here are three photos of uluru (“ayers rock”) and kata tjuta (“the olgas”) at sunset. i have seen many perfect pictures and postcards of uluru before finally visiting the place, but it took nothing away from the sense of marvel and appreciation when we were actually standing in front of these massive rock formations!
japanese maple (acer palmatum) leaves in the trauttmannsdorff castle gardens (merano, italy).
the common smoothcap moss (atrichum undulatum) features transversely undulate leaves, but its most prominent feature are the long, distinctly beaked capsules that are borne on 3 cm long, reddish setae.
the species is also called catherine’s moss in english, and wellenblättriges katharinenmoos in german.
species details via Farbatlas Flechten und Moose (Wirth, Düll)
here’s a picture from the stubai alps, taken recently near oberiss in tirol. it shows a mosaic of crustose lichens, fighting for space on silicate rock.
lichen identification can be very difficult, even for specialists, but there’s one very easy to identify species prevalent in the picture: [more…]
another picture from the piz val gronda excursion in 2011:
the hdr panorama shows part of the fimba valley (fimbatal) at the swiss-austrian border.
the rugged landscape on the right is the result of tectonic windows, where marble columns “poke through” the eroding slate.
today’s flashback photo from the land down under depicts the sun setting behind strong surf at johanna beach, a small settlement just off the infamous great ocean road.
