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record of an herbarium foray, part I
Aug. 23rd, 2010 11:09 pmThis year's Herbarium Foray was to the Malheur National Forest/Strawberry Wilderness area near Prairie City, OR.
( Travel notes and photos 15-16 July )
( Travel notes and photos 15-16 July )
stuff to do!
Aug. 4th, 2010 12:23 pmWhereas I have taken ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lakmiseiru to the train this morning so she can be a mad backpacker for a couple of weeks, and
whereashattifattener is also going to be taking off for a few days to build a yurt soon, and
whereas my bed is almost done being painted so will occupy less of my evening time soon, and
whereas I need to get the fuck out of my cat-doomed house quite often, but
actually I still need to stay off my healing foot, so many summery activities are unwise,
here is a partial list of stuff for me to do in the near future.
Today or tomorrow: Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, a documentary about the Japanese love for beetles. Come on, Wim, you ordered radio-controlled Mushiking toys from Singapore, we have to go!
Before Sunday: Finish watching Glee s1 and watch Helvetica, which I coincidentally rented on the Swiss National Holiday.
Maybe: Open the Darth Vader door. Its sign says "Experiment in Progress. Do not open this door!" and then it has a picture of Darth Vader's head underneath it. I have so far escaped opening it, but this may not last. I think the experiment in question must be "see how long Kylee can resist the shiny, candy-like button."
Maybe: Buy and read the electronic ARC of Cryoburn. I'm sure there are plenty more fun details to find out by reading it myself, but I am overinformed at present and it sounds like there's no Ekaterin to speak of. But that's just me being cranky, really; there's no way I'm not reading this soon.
Probably: Get trackpad (now routinely doubling my clicks) fixed or replaced. Bonus if the entire cover can be replaced; some slivers are missing and it's awfully grubby.
Soon: Blog the Herbarium Foray before it fades into the mists of time. I have photos and paper journal, just need to spend the time.
Saturday August 7: Old School Kung Fu Double Feature at the Grand Illusion! The movies are The Invincible Pole Fighter and The Mystery of Chess Boxing. (Ooh, awesome, http://www.grandillusioncinema.org/ has trailers!)
Friday August 13: OMG SCOTT PILGRIM. Very tragic story, I actually had a pass to an early screening and forgot about it. *facepalm* Totally going opening day! Even if it were bad, which it won't be, I think I may owe the movie for causing the artist to finally finish the series before it opened. (Also, want video game now. Recursive referentiality FTW! Time to buy a PS3, I guess.)
Wednesday August 18: Mary Roach at Kane Hall in re: her book about travel to Mars. The talk for Bonk would have been more fun without reading the book, so I will not read the book before then.
lakmiseiru to the train this morning so she can be a mad backpacker for a couple of weeks, and whereas
hattifattener is also going to be taking off for a few days to build a yurt soon, andwhereas my bed is almost done being painted so will occupy less of my evening time soon, and
whereas I need to get the fuck out of my cat-doomed house quite often, but
actually I still need to stay off my healing foot, so many summery activities are unwise,
here is a partial list of stuff for me to do in the near future.
Today or tomorrow: Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, a documentary about the Japanese love for beetles. Come on, Wim, you ordered radio-controlled Mushiking toys from Singapore, we have to go!
Before Sunday: Finish watching Glee s1 and watch Helvetica, which I coincidentally rented on the Swiss National Holiday.
Maybe: Open the Darth Vader door. Its sign says "Experiment in Progress. Do not open this door!" and then it has a picture of Darth Vader's head underneath it. I have so far escaped opening it, but this may not last. I think the experiment in question must be "see how long Kylee can resist the shiny, candy-like button."
Maybe: Buy and read the electronic ARC of Cryoburn. I'm sure there are plenty more fun details to find out by reading it myself, but I am overinformed at present and it sounds like there's no Ekaterin to speak of. But that's just me being cranky, really; there's no way I'm not reading this soon.
Probably: Get trackpad (now routinely doubling my clicks) fixed or replaced. Bonus if the entire cover can be replaced; some slivers are missing and it's awfully grubby.
