Lisbon, Portugal

 

Laying the mosaic pavement requires backbreaking labor. It's an arduous job performed in a prostrate position, making this traditional art of calçeteiros both rare and expensive. When wet, the surfaces of "calçadas" tend to be slippery and can contribute to slips and falls. Also, the moisture breaks down the design requiring frequent maintenance. For this reason, today’s government is considering a way of creating a safer pavement for the pedestrian while at the same time maintaining the unique beauty of this art form as an important part of the nation's identity and heritage.

I am dying to melt with you but I am stranded on the other shore of the bayou. My wings of hope are feeble and will not carry me across this impasse. My ineptness pleads you, O song of my soul, fly! Fly towards me and my desolated core. Let me bathe in the grandeur of your rhythm and radiance. Let the tickle of life in my veins rejuvenate in your melody. In your embrace lies my pious liberation. Lift me from the prostrate and aid me sing. I need a song. I need you.

 

PS: I have been reading Geetanjali and my superhero has conquered my imagination all over again. I do not know anymore if the words above are mine or his. Please bear with me.

 

Member of the Flickr Bird Brigade

Activists for birds and wildlife

 

Macro Mondays

Leaf

 

Banksia, commonly known as Australian honeysuckles, are a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones" and heads. Banksias range in size from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up to 30 metres tall. They are found in a wide variety of landscapes; sclerophyll forest, (occasionally) rainforest, shrubland, and some more arid landscapes, though not in Australia's deserts.

The devastating tsunami of 1960:

 

Because of drawings, stories and photographs that are kept, it is known that until 1960 the state of conservation of the ahu was relatively good; even though the statues layed with their faces facing the ground and one of the lateral wings had been destroyed by having used the stones as a fence building material for the cattle.

 

But the night of May 22nd to 23rd of 1960 everything changed. On that fateful date one of the largest recorded earthquakes in history, with an intensity of 9.5 on the Richter scale, took place. It destroyed most of the central and southern regions of Chile causing numerous victims, since its epicenter was located in the Chilean city of Valdivia located 3,700 km east of the island.

 

But the disaster was even greater because the earthquake produced a wave that moved across the Pacific to reach the coasts of Oceania and Asia, causing special destruction on the islands of Polynesia. Almost 6 hours after the earthquake, the tsunami reaches Easter Island on its eastern side, hitting Tongariki directly.

 

Thanks to the fact that the town center of Hanga Roa is located on the west side, there was no need to mourn victims or serious damage, despite the sea level rose considerably. The tsunami skirted the island and resumed its course to Polynesia, where 15 hours after the earthquake, a wave of 10 meters high hit Hilo in Hawaii, killing dozens of people and destroying the city completely. The devastation continued until arriving at the coasts of Japan and New Zealand.

 

An apocalyptic landscape:

 

The first witnesses of the destruction of Tongariki arrived a few days after the tsunami due to the lack of transportation on the island at that time. Several estimates indicated that the gigantic wave that reached the bay of Hanga Nui exceeded 10 meters in height and entered more than 500 meters inland reaching the land near the base of the Rano Raraku volcano.

 

The tsunami hit the back wall frontally, destroying completely the main platform to the foundations and extending the remains over a large area. The force of the sea pushed some of the statues more than 100 meters inland. Some of them fractured and beat, and others rolled and remained face up showing their face for the first time after several centuries.

 

When the water receded, it had completely destroyed most of the monument that now presented a Dantesque scene. The whole area was covered with boulders from the coast, stones from the ahu and remains of statues, mixed with human bones and skulls from the tombs that had been under the platform, remains of dead sheep and large amounts of dried seaweed and rotten marine animals.

 

Before this dramatic event, the Tongariki area represented a first-rate archaeological site from which valuable information could have been extracted on the historical evolution of the island culture. Unfortunately, the tsunami caused most of the remains to be lost forever.

 

As a historical note, it is worth mentioning that a few months after this serious incident, in October 1960, the seven moai of Ahu Akivi got back on their feet. These were the first statues of the island that were risen after being prostrate for several centuries. A fact that revolutionized the recent history of Rapa Nui and with which began a stage of study, care and restoration of historical sites.

  

I found these little jewels next to a footpath on the Canary Island of La Gomera in spring 2013.

 

Mesembryanthemum crystallinum is a prostrate succulent plant native to Africa, Sinai and southern Europe. The plant is covered with large, glistening bladder cells or water vesicles, reflected in its common names of common ice plant, crystalline ice plant or ice plant.

Grevillea sericea, commonly known as the pink spider flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It is a shrub with elliptic to lance-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and clusters of usually pink flowers arranged on one side of a flowering rachis.

