View allAll Photos Tagged Prostrate

Taken in Oklahoma

Mercy School

Victoria and Albert Museum

Cromwell Road

South Kensington

London SW7

------------------------------------

'Tippoo's Tiger' is an awesome, life-size beast of carved and painted wood, seen in the act of devouring a prostrate European in the costume of the 1790s. It has cast a spell over generations of admirers since 1808, when it was first displayed in the East India Company's museum. Concealed in the bodywork is a mechanical pipe-organ with several parts, all operated simultaneously by a crank-handle emerging from the tiger's shoulder. Inside the tiger and the man are weighted bellows with pipes attached. Turning the handle pumps the bellows and controls the air-flow to simulate the growls of the tiger and cries of the victim. The cries are varied by the approach of the hand towards the mouth and away, as the left arm - the only moving part - is raised and lowered.

 

Another pair of bellows, linked to the same handle, supplies wind for a miniature organ of 18 pipes built into the tiger, with stops under the tail. Its structure is like that of European mechanical organs, but adapted for hand operation by a set of ivory button keys reached through a flap in the animal's side. The mechanism has been repaired several times and altered from its original state. It is now too fragile to be operated regularly.

 

Tippoo Sahib (to his European contemporaries) was Sultan of Mysore in South India from 1782-99. The painted wooden casing of his tiger is unmistakably Indian, but there are indications that the mechanism came from a European hand very likely French.

--------------------

Literary Associations:

ipu and his exploits captured the popular imagination in Britain, figuring prominently in art, literature and drama far into the 19th century. Keats, who visited the India House while the tiger was on show there, in Cap and Bells envisaged a personal performance by the Sultan on his Man-Tyger-Organ. The Storming of Seringapatam unleashed a flood of prints and broadsheets. It inspired one of the largest paintings in the world, exhibited in London as a panorama. It was featured as a vast spectacular at Astley's Amphitheatre, and cut down to size for the juvenile drama. As late as 1868 it set the scene for Wilkie Collins's novel The Moonstone.

 

www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/object_stories/Tippoo's_ti...

Introduced, warm season, perennial, prostrate herb to 60 cm tall. Leaves and stems are hairy with glandular and non-glandular hairs. Leaves are alternate, lanceolate, deeply veined and stem clasping. Blue to mauve tubular flowers (with yellow stamens and throat) arranged caterpillar-like in 2 rows on one side of the flowering stem (scirpoid cyme). Flowers most of the year, but not in winter in southern areas. Grows on a wide range of soil types. Predominantly in areas that receive at least 50% of average annual rainfall in summer. It is mostly a problem of run down pasture and disturbed areas such as cropping paddocks, roadsides and waste land. Regenerates from seed and vegetatively from pieces of plant and roots. It is spread by water, fur of animals and in the gut of animals. A weed which is toxic to animals, quite invasive and difficult to control. Causes chronic liver damage in cattle, sheep and horses; can be fatal. Cultivation encourages its spread by stimulating germination and regrowth of plant parts. Management requires an integrated approach including herbicides, productive pasture, grazing management and biological control. There has only been one biological control agent released in Australia, the blue heliotrope leaf-beetle. At high densities, leaf-beetles can completely defoliate blue heliotrope, with both the larvae and adults feeding on the leaves.

It is not often now I will have the chance to see a new UK orchid species, however, over the border and over the border after that, in West Sussex, there is a place where they have two very rare species, seeded, but a wild UK orchid. Well, the Greater Tongue is not a native orchid, but there has now been four confirmed records of them growing in the UK, these being one of them. But the second species, the Loose-Flowerd Orchid, is only found in the Channel Islands, and here.

 

So, better go and prostrate myself at their lips. As it were.

 

There is a quick way, via the motorway, or the lazy way, taking the coast road. And as I planned to do two or three stops on the way, I would take the coast road.

 

Once I had dropped Jools off at work first.

 

Have you got your phone? Jools asked. Hell no. How will I know if anything goes wrong? You won't, but it'll be fine.

 

He hoped.

 

After coffee, we load up the car with work bag and cameras, and off into the bright dawn, or an hour after dawn, and onto the almost empty roads to Hythe.

 

Having dropped Jools off, I drive out of Hythe and out onto the Romney Marsh. The road meanders over ditches and the railway line, I make good time, getting to Rye just before eight.

 

Last year I saw a Tweet saying a rare plant was found in, what I thought was, Rye. Growing on the church wall.

 

No matter, I had not been there for ages, and wandering around it cobbled streets, looking at its wonderful ancient buildings is all the more enjoyable when you're the only one ding it, and with a soundtrack of the dawn chorus.

 

I check all the wall s of the churchyard, and find many plants growing on or out of the wall, but not what I was looking for.

 

Maybe, I thought, I meant they were in Winchelsea?

 

Maybe indeed. Anyway, Winchelsea is just a ten minute drive away, another ancinet town, this time set on a hill with the main road up from the marsh passing through a huge stone gate.

 

And the town itself is set on a grid system, and some would have you believe that this was the system New York was based on. I don't know, but it aint no Manhattan.

 

I park beside the church, walk in and look for the plant with round shaped leaves. None found. I then go to check on the church, and about eight feet up was a single plant.

 

I was so excited. So excited, I told a guy from English Heritage that I had found a rare plant. Oh really, what's it called? Wall Pennywort says I. Oh that grows everywhere in this town I was told.

 

I deflated, slightly.

 

And indeed I find it everywhere I looked. Anywhere made of stone, anyways.

 

I go back to the car and set sail to Eastbourne, in the west.

 

To get there I would have to pass through, ahem; Hastings, Bexhill then Eastbourne, then St Leonards.

 

The road meanders through towns, up and down downs, it takes a long time to get a little distance. Hastings is jammed with traffic due to a collapsed sewer. Pooey.

 

But further along, it is the endless traffic lights and roundabouts.

 

West of Eastbourne is Beachy Head. Not a beach. It is a high chalk cliff, which then goes on to make up part of the Severn Sisters, a line of undulating chalk cliffs.

 

I was there as I seem to remember being told, many years ago, of a hybrid Orchid growing near there, so after what might have been six years since being told, I was following up. And directions were very sketchy to say the least

 

I park in the main car park, but unlike everyone else, I walk away from the cliffs to the edge of a field, to scour the hedgerow and see if any pikes could be found.

 

I look and look, but see nothing orchid-like.

 

Drat.

 

But I do see butterflies. Lots of butterflies, including a pair of Wall Browns who land at my feet, mid-courtship, so I was able to snap them. There was also Brown Argus and a Common Blue, though the latter was flighty and I got no shot.

 

Back to the car, program the sat nav and I find I still had an hour and ten minutes to go. Best get a move on.

 

Sussex is a smarter and posher county than Kent, I pass my gated mansions, prep schools and villages I could not afford to look at let alone live.

 

As I drove, the sky clouded over, meaning my plan for top shots was being ruined.

 

Wakehurst is a National Trust property, but the gardens are maintained by Kew, it is where they have a lot of their wild plants. And in a quiet corner there was a small collection of orchids.

 

He hoped.

 

I pulled up at midday, and I realised i had not eaten; not a problem, but with it raining, best take a break, have lunch, and hopefully the weather would get better.

 

Being hungry, I order a panini, a sausage roll, and get a bowl of salad with the meal too. I had a lot of food.

 

Anyway, I sit down to eat and hope the weather blows over.

 

Which it does. Kinda. It at least isn't raining.

 

The kind staff had given me a map, and ringed the bank where the orchids were. So, I just had to find it.

 

I wander through beds of Korean, Chinese then Japanese plants, before finding a small dip, down that and up a grass track, and behind some simple low fencing was a small group of orchids.

 

I had found them.

 

So, I lay down, got my shots, then wandered round the grounds, down an ornamental valley, all overflowing with highly scented rhododendrons, all marvellous stuff.

 

But I was worried about getting back. So, I made my way back to the car, through the shop without buying anything.

 

The sat nav said one hour twenty minutes. Seemed short. I decided not to believe it, so drove out of the car park and towards the motorway at warp factor nine.

 

But it is true: just six miles to Gatwick, then six more to the M25, 15 to Kent then down the M20 towards Hythe. I was back in east Kent before three, meaning I had two hours to kill.

