The star magnolia quite literally exploded while I was gone - and now I have a tree covered with these beautiful, lightly fragrant flowers.
For weeks now I have been watching them, begging the phrase 'a watched bud never blooms' - now, here they are.
Bursting out like new stars.
Magnolia stellata, the star magnolia, is closely related to the Kobushi Magnolia - and some consider it a variety/cultivar of Magnolia kobus.
Kobus is a Genus of mammals, african antelopes, that have curved, ridged horns. (Kobus from the african Koba).
Could the star magnolia's close relative be named kobus because as the flower emerges, it looks similar to the curved horns of the antelope?
Hmmm. Interesting.
Tomorrow I need to get an image of a flower that has just emerged, and place it here. An image of a set of horns perhaps?
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I spent a few hours this afternoon in the laboratory, helping with the isolation of bacteria from the samples collected this week in Puerto Rico. The lab is filled with plates like the one to the left, agar plates covered in bacterial colonies - each with a plate ID as well as a number. Each sample we collected has a plate like this one - and each of these numbered isolates will be streaked until the colonies are pure, and then grown and cryopreserved for further studies, including phylogenetic analysis to determine 'what' the bacterial isolate is most closely related to.
The week after a sampling trip is always a busy one.
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And then there is the irrepressible Wild Dog. The silly, infectious, agile, snuggly Wild Dog.
I think I need to sign her up, to sign us up, for an obedience class. I think she is too funny when she is bad, and I need some serious training.
Badly.
Look at that sweet face! And the pink belly, and the adorably goofy pose...
I would need obedience training, too.
Posted by: Kim | 24 February 2008 at 12:41 PM
She certainly seems to be saying 'Come play with me'! Very photogenic!
Posted by: layanee | 24 February 2008 at 05:26 PM
Luckily I suspect you will both resist training :)
Posted by: Joan | 24 February 2008 at 09:49 PM
Kim, she is just irresistible. Absolutely. She jumps over the couch, and I mean OVER the couch, and I just stand there and laugh, then say 'No!'. It's horrible, I am simply not a good disciplinarian when it comes to irresistible dogs with pink bellies.
Thanks Layanee, and yes - 'come play with me' is pretty much what she's saying all of the time! She's tireless.
Joan, that is my concern! I know that I've never been that well-trained, so I can only guess what my attraction is to little wild dogs....
Posted by: Pam | 25 February 2008 at 08:58 AM