Grevillea is a diverse genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, native to rainforest and more open habitats in Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Sulawesi and other Indonesian islands. The species range from prostrate shrubs less than 50 cm tall to trees 35 m tall. Common names include grevillea, spider flower, silky oak and toothbrush plant. The brightly coloured, petal-less flowers consist of a calyx tube that splits into 4 lobes with long styles. They are good bird-attracting plants, honeyeaters in particular are common visitors. Grevillea flowers were a traditional favourite among Aborigines for their sweet nectar. This could be shaken onto the hand to enjoy, or into a coolamon with a little water to make a sweet drink. They might be referred to as the original 'bush lollies'. R_17699

Again my identification may be wrong but looking at the base of this very small fungi it leads me to believe this is a Frosty Bonnet (Mycena adscendens)

The spider is extra and to be honest i never noticed it as i lay prostrate on the woodland floor trying to get this image!

Campanula patula is a plant species of the genus Campanula. It can grow to more than half a meter high. This delicate bellflower bears lateral branches of pale blue or white flowers that are upright and funnel shaped. The leaves are narrow and pointed. Branches are often supported by the surrounding vegetation, so the plants can appear prostrate.

It is native to temperate parts of Europe and widely naturalised elsewhere. Its natural habitat is meadows, banks, open woodland, clearings, roadside verges, fallow fields and waste ground (from Wikipedia).

All lined up, these mushrooms were growing in the mulch around one of our trees. They were about three inches tall, requiring me to perform one of my 'belly flops', lying on the ground to get this nice perspective.

 

Someone was walking by on the sidewalk and saw me lying prostrate. She asked if I was okay and then saw my camera and lens, realizing I was fine.

 

I replied, 'I'm just following my passionate photography and capturing these tiny mushrooms. She smiled and went on her way. This has happened quite a few times over the course of my 13 years of photography :)

 

I know very little about wild mushrooms and identifying them properly. I did some research and hopefully I've identified these correctly!

  

#89

The central idol is the fierce, multi-armed goddess Kali, who is typically depicted standing on the prostrate body of her husband, Lord Shiva. The festival is celebrated primarily in the Indian states of West Bengal, Odisha, and Assam.

Kali Puja is a major festival that takes place on the new moon day of the Hindu month of Kartik, which coincides with Diwali, the festival of lights. The festival symbolizes the victory of good over evil and the destruction of ignorance and ego. Devotees worship Goddess Kali to seek her protection from negative forces and to gain inner strength. In cities like Kolkata, the festival is celebrated with great fervor, with elaborate pandals and rituals

Litang Chode, also known as Ganden Tubchen Chokhorling, was founded in 1580 by the third Dalai Lama, and rebuilt recently in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, under the guidance of Litang Kyabgon Tulku Palden Dorje and Shodruk Tulku. The reconsecration was carried out in conjunction with the Litang Horse Festival in July 1996. Entering the main gate from the town, there are five main buildings within the precincts of the monastery. The assembly hall known as Jamchen Chokhorling and the Shakya Tubpa Podrang occupy the centre, to the left a large four storey Tsongkhapa Lhakhang and higher up the hill are the temples Serkhang Nyingba and Lhakhang Karpo. www.footprinttravelguides.com/c/2848/tibet/&Action=pr...

Passing through Crewe on other business I couldn't resist this shot of the late running 15.10 London Euston - Chester (1D89) in the hands of a Virgin Super Voyager.

 

I took advantage of the Sony flip-out screen for this low-down shot. It's not so much that it beats lying prostrate on the platform with the 5D, but rather avoids the shame and ignominy of struggling to get up afterwards in front of an audience.

 

30th March 2016

(Cypripedium kentuckiense). Sabine County, Texas.

 

Another East Texas slipper, this one approximately 18 miles, as the crow flies, from yesterday's. This is the most variable of our populations, and individuals display sepals and petals of varying width, color, and degree of spiraling in the lateral petals. This is my favorite individual of the group, with a faded yellow slipper, and long greenish petals and sepals streaked with purple.

 

Note the bend in the stem. The typical growth form for this species is erect, however they are brown to stem damage or bending. They are frequently located on steep slopes adjacent to small streams, and falling debris and rushing flood waters may serve alter this erect form, and at times I have seen them growing nearly prostrate along the ground. Even in these cases, the bloom tries to right itself prior to opening, so that the opening in the slipper is facing toward the sky, making itself as accessible as possible for pollinators.

Daphne cneorum (Thymelaeaceae) 118 25

 

Daphne cneorum (the garland flower or rose daphne) is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae, native to the mountains of central and southern Europe.

It is a prostrate spreading evergreen shrub to 20 cm , grown for its dense clusters of highly fragrant pink flowers in spring.

All parts of the plant are poisonous to humans.

The Latin specific epithet cneorum comes from the Greek and means “like a small olive bush”

Bright green healthy Rosemary Prostratus, a low-growing groundcover, outgrowing its assigned space and tumbling over the edge of a wall.

