lakes had evaporated, leaving behind robust numbers of foxtail barley -- one of the few plants that can tolerate these alkaline desert environments. I suppose it could be called a facultative halophyte -- a species that tolerates (or thrives) in alkaline environments, but can be found growing in other soil environments. The ability of Hordeum jubatum to withstand extreme conditions, though, contributes to it having a widespread distribution in North America and northeast Asia (and, naturalize elsewhere in the world).

There are many other links to peruse from previous entries on this species, so I'll instead make a few miscellaneous natural history comments about Lake County, Oregon, where these photographs were made. Firstly, Lake County was the site of discovery (in 1938) of the world's oldest shoes (at the time). Found in Fort Rock cave, these sagebrush-bark sandals helped push back the date of first-known human inhabitation of western North America by several thousand years to ~9500-10500 years before-present. Subsequent discoveries of other evidence suggest much older dates of human settlement in North America.

Another tidbit is that Lake County and adjacent Harney County contain the only known sites of Oregon sunstone (images). During my return trip to the area planned for next year, I intend to go gem-hunting.

Three subspecies of white shootingstar are recognized: Dodecatheon dentatum subsp. utahense, found only in two canyons in Utah; Dodecatheon dentatum subsp. ellisiae, endemic to Arizona and New Mexico; and today's subspecies, found in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia and other references list this taxon as locally infrequent in south-central British Columbia. Few specimens have seemingly been collected in the province. It seems I was very fortunate to randomly stumble upon it growing alongside a vernal stream near Princeton, British Columbia, as I had no prior notion that it occurred in that vicinity. The official story is that a yellow violet caught my eye, so I stopped to look at that and then chanced upon the shootingstar. Unofficially, the bumps and rolls of gravel logging roads increase my need for roadside "rest stops".

Two separate sizable populations were located within what I believe to be the same drainage; one population was growing in full shade at slightly lower elevation and flowered earlier, the other population was growing in full sun exposure in a five- to ten-year old clearcut at higher elevation, and was a week or more behind. One common feature between the two sites was groundwater seeping past the roots. Brent Hine subsequently collected a few individuals on behalf of the native garden here at UBC.

The dentatum portion of the name is in reference to the toothed leaves, a feature I unfortunately didn't photograph this year. For additional photographs with a sense of scale, I recommend the image collection at the Burke Museum: Dodecatheon dentatum subsp. dentatum.

It seems that BPotD was ably looked-after during my absence, so thank-yous to Eric, Stephen, Douglas and everyone else who contributed efforts to continue the site.

In the third week of July, I had the pleasure of revisiting Olympic National Park for a couple days (I had visited it once previously, in 2006: see Pinguicula vulgaris subsp. macroceras, Rubus lasiococcus and Mimulus guttatus). Despite my 2009 visit taking place several days earlier than the one in 2006, I noted that the butterworts (Pinguicula) were past peak bloom and that the mountain larkspurs (today's photograph) were nearing peak bloom. This suggested to me that this year's flowering season at elevation was approximately one week ahead of 2006. Year-to-year variance in peak flowering times is typical in montane environments, due both to the preceding winter's snowfall amount and spring-summer weather conditions.

Mountain larkspur is distributed throughout western North America, from Alaska south to California and east to Manitoba. Populations in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are naturalized, and not considered native (via Flora of North America). The FNA also notes that "Specimens named Delphinium splendens represent plants grown in high-moisture, low-light conditions and may occur as sporadic individuals anywhere from California to Alaska." I had one other encounter with Delphinium glaucum this past summer, in northeast Oregon. This single plant, growing in high-moisture (streamside) and low-light (moderate tree canopy) towered over me at ~2.5m (8ft) in height -- a "Delphinium splendens", perhaps.

In addition to mountain larkspur, the Flora of North America lists several other common names, including tall larkspur, western larkspur, and, my favourite, duncecap larkspur.