Soon: Blog the Herbarium Foray before it fades into the mists of time. I have photos and paper journal, just need to spend the time.
Saturday August 7: Old School Kung Fu Double Feature at the Grand Illusion! The movies are The Invincible Pole Fighter and The Mystery of Chess Boxing. (Ooh, awesome, http://www.grandillusioncinema.org/ has trailers!)
Friday August 13: OMG SCOTT PILGRIM. Very tragic story, I actually had a pass to an early screening and forgot about it. *facepalm* Totally going opening day! Even if it were bad, which it won't be, I think I may owe the movie for causing the artist to finally finish the series before it opened. (Also, want video game now. Recursive referentiality FTW! Time to buy a PS3, I guess.)
Wednesday August 18: Mary Roach at Kane Hall in re: her book about travel to Mars. The talk for Bonk would have been more fun without reading the book, so I will not read the book before then.
Tags:
- books,
- games,
- health,
- housing,
- movies,
- native plants,
- nature,
- pets,
- school,
- yay sweetie
home; chaos
Jul. 20th, 2010 01:29 pmHerbarium Foray generally very good: fun and awesome plants and hiking to my limit, though also bug bites and angering the foot injury.
Trip home equal parts good and bad: stunningly gorgeous scenery and amazing John Day museum and fossils in Fossil, though also remarkably ill.
Today so far pretty much made of fail: can't find house keys despite having them last night (or [in reverse order of loss] camera [!!], or fossils, or sunglasses, or weeding fork), and meeting rescheduled for before I was in, and orders not having arrived; though perhaps Scott Pilgrim in my future even though I didn't go at midnight.
At least I'm not still sick, just exhausted despite sleeping until 10:30. Maybe I'll complete my failday by going home. It'd improve my ability to work tomorrow, and I'm really concerned about the camera though I expect it's among the unpackings someplace. And I could dodge the rest of the meeting, which could have been really good but is now a crummy thing relegating me to the role of incompetent servant.
Trip home equal parts good and bad: stunningly gorgeous scenery and amazing John Day museum and fossils in Fossil, though also remarkably ill.
Today so far pretty much made of fail: can't find house keys despite having them last night (or [in reverse order of loss] camera [!!], or fossils, or sunglasses, or weeding fork), and meeting rescheduled for before I was in, and orders not having arrived; though perhaps Scott Pilgrim in my future even though I didn't go at midnight.
At least I'm not still sick, just exhausted despite sleeping until 10:30. Maybe I'll complete my failday by going home. It'd improve my ability to work tomorrow, and I'm really concerned about the camera though I expect it's among the unpackings someplace. And I could dodge the rest of the meeting, which could have been really good but is now a crummy thing relegating me to the role of incompetent servant.
equinoctial phenology
Mar. 22nd, 2010 04:05 pmMany photos from Sunday. I still have a big backlog of Lake Tahoe shots, too. When did this become a photo blog? I'll schedule some self-indulgent emo posts in there too.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
new plants so far
Jul. 17th, 2008 09:15 pmEuropean centaury, which is adorable and (since non-native) potentially kidnappable to garden by me.
Harvest brodiaea, a shocking spot of blue-violet on the path to an instructor's apartment.
Pink honeysuckle is supposed to be hairy, and this isn't, but there are really no other pink options. The leaves are also a little off. Hmm.
Yerba buena, which grows all over campus and smells deliciously of lemon cough drops.
Good thing the library here had an unclaimed copy of Pojar & Mackinnon.
In animal news, many fine swimming isopods were acquired today, as well as a mighty crab and some cool chitons. Worms, of course, should be inferred.
Harvest brodiaea, a shocking spot of blue-violet on the path to an instructor's apartment.
Pink honeysuckle is supposed to be hairy, and this isn't, but there are really no other pink options. The leaves are also a little off. Hmm.
Yerba buena, which grows all over campus and smells deliciously of lemon cough drops.
Good thing the library here had an unclaimed copy of Pojar & Mackinnon.