May I help you stands out

 

Did you know that in Hindu mythology there is a strong, beautiful warrior goddess, who rides a tiger or lion? She is none other than Durga, the invincible. Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva created Goddess Durga, as an avatar of Ma Shakti using their energies, to save devalok, where the Gods resided and living beings on earth from demon Mahishasura, as neither of the three could vanquish the demon. Goddess Durga, with weapons provided to her by the three Gods took over the task of vanquishing Mahishasura.She came to earth to kill the demon Mahishasura. After a long and hard battle, she killed Mahishasura and restored the heaven, devalok to the Gods, which was previously acquired by him.

  

Worship of Durga

 

Ma Durga as she is fondly called, is invoked for protection from the powers of evil. The triumph of Goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura symbolizes the victory of good over the evil. Durga Puja is observed for her victory. Ma Durga has been worshiped from about 400 A.D or probably earlier than that, to the present time. The day of victory is celebrated as Vijayadashami or Dussehra.

  

Navaratri

 

The actual period of the worship however may be on the preceding nine days, Navaratri followed by the last day called Vijayadashami in North India or five days in Bengal. Nine aspects of Durga known as Navadurga are worshipped, one by one during the nine-day festival. In South India especially Andhra Pradesh, Navaratri is also celebrated and the goddess is dressed each day as a different devi meaning goddess.

The word devi in Sanskrit means divine or a shining presence. The nine manifestations of Durga worshipped during Navaratri in the month of Ashwin of the Hindu calendar are Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Skandamata, Katyayani,Kaalratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidaatri.

  

The Garba

 

Durga is associated with two mountain ranges, the Himalayas in the north and the VIndhyas in central India. In Mysore, which originated from Mahishasooru in Karnataka, she is worshiped as Chamundeshwari, the patron goddess of the city during Dussehra. In Gujarat it is celebrated as the last day of Navaratri, during which the Garba dance is performed to celebrate the victory of Durga as ‘Mahishasura-mardini’.

  

Durga puja

 

‘Durga Puja’ is celebrated in Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tripura, Assam and Bangladesh. The Goddess is worshipped as Mother Durga or Ma Durga, the Mother Goddess being the symbol of all the true qualities which define the Supreme Being. Durga is the representation of infinite power and purity, which resides within every being.The Devi Mahatmya or Devi Mahatmyam is a Hindu philosophical text describing the Goddess as the supreme power and creator of the universe. It is part of the Markandeya Purana. It is recited during Navratri celebrations, the Durga Puja festival,and in Durga temples across India. UNESCO has accorded the Intangible Cultural Heritage tag to Durga Puja on 15th December, 2021.

    

Durga in Art

 

Durga images can be seen carved on many ancient Indian temples and caves and is seen in murals as well. Durga images began to be available in miniature painting from 16th century to the 20th century. Durga worship is found all over India, more so in Eastern India. especially Bengal. Statues of Durga have been carved out of clay, stone and bronze and painted as patachitra in Odisha and Bengal. Painting styles in Rajasthani and Pahari have depicted the Goddess in its various schools.

  

The Salar Jung Museum Collection

 

The museum has an interesting repertoire of Goddess Durga representations. From bronze and stone statues to manuscript paintings of the Devi Mahatmya, the collection is impressive. There are in bronze folk Durga expressions too.The artefacts show her in battle mode and in her peaceful image as well.

 

Let us discover some of the collection of the powerful and feisty Goddess Durga at the Salar Jung Museum!

  

Durga with many Gods standing around her

 

Painting depicts multi armed Goddess Durga riding on tiger with many Gods standing around her with folded hands. Five angelic figures showering flowers over her. Geometrical designs on yellow band around, from Jaipur, dated to the 19th century.

  

Mahishahsura-mardini

 

Goddess Durga as Mahishasura-mardini with eight arms holding weapons, killing a buffalo demon at her feet, figure is on a rectangular base, from South India, dated to the 18th century.

  

Durga as Mahishasura-mardini

 

Goddess Durga as Mahishasura mardini killing Mahishasura. Three temples seen in middle of rocks and an orange coloured flag on the shikhara is on the middle main shrine, painting from Jodhpur, dated to circa 1800.

  

Mahishasura-mardini

 

Bronze statuette of Mahishasura-mardini with four arms, holding sword, trident and mace, resting her left foot on an animal at left. Elongated cut out hole at back, from South India, dated to 20th century.

  

Battle between Durga and demons

 

Painting showing a battle between Goddess Durga and demons in which Durga is riding on lion carrying various weapons in her many arms accompanied by her four followers attacking the demons who are armed, elephant and horses seen falling down, from Guler, dated to the late 18th century.

  

Eight-handed Devi

 

Bronze figure of eight-handed Devi Mariamman with the seven hooded serpent, who is affiliated to Goddess Durga, bronze, from India, dated to the 19th century.