Prostrating all the way to Lhasa (500 or more km)

Prostrator: The sound is Shak tsal kan. The Wylie is phyag mtshal mkhan

Hormones During Menopause (Enlarged Prostrate Treatment)

1-800-390-0364 CALL FREE INFORMATION & CONSULTATION

 

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roo-EL-ee-uh -- named for Jean Ruel, French botanist ... Dave's Botanary

prost-RAY-tuh -- prostrate ... Dave's Botanary

 

commonly known as: bell weed, black weed, prostrate wild petunia • Bengali: ধমনী dhamani • Dogri: वन बसूटी van basuti • Gujarati: કાળી ધામણ ઢોકળી kali dhaman dhokali, કાલી ઘાવણી kali ghavani • Hindi: धामिन dhamin • Kannada: ಭೀಮನ ಸೊಪ್ಪು bheemana soppu • Malayalam: ഉപ്പുതാളി upputhaali • Marathi: भुई रुवेल bhui ruwel, काळी धावणी kali dhawani • Rajasthani: काली घावणी kali ghavani • Tamil: போட்டகாஞ்சி pottakanchi • Telugu: మాను పత్రి maanu pathri, నేల నీలాంబరము nela neelaambaramu

 

botanical names: Ruellia prostrata Poir. ... homotypic synonyms: Dipteracanthus prostratus (Poir.) Nees • Ruellia patula var. prostrata(Poir.) Chiov. ... accepted infraspecifics: Ruellia prostrata var. prostrata ... heterotypic synonyms: Ruellia deccanensis J.Graham • Ruellia pallida Willd. ex Nees • Ruellia prostrata var. dejecta (Nees) C.B.Clarke • Ruellia ringens Roxb. ... and more at POWO, retrieved 16 July 2025