In animal news, many fine swimming isopods were acquired today, as well as a mighty crab and some cool chitons. Worms, of course, should be inferred.
scattering of species
Jul. 15th, 2008 08:22 pmLow-tide trip to False Bay this morning -- found many MANY polychaete worms, some nemertean worms, and a couple of hemichordates. Also the more accessible hermit crabs and tiny eels, who like to hide under big pieces of algae. Later in the lab, I successfully identified the larvae in a jellylike egg mass as some kind of gastropod -- not bad for knows-nothing girl. And bryozoans are very cool.
[no photo links due to likely gross-out, esp. on polychaetes for m-pig]
After the interminable hour of talklets from all the researchers here, which were supposed to be limited to 2 minutes but were not, I had to recharge somehow. Here in the absence of privacy, that apparently means connecting with nature in some way, preferably by eating it. I managed to find not only some salmonberries (one was good omg) and dewberries (fabulous as always) but a maple-leafed currant bush, which has the best currants I've ever had. Am now trying to plot propagation.
Tomorrow: out on a boat to dredge up more invertebrates!
[no photo links due to likely gross-out, esp. on polychaetes for m-pig]
After the interminable hour of talklets from all the researchers here, which were supposed to be limited to 2 minutes but were not, I had to recharge somehow. Here in the absence of privacy, that apparently means connecting with nature in some way, preferably by eating it. I managed to find not only some salmonberries (one was good omg) and dewberries (fabulous as always) but a maple-leafed currant bush, which has the best currants I've ever had. Am now trying to plot propagation.
Tomorrow: out on a boat to dredge up more invertebrates!
more poisonous flowers for oyceter
May. 31st, 2007 10:31 pmPreviously mentioned elsewhere: datura (by jonquil, named for a toxic flower herself), Brugmansia, Brunfelsia nitida. (All Solanaceae really, though tobacco might have other interesting implications as well.)
Thought of today:
Buttercups. But is bloody diarrhea really ever what you want to associate with your character?
Foxglove. Death by excessive cardiac excitation? Check.
Apocynum androsaemifolium. Smells wonderful.
Black locust. Also smells divine, and is blooming right now -- but is an invasive weed where I live. I haven't yet tried the black-locust honey I got from the Madison farmer's market.
Found via links from previous:
Lily of the valley.
Sweet pea. If Georgia O'Keefe didn't paint that photo, she should have.
Lobelia.
Wisteria. A sweet twining vine that can pull your house down. But see also Fuji Musume.
Larkspur.
Rhododendron. Apocryphally, even its honey can cause delirium. Lots of interesting species with different looks.
Gelsemium sempervirens.
Golden-chain.
Oleander.
jonquil, named for a toxic flower herself), Brugmansia, Brunfelsia nitida. (All Solanaceae really, though tobacco might have other interesting implications as well.)Thought of today:
Buttercups. But is bloody diarrhea really ever what you want to associate with your character?
Foxglove. Death by excessive cardiac excitation? Check.
Apocynum androsaemifolium. Smells wonderful.
Black locust. Also smells divine, and is blooming right now -- but is an invasive weed where I live. I haven't yet tried the black-locust honey I got from the Madison farmer's market.
Found via links from previous:
Lily of the valley.
Sweet pea. If Georgia O'Keefe didn't paint that photo, she should have.
Lobelia.
Wisteria. A sweet twining vine that can pull your house down. But see also Fuji Musume.
Larkspur.
Rhododendron. Apocryphally, even its honey can cause delirium. Lots of interesting species with different looks.
Gelsemium sempervirens.
Golden-chain.
Oleander.
hiking field trip
Jul. 29th, 2006 10:18 pmThe subalpine meadow turned out to be very near Mount Rainier, but not actually on it. (Grand Park via Eleanor Creek, only a little farther than Federation Forest plus a while on FS Road 73.) It was cloudy enough when we arrived, though, that we could see only a hint of how great the view would be on a clear day.
My coup of the day: Adding to the list of plants seen in the area Chimaphila menziesii, this after the instructor had been very thorough in making the list. I did only see the one, and it's partly luck that we stopped where I could get a good look at it, but I remain smug.