  

Durga in an illustrated manuscript

 

Goddess Durga, illustrated manuscript, painting showing Durga devi - a few verses in Devanagari also seen, dated to circa 1650.

  

Figure of Goddess Durga

 

Probably a bronze figure of Goddess Durga dancing. Her legs are on a prostrate figure. Ganesh on the right side. Hands carry the symbols, a halo around the figure. A snake on the right side of the halo, from South India, dated to the 14th century.

  

Goddess Durga in combat with demons

 

Painting depicts multi-armed Goddess Durga riding on a tiger's back and horned demons Shumbha and Nishumbha with mace and shield in attacking position depicted in two registers, the demon below has moustaches. Geometrical designs on yellow band around, folio from a Devi Mahatmaya, from Jaipur, dated to the 19th century.

  

Goddess Durga

 

Goddess Durga riding on a lion fighting with two demons, figure is on a wooden base, made in ivory, dated to the 20th century.

  

Goddess Durga seated on a throne

 

Painting depicts multi-armed Goddess Durga seated on a throne with human and animal figures on her lap. Eight maids standing on either side with chatter and fly-whisks. Angelic figures showering flowers over her, from Jaipur, dated to the 19th century.

  

Goddess Durga in combat with demon

 

Painting depicts multi-armed Goddess Durga riding on tiger shooting arrows at demon Nishumbha. Geometrical designs around the painting, folio from a Devi Mahatmya from Jaipur, dated to the 19th century.

  

Standing 'Asthabhuja Durga'

 

Goddess Durga with several weapons and attributes like sword, spear, sickle, shankha,shield and bow. Her hands bears several bangles. Her front right hand is shown in varadahasta or posture of granting wishes. A lady probably a bhakta or devotee is seen seated on left. Stone sculpture from West Bengal, Pala dynasty, dated to the 13th century.

  

Durga riding on tiger shooting arrows

 

Painting depicts multi-armed Goddess Durga riding on tiger shooting arrows. The arrows already shot have pierced the arms and shield of the demon who is holding a sword in his right hand. Two attendants with fly-whisks on either side of Durga. Geometrical designs around the painting, folio from a Devi Mahatmya from Jaipur, dated to the 19th century.

  

Folk figure of Goddess Durga

 

Folk bronze figure of Durga holding a lotus in her left hand and weapons in her other hand, from Central India, dated to the16th century.

  

Durga riding on tiger armed with weapons

 

Painting depicts multi-armed Goddess Durga riding on tiger, armed with sword, mace, spear, arrow, trident and holding the head of a vanquished demon by its long hair tassel, from Deccan, dated to the late 19th century.

  

Durga killing a demon

 

Illustrated palm leaf is containing ten leaves depicting Goddess Durga killing a demon, patachitra from Odisha, dated to the 18th century.

  

Mahishasura-mardini

 

Bronze figure of Mahishasura-mardini on four-legged rectangular base, from South India, dated to the 19th century.

 

Credits: Story

Text and Curation : Soma Ghosh

Photography : M. Krishnamurthy and Bahadur Ali

Research Assistance : Dinesh Singh and E. Rajesh

Special Thanks to Dr. A. Nagender Reddy, Director, Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad, India.

  

References -

1. Pal, Pratapaditya, ed./Goddess Durga - The Power and The Glory, Mumbai: Marg

Publications

2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durga (accessed on 23.06.2022)

3. festivals.iloveindia.com/durga-puja/origin-durga-puja.html (accessed on 23.06.2022)

 

Credits: All media

The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.

Salar Jung Museum

Salar Jung Museum

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Royal Ontario Museum

Royal Ontario Museum

Stories from these collections

Online Exhibit

Vasudhara - Goddess of Abundance

Salar Jung Museum

Online Exhibit

Aftershocks: Japanese Earthquake Prints (1 of 3)

Royal Ontario Museum

Online Exhibit

Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear, 1715 - 2015

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Online Exhibit

Lady Lighting a Lamp

Salar Jung Museum

Online Exhibit

Aftershocks: Japanese Earthquake Prints (2 of 3)

Royal Ontario Museum

Online Exhibit

A Diwali Royale

Salar Jung Museum

Online Exhibit

Aftershocks: Japanese Earthquake Prints (3 of 3)

Royal Ontario Museum

Online Exhibit

Composite Carpet

Salar Jung Museum

Online Exhibit

Blue Whale Project

Royal Ontario Museum

Online Exhibit

Chakrasamvara - a Buddhist deity

Salar Jung Museum

Online Exhibit

#MyPandemicStory: youth create portraits of a pandemic at ROM

Royal Ontario Museum

 

This ever-popular prostrate or low-growing shrub is widely cultivated for its attractive yellow flowers. Although it is widely grown in Mediterranean climates, it is a popular, evergreen hardy shrub throughout the world. In the wild it occurs in the Strandja Mountains along the Bulgarian and Turkish Black Sea coast. www.plant-world-seeds.com/store/view_seed_item/6308?curre...