 

~~~~~ DISTRIBUTION in INDIA ~~~~~

Andhra Pradesh, *Goa, *Haryana, *Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, *Odisha, *Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, *Uttarakhand, West Bengal

* no given name / no name found in the regional language(s) of the state

 

Names compiled / updated at Names of Plants in India.

Introduced, warm-season, annual, erect or prostrate, tufted grass to 1 m tall. Leaves are flat, hairless (except for a few scattered hairs near the base) and usually have a pale midrib. There is no ligule. Flowerheads are an erect primary axis of racemes (to 22 cm long) with relatively short branches; with conspicuous hairs in the axils and along the racemes. Spikelets are 2.5-4 mm long and 2 flowered (fertile lemma smooth and shiny), with the apices ending abruptly in a short point or having an awn to 5 cm long. Flowers during the warmer months. Possibly a native of Asia, it is a common weed of disturbed areas, especially where there is excess moisture (e.g. wasteland, agricultural land, riverbanks, drains, shallow/drying swamps). An indicator of disturbed moist areas. A weed of summer crops. Produces palatable and good quality feed when grazed during early growth stages, but becomes harsh and unpalatable when mature. Toxic levels of nitrate can accumulate in the plant; this is especially dangerous when the plant is wilted and more attractive to stock. Rarely managed individually in pastures due to its low abundance in coastal pastures. Will decrease where dense ground cover is maintained over summer.

I recently had a biopsy of my prostate gland done. The results came back positive. I have prostrate cancer. It was detected through screening during a routine physical, so it is very early and highly treatable.

 

Prostrate cancer is a very slow growing cancer and the cancerous cells I have are the least aggressive type.

 

Prostrate Cancer cells in the earlier stages of the disease produce a substance called Prostrate Specific Antigen (PSA), which is measurable through a routine blood test. It is recommended that all men over the age of 50 have a PSA screening as a part of a routine physical. I had a physical about 18 months ago, and my PSA measured 6.7. Normal is between 0 and 4. The PSA level raises with age, and a reading of 6.7 corresponds to a man of between 70 and 80, not someone who is 60. I had a biopsy then, but the results were negative.

 

At my last physical, my PSA was 6 and the doctor recommended I be under the care of a urologist. Since my brother had Prostrate Cancer, my risk was greater, so I agreed. I went to the urologist, and since the results were mixed, (a decrease in the PSA and a negative previous biopsy) we did a more definitive test called a total free and clear PSA. The total free and clear PSA should be greater than 30%. Mine was 9.5% and my regular PSA at this test was 7.8--good reason to do a biopsy.

 

Most men don't die from Prostate Cancer, but they die with it. In my research, I found out that 80% of men 80 or over have prostrate cancer. They just die of other causes before the cancer gets them.

 

It would probably be about 10 years before the cancer would cause me problems, but I would only be 70 by then, so there is a need for treatment.

 

Prostrate Cancer is incurable, but highly treatable if it is caught inside the prostrate gland. There are two methods of treatment, surgery and radiation, both of which are equally effective. What one has to do is evaluate the side effects and choose one's poison.

 

Once the cancer gets outside of the prostrate, it is no longer treatable, it can only be maintained and attempts made to make life more liveable. Prostrate cancer feeds off testosterone, so once it is outside the gland, the treatment is to remove the source of the testosterone, which means chemical or surgical castration, definite side effects I want to avoid!

 

So I'm at that stage where I am pondering whether to have surgery or radiation....

Introduced, warm-season, annual or short-lived perennial, more or less prostrate herb; to 25 cm tall and with thick, tough stems that put roots down where the nodes come into contact with the soil. Leaves are oval and usually lobed, with toothed margins; 3-7 veins radiate from the heart-shaped base. Flowers are solitary in the leaf axils and have 5 red to orange-red petals. Flowering is in spring and summer. A native of South America, it is a weed of disturbed areas, such as newly sown pastures and turf; less so

in crops. It is spread by seed and vegetatively by putting down roots where ever stem nodes contact the ground. It is salt and drought tolerant. Has caused occasional stock poisoning, but its very prostrate habit limits the quantity eaten. Control in pastures by promoting dense swards. Can be controlled by herbicides at the seedling stage, but it is extremely tolerant of glyphosate, often making it a problem weed of direct drilled crops and pastures.

Erik Törner is a Tibet analyst from IM who last visited Tibet in January 2011.

 

”It was a cold time, hardly no tourists visit Tibet in winter time. On the other hand, as it is too cold to work for both farmers and nomads, they traditionally have a month of and go on pilgrimage. Thereby, all sights where filled with Tibetans, mostly from the countryside.

 

Dressed up for the occasion, and very curious to meet Westerners, they made it worth sleeping without heat or electricity in below zero temperatures.”

 

Photo and copyright: Erik Törner, IM Individuell Människohjälp www.manniskohjalp.se

 

Contact IMs Erik Törner for permissions. Email erik.torner(at)manniskohjalp.se

 

IM is a Swedish aid organization fighting and exposing poverty and exclusion. IM makes long-term commitments together with local partners, in promoting health, education and income generation. Our efforts are aimed at empowering people and each new project starts off on a small scale.

 

IMs Photo Archive (IMs Bildarkiv) can always be found at www.flickr.com/IMsbildarkiv

Erik Törner is a Tibet analyst from IM who last visited Tibet in January 2011.

 

”It was a cold time, hardly no tourists visit Tibet in winter time. On the other hand, as it is too cold to work for both farmers and nomads, they traditionally have a month of and go on pilgrimage. Thereby, all sights where filled with Tibetans, mostly from the countryside.

 

Dressed up for the occasion, and very curious to meet Westerners, they made it worth sleeping without heat or electricity in below zero temperatures.”

 

Photo and copyright: Erik Törner, IM Individuell Människohjälp www.manniskohjalp.se

 

Contact IMs Erik Törner for permissions. Email erik.torner(at)manniskohjalp.se

 

IM is a Swedish aid organization fighting and exposing poverty and exclusion. IM makes long-term commitments together with local partners, in promoting health, education and income generation. Our efforts are aimed at empowering people and each new project starts off on a small scale.

 

IMs Photo Archive (IMs Bildarkiv) can always be found at www.flickr.com/IMsbildarkiv

Bikers charity Bike ride round London for prostate cancer

Blue Mountains - Fairfax Heritage National Park

 

From Wikipedia -

Isopogon is a genus of 35 species of mainly low-growing and prostrate perennial shrubs in the family Proteaceae endemic to Australia. They are found throughout Australia, though Western Australia has the greatest variety with 27 of the 35 species found there. They are popularly known as drumsticks due to the shape of their inflorescences.

 

Several species are grown in gardens, though they are nowhere near as well known or cultivated as their fellow Proteaceae members Grevillea or Banksia.

 

Classification

They are members of the subfamily Proteoideae (which includes South African genera such as Protea, Leucospermum & Leucadendron), within the Proteaceae.

 

Species

I. adenanthoides

I. alcicornis

I. anethifolius (Narrow-leaved Drumsticks)

I. anemonifolius (Broad-leaved Drumsticks)

I. anemonifolius "Woorikee 2000"

I. asper

I. attenuatus

I. axillaris

I. baxteri

I. buxifolius

I. ceratophyllus (Wild Irishman; Horny Cone Bush)

I. cuneatus (Drumsticks)

I. dawsonii (Nepean Cone Bush)

I. divergens (Spreading Cone Bush)

I. drummondii

I. dubius (=roseus) (Rose Cone Bush; Pincushion Rose Bush)

I. fletcheri

I. formosus (Rose Cone Flower)

I. latifolius

I. linearis

I. longifolius

I. menoraifolius

I. petiolaris

I. polycephalus (Clustered Cone Flower)

I. prostratus

I. scaber

I. scabriusculus

I. sphaerocephalus (Drumstick Isopogon)

I. teretifolius (Nodding Cone Flower)

I. tridens

I. trilobus (Barrel Cone Flower)

I. uncinatus

I. villosus

It is not often now I will have the chance to see a new UK orchid species, however, over the border and over the border after that, in West Sussex, there is a place where they have two very rare species, seeded, but a wild UK orchid. Well, the Greater Tongue is not a native orchid, but there has now been four confirmed records of them growing in the UK, these being one of them. But the second species, the Loose-Flowerd Orchid, is only found in the Channel Islands, and here.

 

So, better go and prostrate myself at their lips. As it were.

 

There is a quick way, via the motorway, or the lazy way, taking the coast road. And as I planned to do two or three stops on the way, I would take the coast road.

 

Once I had dropped Jools off at work first.

 

Have you got your phone? Jools asked. Hell no. How will I know if anything goes wrong? You won't, but it'll be fine.

 

He hoped.

 

After coffee, we load up the car with work bag and cameras, and off into the bright dawn, or an hour after dawn, and onto the almost empty roads to Hythe.

 

Having dropped Jools off, I drive out of Hythe and out onto the Romney Marsh. The road meanders over ditches and the railway line, I make good time, getting to Rye just before eight.

 

Last year I saw a Tweet saying a rare plant was found in, what I thought was, Rye. Growing on the church wall.

 

No matter, I had not been there for ages, and wandering around it cobbled streets, looking at its wonderful ancient buildings is all the more enjoyable when you're the only one ding it, and with a soundtrack of the dawn chorus.

 

I check all the wall s of the churchyard, and find many plants growing on or out of the wall, but not what I was looking for.

 

Maybe, I thought, I meant they were in Winchelsea?

 

Maybe indeed. Anyway, Winchelsea is just a ten minute drive away, another ancinet town, this time set on a hill with the main road up from the marsh passing through a huge stone gate.

 

And the town itself is set on a grid system, and some would have you believe that this was the system New York was based on. I don't know, but it aint no Manhattan.

 

I park beside the church, walk in and look for the plant with round shaped leaves. None found. I then go to check on the church, and about eight feet up was a single plant.

 

I was so excited. So excited, I told a guy from English Heritage that I had found a rare plant. Oh really, what's it called? Wall Pennywort says I. Oh that grows everywhere in this town I was told.

 

I deflated, slightly.

 

And indeed I find it everywhere I looked. Anywhere made of stone, anyways.

 

