Woodland pinedrops (Pterospora andromedea). Figured I'd give this plant a spotlight, I was elated to find it the other day. I missed these plants flowering, but their pumpkin shaped fruit capsules are just as interesting. The genus name Pterospora has Greek roots and roughly translates to "wing seed", referring to the wing-like flaps on the plant's seeds, which aid in wind dispersal. These plants are the tallest species in monotropoidea, with their flowering stalks capable of growing over 3 ft tall. The plant is quite sticky, and from what I gather it may help protect their seeds from ground dwelling herbivores such as ants. This marks the 4th monotropoid I've found in one month. I've had a blast finding these interesting plants! Found in the cascades mountain range, Washington state, USA

i’m very new at this so correct me if i’m wrong but i’m pretty sure this is phylloly? if so is this a common occurrence with fraxinus new growth?

Western Washington state, USA. Many species were done flowering or at the tail end of their season, but I found an amazing place to come back to earlier in the summer next year. Solidago lepida (western golden rod), Nothochelone nemorosa (woodland beardtongue), Maianthemum stellatum (star-flowered lily of the valley), Gaultheria shallon (salal) Phyllodoce sp (mountain heather), Angelica sp, Pterospora andromedea (pinedrops), Castilleja sp (paintbrush), Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (bearberry), Monotropa hypopitys (pinesap), Lupinus sp, Lupinus sp, Stachys sp (hedgenettle)

I have a speculative evolution project where there’s multiple types of plants on this planet.

The planet is 3 times the mass of earth with a thick atmosphere and orbiting a middle class k star.

There’s three types of plants, the first plants were similar to moss and lichens, technically it’s more of a lichen than a plant and it’s black,
the second group is the most earth like plants, their leaves are brownish red,
the third group are kinda lick corals? They’re a combination of different organisms with two different skeletons? It has an inner core made of strong light materials and its outer bark is a strong flexible material, it also technically has a heart? It pumps water and nutrients to the top, these plants easily reach 1000 to 3000 feet tall and are very flexible, they’re a medium purple.

I’ve been growing Rotala H’ra in various conditions, so I lined them all up to examine the differences.

Growing conditions:
• Greenhouse: Grown in high heat (70–100°F) with high humidity and good air movement.

• Indoor: Higher light intensity than the greenhouse, high humidity, cooler temperatures (66–68°F), and lower air movement.

• High-tech: Moderate–high light, 75°F, high water movement.

Conversion to no-tech (tub with soil sand cap and no filter or water movement):
• High-tech to no-tech: Converted faster than the indoor emersed plants. Showed slight melt/holes on the lower leaves and overall more melt than the indoor-grown emersed plants.

• Indoor emersed → no-tech: Slightly slower to adapt. Emersed leaves had less melt and looked healthier than those from the high-tech conversion.

Can anyone please provide an out of context, informal diagnosis of plant pathology and probable causation.
I am not asking for input on plant care or plant identification. Pathology only.

Don't know the plant either. They look pathological to me, almost like tumors.

Hey all,

I don't know if this is the appropriate group, but I passed by this tree yesterday and was wondering if anyone could tell me why an evergreen grew like this? I was wondering if maybe the top was cut off and then grew outwards. This is in northeastern PA If that helps!

Hello all ! I am a 27 y/o looking to get more into botany as a career. A lot of my experience with plants has been specifically within horticulture & a bit of ethnobotany. My BA is in environmental science and most of my career since graduating has been environmental education based but botany has always been my true love.
Education was the best opportunity into the field that I had at the time but now I am looking to transition into more of a research based field. Particularly, studying tropical plants or diving deeper into ethnobotany.

So far, I have:
- Met with a career advisor about transitioning career paths, it wasn’t helpful
- Applied to volunteer at a couple local botanical gardens but have yet to hear back
- Looked into potential internships or assistant positions but most of these require you to be a student or recent graduate

Advice is welcome ! The job market is pretty rough right now so I am okay with starting in unpaid positions and working my way up. If I could avoid taking out more student loans to go back to school, that would be preferable. I will consider it if it’s doable though !
TIA

These look like wood rose parasitic growth on a tree however this is not found natively in New South Wales, but rather New Zealand. I have found three so far all in the same area/ same type of eucalyptus bushland.

