Flowers of San Francisco Botanical Garden: 2011

December 5, 2011

Buttercups at SF Botanical Garden

The buttercup Family, Ranunculaceae, is an old family of flowering plants. The family includes it's namesake, the buttercups, as well as clematises, hellebores, larkspurs (delphinuims), monkshoods (aconitums), meadow-rues (thalictrums), and devils-in-a-bush (nigellas). There are over 1700 species in this family. One common characteristic is the abundance of their "flower bits." These plants contain protoanemonin, which is a toxic substance that can cause rashes through touch or nausea, vomiting, dizziness, vomiting, or paralysis upon ingestion. Beggars have apparently purposely blistered their skin with buttercups to arouse sympathy from passers-by. Though toxic, meadow buttercups have been picked for generations and held under a friend's chin. The folklore has it that if if reflects yellow light on the chin, the friend likes butter. Many parts of these plants can be found in the fossil record, dating to around 125 mya in the early Cretaceous Period. These are flowers that dinosaurs might recognize, though of course they have been changing in the intervening millions of years. Currently, they are found worldwide, with the major exceptions of African and Australian deserts, and Greenland tundra.

Anemone - Japanese

Anemone - white

Aquilegia - Columbine

Aquilegia caerulea 'Rotstern' - Crimson Star Columbine

Aquilegia caerulea - Rose Queen Columbine

Aquilegia formosa -Western Columbine

Aquilegia vulgaris - Columbine

Caltha palustris - Yellow Marsh Marigold

Clematis 'John Warren'

Clematis 'Pamiat Serdtsa'

Clematis montana 'Peveril'

Hellebore - brown

Helleborus lividus ssp. corsicus

Helleborus orientalis

Helleborus - pink

Helleborus x Hybridus 'Ballerina'

Helleborus - green w/ purple fringe

Helleborus - purple

Helleborus - white

Nigella

キンポウゲ科、イチリンソウ属、センニンソウ属、オオヒエンソウ属［デルフィニウム］、クリスマスローズ属、クロタネソウ属

November 15, 2011

Heathers at SF Botanical Garden

The Heather Family, also called the Heath Family, is known in the botanical world as Ericaceae. There are about 4000 species in this family widely spread across Earth, including well-known genera such as blueberries, cranberries, mountain laurels, huckleberries, strawberry trees (not real strawberries!), doghobbles, and rhododendrons. The rhododendron genus itself includes what are called azaleas by gardeners, as well as hundreds of tropical plants called vireyas. In Japan, the forked twiggy branches of azaleas are charred, coated in lime from powdered sea shells, and used in tea ceremonies (枝炭).