I go back to the car and set sail to Eastbourne, in the west.

 

To get there I would have to pass through, ahem; Hastings, Bexhill then Eastbourne, then St Leonards.

 

The road meanders through towns, up and down downs, it takes a long time to get a little distance. Hastings is jammed with traffic due to a collapsed sewer. Pooey.

 

But further along, it is the endless traffic lights and roundabouts.

 

West of Eastbourne is Beachy Head. Not a beach. It is a high chalk cliff, which then goes on to make up part of the Severn Sisters, a line of undulating chalk cliffs.

 

I was there as I seem to remember being told, many years ago, of a hybrid Orchid growing near there, so after what might have been six years since being told, I was following up. And directions were very sketchy to say the least

 

I park in the main car park, but unlike everyone else, I walk away from the cliffs to the edge of a field, to scour the hedgerow and see if any pikes could be found.

 

I look and look, but see nothing orchid-like.

 

Drat.

 

But I do see butterflies. Lots of butterflies, including a pair of Wall Browns who land at my feet, mid-courtship, so I was able to snap them. There was also Brown Argus and a Common Blue, though the latter was flighty and I got no shot.

 

Back to the car, program the sat nav and I find I still had an hour and ten minutes to go. Best get a move on.

 

Sussex is a smarter and posher county than Kent, I pass my gated mansions, prep schools and villages I could not afford to look at let alone live.

 

As I drove, the sky clouded over, meaning my plan for top shots was being ruined.

 

Wakehurst is a National Trust property, but the gardens are maintained by Kew, it is where they have a lot of their wild plants. And in a quiet corner there was a small collection of orchids.

 

He hoped.

 

I pulled up at midday, and I realised i had not eaten; not a problem, but with it raining, best take a break, have lunch, and hopefully the weather would get better.

 

Being hungry, I order a panini, a sausage roll, and get a bowl of salad with the meal too. I had a lot of food.

 

Anyway, I sit down to eat and hope the weather blows over.

 

Which it does. Kinda. It at least isn't raining.

 

The kind staff had given me a map, and ringed the bank where the orchids were. So, I just had to find it.

 

I wander through beds of Korean, Chinese then Japanese plants, before finding a small dip, down that and up a grass track, and behind some simple low fencing was a small group of orchids.

 

I had found them.

 

So, I lay down, got my shots, then wandered round the grounds, down an ornamental valley, all overflowing with highly scented rhododendrons, all marvellous stuff.

 

But I was worried about getting back. So, I made my way back to the car, through the shop without buying anything.

 

The sat nav said one hour twenty minutes. Seemed short. I decided not to believe it, so drove out of the car park and towards the motorway at warp factor nine.

 

But it is true: just six miles to Gatwick, then six more to the M25, 15 to Kent then down the M20 towards Hythe. I was back in east Kent before three, meaning I had two hours to kill.

Rubiaceae (madder, bedstraw, or coffee family) » Spermacoce ocymoides

 

sperm-a-KOH-see -- seed point, referring to the capsule being surrounded by calyx points

ok-kye-MOY-deez -- resembles Ocimum (basil)

 

commonly known as: basil-like spermacoce, purple-leaved button weed

 

Native of: Mauritius, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines; naturalized elsewhere

  

References: Flowers of IndiaPIERFlora of ThailandNPGS / GRIN

Danish Scurvy-grass on Chesil Beach.

 

Also known as Early Scurvy-grass, this is a small prostrate annual which grows on sandy, salty soils, mainly coastal. With very small 4-petalled white, sometimes lilac, flowers (4-6mm across) which bloom from February to June, it only grows to 20cm high. The shiny lower leaves are long-stalked and heart-shaped, the stem leaves are ivy-shaped and fleshy, resistant to the salty conditions of their environment. This is a native plant and it belongs to the family Brassicaceae.

 

Before Vitamin C was readily available as a supplement, sailors returning from long sea voyages used to eat Scurvy-grass in quantities. Scurvy is caused by a diet deficient in Vitamin C.

 

Scurvy-grass is now appearing in habitats distant from the coast and it is thought that it is the salting of winter roads which leaves soil which is suitable for the seeds of this plant. Seeds may be picked up by trucks entering countries through coastal ports near where the plant grows and distributed throughout the country.

 

(Thanks to Zoë Devlin, author of 'Wildflowers of Ireland - A personal Record', for this facinating information).

Introduced, warm season, perennial, prostrate herb to 60 cm tall. Leaves and stems are hairy with glandular and non-glandular hairs. Leaves are alternate, lanceolate, deeply veined and stem clasping. Blue to mauve tubular flowers (with yellow stamens and throat) arranged caterpillar-like in 2 rows on one side of the flowering stem (scirpoid cyme). Flowers most of the year, but not in winter in southern areas. Grows on a wide range of soil types. Predominantly in areas that receive at least 50% of average annual rainfall in summer. It is mostly a problem of run down pasture and disturbed areas such as cropping paddocks, roadsides and waste land. Regenerates from seed and vegetatively from pieces of plant and roots. It is spread by water, fur of animals and in the gut of animals. A weed which is toxic to animals, quite invasive and difficult to control. Causes chronic liver damage in cattle, sheep and horses; can be fatal. Cultivation encourages its spread by stimulating germination and regrowth of plant parts. Management requires an integrated approach including herbicides, productive pasture, grazing management and biological control. There has only been one biological control agent released in Australia, the blue heliotrope leaf-beetle. At high densities, leaf-beetles can completely defoliate blue heliotrope, with both the larvae and adults feeding on the leaves.

 

Theseus and the Minotaur by Antonio Canova

  

Theseus seated on the prostrate Minotaur, holds a club in his left hand and rests his right on the left leg of his victim.

  

Place of origin: Rome, Italy

 

Date: 1782

 

Artist/Maker:Canova, Antonio, born 1757 - died 1822

 

Materials and Techniques: Marble

 

Height: 145.4 cm, Length: 158.7 cm, Width: 91.4 cm, Weight: 940 kg marble group, Weight: 238 kg base

 

Bought with the assistance of the National Art-Collections Fund (£1000) for £3000 from the Executor of the 7th Marquess of Londonderry (Lord Nathan).

   

collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O96376/theseus-and-the-minotau...

   

From Wikipedia:

 

The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A), is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects.

 

Named after Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, it was founded in 1852, and has since grown to cover 12.5 acres (51,000 m2) and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, in virtually every medium, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

 

The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest, important and most comprehensive in the world. The museum possesses the world's largest collection of post-classical sculpture, the holdings of Italian Renaissance items are the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection, alongside the British Museum, Musée du Louvre and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, is amongst the largest in the Western world.

 

Set in the Brompton district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, neighbouring institutions include the Natural History Museum and Science Museum.

   

It is not often now I will have the chance to see a new UK orchid species, however, over the border and over the border after that, in West Sussex, there is a place where they have two very rare species, seeded, but a wild UK orchid. Well, the Greater Tongue is not a native orchid, but there has now been four confirmed records of them growing in the UK, these being one of them. But the second species, the Loose-Flowerd Orchid, is only found in the Channel Islands, and here.

 

So, better go and prostrate myself at their lips. As it were.

 

There is a quick way, via the motorway, or the lazy way, taking the coast road. And as I planned to do two or three stops on the way, I would take the coast road.

 

Once I had dropped Jools off at work first.

 

Have you got your phone? Jools asked. Hell no. How will I know if anything goes wrong? You won't, but it'll be fine.

 

He hoped.

 

After coffee, we load up the car with work bag and cameras, and off into the bright dawn, or an hour after dawn, and onto the almost empty roads to Hythe.

 

Having dropped Jools off, I drive out of Hythe and out onto the Romney Marsh. The road meanders over ditches and the railway line, I make good time, getting to Rye just before eight.

 

Last year I saw a Tweet saying a rare plant was found in, what I thought was, Rye. Growing on the church wall.

 

No matter, I had not been there for ages, and wandering around it cobbled streets, looking at its wonderful ancient buildings is all the more enjoyable when you're the only one ding it, and with a soundtrack of the dawn chorus.

 

I check all the wall s of the churchyard, and find many plants growing on or out of the wall, but not what I was looking for.

 

Maybe, I thought, I meant they were in Winchelsea?

 

Maybe indeed. Anyway, Winchelsea is just a ten minute drive away, another ancinet town, this time set on a hill with the main road up from the marsh passing through a huge stone gate.

 

And the town itself is set on a grid system, and some would have you believe that this was the system New York was based on. I don't know, but it aint no Manhattan.

 

I park beside the church, walk in and look for the plant with round shaped leaves. None found. I then go to check on the church, and about eight feet up was a single plant.

 

I was so excited. So excited, I told a guy from English Heritage that I had found a rare plant. Oh really, what's it called? Wall Pennywort says I. Oh that grows everywhere in this town I was told.

 

I deflated, slightly.

 

And indeed I find it everywhere I looked. Anywhere made of stone, anyways.

 

I go back to the car and set sail to Eastbourne, in the west.

 

To get there I would have to pass through, ahem; Hastings, Bexhill then Eastbourne, then St Leonards.

 

The road meanders through towns, up and down downs, it takes a long time to get a little distance. Hastings is jammed with traffic due to a collapsed sewer. Pooey.

 

But further along, it is the endless traffic lights and roundabouts.

 

West of Eastbourne is Beachy Head. Not a beach. It is a high chalk cliff, which then goes on to make up part of the Severn Sisters, a line of undulating chalk cliffs.

 

I was there as I seem to remember being told, many years ago, of a hybrid Orchid growing near there, so after what might have been six years since being told, I was following up. And directions were very sketchy to say the least

 

