Author: Hashi

potato fruit

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I never thought of potatoes as having fruit, but there’s no reason why they shouldn’t. After all, the closely related tomatoes bear fruit. I’ll be interested to see how big these little nuggets get before the leaves die back, and I can harvest the rooty goodness.

Ah, I just did a little reading on the subject. The fruit are toxic (as are all parts of the plant except the tubers). Potato fruits are produced when the plants experience cool temperatures and sufficient water. Their seeds can be planted, though they will not produce clones of their parents, as tubers will. I probably won’t bother saving and replanting the seeds as I have limited space for potato experiments in my garden …. but good to know!

To clarify, ‘seed potatoes’ and ‘potato seeds’ are two different things. The former are sprouting tubers, and will grow as clones of the original plant. The latter are, well, actual seeds.

everything all at once

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One of my favourite sit spots is under the silky oak tree, on the edge of the driveway. There’s a big Tagetes lemmonii bush (a fan favourite around here) right next to it. The species is named for John Gill Lemmon, husband of American botanist, artist and intellectual Sara Plummer Lemmon (1836 – 1923).

Sara was responsible for the California poppy being designated as our state flower. She established Santa Barbara’s first lending library, where she also sold art and music supplies and hosted cultural gatherings. She sounds like a really interesting woman — I’d like to know more about her.

hummingbird update

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One of the two eggs hatched several days ago, but I can’t tell if the baby is actually alive. I haven’t heard it cheep, and whenever I peek it appears to be sleeping in this same position. The mama is either away from the nest, or sitting on it; I haven’t observed her bringing food to the hatchling. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a successful outcome here, but I’m not feeling very optimistic.

stipule

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I learned a new word, and botanical term. Stipule. If something has stipules, it is stipulate (adjective).

The verb stipulate, meaning to make an agreement or covenant to do or forbear anything; to contract; to settle terms; to bargain, comes from the Latin stipulus meaning firm, which also has roots in stipes, a trunk.

So ultimately both uses of stipulate come from the same trunk, but have very different meanings. I love etymology.

Nephropidae vs Palinuridae

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The theme for this week’s Draw with Me was lobsters, both “true” and “spiny”.

Although they superficially resemble each other in terms of overall shape and having a hard carapace and exoskeleton, the two groups are not closely related. Spiny lobsters (Palinuridae family) can be easily distinguished from true lobsters by their very long, thick, spiny antennae and by the lack of claws. True lobsters (Nephropidae family) have much thinner antennae, and claws on the first three pairs of legs, with the first being particularly enlarged.

Spiny lobsters are found in almost all warm seas, including the Caribbean and the Mediterranean Sea, but are particularly common in Australasia (where they are usually referred to as crayfish or sea crayfish) and in South Africa.

On the other hand, the American lobster (Homarus americanus)—also known as Atlantic lobster, Canadian lobster, northern lobster or Maine lobster—thrives in cold, shallow waters. I wonder if the claw growth is an adaptation more useful in colder oceans. If so, why?

baby acorns

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Since the oaks finished flowering, I’ve been checking on the baby acorns at every opportunity. The valley oaks have the lead at this point; they will eventually be much larger than the coast live oak acorns so that’s not surprising. It’s fun to peek among the leaves and see what I can spot — not every oak produces flowers/acorns every year so it’s a bit of a treasure hunt.

micranthocereus sp.

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One of our “small-flowered candle” cacti is suffering from a little erectile dysfunction. Its aggressive spines have prohibited a close examination of the problem, so I can only guess at the cause.

(I got bored with drawing spines, so some of the cacti appear bald, but in reality they are all covered in a very sharp dense fuzz.)

Uta stansburiana

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K was exercising in the living room, when he suddenly yelped. It seemed he had somehow squashed a side-blotched lizard. Sad for the lizard, but good for me! If I get the opportunity to closely examine a critter, I’ll take it.

This little guy is named for the dark blue smear behind the front legs. More impressive is the iridescent turquoise speckling on the back.