Nearly 4 years ago, on 6 March 2006, we selected from our Flickr Pool a photo of Swainsona formosa for Botany Photo of the Day. Heather from Adelaide, Australia took that picture, the entry for which you can access here. Today, we feature a lovely specimen of S. formosa that left Australia and made its way across the Pacific to the small greenhouse behind our shop.

Like the other Australian plant featured on Botany Photo of the Day this week, Daviesia rhombifolia, Swainsona formosa is a member of Fabaceae. The species is easily distinguished by the deep-red petals of its clustered, spring- and summer-blooming flowers, and by the typically black centre (or boss) around which these petals are arranged. Plants' main stems—which, in certain areas (the Pilbara region), reach to a height of around 2 metres—put forth spirally arranged pinnate leaves of pale green, while on the lateral stems the leaves are arranged in two opposite rows. The species' sexual apparatus, which is hidden by the keel, consists of 10 stamens (9 of which are joined and one of which stands free) and a single ovary. The fruit is a legume that contains about 50 seeds, and in the wild birds are the species' primary means of propagation. In terms of its appearance, S. formosa—which thrives in arid desert habitats—is fairly distinct amongst its relatives, which include the white-keeled 'marginata' and the pink-bossed 'elegans' cultivars.

The botanist George Don named the genus Swainsona in honour of Isaac Swainson, the 18th and early 19th century owner and operator of a large botanical garden in Twickenham, England. Specimens were first collected in the late 17th century by the botanist William Dampier, and the common name honours the explorer Charles Sturt, who reported having seen large quantities of the plant while on expedition in 1844.

A reclassification of the species as Willdampia formosa was proposed in the last years of the 20th century, but the suggestion was generally rejected by the scientific community. The species is the adopted emblem of South Australia, and it is frequently featured in visual and verbal art. Though the plant is notoriously difficult to grow, ambitious gardeners should know that some have had success when treating specimens as annuals, and when growing them in deep containers exposed to full sun.

This is my final entry of the summer. I would like to express my gratitude to you all for your helpful contributions, which made of this daily responsibility an unalloyed pleasure. The site seems to me a genuine celebration of curiosity and learning, and I hope that it continues to thrive in the coming years, perhaps through each of you extending its general mood out into other arenas of contemporary social life as well.

The plant featured in today's Botany Photo of the Day, Castilleja rubida, is a member of Orobanchaceae (broomrape family), which consists of about 90 genera and more than 2000 annual and perennial herbaceous or shrubby species. These species are distributed broadly throughout the world, but are particularly concentrated in the temperate regions of Eurasia, North America, and South America. All members of the family are in some capacity parasitic, and—variously capable (hemiparasitic) and incapable (holoparasitic) of photosynthesis—they appropriate nutrients from their host plant by way of specialized haustoria, which are long fungal cells that (in the Orobanchaceae) extend out from the roots. A consequence of this parasitism is that several of the family's species hold a sort of inverted economic importance, perpetually threatening to damage or even kill economically remunerative crops should the latter momentarily lose the protection of normally watchful farmers and gardeners.

Castilleja, commonly called Indian Paintbrush or Prairie-fire, is a genus of about 200 herbaceous annual and perennial plants native to western areas of North America and to northeastern Asia. In 1917, Oregon declared Castilleja linariifolia its state flower. Though plant roots and green tissues tend to concentrate high levels of toxic selenium from the surrounding soil, the flowers of Castilleja species do not (or at least do not to the same degree), and when consumed in moderation they make a healthy and sweet-tasting addition to salads and sandwiches. Plants also have a history of medicinal application, as Native American tribes have used extracts from Castilleja species in hair-washes, as an immune system enhancer, and in treatments for rheumatism.

Just over 13 years ago, Mark Egger took today's photo on the southern slopes of the Matterhorn in the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area of Oregon's Wallowa Mountains. Notice the small flowers pressing out from in between the rich purple of the bracts.