I park in the main car park, but unlike everyone else, I walk away from the cliffs to the edge of a field, to scour the hedgerow and see if any pikes could be found.

 

I look and look, but see nothing orchid-like.

 

Drat.

 

But I do see butterflies. Lots of butterflies, including a pair of Wall Browns who land at my feet, mid-courtship, so I was able to snap them. There was also Brown Argus and a Common Blue, though the latter was flighty and I got no shot.

 

Back to the car, program the sat nav and I find I still had an hour and ten minutes to go. Best get a move on.

 

Sussex is a smarter and posher county than Kent, I pass my gated mansions, prep schools and villages I could not afford to look at let alone live.

 

As I drove, the sky clouded over, meaning my plan for top shots was being ruined.

 

Wakehurst is a National Trust property, but the gardens are maintained by Kew, it is where they have a lot of their wild plants. And in a quiet corner there was a small collection of orchids.

 

He hoped.

 

I pulled up at midday, and I realised i had not eaten; not a problem, but with it raining, best take a break, have lunch, and hopefully the weather would get better.

 

Being hungry, I order a panini, a sausage roll, and get a bowl of salad with the meal too. I had a lot of food.

 

Anyway, I sit down to eat and hope the weather blows over.

 

Which it does. Kinda. It at least isn't raining.

 

The kind staff had given me a map, and ringed the bank where the orchids were. So, I just had to find it.

 

I wander through beds of Korean, Chinese then Japanese plants, before finding a small dip, down that and up a grass track, and behind some simple low fencing was a small group of orchids.

 

I had found them.

 

So, I lay down, got my shots, then wandered round the grounds, down an ornamental valley, all overflowing with highly scented rhododendrons, all marvellous stuff.

 

But I was worried about getting back. So, I made my way back to the car, through the shop without buying anything.

 

The sat nav said one hour twenty minutes. Seemed short. I decided not to believe it, so drove out of the car park and towards the motorway at warp factor nine.

 

But it is true: just six miles to Gatwick, then six more to the M25, 15 to Kent then down the M20 towards Hythe. I was back in east Kent before three, meaning I had two hours to kill.

It is not often now I will have the chance to see a new UK orchid species, however, over the border and over the border after that, in West Sussex, there is a place where they have two very rare species, seeded, but a wild UK orchid. Well, the Greater Tongue is not a native orchid, but there has now been four confirmed records of them growing in the UK, these being one of them. But the second species, the Loose-Flowerd Orchid, is only found in the Channel Islands, and here.

 

So, better go and prostrate myself at their lips. As it were.

 

There is a quick way, via the motorway, or the lazy way, taking the coast road. And as I planned to do two or three stops on the way, I would take the coast road.

 

Once I had dropped Jools off at work first.

 

Have you got your phone? Jools asked. Hell no. How will I know if anything goes wrong? You won't, but it'll be fine.

 

He hoped.

 

After coffee, we load up the car with work bag and cameras, and off into the bright dawn, or an hour after dawn, and onto the almost empty roads to Hythe.

 

Having dropped Jools off, I drive out of Hythe and out onto the Romney Marsh. The road meanders over ditches and the railway line, I make good time, getting to Rye just before eight.

 

Last year I saw a Tweet saying a rare plant was found in, what I thought was, Rye. Growing on the church wall.

 

No matter, I had not been there for ages, and wandering around it cobbled streets, looking at its wonderful ancient buildings is all the more enjoyable when you're the only one ding it, and with a soundtrack of the dawn chorus.

 

I check all the wall s of the churchyard, and find many plants growing on or out of the wall, but not what I was looking for.

 

Maybe, I thought, I meant they were in Winchelsea?

 

Maybe indeed. Anyway, Winchelsea is just a ten minute drive away, another ancinet town, this time set on a hill with the main road up from the marsh passing through a huge stone gate.

 

And the town itself is set on a grid system, and some would have you believe that this was the system New York was based on. I don't know, but it aint no Manhattan.

 

I park beside the church, walk in and look for the plant with round shaped leaves. None found. I then go to check on the church, and about eight feet up was a single plant.

 

I was so excited. So excited, I told a guy from English Heritage that I had found a rare plant. Oh really, what's it called? Wall Pennywort says I. Oh that grows everywhere in this town I was told.

 

I deflated, slightly.

 

And indeed I find it everywhere I looked. Anywhere made of stone, anyways.

 

I go back to the car and set sail to Eastbourne, in the west.

 

To get there I would have to pass through, ahem; Hastings, Bexhill then Eastbourne, then St Leonards.

 

The road meanders through towns, up and down downs, it takes a long time to get a little distance. Hastings is jammed with traffic due to a collapsed sewer. Pooey.

 

But further along, it is the endless traffic lights and roundabouts.

 

West of Eastbourne is Beachy Head. Not a beach. It is a high chalk cliff, which then goes on to make up part of the Severn Sisters, a line of undulating chalk cliffs.

 

I was there as I seem to remember being told, many years ago, of a hybrid Orchid growing near there, so after what might have been six years since being told, I was following up. And directions were very sketchy to say the least

 

I park in the main car park, but unlike everyone else, I walk away from the cliffs to the edge of a field, to scour the hedgerow and see if any pikes could be found.

 

I look and look, but see nothing orchid-like.

 

Drat.

 

But I do see butterflies. Lots of butterflies, including a pair of Wall Browns who land at my feet, mid-courtship, so I was able to snap them. There was also Brown Argus and a Common Blue, though the latter was flighty and I got no shot.

 

Back to the car, program the sat nav and I find I still had an hour and ten minutes to go. Best get a move on.

 

Sussex is a smarter and posher county than Kent, I pass my gated mansions, prep schools and villages I could not afford to look at let alone live.

 

As I drove, the sky clouded over, meaning my plan for top shots was being ruined.

 

Wakehurst is a National Trust property, but the gardens are maintained by Kew, it is where they have a lot of their wild plants. And in a quiet corner there was a small collection of orchids.

 

He hoped.

 

I pulled up at midday, and I realised i had not eaten; not a problem, but with it raining, best take a break, have lunch, and hopefully the weather would get better.

 

Being hungry, I order a panini, a sausage roll, and get a bowl of salad with the meal too. I had a lot of food.

 

Anyway, I sit down to eat and hope the weather blows over.

 

Which it does. Kinda. It at least isn't raining.

 

The kind staff had given me a map, and ringed the bank where the orchids were. So, I just had to find it.

 

I wander through beds of Korean, Chinese then Japanese plants, before finding a small dip, down that and up a grass track, and behind some simple low fencing was a small group of orchids.

 

I had found them.

 

So, I lay down, got my shots, then wandered round the grounds, down an ornamental valley, all overflowing with highly scented rhododendrons, all marvellous stuff.

 

But I was worried about getting back. So, I made my way back to the car, through the shop without buying anything.

 

The sat nav said one hour twenty minutes. Seemed short. I decided not to believe it, so drove out of the car park and towards the motorway at warp factor nine.

 

But it is true: just six miles to Gatwick, then six more to the M25, 15 to Kent then down the M20 towards Hythe. I was back in east Kent before three, meaning I had two hours to kill.

It is not often now I will have the chance to see a new UK orchid species, however, over the border and over the border after that, in West Sussex, there is a place where they have two very rare species, seeded, but a wild UK orchid. Well, the Greater Tongue is not a native orchid, but there has now been four confirmed records of them growing in the UK, these being one of them. But the second species, the Loose-Flowerd Orchid, is only found in the Channel Islands, and here.

 

So, better go and prostrate myself at their lips. As it were.

 

There is a quick way, via the motorway, or the lazy way, taking the coast road. And as I planned to do two or three stops on the way, I would take the coast road.

 

Once I had dropped Jools off at work first.

 

Have you got your phone? Jools asked. Hell no. How will I know if anything goes wrong? You won't, but it'll be fine.

 

He hoped.

 

After coffee, we load up the car with work bag and cameras, and off into the bright dawn, or an hour after dawn, and onto the almost empty roads to Hythe.

 

Having dropped Jools off, I drive out of Hythe and out onto the Romney Marsh. The road meanders over ditches and the railway line, I make good time, getting to Rye just before eight.

 

Last year I saw a Tweet saying a rare plant was found in, what I thought was, Rye. Growing on the church wall.

 

No matter, I had not been there for ages, and wandering around it cobbled streets, looking at its wonderful ancient buildings is all the more enjoyable when you're the only one ding it, and with a soundtrack of the dawn chorus.

 

I check all the wall s of the churchyard, and find many plants growing on or out of the wall, but not what I was looking for.

 

Maybe, I thought, I meant they were in Winchelsea?

 

Maybe indeed. Anyway, Winchelsea is just a ten minute drive away, another ancinet town, this time set on a hill with the main road up from the marsh passing through a huge stone gate.

 

And the town itself is set on a grid system, and some would have you believe that this was the system New York was based on. I don't know, but it aint no Manhattan.

 

I park beside the church, walk in and look for the plant with round shaped leaves. None found. I then go to check on the church, and about eight feet up was a single plant.

 

I was so excited. So excited, I told a guy from English Heritage that I had found a rare plant. Oh really, what's it called? Wall Pennywort says I. Oh that grows everywhere in this town I was told.

 

I deflated, slightly.

 

And indeed I find it everywhere I looked. Anywhere made of stone, anyways.

 

I go back to the car and set sail to Eastbourne, in the west.

 

To get there I would have to pass through, ahem; Hastings, Bexhill then Eastbourne, then St Leonards.

 

The road meanders through towns, up and down downs, it takes a long time to get a little distance. Hastings is jammed with traffic due to a collapsed sewer. Pooey.

 

But further along, it is the endless traffic lights and roundabouts.

 

West of Eastbourne is Beachy Head. Not a beach. It is a high chalk cliff, which then goes on to make up part of the Severn Sisters, a line of undulating chalk cliffs.

 

