woody perennials and buds, part 3 of 3 is concerned with conifers.
altogether, nearly all of the native woody perennials can be identified without greater difficulty, once you’re acquainted with the matter.

[view photos: woody perennials and buds - conifers]

—

gehölze und knospen, der letzte teil enthält einige nadelhölzer.
alles in allem sind fast alle heimischen gehölze, wenn man erst einmal eingearbeitet ist, problemlos auch ohne blätter oder blüten bestimmbar.

[view photos: gehölze und ihre knospen - nadelgehölze]

part two of my twig- and bud-photos is here: woody plants with opposite foliage.
this album also features a juxtaposition of 5 fruits of different species of maple (acer sp.) that can be found where i live: sycamore maple (acer pseudoplatanus), norway maple (acer platanoides), box elder (acer negundo), field maple (acer campestre) and tatarian maple (acer tataricum).

[view photos: woody perennials and buds - opposite foliage]

—

teil zwei meiner zweige- und knospenfotos ist hier: holzige pflanzen mit gegenständiger beblätterung.
dieses album beinhaltet ausserdem eine gegenüberstellung von früchten von 5 ahorn-arten (acer sp.) die hierzulande wachsen: berg-ahorn (acer pseudoplatanus), spitz-ahorn (acer platanoides), eschen-ahorn (acer negundo), feld-ahorn (acer campestre) und tatarischer steppen-ahorn (acer tataricum).

[view photos: gehölze und ihre knospen - gegenständige beblätterung]

this semester, i was in a botanical class that’s concerned with ligneous plants and recognizing them only through their habitus and buds.
i’ve assembled some of the photos from this course, most which were taken under pressure of time. they have only been hastily photoshopped, so please excuse the quality and varying backgrounds.

along with all the species listed, i’ve included some of the most striking characteristics.

part one (alternate foliage) is online now.

[view photos: woody perennials and buds - alternate foliage]

—

dieses semester belegte ich unter anderem ein botanisches praktikum zum bestimmen von gehölzpflanzen anhand von habitus und knospen.
hier sind einige der fotos zusammengestellt. die meisten wurden unter zeitdruck gemacht und sind nur flüchtig nachbearbeitet – ich bitte daher, die qualität und tw. wechselnden hintergründe zu entschuldigen.

zu jeder art sind ausserdem einige der auffallendsten merkmale genannt.

teil 1 (wechselständige) ist ab sofort online.

[view photos: gehölze und ihre knospen - wechselständige beblätterung]

my friend chiara is an incredibly talented comic-strip artist.

this drawing of my “bat taxi” was part of a thank-you card for a period of car-pooling (referring to the bat sticker on the back of my car, or to my bat-related activities. or both.).

bat taxi, comic by chiara

[more...]

looks like it’s going to be a good year for the kakapo, one of the rarest birds in the world:

At least one fertile kakapo egg has been laid on Codfish Island, signalling the start of the kakapo breeding season.
Two more eggs have also been laid by the kakapo named Lisa, but their fertility has not yet been confirmed.

source: odt.co.nz

One of the world’s most endangered birds, the kakapo, could number more than 100 by the end of this year.
This will be a milestone which hasn’t been reached for more than 20 years.

source: tvnz.co.nz
 

meanwhile, the filming for bbc’s new “last chance to see” tv series has ended in new zealand, and stephen fry has posted two video messages, titled “beware of kakapo attacks” (he shows part of the main hut and …more) and “the fattest and largest parrot” (including some actual kakapo footage).
(you’ll either need a british ip address or a UK based proxy server to watch.)

update: the bbc has also just released the episode “ralph, the fragrant parrot of codfish island” from the original 1989 bbc radio series “last chance to see”. again, british proxy required to listen.

some time ago, a friend from university mentioned that he had seen the most ridiculously-looking fish on tv: the ocean sunfish (mola mola, german: mondfisch).
after describing it as “the front half of an ordinary fish”, he drew me a sketch of one, so i could imagine what it looked like:

jürgen draws an ocean sunfish
 

sketch of an ocean sunfish

[more...]

here’s a list of recent twitter-posts by stephen fry, who’s just left codfish island, where he and mark carwardine tried to get some kakapo footage.
you don’t need to read between the lines to get a feeling that they were successful.

Monday morning in Invercargill. Off to Codfish Island. Stringent quarantine style disinfection of all clothes/shoes etc. 4 night stay. x 10:47 AM Jan 4th

Codfish I is home to the world’s last 90 kakapo birds. Going to film them over next 5 days. Great privilege to be allowed there x 10:48 AM Jan 4th

Anyway. On Codfish Island. Most beautiful. Penguins. Tui. Awaiting dusk and the first booming of the nocturnal kakapo. Sx 10:07 PM Jan 4th

Watched (and heard) a kakapo booming in his bowl last night. Wonderful. Sxx 11:02 AM Jan 5th

To some extent the kakapo is one of evolution’s most pitiable errors. On the other hand there is something in their solemn lovelinesss … x 10:24 PM Jan 5th

When I say kakapo are “evolution’s error”, it’s their complex mating rituals,inability to flee predators and general (sweet) dumbness x 10:38 PM Jan 5th

Morning walk along the beach of Codfish Island, looking for penguin and seals. Two more nights on the island yet. x 10:57 AM Jan 6th

A kakapo tried to shag the back of my leg. Mark was roughly shagged on the back of his neck. It’s mating time for kakapo: anyone’ll do x about 17 hours ago

Leaving Codfish Island this morning and heading for Queenstown. Kakapo made 1 last alarming attempt to ravish me on way to loo last night x about 3 hours ago

kakapo shagging humans?
sounds a lot like sirocco is back on the island :)
 

very much related blog post: the actual video clip aired in october 2009. you can see it in my other post, horny kakapo on tv.