Thanks, Mark, for such a lovely image. (Original)

Click here to access Mark's other photos of C. rubida, as well as his helpful description of the species.

Doug took today's photo of Prunella vulgaris in Tonganoxie, Kansas. As always, we extend our thanks to him for such a serene, dream-like image. (Original)

Prunella vulgaris is a member of Lamiaceae (mint family), which consists of between 233 and 263 genera and between 6900 and 7200 herb, tree, vine, and shrubby species. These species are generally aromatic, and the family includes several of the most common culinary herbs (thyme, sage, marjoram, oregano, basil, lavender). Plants don opposite leaves either decussate (each pair at right angles to the pair below) or whorled (more than two leaves arising at each node), and they put forth bilaterally symmetrical flowers equipped with 5 united petals and 5 united sepals.

Prunella is a small genus of 7 square-stemmed herbaceous species whose reputations as panaceas inspired the common collective designators heal-all and self-heal. Most species are native to Asia, Europe, and north Africa, though today's plant occurs (often as a quick-spreading lawn weed) in North America as well.

Prunella vulgaris grows a creeping, tenacious stem that reaches about 70 centimetres in height and bears opposite pairs of lanceolate leaves. Around midsummer, plants put forth two-lipped, hooded flowers of purple and white from in between their pointed green bracts. Specimens thrive when sited in moist soils and exposed to full sun. They are easily propagated by seed cuttings or, better, whole reclining stems (which often have roots conveniently attached), or by seed, which should be sown in early spring.

Uncle Pedro took today's Botany Photo of the Day on Mt. Dale, in western Australia's Shire of Beverley. At 546 metres, the mountain stands among the highest peaks in the Darling Scarp, one of the region's most pronounced landforms. We of course extend our gratitude to Uncle Pedro for the photo, which gives us occasion to admire and discuss a plant that we have never before featured on BPotD. (Original image)

Daviesia rhombifolia is a member of Fabaceae, the third largest family of flowering plants. The family, which derives its scientific name from the Latin for 'broad bean', consists of 730 genera and over 19400 species. These species range from herbaceous annuals and perennials to massive trees, and they variously put forth economically important fruits and nuts such as beans, peas, and peanuts. While all species exhibit indeterminate inflorescences and most don alternate compound leaves, Fabaceae members (like members of Rosaceae and Grossulariaceae) are generally distinguished by showy flowers equipped with a cup-shaped hypanthium in which the basal parts of sepals, petals, and stamens are fused together.

Daviesia is a genus native to Australia, particularly to areas in the country's southeast and southwest. It is named in honour of the Welsh botanist Hugh Davies (1739-1821), who penned a lengthy bilingual treatise on the flora of his native country's Isle of Anglesey. Typically, Daviesia species—which thrive in woodlands and shrublands—are identified by their triangular pods, their sterile bracts, and their scleromorphic (i.e., hard, leathery) leaves.

Today's plant, D. rhombifolia, is an erect shrub that presses its many stems up to a maximum height of around 1 metre, particularly when sited in hilly habitats of sandy or gravelly soil. In midsummer, the plant puts forth the flowers that today's photograph renders so nicely, and which range from different shades of yellow and red to brown in colour. Notice the thick, lime-green veins that navigate and border the simple, bluish leaves; notice too the refulgent peach-pit centre of the flower, which no doubt attracts hordes of potential pollinators.

Acanthaceae includes about 250 genera and 2500 species among its members, all of which put forth perfect (bisexual) flowers that produce two-celled capsular fruit loaded with seeds. We provided a somewhat more comprehensive account of the family—which grows in an extremely broad variety of habitats and soil conditions—in last week's entry on Acanthus spinosus (bear's breeches), which you can access here.