I was there as I seem to remember being told, many years ago, of a hybrid Orchid growing near there, so after what might have been six years since being told, I was following up. And directions were very sketchy to say the least

 

I park in the main car park, but unlike everyone else, I walk away from the cliffs to the edge of a field, to scour the hedgerow and see if any pikes could be found.

 

I look and look, but see nothing orchid-like.

 

Drat.

 

But I do see butterflies. Lots of butterflies, including a pair of Wall Browns who land at my feet, mid-courtship, so I was able to snap them. There was also Brown Argus and a Common Blue, though the latter was flighty and I got no shot.

 

Back to the car, program the sat nav and I find I still had an hour and ten minutes to go. Best get a move on.

 

Sussex is a smarter and posher county than Kent, I pass my gated mansions, prep schools and villages I could not afford to look at let alone live.

 

As I drove, the sky clouded over, meaning my plan for top shots was being ruined.

 

Wakehurst is a National Trust property, but the gardens are maintained by Kew, it is where they have a lot of their wild plants. And in a quiet corner there was a small collection of orchids.

 

He hoped.

 

I pulled up at midday, and I realised i had not eaten; not a problem, but with it raining, best take a break, have lunch, and hopefully the weather would get better.

 

Being hungry, I order a panini, a sausage roll, and get a bowl of salad with the meal too. I had a lot of food.

 

Anyway, I sit down to eat and hope the weather blows over.

 

Which it does. Kinda. It at least isn't raining.

 

The kind staff had given me a map, and ringed the bank where the orchids were. So, I just had to find it.

 

I wander through beds of Korean, Chinese then Japanese plants, before finding a small dip, down that and up a grass track, and behind some simple low fencing was a small group of orchids.

 

I had found them.

 

So, I lay down, got my shots, then wandered round the grounds, down an ornamental valley, all overflowing with highly scented rhododendrons, all marvellous stuff.

 

But I was worried about getting back. So, I made my way back to the car, through the shop without buying anything.

 

The sat nav said one hour twenty minutes. Seemed short. I decided not to believe it, so drove out of the car park and towards the motorway at warp factor nine.

 

But it is true: just six miles to Gatwick, then six more to the M25, 15 to Kent then down the M20 towards Hythe. I was back in east Kent before three, meaning I had two hours to kill.

Bikers charity Bike ride round London for prostate cancer

Introduced, warm season, perennial, prostrate herb to 60 cm tall. Leaves and stems are hairy with glandular and non-glandular hairs. Leaves are alternate, lanceolate, deeply veined and stem clasping. Blue to mauve tubular flowers (with yellow stamens and throat) arranged caterpillar-like in 2 rows on one side of the flowering stem (scirpoid cyme). Flowers most of the year, but not in winter in southern areas. Grows on a wide range of soil types. Predominantly in areas that receive at least 50% of average annual rainfall in summer. It is mostly a problem of run down pasture and disturbed areas such as cropping paddocks, roadsides and waste land. Regenerates from seed and vegetatively from pieces of plant and roots. It is spread by water, fur of animals and in the gut of animals. A weed which is toxic to animals, quite invasive and difficult to control. Causes chronic liver damage in cattle, sheep and horses; can be fatal. Cultivation encourages its spread by stimulating germination and regrowth of plant parts. Management requires an integrated approach including herbicides, productive pasture, grazing management and biological control. There has only been one biological control agent released in Australia, the blue heliotrope leaf-beetle. At high densities, leaf-beetles can completely defoliate blue heliotrope, with both the larvae and adults feeding on the leaves.

Asclepias solanoana Prostrate Milkweed or Serpentine Milkweed taken on Pine Flat Road, Sonoma County, California.

This beauty decided to model for me, i didn't need a second invite!

 

Follow me on Instagram

Mauve lantana growing along the bike/walking track. It is out in full flower at the moment and looks beautiful.

A lignotuberous shrub, sometimes prostrate or grows to 1.5 m high. It has yellow flowers Nov to Feb and grows in a variety of soils.

Photo: Jean

Introduced, warm-season, short-lived perennial, prostrate to semi-erect legume with a shallow taproot. Leaves have 2 asymmetrical, obovate to rounded leaflets, each 12-35 mm long. Flowerheads consist of 1-2 flowers in the leaf axils,

each with 5 symmetrically arranged yellow petals. Pods are linear, flat, sparsely to very hairy and 35-40 mm long. Flowering is in the warmer months. A native of North and South America, it is sown for

grazing and naturalized in frost free areas. It is suited to free-draining, lower fertility, acid soils

and cannot tolerate heavy soils or waterlogging. Not recommended for fertile soils. Frost can limit spread. Wynn is the only sown cultivar. Seeds germinate and establish quickly and plants can rapidly grow and spread. Produces good weight gains in cattle, but old stems

have low feed value. It has low palatability for cattle during the growing season and is not readily grazed until grass quality

has declined sufficiently in autumn. It is not grazed by horses. Grazing management should aim to limit selective grazing during the growing season and maintain plants in a low radiating growth habit. Short

duration heavy grazing with appropriate rest periods is best to achieve this. Grazing periods can be extended in winter in frost free areas when grasses

are dormant. In areas with heavy frosts grazing should occur before first frost to avoid total leaf loss. Continuous heavy grazing leads to a decline in companion grasses, dominance by round-leafed

cassia and invasion by weeds.

Introduced, warm-season, short-lived perennial, prostrate to semi-erect legume with a shallow taproot. Leaves have 2 asymmetrical, obovate to rounded leaflets, each 12-35 mm long. Flowerheads consist of 1-2 flowers in the leaf axils,

each with 5 symmetrically arranged yellow petals. Pods are linear, flat, sparsely to very hairy and 35-40 mm long. Flowering is in the warmer months. A native of North and South America, it is sown for

grazing and naturalized in frost free areas. It is suited to free-draining, lower fertility, acid soils

and cannot tolerate heavy soils or waterlogging. Not

recommended for fertile soils. Frost can limit spread. Wynn is the only sown cultivar. Seeds germinate and establish quickly and plants can rapidly grow and spread. Produces good weight gains in cattle, but old stems

have low feed value. It has low palatability for cattle during the growing season and is not readily grazed until grass quality

has declined sufficiently in autumn. It is not grazed by horses. Grazing management should aim to limit selective grazing during the growing season and maintain plants in a low radiating growth habit. Short

duration heavy grazing with appropriate rest periods is best to achieve this. Grazing periods can be extended in winter in frost free areas when grasses

are dormant. In areas with heavy frosts grazing should occur before first frost to avoid total leaf loss. Continuous heavy grazing leads to a decline in companion grasses, dominance by round-leafed

cassia and invasion by weeds.

It is not often now I will have the chance to see a new UK orchid species, however, over the border and over the border after that, in West Sussex, there is a place where they have two very rare species, seeded, but a wild UK orchid. Well, the Greater Tongue is not a native orchid, but there has now been four confirmed records of them growing in the UK, these being one of them. But the second species, the Loose-Flowerd Orchid, is only found in the Channel Islands, and here.

 

So, better go and prostrate myself at their lips. As it were.

 

There is a quick way, via the motorway, or the lazy way, taking the coast road. And as I planned to do two or three stops on the way, I would take the coast road.

 

Once I had dropped Jools off at work first.

 

Have you got your phone? Jools asked. Hell no. How will I know if anything goes wrong? You won't, but it'll be fine.

 

He hoped.

 

After coffee, we load up the car with work bag and cameras, and off into the bright dawn, or an hour after dawn, and onto the almost empty roads to Hythe.

 

Having dropped Jools off, I drive out of Hythe and out onto the Romney Marsh. The road meanders over ditches and the railway line, I make good time, getting to Rye just before eight.

 

Last year I saw a Tweet saying a rare plant was found in, what I thought was, Rye. Growing on the church wall.

 

No matter, I had not been there for ages, and wandering around it cobbled streets, looking at its wonderful ancient buildings is all the more enjoyable when you're the only one ding it, and with a soundtrack of the dawn chorus.

 

I check all the wall s of the churchyard, and find many plants growing on or out of the wall, but not what I was looking for.

 

Maybe, I thought, I meant they were in Winchelsea?

 

Maybe indeed. Anyway, Winchelsea is just a ten minute drive away, another ancinet town, this time set on a hill with the main road up from the marsh passing through a huge stone gate.

 

And the town itself is set on a grid system, and some would have you believe that this was the system New York was based on. I don't know, but it aint no Manhattan.

 

I park beside the church, walk in and look for the plant with round shaped leaves. None found. I then go to check on the church, and about eight feet up was a single plant.

 

I was so excited. So excited, I told a guy from English Heritage that I had found a rare plant. Oh really, what's it called? Wall Pennywort says I. Oh that grows everywhere in this town I was told.

 

I deflated, slightly.

 

And indeed I find it everywhere I looked. Anywhere made of stone, anyways.

 

I go back to the car and set sail to Eastbourne, in the west.

 

To get there I would have to pass through, ahem; Hastings, Bexhill then Eastbourne, then St Leonards.

 

The road meanders through towns, up and down downs, it takes a long time to get a little distance. Hastings is jammed with traffic due to a collapsed sewer. Pooey.

 

But further along, it is the endless traffic lights and roundabouts.

 

West of Eastbourne is Beachy Head. Not a beach. It is a high chalk cliff, which then goes on to make up part of the Severn Sisters, a line of undulating chalk cliffs.

 

I was there as I seem to remember being told, many years ago, of a hybrid Orchid growing near there, so after what might have been six years since being told, I was following up. And directions were very sketchy to say the least

 

I park in the main car park, but unlike everyone else, I walk away from the cliffs to the edge of a field, to scour the hedgerow and see if any pikes could be found.

 

I look and look, but see nothing orchid-like.

 

Drat.

 