My ignominy of the day: A blister on my right heel, which I did not stop to dress before it broke. After applying a sticky bandage for our trip down, I had this foolish idea that the blister would be okay, but no -- the skin tore again above the bandage. So I am missing a raggedy, penny-sized area of skin total. Ow.
My coup of the day: Adding to the list of plants seen in the area Chimaphila menziesii, this after the instructor had been very thorough in making the list. I did only see the one, and it's partly luck that we stopped where I could get a good look at it, but I remain smug.
My ignominy of the day: A blister on my right heel, which I did not stop to dress before it broke. After applying a sticky bandage for our trip down, I had this foolish idea that the blister would be okay, but no -- the skin tore again above the bandage. So I am missing a raggedy, penny-sized area of skin total. Ow.
surrounding summer solstice
Jun. 23rd, 2006 04:28 amTo Deception Pass with rubricity and hattifattener.
Project Blue Rose!
"Is this the gay kissing ninjas book?"
"No, they are gay kissing secret agents."
Discussion of ninja/spook equivalency, or lack thereof.
PBR is distinct from Shinobu Kokoro because "they're not naked -- okay, they're naked, but..." Laughter drowns out my perfectly reasonable explanation.
Walking on a very high bridge over beautiful water. Plants unknown to me! (Trifolium arvense or T. microcephalum? Hitchcock & Cronquist is wonderful but I haven't been observing the plant for years on end so keying is a little hard. Unknown Vaccinium may be deliciosum.)
Cold nachos. Stunningly wonderful strawberries. Views of Strawberry Island and plans for piracy. Tiny triangular tidepool on huge basalt rocks, still warm from the sun, especially the embedded survey markers. Wild roses and sea smell combined into spice and smoke somehow. One pine with vast amounts of pendant lichen, others entirely clear of it.
Very oblivious male bird pursued by female bird. He's got the singing-for-territory thing down, but his reproductive success will remain low unless he actually mates.
Beautiful sunset, accentuated by contrails from the nearby air base. Clouds forming out of clear air as it moved from the ocean to the land. (So cool!)
Today: Home-grown strawberries, splendid in a different way. First Bing cherries of the season, $3 a pound, lovely though not yet at the height of excellence. Lazy day at the lab. Napping immediately following immersion in the deeply strange Unquenchable Fire, with irreproducible results.
rubricity and hattifattener. Project Blue Rose!
"Is this the gay kissing ninjas book?"
"No, they are gay kissing secret agents."
Discussion of ninja/spook equivalency, or lack thereof.
PBR is distinct from Shinobu Kokoro because "they're not naked -- okay, they're naked, but..." Laughter drowns out my perfectly reasonable explanation.
Walking on a very high bridge over beautiful water. Plants unknown to me! (Trifolium arvense or T. microcephalum? Hitchcock & Cronquist is wonderful but I haven't been observing the plant for years on end so keying is a little hard. Unknown Vaccinium may be deliciosum.)
Cold nachos. Stunningly wonderful strawberries. Views of Strawberry Island and plans for piracy. Tiny triangular tidepool on huge basalt rocks, still warm from the sun, especially the embedded survey markers. Wild roses and sea smell combined into spice and smoke somehow. One pine with vast amounts of pendant lichen, others entirely clear of it.
Very oblivious male bird pursued by female bird. He's got the singing-for-territory thing down, but his reproductive success will remain low unless he actually mates.
Beautiful sunset, accentuated by contrails from the nearby air base. Clouds forming out of clear air as it moved from the ocean to the land. (So cool!)
Today: Home-grown strawberries, splendid in a different way. First Bing cherries of the season, $3 a pound, lovely though not yet at the height of excellence. Lazy day at the lab. Napping immediately following immersion in the deeply strange Unquenchable Fire, with irreproducible results.
plant sale!
May. 13th, 2006 01:18 pmThe Washington Native Plant Sale is until 4 today at the Bellevue Botanical Garden. The garden parking was about three times as full as when we went to the botanical light display this past winter (!), so I got a nice little bonus hike in going to and from the car.
No Hooker's fairybells, but I did get:
The WNPS propagators know their audience. There were a lot of trilliums, and they cost a lot of money. Lots of popular shrubs, too. I may not be able to make it to the next meeting, since it's near finals time, but I'll go eventually and volunteer to propagate things. Maybe also to proofread.