 

Family:Hypericaceae

 

Common name:Rose of Sharon, Aaron's beard, Great St-John's wort, and Jerusalem star.

 

Classification:Hardy shrub

 

Height:60cm-1.2m

These lovely zebras were hovering very close to the heat prostrated rhinos, and feeling no fear, probably because they knew that the rhinos were just too hot and tired to even get up!

 

I wasn't sure how this shot was going to turn out. It didn't seem very impressive before processing, but now it's become one of my favorites of the day. They are truly magical looking animals.

Veronica persica is a lowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae. Common names include birdeye speedwell,[2] common field-speedwell,[3] Persian speedwell, large field speedwell, bird's-eye, or winter speedwell. It is native to Eurasia and is widespread as an introduced species in the British Isles (where it was first recorded in 1825[4]), North America, eastern Asia, including Japan and China, and Australia and New Zealand.

 

Description

Veronica persica is an annual that reproduces from seed.

 

Its cotyledons are triangular with truncated bases. The short-stalked leaves are broadly ovate with coarsely serrated margins, and measure one to two centimetres (0.4 to 0.8 in) long. The leaves are paired on the lower stem and are alternately arranged on the upper parts. The plant has weak stems that form a dense, prostrate groundcover. The tips of stems often grow upright.

 

The flowers are roughly one centimetre (0.4 in) wide[5] and are sky-blue with dark stripes and white centers. They are zygomorphic, having only one vertical plane of symmetry. They are solitary on long, slender, hairy stalks in the leaf axils.

 

The seeds are transversely rugose and measure between one and two millimetres (0.04 and 0.08 in) long. There are five to 10 seeds per locule in the fruit.[6]

The butcher can be seen with a mark on his forehead. The mark, called the chap, is formed on the forehead of muslims (from prostrating). This is worn proudly by devout muslims.

Hippocrepis comosa, the horseshoe vetch, is a species of perennial flowering plant belonging to the genus Hippocrepis in the family Fabaceae. It's not that important, but what is is that Vetch is considered in most places to be a pest. At the same time, vetch are members of the pea family, and with 240 species, there are many which are beneficial.

 

I like them. They're pretty, come in blue, violet, and yellow, and grow wild on Mt. Diablo, always a pleasant sight on a hot August day when you finally see a patch by one of the spring fed ponds at the end of a six mile hike.

 

The overall appearance depends on its habitat: sometimes it forms upright clumps of flowers; at other times, it sends prostrate leafy runners over a wide area; sometimes it distributes itself as single flowers. The flowers are small, blue, yellow or sometimes orange/red (becoming yellow as they mature), and of typical shape for the family Fabaceae: these appear for a period of two weeks around May depending upon where you live on this continent.

 

For our friends in the U.K., I'll throw this in: Hippocrepis comosa is a calciole (found only on chalk and limestone). It is a hardy plant that survives long periods of cold winters and dry summers years after year. Colonies are not harmed by sheep grazing, and are resistant to moderate trampling; they do not thrive after heavy ploughing or disturbance of the ground. In areas grazed by cattle they disappear, sometimes after several years (depending on grazing intensity.) Hippocrepis comosa is the exclusive food plant of the caterpillars of chalkhill blue (Polyommatus coridon) and Adonis blue (Polyommatus bellargus) butterflies. Populations that support such butterflies occur on longstanding ungrazed meadows, quarries, edges of paths and wasteland. I'll get into the NA Hippocrepis when I dig them out - so to speak - of my wildflower files that go back to 1965.

  

18-February-2025

 

In the Trnovo virgin Alpine Forest, one of the 3 in the Karst-Dinaric region (the Dinarides Karst part, that's the Northernmost part of all Dinaric Alps, is limited to Slovenia with a little part in Italy and in Croatian Istra), there is this deep karstic basin, therefore with porous permeable limestone soil, which has a great micro-climatic and botanical value.

 

The basin, in the photo, whose mouth is at about 1240m above sea level, is closed on all sides and the cold, heavy air accumulates towards the bottom of it (a part is visible in the center-lower), located at 1100m a.s.l., with a powerful semi-permanent thermal inversion.

 

Consequently, there is also a marked vegetation inversion, with the partially thermophilic Beech (Fagus sylvatica var dinarica, Bukev) from a sub-alpine climate in the upper part, at altitude (up to 1400m a.s.l.), while towards the bottom we pass to the Silver fir of Apennine origin (Abies alba, Jelka) to arrive, at the edges of the bottom, to the Spruce (Picea abies, Smreka) which loves cold and humid soils from an alpine and continental climate and is the tree that mainly makes up the Siberian taiga.

