EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Use of Wild Plants in Floriculture

September 29, 2022


Menashe_Thistle_Picture2

Menashe_Thistle_Picture3a

Photographer: Menashe Davidson
Summary Author: Menashe Davidson

Over recent years, the floriculture trade, in particular cut
flowers and potted ornamentals, has been on the rise, driven by the
growing interest of society in environmental and well-being benefits.
Consequently, it’s in the best interest of floriculturists to tap
upcoming trends related to new ornamental plants. Wild plants are a
category of potential candidates that could be used as ornamentals. The
term “wild” when applied to plant species refers to plants that grow
spontaneously in self-maintaining populations, in a natural or
semi-natural ecosystem, that can exist independent of any direct human
action.

The common globe thistle, Echinops adenocaulos, is a prickly
wildflower in the Asteraceae family that thrives almost everywhere in
Israel (top photo). The plant's Hebrew name is 'kipodan', meaning
"hedgehog", because the spherical inflorescence of the flowers
resembles a hedgehog. Seeing the thistle's cheerful bloom of impressive
purple flower during Israel’s mid-summer, gave me the idea that this
plant is a potential candidate to be used as an ornamental in my home
garden. In addition, after the flower's petals fade, the fruits and
seeds of the small globe thistle plant are eye-catching in their own
right.

Last year, I collected a bundle of many single fruits called
" achenes" that I inserted on an apical plate that were then
sown in containers in my home garden during mid-winter. The top photo
(taken on June 22) and the bottom photo (taken on July 29) demonstrate
my success in the domestication of a wild plant without any modifying
human labor to meet its specific needs.


Rishon Le Zion, Israel Coordinates: 31.9730, 34.7925


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Plant Links

* Discover Life
* Tree Encyclopedia
* What are Phytoplankton?
* Encyclopedia of Life - What is a Plant?
* USDA Plants Database
* University of Texas Native Plant Database
* Plants in Motion
* What Tree is It?

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 30 weeks, 3 days, 21 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)

EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Carob Mushroom in Early Stage of Growth

November 29, 2022


Fungo di carrubo

Photographer: Emanuele Nifosì

Summary Author: Emanuele Nifosì

Shown above is the rather rare carob mushroom I came across in Regusa,
Sicily (Italy). The scientific name of this yellow-orange fungus is
" Laetiporus sulphureus." This year, due to the drought, these
mushrooms were even more rare. They can be found on the lower trunk of
some carob trees, or, even more rarely, on the trunks of almond
trees. August and September, after a rainy day or two, is when the
Carob mushroom begins to grow.

The fruiting body of the fungus grows in only a small percentage of
carob trees for two reasons: firstly, because it’s generated by a
secondary parasite that manages to "infect" the tree only through
wounds; secondly, because the carob tree is widespread, but in a very
narrow climatic belt. In Italy, about 70% of this species exists in the
province of Ragusa. Note that this mushroom also forms on deciduous
trees such as chestnut, beech or eucalyptus, but when it does it seems
to develop a certain toxicity, which is why it’s considered edible only
when plucked from carob or almond trees -- after boiling. Photo taken
on September 11, 2022.

Photo details: Nikon D700 camera; Nikkor lens 70-210: ISO 400; f. 5/6;
1/100 second exposure.
Contrada Cuturi, Regusa, Sicily, Italy Coordinates: 36,815488,
14,700164


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Plant Links

* Discover Life
* Tree Encyclopedia
* What are Phytoplankton?
* Encyclopedia of Life - What is a Plant?
* USDA Plants Database
* University of Texas Native Plant Database
* Plants in Motion
* What Tree is It?

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 39 weeks, 1 day, 21 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)

EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Dalene Matthee Big Tree

December 29, 2022

Louise_IMG_20221210_114403 (003)

Photographer: Louise van der Meulen

Summary Author: Louise van der Meulen; Jim Foster

The stunning specimen featured above is thought to be over 800 years
old. Found in the montane forest near Knysna, South Africa, it’s
called the Dalene Matthee Big Tree. And big it is -- standing 131
ft (40 m) with a diameter of 5.6 ft (1.72 m). This handsome giant
belongs to the Podocarpus falcatus species (family
Podocarpaceae) and is commonly referred to as a yellowwood tree.
Photo taken on December 9, 2022.

The sign at its base reads -

Like a towering king it stood towering above the white alder and
mountain saffron, stinkwood, assegai and hard pear. As if God had
planted long before the others. Its giant root anchored it to the
ground like giant arms.

Dalene Matthee, Circle in a Forest, 1984.


Knysna, South Africa Coordinates: 33.9167 -22.9579


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More...

Plant Links

* Discover Life
* Tree Encyclopedia
* What are Phytoplankton?
* Encyclopedia of Life - What is a Plant?
* USDA Plants Database
* University of Texas Native Plant Database
* Plants in Motion
* What Tree is It?

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 43 weeks, 3 days, 20 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)