No Hooker's fairybells, but I did get:
- Thalictrum alpinum (marked 'alpinium')
- Tellima grandiflora
- Thalictrum occidentale (may be male or female, don't know yet; photo is male)
- Dodecatheon hendersonii
- Maianthemum dilatatum
- Linnaea borealis (twinflower! yeah!)
- Smilacina stellata
- Vancouveria hexandra
- Streptopus amplexifolius
- Heuchera grossulariifolia ('grossularifolia' on label; apparently found tetraploid fairly often)
- Mitella trifida (more mitrewort to go with my M. pentandra! I didn't know this existed!)
The WNPS propagators know their audience. There were a lot of trilliums, and they cost a lot of money. Lots of popular shrubs, too. I may not be able to make it to the next meeting, since it's near finals time, but I'll go eventually and volunteer to propagate things. Maybe also to proofread.
learning experience
May. 7th, 2006 10:40 pm- Field ecology is a lot like what they say about the military: Climb a mountain, see beautful native plants, and trample them.
- Vine maples will not hold up a human, choosing instead to bend completely to the ground with her.
- Devil's club really does get three meters tall. Seven-foot salal remains a myth.
- Browsing Pojar-Mackinnon for two days' bus rides running can really add to the list of native plants one wants for the garden.
- If you take a Kylee up a mountain, you're just going to have to wait for her to come down slowly enough so her knees don't explode.
- Aspirin is fucking awesome.
Native Plant Appreciation Week
Apr. 19th, 2006 06:40 amLots of great planty stuff, April 30 - May 6. I'm really sad that my ecology field trip is on the 6th! I'll be seeing tons of excellent plants either way, I guess.
spring planting continues
Apr. 18th, 2006 02:33 amPlant of the day: Meadow-rue (Thalictrum aquilegifolium), for the beautiful, muscular lower stem pushing up delicate membranous leaves, and for the seedling putting up one teeny leaf a foot away. (Wow, I need Thalictrum uchiyamai. Beautiful.)
Other good news: I bought a little Claytonia sibirica at the Audobon Society plant sale, because I didn't see any of that where I put the last one (bleeding-heart and avens have appeared in its place). A new plant doesn't seem to have been necessary, though. I saw two largish rosettes and what I suspect are a whole lot of Claytonia cotyledons back there this afternoon. Now, where else do I want them?
I planted almost all of the remaining salvaged plants from my expedition today. The indian-plum and red elderberry bushes went up at the end of the road to help cover where the crazy person drove through the fence recently, though someone had bought several columnar cypresses and two red rhodies to put up there too. More plants is better! Native plants is better! Also, if some freak drives through the chain-link fence again despite the new ROAD END sign, the indian-plum will grow back from its roots.
The ferns went in a couple of places around the yard, though I resisted putting a wee one into the hollow area of the lilac because I didn't think it would survive there. I need more rotten wood. If I could've packed the cavity with nice punky old redcedar I'd have been able to put it there, and it would have been super cute. Definitely bringing buckets for rotten wood next salvage.
Still need to plant the salal. I'm afraid to touch it because it has such wimpy roots. I think it must depend strongly on mycorrhizae, and hyphae are really easy to break. The salvage guys mentioned it was hard to transplant, and I bet that's why. Also must figure out where to put it.
I keep seeing a sweet queen bumblebee searching around the house. Does she not have a place to nest? Surely she overwintered somewhere. Maybe she's just having trouble finding enough flowers at the moment, though she was going to town on the rosemary yesterday.
The little birch tree the ditch-digger pulled out seems all right. It laid around on the lawn for at least a day, and when I noticed it I thought it was a goner, but I potted it up anyway and tied a trash bag over it to keep transpiration down. Its leaves seem perky now. One more tree for the world! Maybe it will go to live in Quilcene.
Lots of extra foxgloves, oregano, and lemon balm. Freecycle!
Unfortunately, I seem to be getting a pretty bad headache. There is very little incentive not to go get some Easter-sale chocolate if you hurt anyway, head.