For now, we can take a somewhat closer look at one of Acanthaceae's genera, Strobilanthes, which consists of about 250 erect herbaceous or shrubby species native to tropical and, more rarely, northern Asia (as far north as Siberia). The genus derives its scientific name from a Greek description for the typically conical form of its flower buds (which is easily discernible in the photo for a previous entry on Strobilanthes callosus): strobilos = cone + anthos = flower. Along with these flowers, species generally don leaves that are either oppositely or pseudo-alternately arranged.

Strobilanthes attenuata—the low-spreading and moisture-loving perennial featured in today's image—is native to southern Asia (India, Nepal, and Pakistan). The plant's drip-tipped, attenuated leaves—from which it derives its specific epithet—are typically lime green or grey or a mix of both. These last provide a lovely contrast to the plant's purple, cone-shaped buds, which eventually open to a small, modified trumpet shape in midsummer. While the balance of an afternoon here might result in the eclipse of this plant's modest appeal within the theatre of a visitor's memory, an inevitable second encounter upon one's departure re-focuses S. attenuata's loveliness and thereby positions the plant as a fine and lasting image with which to conclude the small narrative of a stroll through the Garden.

Cynara cardunculus, the perennial plant commonly known as the cardoon, is a member of Asteraceae, the second largest family of flowering plants. The plant is native to the Mediterranean Basin, but beyond its contemporary cultivation in areas of France, Spain, and Italy, it also grows in different parts of California, South America, and Australia. It figures in a number of recipes from the culinary traditions of Spain and Portugal (in the Spanish Cocido madrileno, for instance), and, traditionally, the battered and fried stems are served at the altars of St. Joseph that are scattered throughout the streets of New Orleans. Additionally, the plant produces a vegetarian substitute for rennet, an enzyme integral to the production of several European cheeses.

For gardeners, C. cardunculus, which is one of 8 species included in Cynara, tends to be somewhat cumbersome: beyond its tenacious, weed-like invasiveness, it requires both a large amount of open space (specimens must be planted around ¾ of a metre apart) and a lengthy growing period of up to 5 months. While its fleshy taproot enables it to tolerate dry soils and climates, the plant's hardiness to drought is matched by its inability to cope with frost and snow. The apex, which in the right soil conditions stands as high as 3 or 4 metres, puts forth a large and many-flowered head of blue or purplish flowers loaded with pollen.

Specimens are planted both in our Food Garden and in our Physic Garden, as elements in the leaves are commonly thought to benefit digestion, circulation, as well as the functioning of the liver and the gall bladder.

Today we once again feature a photograph from the album of annkelliott, which provided us with an equally lovely image of a different yellow flower last month. We begin the day's entry with an excerpt from Ann's account of her encounter with this particular aquatic perennial species, and we then include a few further lines of relevant details.

"Two days later, I am STILL on a natural high after seeing these gorgeous wild yellow pond-lilies for the very first time. We spent a full day on Thursday botanizing the Bentz Lake Natural Area, north of Calgary and west of Sundre, and these yellow pond-lilies were growing near the edge of the lake. To get to them from the forest where we were exploring, we had to make our way through a very watery bog...Apart from one small mishap that left one friend soaked to his upper thighs, we managed it with only soaking wet feet. This native, aquatic member of the water-lily family grows in lakes and ponds from June to August. The yellow flower is 4-7 cm. across, and has 6 petal-like sepals and several small, inconspicuous petals."

A thick stalk supports the floating leaves and the terminal, cup-shaped flower of the pond-lily that Ann encountered. The flower bears between 8 and 17 sepals, and between 10 and 20 tiny petals that are partially concealed by the stamens. The plant is widely distributed throughout western Canada, and it generally thrives in shallow, slow-moving freshwater at lower elevations. In early fall, the flower gives way to a tough capsular fruit that releases a thick cluster of edible seeds into the surrounding water.

Parts and extracts from the plant have a long and diverse history of medical application, with addressed afflictions ranging from ulcers, broken bones, and sore joints to tuberculosis, heart disease, asthma, and chest pains.

Thank you for this stunning photograph, Ann.

Click here to see Ann's original image in our Flickr Pool.