But I do see butterflies. Lots of butterflies, including a pair of Wall Browns who land at my feet, mid-courtship, so I was able to snap them. There was also Brown Argus and a Common Blue, though the latter was flighty and I got no shot.

 

Back to the car, program the sat nav and I find I still had an hour and ten minutes to go. Best get a move on.

 

Sussex is a smarter and posher county than Kent, I pass my gated mansions, prep schools and villages I could not afford to look at let alone live.

 

As I drove, the sky clouded over, meaning my plan for top shots was being ruined.

 

Wakehurst is a National Trust property, but the gardens are maintained by Kew, it is where they have a lot of their wild plants. And in a quiet corner there was a small collection of orchids.

 

He hoped.

 

I pulled up at midday, and I realised i had not eaten; not a problem, but with it raining, best take a break, have lunch, and hopefully the weather would get better.

 

Being hungry, I order a panini, a sausage roll, and get a bowl of salad with the meal too. I had a lot of food.

 

Anyway, I sit down to eat and hope the weather blows over.

 

Which it does. Kinda. It at least isn't raining.

 

The kind staff had given me a map, and ringed the bank where the orchids were. So, I just had to find it.

 

I wander through beds of Korean, Chinese then Japanese plants, before finding a small dip, down that and up a grass track, and behind some simple low fencing was a small group of orchids.

 

I had found them.

 

So, I lay down, got my shots, then wandered round the grounds, down an ornamental valley, all overflowing with highly scented rhododendrons, all marvellous stuff.

 

But I was worried about getting back. So, I made my way back to the car, through the shop without buying anything.

 

The sat nav said one hour twenty minutes. Seemed short. I decided not to believe it, so drove out of the car park and towards the motorway at warp factor nine.

 

But it is true: just six miles to Gatwick, then six more to the M25, 15 to Kent then down the M20 towards Hythe. I was back in east Kent before three, meaning I had two hours to kill.

Prostrate Cape Weed (arctotheca prostrata) - invasive non-native

Introduced, warm-season, perennial, prostrate to erect, woody herb or shrub to 1 m tall. Stems are reddish, hairless, with weak opposite longitudinal ridges; they arise from rhizomes or woody crowns. Leaves are opposite, sessile, hairless, to 3 cm long and have many translucent dots (oil glands) that are easily seen when held to the light. Flowerheads are panicles or corymbose cymes. Flowers are numerous and 15-20 mm wide. Petals are yellow and have black glands on their edges. Styles are 3-branched. Fruit are sticky 3-valved capsules, 5 to 10 mm long. Flowers in late spring and summer. Found in neglected pastures, sparse bushland and disturbed areas. Tiny seeds spread by water and in soil, hay and livestock. Sticky fruits adhere to animals; long runners spread from crowns. Causes photosensitisation and numerous other disorders in livestock; animals tend to recover once removed. Established plants are very competitive and are best controlled by herbicides or, if suitable, by cultivation. Introduced insect (Chrysolina beetles) and mite (St John’s wort mite ) predators provide good levels of control in many areas. Promote dense, healthy pastures to compete with seedlings, which are not robust.

Introduced, warm-season, perennial, prostrate, climbing legume, with stolons. Leaves have 3 leaflets, each hairy, 1-9 cm long, round to ovate. The central leaflet has a longer stalk than the lateral leaflets. Leaf size varies with grazing pressure. Flowerheads are racemes of 2-5, blue, 5-9 mm long, pea-like flowers in the leaf axils. Pods are straight sided, narrow, flattened and 1-3 cm long. Flowering is in summer and autumn. A native of Africa, it is sown for grazing on wide

range of soils. Grows best on moist, fertile soils, but it will tolerate low fertility. It is tolerant of acidity, moderate levels of aluminium and light shade, but is sensitive to frost. Shaw is the only variety sown. Provides a good quality, high protein, non-bloating feed, it is of greatest value in late summer and autumn as the quality of pasture grasses declines. It is slow to establish and drought will kill it. Tolerates prolonged heavy grazing, but needs to be allowed to seed in the first and second year for longterm

persistence. Grazing pressure should be sufficient to produce a low leafy stand as undergrazed stands develop severe leaf disease.

It is not often now I will have the chance to see a new UK orchid species, however, over the border and over the border after that, in West Sussex, there is a place where they have two very rare species, seeded, but a wild UK orchid. Well, the Greater Tongue is not a native orchid, but there has now been four confirmed records of them growing in the UK, these being one of them. But the second species, the Loose-Flowerd Orchid, is only found in the Channel Islands, and here.

 

So, better go and prostrate myself at their lips. As it were.

 

There is a quick way, via the motorway, or the lazy way, taking the coast road. And as I planned to do two or three stops on the way, I would take the coast road.

 

Once I had dropped Jools off at work first.

 

Have you got your phone? Jools asked. Hell no. How will I know if anything goes wrong? You won't, but it'll be fine.

 

He hoped.

 

After coffee, we load up the car with work bag and cameras, and off into the bright dawn, or an hour after dawn, and onto the almost empty roads to Hythe.

 

Having dropped Jools off, I drive out of Hythe and out onto the Romney Marsh. The road meanders over ditches and the railway line, I make good time, getting to Rye just before eight.

 

Last year I saw a Tweet saying a rare plant was found in, what I thought was, Rye. Growing on the church wall.

 

No matter, I had not been there for ages, and wandering around it cobbled streets, looking at its wonderful ancient buildings is all the more enjoyable when you're the only one ding it, and with a soundtrack of the dawn chorus.

 

I check all the wall s of the churchyard, and find many plants growing on or out of the wall, but not what I was looking for.

 

Maybe, I thought, I meant they were in Winchelsea?

 

Maybe indeed. Anyway, Winchelsea is just a ten minute drive away, another ancinet town, this time set on a hill with the main road up from the marsh passing through a huge stone gate.

 

And the town itself is set on a grid system, and some would have you believe that this was the system New York was based on. I don't know, but it aint no Manhattan.

 

I park beside the church, walk in and look for the plant with round shaped leaves. None found. I then go to check on the church, and about eight feet up was a single plant.

 

I was so excited. So excited, I told a guy from English Heritage that I had found a rare plant. Oh really, what's it called? Wall Pennywort says I. Oh that grows everywhere in this town I was told.

 

I deflated, slightly.

 

And indeed I find it everywhere I looked. Anywhere made of stone, anyways.

 

I go back to the car and set sail to Eastbourne, in the west.

 

To get there I would have to pass through, ahem; Hastings, Bexhill then Eastbourne, then St Leonards.

 

The road meanders through towns, up and down downs, it takes a long time to get a little distance. Hastings is jammed with traffic due to a collapsed sewer. Pooey.

 

But further along, it is the endless traffic lights and roundabouts.

 

West of Eastbourne is Beachy Head. Not a beach. It is a high chalk cliff, which then goes on to make up part of the Severn Sisters, a line of undulating chalk cliffs.

 

I was there as I seem to remember being told, many years ago, of a hybrid Orchid growing near there, so after what might have been six years since being told, I was following up. And directions were very sketchy to say the least

 

I park in the main car park, but unlike everyone else, I walk away from the cliffs to the edge of a field, to scour the hedgerow and see if any pikes could be found.

 

I look and look, but see nothing orchid-like.

 

Drat.

 

But I do see butterflies. Lots of butterflies, including a pair of Wall Browns who land at my feet, mid-courtship, so I was able to snap them. There was also Brown Argus and a Common Blue, though the latter was flighty and I got no shot.

 

Back to the car, program the sat nav and I find I still had an hour and ten minutes to go. Best get a move on.

 

Sussex is a smarter and posher county than Kent, I pass my gated mansions, prep schools and villages I could not afford to look at let alone live.

 

As I drove, the sky clouded over, meaning my plan for top shots was being ruined.

 

Wakehurst is a National Trust property, but the gardens are maintained by Kew, it is where they have a lot of their wild plants. And in a quiet corner there was a small collection of orchids.

 

He hoped.

 

I pulled up at midday, and I realised i had not eaten; not a problem, but with it raining, best take a break, have lunch, and hopefully the weather would get better.

 

Being hungry, I order a panini, a sausage roll, and get a bowl of salad with the meal too. I had a lot of food.

 

Anyway, I sit down to eat and hope the weather blows over.

 

Which it does. Kinda. It at least isn't raining.

 

The kind staff had given me a map, and ringed the bank where the orchids were. So, I just had to find it.

 

I wander through beds of Korean, Chinese then Japanese plants, before finding a small dip, down that and up a grass track, and behind some simple low fencing was a small group of orchids.

 

I had found them.

 

So, I lay down, got my shots, then wandered round the grounds, down an ornamental valley, all overflowing with highly scented rhododendrons, all marvellous stuff.

 

But I was worried about getting back. So, I made my way back to the car, through the shop without buying anything.

 

The sat nav said one hour twenty minutes. Seemed short. I decided not to believe it, so drove out of the car park and towards the motorway at warp factor nine.

 

But it is true: just six miles to Gatwick, then six more to the M25, 15 to Kent then down the M20 towards Hythe. I was back in east Kent before three, meaning I had two hours to kill.

Introduced, warm-season, short-lived perennial, prostrate to semi-erect legume with a shallow taproot. Leaves have 2 asymmetrical, obovate to rounded leaflets, each 12-35 mm long. Flowerheads consist of 1-2 flowers in the leaf axils,

each with 5 symmetrically arranged yellow petals. Pods are linear, flat, sparsely to very hairy and 35-40 mm long. Flowering is in the warmer months. A native of North and South America, it is sown for

grazing and naturalized in frost free areas. It is suited to free-draining, lower fertility, acid soils

and cannot tolerate heavy soils or waterlogging. Not

recommended for fertile soils. Frost can limit spread. Wynn is the only sown cultivar. Seeds germinate and establish quickly and plants can rapidly grow and spread. Produces good weight gains in cattle, but old stems

have low feed value. It has low palatability for cattle during the growing season and is not readily grazed until grass quality

