flowering stinging-thorn
I spent a few minutes at Red-bird Ridge this morning, taking pictures of some of the early summer wildflowers. I have missed the spiderworts completely; the solanum, horsemint, and pincushion daisy are getting started.
The bull-nettle has been blooming for some weeks. There are still lots of white fragrant flowers, but the central ones in every inflorescence have withered, or given rise to horrifically spined green capsules about 5 cm long. Cnidoscolus texanum is the scientific name. "Cnido" - stinging, and "scolus" - thorn, in Greek. And boy, do they sting!I took some photos, but I think I want to go out again and make a real study of the plant — get some leaf photos and spiny close-ups, and then do a set of three small prints for Etsy. Probably a waste of time, but who knows?
Remarkably, a Latin American species of the genus, Cnidoscolus chayamansa, is widely used as a food plant, and is said to have higher nutritional values than chard or spinach.
It was pleasant at the Ridge at 8am. Sunny and clear, but still with lots of long shady shadows cast by the trees in the early sun, and only in the mid-70s. It's 84° now at 11am, and going up into the 90s all this week. The electric bill is gonna be a bugger this month. I don't ever want to think about the 610 water bill - gotta call Sawyer today.
posted by AbigailM | 10:56 AM
3 Comments:
Love your kitten pictures, Abigail... they're cute as buttons! Cats are so wonderful, aren't they!? I see you like Jacques Tati too! My dad took me to see Mr Hulot's Holiday back in the 1950s and I've been hooked ever since! Best wishes from Johnny Broadbeans, Manchester, NW England
I don't know where such movies might be shown here today, but back in the fifties there was an "art" theater in our not-very-big Texas town, and our parents took us to several Mr. Hulot films. (The same theater showed X and R movies late at night, I think.) The film where he house-sat, and baby-sat the nephew, at the super-modern home, we must have seen several times. Pruning the espaliered tree, trying for symmetry till it was a little stick, became a family catchword.
My father used to get the airmail edition of the Manchester Guardian every week, as his antidote to insular local news.
That's right, Abigail. To see so many oldie films you have to get a dvd - if there IS one! They never seem to appear on TV, but you can actually see quite a lot of M. Hulot's Holiday by clicking onto www.youtube.com! Ah, yes, the Manchester Guardian! As you doubtless know, it became The Guardian, and now is national newspaper!Keep up the garden photography! Best wishes,Johnny, Manchester
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