 

On the bottom only montana/mountain Pine (Pinus mugo, it grows naturally prostrate to cope with the adverse weather conditions of the mountain high altitude), mosses, lichens and dwarf willows grow (plants that normally are only present in high mountains, above 2000m, at this latitude), with a couple of Birches (Betula pendula) on the south-eastern edge, where there is more air mixing.

 

All area is wild and totally virgin.

 

The vegetation inversion, obviously, is better seen in the mid-seasons and without snow, so, for further information, I refer you to the photo taken a few years ago in spring (but still with the non-leafed Beech trees):

 

www.flickr.com/photos/22873479@N08/52115994465/in/album-7...

Ranunculus alpestris (Ranunculaceae) 164 24

 

Ranunculus alpestris (Alpine buttercup) is a plant belonging to the Ranunculaceae family, which lives in the high Alpine valleys.

It can be found between 2,100 and,2,800 meters (rarely at lower altitudes) in grasslands and water-rich detrital snow valleys.

It is a perennial herbaceous plant, a maximum of 12 cm high, with a prostrate habit and ascending glabrous stems.

Prostrate Cape Weed, imported from South Africa to California.

We are looking at the seed pods of Carmichaelia australis (Common broom), a small tree with flattened green twigs native to New Zealand. The sides of the seed pods detach leaving a tough marginal rim around the suspended seed. Carmichaelia (New Zealand brooms) is a genus of 24 plant species belonging to the pea family. All but one species are native to New Zealand. Carmichaelia ranges in form from trees to prostrate species a few centimetres high. Mature plants are usually leafless, their leaves replaced by phylloclades, flattened, photosynthetic shoots, which are usually considered to be modified branches.

Known commonly as parrot's beak plant, coral gem and trailing lotus, Lotus berthelotii is a plant endemic to the Canary Islands, Spain. Cultivated, and thought to be extinct in the wild.

 

It is a trailing, short lived perennial within family Fabaceae. The vibrant flowers are 2 to 4 cm in length.

 

Growing to around 20 cm in height and 35 - 50 cm spread.

 

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If you've ever looked t seeds, well I'll bet there isn'y one of us in a thousand that has said, "I wonder what the flower looks like." However, if you're planting flowers, you can see the flowers on the seed packet. When it comes to the "geometry of seeds," very few seeds can outdo the Glottiphyllum. (There's no common name! Let's call it "George" or to be popular with the woke folk, "It.")

 

Glottiphyllum longum is a species of succulent plant in the family Aizoaceae, native to the Western Cape and Eastern Cape Provinces, South Africa. It grows quite well in California as do most of the plants from the west coast of South Africa.

 

It can be distinguished from its relatives by the way that its flat, green, fleshy, tongue-shaped leaves are all born in two opposite rows (distichous), lying flat and mostly prostrate along the ground.

 

The long leaves are distinctively strap-shaped, with rounded margins. Sometimes they are also mildly curved or upturned at the tips, but not hooked. The bladder cells at the leaf margins are oriented horizontally and not elongated.

 

The fruits are born on long stalks. (See previous photo for the seeds.) The seed capsules have 9 or more locules and persist on the stem for many years. The seeds are very small and smoothed on the sides.

 

This species is sometimes confused with the similarly widespread Glottiphyllum depressum. However the flowers and fruits of G.depressum do not have long stalks and are therefore held closely against the stem. I'm not confused at all: G. depressum is usually hung over and cries a lot, "Wow is me! What a way to make a living. I haven't felt this bad since someone just tore off a flower last night. That hurt. Anyone got a Prozac?"

A small flower from a plant growing curbside in Tucson, Arizona. The growth form was prostrate (similar to goathead); I think it might be redstem filaree Erodium cicutarium or something similar. Macro.

No common name. This is another very rare Grevillea. It grows on Mt Lindesay near Denmark, Western Australia close to Grevillea fuscolutea. This beautiful plant is prostrate and can reach two meters across in good conditions.

The flowers are fragrant and pollinated by insects. It is possible to graft the plant onto other prostrate Grevillea's.

Yet another oldie, this time of a tree root that looked vaguely human from a certain angle.

Taken with the cracking Samsung 60mm macro lens.

Fomapan 100

Rodinal

Ondu 6X6

A wee little thing, less than 1 cm tall. I was prostrate on the ground, photographing a much bigger mushroom and spotted this in the leaf litter - there were actually a fair number of them about, you just need to accustom yourself to looking on a very small scale. I would never have thought of trying to photograph a fungus this tiny were it not for my Raynox DCR-250. This was attached to the front of my macro lens for a nine-shot focus stack.

