Friday, November 30, 2012

Meconopsis

(via)

From The Meconopsis Group:
The genus comprises a race of mountain plants, a few species growing at the highest altitudes of any flowering plants in the world...others occur at lower, but nonetheless montane, altitudes. However, although they are distributed along the Himalayan range, many species also occur in the mountains of western China and the high plateaux of Tibet. There are 45-50 known species and they are all...native to these Asian regions. Arguably the most popular of the Meconopsis grown in gardens have blue flowers, but other colours are well represented, e.g. the striking red of M. punicea and a number of species such as M. pseudointegrifolia are yellow.

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Friday, November 16, 2012

Passifloraceae



Over sixty species of passiflora exist. They are found in tropical rainforests, each bearing edible fruit (passionfruit, e.g.). They grow as vines and are harvested for their suggested herbal/medicinal properties; the leaves are either infused with or used as a base for various curative regimens for everything from general pain to depression to nervous disorders. From rainforest-database.com:
[The passion flower] bears striking, large white flowers with pink or purple centers. The flowers gave it the name passionflower (or flower of passion) because Spanish missionaries thought they represented some of the objects associated with the Crucification of Christ. The vine produces a delicious fruit which is about the size of a large lemon, wrinkling slightly when ripe. Passionflower, called maracuja in the Amazon, is indigenous to many tropical and semi-tropical areas - from South America to North America. There are over 200 species of passionflower vines; the most prevalent species in the Amazon arePassiflora edulis and P. incarnata.

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