has declined sufficiently in autumn. It is not grazed by horses. Grazing management should aim to limit selective grazing during the growing season and maintain plants in a low radiating growth habit. Short

duration heavy grazing with appropriate rest periods is best to achieve this. Grazing periods can be extended in winter in frost free areas when grasses

are dormant. In areas with heavy frosts grazing should occur before first frost to avoid total leaf loss. Continuous heavy grazing leads to a decline in companion grasses, dominance by round-leafed

cassia and invasion by weeds.

A prostrate to semi-erect shrub found in eastern Australia. It occurs from as far south as Pigeon House Mountain north to Kendall, New South Wales on the mid north coast. A common plant in the Blue Mountains near Sydney. Found as far west as Blackheath. It is often noticed by bushwalkers for the attractive flowers and arching foliage. The specific epithet secundum means "arranged on one side only".

 

The habitat is moist rocky areas and wet cliff faces, usually on sandstone. Sites are nutrient poor with permanent moisture. The range of altitude is from sea level to 1100 metres above sea level, with an average annual rainfall between 900 mm and 1600 mm.

 

The shrub is around 60 cm tall with narrow crowded leaves with pointed tips. Leaves are 12 cm long by 1 cm wide, smooth edged or slightly toothed.

 

Flowering occurs mainly from July to October. Flowers are pink and white. Bell shaped flowers are 6 to 8 mm long, appearing on a long raceme. The fruit is a capsule, around 5 mm in diameter. Seeds are dispersed by wind, water and gravity.

 

This plant first appeared in scientific literature in the Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae in the year 1810, authored by Robert Brown.

 

Source: Wikipedia

I mean, I don't know: is she dead, is she asleep, is she pretending to be dead, is she pretending to be asleep?

 

most of this dealer's photographs were 50 cents or a dollar or two dollars. This one was five dollars. I'm pretty sure the dealer thought this was a good one.

Introduced, warm-season, short-lived perennial, prostrate to semi-erect legume with a shallow taproot. Leaves have 2 asymmetrical, obovate to rounded leaflets, each 12-35 mm long. Flowerheads consist of 1-2 flowers in the leaf axils,

each with 5 symmetrically arranged yellow petals. Pods are linear, flat, sparsely to very hairy and 35-40 mm long. Flowering is in the warmer months. A native of North and South America, it is sown for

grazing and naturalized in frost free areas. It is suited to free-draining, lower fertility, acid soils

and cannot tolerate heavy soils or waterlogging. Not recommended for fertile soils. Frost can limit spread. Wynn is the only sown cultivar. Seeds germinate and establish quickly and plants can rapidly grow and spread. Produces good weight gains in cattle, but old stems

have low feed value. It has low palatability for cattle during the growing season and is not readily grazed until grass quality

has declined sufficiently in autumn. It is not grazed by horses. Grazing management should aim to limit selective grazing during the growing season and maintain plants in a low radiating growth habit. Short

duration heavy grazing with appropriate rest periods is best to achieve this. Grazing periods can be extended in winter in frost free areas when grasses

are dormant. In areas with heavy frosts grazing should occur before first frost to avoid total leaf loss. Continuous heavy grazing leads to a decline in companion grasses, dominance by round-leafed

cassia and invasion by weeds.

Either this cow drunk too much on New Year's Eve, or was exhausted after a game of tennis...

Actually, it seems to be a casualty of Storm Bella and has simply fallen off her stand. Spotted at Greenhill, Weymouth.

Man prostrating himself on the roadside. He said he was on the third month of an estimated eight month journey from his home in central India to a temple in the north. His mother was ill and had not responded to treatment from multiple doctors. As a last resort, he prayed for her health and promised to make a pilgrimage if recovered.

Pinus hartwegii and Pinus culminicola, western end of summit ridge, Cerro Potosi, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. 2 Aug 1999. This view is looking to the NW. The taller trees are Pinus hartwegii, while the prostrate clumps are the unusual P. culminicola. P. culminicola is a true dwarfed alpine pine, while P. hartwegii is stunted at this elevation and growns much taller at lower elevations.

 

The summit ridge of Cerro Potosi is over 12,000', and it is one of the highest peaks in NE Mexico. There is a antenna site at the top, so there is a rough but usually passable road all the way to the summit. Unless it's been improved since I was there, I would definitely not recommend attempting this drive without a high-clearance vehicle, and 4 wheel drive would definitely be safest. It took us two attempts to reach the summit, as we had a flat tire the first day, and the poor quality spare tire made continuing too risky. The second day we almost turned around when we reached a part of the road that had fallen away, leaving just barely enough room to pass. But we tried it and made the rest of the trip without mishap. Cerro Potosi is an amazing place, and we saw many fine plants and birds, including a flock of the rare Maroon-fronted Parrot. Several interesting Castilleja species occur on the mountain, including a distinctive form of C. integrifolia, C. scorzonerifolia, and the gorgeous C. bella, which is found only on the summit ridge. Another rare species, C. galehintoniae, is found in the valleys surrounding the mountain. My photo sets of all these species can be found through my Castilleja Collections page:

 

www.flickr.com/photos/mark_egger_castilleja/collections/7...

My old shrine configured for a prostrator in active practice doing Ngo Dro, near Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism in the Greenwood district of Seattle, Washington circa 2005 The shrine includes on the right Mammoth or Mastodon ivory tusk because I grew up in Alaska. Nectar offering, senses offerings for the deities around the central mandala offering of blessed rice visualized as the universe with Mount Meru in the center, bell and dorje on the left, in the back on the right is Yak meat in a package from Tibet and leaves from the tree where Lord Buddha gained enlightenment...

 

Anne Drury 1633 wife of Sir John Deane 1625 www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/14428597446/ The monument by William Wright of Charing Cross was erected by her son Sir Dru Deane in 1634 who lies "prostrate at her feete".

"Let all time remember ye worthynes of ye Lady Deane who lived ye faithfull wife & died ye constant widow of Sir John Deane of Mapplested in ye county of Essex knight

Let no sorrowe forget that she departed this life on ye 25th of May 1633 of whome truth testifies. To whose beloved memory Dru Deane her eldest son here prostrate at her feete erects this monument

Her shape was rare: Her beauty exquisite

Her wytt accurate: Her judgement singular

Her entertainment harty: Her conversation lovely

Her harte merciful: Her hand helpful

Her courses modest: Her discourses wise

Her charity Heavenly: Her amity constant

Her practise holy: Her religion pure

Her vowes lawful: Her meditations divine

Her faith unfaygned: Her hope stable

Her prayers devout: Her devotions diurnall

Her dayes short: Her life everlasting"

Anne was the daughter of daughter of Sir Dru Drury of Riddlesworth by Catherine Finch ++++ www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/1083936330/

Children - 2 sons and 6 daughters.

1. Dru +++ Lucy daughter of George Goring 1st Earl of Norwich by Mary daughter of Edward Nevill, 8th or 1st Baron Bergavenny & Rachel Lennard of Chevening

2. John

1. Anne m Sir Anthony Wingfield son of Sir Thomas Wingfield d1609/10 by 2nd wife Elizabeth Drury (buried at Letheringham which he inherited on the death of his brother) daughter of Sir Dru Drury of Riddlesworth and Lynstead and Catherine Finch ++++ www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/1083936330/ (Thomas Wingfield m1 Radcliffe Gerrard www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/13985510334/

2. Katherine

3. Frances

4. Elizabeth m John Tyndall son of Deane Tyndall by Amy / Anne Weston of Prested Hall

5. Joan

6. MIldred

 

+++ Children of Dru Drury and Lucy Goring

1. Anthony === m Jane daughter of Sir Edward Barkham 1667 of Southacre by Frances daughter of Thomas Berney of Redham

 

=== Anthony (Sir Drue's eldest surviving son) was aged 8 at the death of his father and was placed under the guardianship of Deane Tyndal, of Chelmshaw House in Great Maplestead, a zealous Parliamentarian, and one of the Parliamentary Committee for the Preservation of Peace in Essex. But youug Anthony was sprung from a Royalist family on his father's side, and his mother was a daughter of the celebrated George Goring, Earl of Norwich, the Royalist leader, so it is probable that he also was inclined to the King's side ; at any rate he conducted himself in a reckless manner, marrying aged 18 to Jane daughter of Sir Edward Barkham and immediately on his coming of age in 1652 negotiating for the sale of the family property, which he effected Feb. 1st, 1653, when he conveyed Dynes Hall to Col. John Sparrow son of John Sparrow of Gestingthorpe flic.kr/p/PsXdC for the sum of £6,000

After this transaction he completely disappears from the scene, and it is probable that he died shortly afterwards leaving a son Anthony Deane of Monk Soham

- Church of St Giles Great Maplestead, Essex

Krameria lanceolata,a peculiar-looking little wildflower in Bauerle Ranch Park, Austin. Flower petals are irregular in shape, each petal about 1 cm long. The plant is prostrate and wooly, often hidden in other vegetation

Introduced, warm-season, annual or short-lived perennial, more or less prostrate herb; to 25 cm tall and with thick, tough stems that put roots down where the nodes come into contact with the soil. Leaves are oval and usually lobed, with toothed margins; 3-7 veins radiate from the heart-shaped base. Flowers are solitary in the leaf axils and have 5 red to orange-red petals. Flowering is in spring and summer. A native of South America, it is a weed of disturbed areas, such as newly sown pastures and turf; less so

in crops. It is spread by seed and vegetatively by putting down roots where ever stem nodes contact the ground. It is salt and drought tolerant. Has caused occasional stock poisoning, but its very prostrate habit limits the quantity eaten. Control in pastures by promoting dense swards. Can be controlled by herbicides at the seedling stage, but it is extremely tolerant of glyphosate, often making it a problem weed of direct drilled crops and pastures.

Pilgrims prostrating in front of the new stupa at the ridge line.

Taken with a Vivitar "Ultra Wide and Slim" camera, this cheap simple camera has developed something of a cult following, it has a 22mm lens and a fixed shutter speed.

Expired Jessop Diamond ISO 400 film,processed in the Tetenal C41 kit.

A beggar kneels prostrate by the Seine river banks in Paris, France.

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