húng quế

The owner of the café some blocks down from my apartment grows tomatoes, peppers, and other edibles just outside his front window; and the other day, there for my first visit in a little while, he brought me a clear plastic cup with a rather trampled-looking sprig of basil in an inch of water. "Found this on the ground," he said. "Just let it perch in the water for a few days so it grows roots. Then, you can plant it."

I've never grown any basil of my own, and am only marginally sure that this wilting halfling is sweet basil - but my favorite is Thai sweet basil, also known as Asian sweet basil. Beyond its lovely, almost lemony taste, it gives rise to coquettish purple-white flowers.

Karl Blossfeldt

A man who believed that ultimate design was to be located in, and applied to real-world endeavors from, nature. He died in Berlin in December, 1932. More here.

Aspidium filixmas, Common male 

fern, young unfurling fronds, 4x

Beckmannia cruciformis, Slough 

grass, fruiting spikelets, 12x

Papaver, Poppy, 

seed capsule, 6x

Ptelea trifoliata, Hop-tree, branch 

w/ cluster of fruits, 6x

Eryngium alpinum, Blue 

top eryngo, capitulum, 8x

Prehistoric Plants: Cooksonia

compression fossil type; image © Tony Smith

From the University of California Museum of Paleontology's online archive: 

"The oldest demonstrably vascular plant is the Late Silurian genus Cooksonia...originally described from Wales. Cooksonia is characterized by small, slender axes that branch dichotomously. In fertile specimens, sporangia terminate each branch tip...[It] is only know from compression/impression fossils, so determining that it is a vascular plant is difficult. A few lucky specimens contain a suspicious dark trace in the center of the axis from which a few poorly-preserved conducting tubes have been isolated...[It] has also been discovered in eastern Europe and New York."

magnified image of a Cooksonia pertonia sporangium,
fossil found in Shropshire, England; image/info
© D. Edwards/L Axe with original permission of Nature Publishing Group

To provide a bit more perspective, the Silurian Period is thought to have occurred between 443.7 to 416 million years ago in which various significant eco/biological changes took place on Earth. Most notably: melting of glaciers leading to a rise in sea level; first appearances of coral reef; stabilization of the planet's climate and atmosphere; and an unprecedented development of new aquatic and land life, ranging from fungi to algae to earthen vegetation and including various new species of animals.

Spigelia Genuflexa

This brilliant little plant was first discovered in 2009. It's quite little, only standing about an inch in height, but its propagation techniques are quite extraordinary:

When the plant's fruits form, the plant slowly bends its small, fruiting branches down, depositing the seed capsules carefully onto the ground - and sometimes burying them in the soft cover of moss. Geocarpy, which is also practiced by peanut plants, ensures that the seeds will grow into new plants near the mother plant during the following season. (quoted from this LiveScience article)

Its only known habitat exists in the Rio do Negro valley in the Bahia state of Brazil. Localities approximating the Atlantic coastline are known for their varied and rich plant and wildlife. For further information please see the scientific report filed by Alex Popovkin.

Calathea Crocata

Out of the 150 varieties of calathea, calathea crocata, also referred to as "eternal flame," stands out for its fire-orange blooms. Most of the other varieties are prized for their stunning foliage only, whereas this plant seems to have it all (and then some): ribbed or puckered leaves, dark green with maroonish undersides, and those little profusions of golden petals.

It belongs to the Maranta family and its native habitat are the tropical jungles of Brazil, although it can be found growing throughout tropical America. Although it can be kept as a houseplant, it requires a higher level of maintenance than many other indoor species and really can't be grown out-of-doors due to its specific climate needs, including high humidity and consistent temperature.

Mugwort

Even though winter is (supposed to be) upon us I often find little weed-sprouts squeezed between slabs of concrete or, more comically, residing in outdoor clay pots bereft of all "preferable" blooming plants. Artemisia vulgaris, better known as mugwort, seems inescapable. It populates street corners and trash-strewn empty lots and breaks up expansive grey spaces with greens and whites. The city hardly seems as harsh.

The Sun's Flower

Today I came across this photo, which features Ai Weiwei (a controversial and of-the-moment Chinese artist and activist) standing amongst one-hundred million handmade Sunflower seeds. This is his most recent installation, which can be seen at the Tate Modern Gallery in London.

The brilliance and complexity of this installation mirrors that of natural design itself; whilst reading up on Weiwei's piece I was immediately reminded of the Sunflower's commanding face, brightly-colored as it is and equally as stoic, all of those seeds nestled in an intricate pattern that I will never understand. And whereas "hundred of skilled hands" created the millions of porcelain faux-seeds for the Sunflower Seeds exhibit, we cannot attribute the existence of the real seed to any one person or actor or thing. This is the sublimity of nature, especially as it can be said to reflect or embody our humanity.

Hoya Carnosa

I've only encountered wax plant a few times, and I couldn't even tell you specifically when or why - but they have remained a fixture in my mind, one of my favorite flowers about which I am endlessly curious and think of when anyone mentions "fairytale flowers".

Unfortunate, that I will not ever happen upon them anywhere in the city, at least not outdoors, not in nature; for they are of East Asian/Indian origin and are propagated here as sturdy houseplants, though they are actually vine-like. I think there is a current trend of using waxflowers in bridal bouquets and arrangements, of which I am a fan (I even considered including them in my own floral design for my bridal party), but myrtle (waxflower) and wax plant (milkweed) have a few distinctive differences and I still prefer the latter for its gooey surface, curved star-points, and distinct smell.