Grevillea is a diverse genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, native to rainforest and more open habitats in Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Sulawesi and other Indonesian islands. The species range from prostrate shrubs less than 50 cm tall to trees 35 m tall. Common names include grevillea, spider flower, silky oak and toothbrush plant. The brightly coloured, petal-less flowers consist of a calyx tube that splits into 4 lobes with long styles. They are good bird-attracting plants, honeyeaters in particular are common visitors. Grevillea flowers were a traditional favourite among Aborigines for their sweet nectar. This could be shaken onto the hand to enjoy, or into a coolamon with a little water to make a sweet drink. They might be referred to as the original 'bush lollies'. 39990

CATALÀ

El crespinell blanc[ o cresp (Sedum album) és una espècie de planta suculenta dins la família crassulàcia. És de distribució holàrtica des del sud de Noruega i Suècia al nord d'Àfrica. Als Països Catalans manca només a Mallorca i a Menorca.[3] Viu des del nivell del mar a 2.000 metres d'altitud. Té fulles de 5 a 15 mm de longitud, cilíndriques; flors blanques;planta normalment de 10 a 30 cm d'alt; flors amb 10 estams. Floreix de juny a agost. Viu en replans de roques, codines, teulades i sòls poc profunds, àrids. És un planta capaç d'aclimatar-se segons les condicions ambientals on creixi i fins i tot és capaç de canviar el seu metabolisme de fixació del carboni del tipus general via de 3 carbonis al metabolisme àcid de les crassulàcies del metabolisme de les crassulàcies. Tradicionalment s'ha emprat amb el seu suc que no és agre l'ungüent anomenat "populeum" que és astringent i cicatritzant.

 

ENGLISH

Sedum album the white stonecrop, is a flowering plant of the genus Sedum in the family Crassulaceae. It is found in the northern temperate regions of the world, often growing in crevices or free-draining rocky soil. As a long-day plant it grows vegetatively for most of the year and flowers in summer. Three subspecies album, micranthum (Bastard ex DC.) Syme and teretifolium Syme have been described. White stonecrop is a tufted perennial herb that forms mat-like stands. Much of the year the stems are short, semi prostrate and densely clad in leaves. At the flowering time in July and August, the stems lengthen and are erect, occasionally branched and often pinkish-brown. The leaves are alternate, fleshy and nearly cylindrical with a blunt, rounded tip. They are also sometimes tinged with pink, especially in drought-stressed plants. The starry flowers form a dense cyme. The calyx has five fleshy sepals fused at the base, the corolla consists of five regular white petals, there are ten stamens, a separate gynoecium and five pistils. The fruit is five united, many-seeded follicles.

  

Pretty sure I found it. Baksia Repens. Prostrate plant grows ground level with fern like leaves. And yep stunning colour I had to increase saturation about 15% to get what colour my eyes perceived. They range from Brown to red flowers.

As is tradition with the Flickr group, 52 Weeks for Dogs, at the end of the year, the star of this year's photos hands over the reins to the star of next year's photos. Since Jasper is an only dog, he had to hand over the reins to himself. It was a brief ceremony where 2020 Jasper prostrated himself and presented the leash to 2021 Jasper. 52 Weeks for Dogs "handing over the reins" challenge

Prostrate Canary Clover or Badassi, Lotus dorycnium (Fabaceae)

I couldn't help posting another image of this delightful little chap who was the subject of my last uplaod. This was about an hour and a half later just as he was waking up & just before a "friendly" dog came over with tail wagging and wafted the insect and some of it's buddies off the grass into the air! Such are the traumas of nature photography :)

( I was also slightly concerned he was going to lift his leg on my prostrate camera bag..but I escaped that one!!)

Petrosedum rupestre (Crassulacrar) 180 20

 

Petrosedum rupestre (reflexed stonecrop; Jenny's stonecrop) is a species of perennial succulent plant of the genus Sedum, native to northern, central, and southern Europe.

This species is typically up to 10 cm high, with sprawling stems and stiff foliage resembling spruce branches, with softer tissue.

The leaves are frequently blue-gray to gray but range to light greens and yellows; the flowers are yellow. Like most other Sedum species, it has a prostrate, spreading habit.

 

From Wikipedia.

These tiny and pretty little flowers belong to native Myoporum parvivfolium, commonly known as creeping myoporum and creeping boobialla.

 

Genus Myoporum has around 30 species within it, of which 16 are endemic to this country.

 

This plant is prostrate in habit and can form broad mats of foliage several metres in diameter.

 

Each of these little flowers is just 7 mm diameter.

 

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Rosa arvensis (Rosaceae) 145 24

  

Rosa arvensis (field rose and white-flowered trailing rose) is a species in the genus Rosa and belongs to the family of the Rosaceae (Rose Family).

It is found extensively across many countries in Europe. It can be seen principally in hedges and thickets.

Rosa canina is a prostrate shrub. The plant can grow to be between 3 and 3.7 meters.