Other good news: I bought a little Claytonia sibirica at the Audobon Society plant sale, because I didn't see any of that where I put the last one (bleeding-heart and avens have appeared in its place). A new plant doesn't seem to have been necessary, though. I saw two largish rosettes and what I suspect are a whole lot of Claytonia cotyledons back there this afternoon. Now, where else do I want them?
I planted almost all of the remaining salvaged plants from my expedition today. The indian-plum and red elderberry bushes went up at the end of the road to help cover where the crazy person drove through the fence recently, though someone had bought several columnar cypresses and two red rhodies to put up there too. More plants is better! Native plants is better! Also, if some freak drives through the chain-link fence again despite the new ROAD END sign, the indian-plum will grow back from its roots.
The ferns went in a couple of places around the yard, though I resisted putting a wee one into the hollow area of the lilac because I didn't think it would survive there. I need more rotten wood. If I could've packed the cavity with nice punky old redcedar I'd have been able to put it there, and it would have been super cute. Definitely bringing buckets for rotten wood next salvage.
Still need to plant the salal. I'm afraid to touch it because it has such wimpy roots. I think it must depend strongly on mycorrhizae, and hyphae are really easy to break. The salvage guys mentioned it was hard to transplant, and I bet that's why. Also must figure out where to put it.
I keep seeing a sweet queen bumblebee searching around the house. Does she not have a place to nest? Surely she overwintered somewhere. Maybe she's just having trouble finding enough flowers at the moment, though she was going to town on the rosemary yesterday.
The little birch tree the ditch-digger pulled out seems all right. It laid around on the lawn for at least a day, and when I noticed it I thought it was a goner, but I potted it up anyway and tied a trash bag over it to keep transpiration down. Its leaves seem perky now. One more tree for the world! Maybe it will go to live in Quilcene.
Lots of extra foxgloves, oregano, and lemon balm. Freecycle!
Unfortunately, I seem to be getting a pretty bad headache. There is very little incentive not to go get some Easter-sale chocolate if you hurt anyway, head.
along comes the evil rodent
Mar. 29th, 2006 05:32 pmI didn't post on Sunday about the wonderful time I had poking about in woods almost exactly like my childhood woods, because I was too busy planting my new salvaged-plant friends. I did some sheet mulching and put in a bunch of nice little ferns (more sword ferns, more lady ferns, new-to-the-yard deer ferns) and huckleberry bushes and one wee bleeding heart, yay! Since there were bulbs I hadn't planted yet, I put in the shade-tolerant pulchella violacea tulips next to a lovely rotting log I brought home, and surrounded them with moss. All was wonderful.
But today I got home from buying more mulch to find that squirrels had carried off some of my shallowly-planted tulips and mucked with the mosses. I didn't need to slay them until I found my sweet little bleeding heart dragged out and wilted. Squirrels suck, man! I wish I could let the cats out; they might not be effective killers, but they would at least keep the rotten tree-rats off the ground.
(Plant salvage was the best thing I've done all year. Six-foot-wide sword ferns! Salmonberry glades! Beautiful nurse logs! And the fact that there were a few invasive weeds in it just made it more like home.)
But today I got home from buying more mulch to find that squirrels had carried off some of my shallowly-planted tulips and mucked with the mosses. I didn't need to slay them until I found my sweet little bleeding heart dragged out and wilted. Squirrels suck, man! I wish I could let the cats out; they might not be effective killers, but they would at least keep the rotten tree-rats off the ground.
(Plant salvage was the best thing I've done all year. Six-foot-wide sword ferns! Salmonberry glades! Beautiful nurse logs! And the fact that there were a few invasive weeds in it just made it more like home.)
Seattle plant fun
Mar. 13th, 2006 01:42 pmI'm signed up for a "naturescaping" workshop at Magnuson Park on the evening of March 21. It allows me to get into a native plant salvage event on Sunday the 26th. Interested in either of those? Mail CreekStewardIntern@Seattle.Gov and ask for a spot in a workshop (there's another in Maple Valley SE of town on the 23rd), or just give me a plant wish list and I'll try to get you some salvaged natives.