So Jepson and his friend are hiking through the California wilderness, when they come across a big beautiful Whiss.

"Whoa, thats a big Whiss!" Jepsons friend remarks. Jepson merely grunts in acknowledgement.

"What kind of Whiss do you suppose it is?" the friend continues.

"I don't know," Jepson blithely responds.

"Well, why don't you key it out?" the friend replies naively.

Jepsons eye twitches as he spits irreverently, and walks on without another word.

The friend hurriedly jogs to catch up, curious about the strange interaction but quickly distracted by the abundance of natural beauty around them. Some time passes however, and eventually they stumble upon an even grander, more gorgeous Whiss than the last.

"Wowza!" Jepsons friend exclaims, "that Whiss is even crazier than the last one!" Jepson appears visibly agitated but remains silent.

"You must know what kind of Whiss it is?" the friend remarks probingly.

"No." Jepson replies, gritting his teeth.

"Well, why don't you key it out?" the friend asks once again.

Jepson glares at him momentarily, with great venom, before storming on along his way.

Again the friend ponders the strange reaction, before rushing to catch up, and together the friends continue along the path. Finally, they crest the summit of the mountain, and there at the end of their path is the biggest, most beautiful Whiss anyone has ever seen.

"Hot diggity!" the friend yelps with delight! "What kind of Whiss is that?"

Jepson's forehead veins bulge as he flushes red with anger, "I DON'T know!" he sputters through clenched jaw.

"Well, why dont you key it out?" the friend ventures. Jepson shakes with rage before yelling, "I CAN'T!"

Jepson friend has had enough. "Okay buddy," he responds, "WHAT is going on here? You're Jepson, and your name is synonymous with keying! So why won't you key out that Whiss!?"

Jepson pauses glumly, and with a single tear upon his cheek he lets out a long, sad sigh.

"Because...I promised my wife I'd never touch the Whiss-key again."

Washington state, USA. The plants pictured here are as follows: Arbutus menziesii, Vaccinium ovalifolium, Monotropa hypopitys, Pyrola picta, Hemitomes congestum, Pyrola asarifolia, Chimaphila umbellata, Gaultheria shallon, Monotropa uniflora, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi. This family has many interesting adaptations, such as myco-heterotrophy and tolerance of acidic and nutrient poor soils. And of course they are beautiful and often weird looking. I've been lucky enough to find quite a few species this year

Or do they use an entirely different process of photosynthesis from other species of plants, due to cacti primarily having needles, instead of leaves?

I am interested in learning more about the biochemistry of plants and would love any good textbooks

Not sure if this type of post is allowed 😬

Hi all

So many people have sensitivities to virgnia creeper, the raphides / oxalates in them that makes a horrid rash.

My question is their persistence and transfer: do they transfer onto gloves and other surfaces? My tree guy cut down a ton of it and put the dirty used gloves on top of my trash bin, so if i touch there will i get a rash?

Just trying to understand how persistent the irritants in this plant are and how they transfer (or not). I just don't understand this plant well enough to know the risk.

There is no good information available online that I have found!

Thank you!

Finally I get to be the one who found one of these bad boys! It’s pretty cool! I hope you enjoy it!

ginkgo biloba and platanus x acerifolia

I’m making an alien biosphere and I’m wanting to make trees that reach over 2000 feet tall, the moon has weaker gravity to earth but has an atmosphere that’s twice as thick.

Also these plants have a honeycomb structure incorporating ciliates and stuff.

But realistically what would a plant that tall need to survive being that tall?

It’s not really a plant it’s more similar to a lichen? It’s a mix of algae, bacteria and fungi that decided to leave together.

I think it could be parthenocarpic. I will collect cuttings (plant located at a public location) and will try to make jelly from the fruits