This rose blooms from May to July with white flowers, 4 to 5 centimeters across, which are followed by red hips.

Hippocrepis comosa (Fabaceae) 131 20

 

Hippocrepis comosa (common name: horseshoe vetch) is a species of perennial flowering plant belonging to the genus Hippocrepis in the family Fabaceae.

The overall appearance depends on its habitat: sometimes it forms upright clumps of flowers; at other times, it sends prostrate leafy runners over a wide area; sometimes it distributes itself as single flowers. The flowers are small, yellow or sometimes orange/red (becoming yellow as they mature), and of typical shape for the family Fabaceae: these appear for a period of two weeks around May.

Hippocrepis comosa is a calcicole (found only on chalk and limestone). It is a hardy plant that survives long periods of cold winters and dry summers years after year. Colonies are not harmed by sheep grazing, and are resistant to moderate trampling; they do not thrive after heavy ploughing or disturbance of the ground. In areas grazed by cattle they disappear, sometimes after several years (depending on grazing intensity.)

  

Beautiful crimson rosella enjoying the flowers of a prostrate Grevillea.

 

These stunning parrots are native to the east and south-east of this country.

 

Around 35 cm in length.

 

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Hi my friends,I am just uploading an exercise in new workflows I am experimenting behind the scenes. My two teenager sons are distressing me very deeply and I am quite prostrated and my spirits are very, very low. I feel like an ancient rock weathered by a long winter. Hope that it comes to an end.

This experiment is in an open source workflow: I used Darktable to process the raw files and the Gimp 2.10 to process the bracketing by luminosity masks.

I must confess that I did not start with bw in my mind: it is an early morning view captured while strolling along the gentle hills in Umbria and, as you may imagine, the scene was bathed in a beautiful golden light. But I was not able to get the right colours, so at last I resorted to bw. Ah, and the sky was a bit boring, especially in bw, so I tried to substitute it with a more interesting one. My first experience in this kind of processing, and definitely not entirely unsatisfactory.

However I would take the chance to greet you after a long absence - I am still alive, after all...

 

As always, the EXIF data refer to the "normal" exposure of the bracketing.

 

Explored on 2019/04/24

Severed are the seas.

The Sirens sing of ruin.

The earth laid prostrate.

 

More images on Instagram

 

Gallery

 

Some of the design is inspired by the Zaku mobile suits from Gundam.

 

Much love to Djokson & Ari

(Flickr failed twice to upload again today. One day, I'll learn to make a copy of thhe information I give, but today, I'm starting over.)

 

If you're looking for bees at the Ruth Bancroft Garden, almost any eucalyptus or gravillea will do or, if you go to the northwest section, you'll find three 25+ foot Banksia for which the bees in the willow down the street make a beeline for every spring. Every February, the hive comes to life and you can actually see a "stream" of bees making their way the half-mile to the Banksia.

 

Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. Banksias range in size from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up to 100 feet tall. They are found in a wide variety of landscapes: sclerophyll forest, (occasionally) rainforest, shrubland, and some more arid landscapes, though not in Australia's deserts. The same is true for this part of California.

 

Heavy producers of nectar, banksias are a vital part of the food chain in the Australian bush. They are an important food source for nectarivorous animals, including birds, bats, rats, possums, stingless bees and a host of invertebrates. My home has been visited by the same fauna. In other words, we have a very similar climate to western Australia (and the West Coast of South Africa ... if you are speaking of succulents).

 

We have two species of Banksia corresponding to those found in eastern and western Australia but, even though we have deserts, not to northern Australia.

  

66769 in GBRF black with prostate cancer embellishments seen at Oakenholt just east of Flint along the Dee estuary working 6F22 1149 Penmaenmawr Quarry - Tuebrook Sidings loaded stone 30/08/22. Pole shot.

Cotoneaster salicifolius 'Gnom' :: Family

Rosaceae:

Cotoneaster can be deciduous or evergreen shrubs or small trees, with simple, entire leaves and clusters of small white or pink flowers in spring and summer, followed by showy red, purple or black berries

Details

'Gnom' is a prostrate, evergreen shrub forming a wide mat of glossy, lance-shaped leaves, with small white flowers in summer followed by red berries

The bright, bold and eye-catching centre of a native angular pigface flower.

 

Carpobrotus glaucescens is a prostrate, creeping succulent that has long trailing stems. It has thick, fleshy, smooth leaves up to 10 cm in length which are triangular in cross section.

 

The flowers are initially daisy-like in appearance, 5 cm in diameter. There can be up to 300 stamens and ten styles.

 

This species is found growing naturally in coastal areas on sand dunes along the New South Wales and Queensland coast.

 

The fruit tastes similar to salty apples. The fleshy leaves may also be eaten, either raw or cooked and the juice of the leaves can be used to relieve burnt skin or to soothe stings.

 

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