jeremiahboyle

steepravine: Purple Salt Point Lily I think this is in the lily...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:33:21 -0700

Purple Salt Point Lily

I think this is in the lily family. Very pretty, and the only time I’ve seen it.

(Salt Point, California - 4/2013)

Love this flower! Cammasia quamash?

steepravine: Fresh Picked Candycaps with Butter, Bourbon,...

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:02:25 -0700

Fresh picked candycaps

macro candy cap

chopped and ready for the pan

candy caps with butter, bourbon, nutmeg and maple

amazing candy cap sauce over vanilla ice cream

steepravine:

Fresh Picked Candycaps with Butter, Bourbon, Nutmeg and Maple Sugar Over Vanilla Ice Cream

My buddy and I had a four course gourmet mushroom meal after an epic foray in Salt Point. This was out desert!

(Foraged in Salt Point, made delicious in San Francisco - 3/2013)

Candy cap butter bourbon ice cream — omg this was good.

Psilocybe cyanescens spores

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 11:32:49 -0700

Psilocybe cyanescens spores

scienceyoucanlove: Asperatus cloudsAsperatus clouds are so rare...

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 19:25:21 -0700

scienceyoucanlove:

Asperatus clouds

Asperatus clouds are so rare they managed to escape classification until 2009. Ominous and stormy as they appear, these clouds often break up rather quickly, without producing a storm. As with most other undulating cloud types, these clouds are formed when turbulent winds or colliding air masses whip up the bottoms of the cloud layer into fancy shapes and formations. More common in the plains of the United States (try Iowa), asperatus clouds are at their weird and swirly best during the morning or midday hours after a thunderstorm.

Photograph by B.J. Bumgarner

pretty undulating clouds

brilliantbotany: There are around 30 wild species in the...

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 08:08:02 -0700

brilliantbotany:

There are around 30 wild species in the Gerbera genus, which most would recognize as daisies commonly sold as cut flowers. They come in a large variety of colors, and these are largely hybrids bred for looks, Gerbera hybridus. They are members of the Asteraceae family (which is a huge family, if you haven’t yet noticed).
As you can see in this picture, the pollen comes from the central disc of the flower. This is actually a disc of many tiny flowers, called disc florets. The outer “petals” are ray florets.

Post requested by anna-kitten.

Asteraceae: disc & ray flowers

quantumaniac: Floating Water Bridge Known as the water thread...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:41:13 -0700

quantumaniac:

Floating Water Bridge

Known as the water thread experiment, this phenomenon shown above seems to defy the intuitive laws of everyday physics. The experiment was first demonstrated in 1863 by British Engineer William Armstrong.

Two containers of deionized water, placed in some sort of insulator (glass beakers work fine), must be connected by a thin thread and exposed to a high-voltage charge (one beaker receives the positive charge, and the negative to the other.) At a critical voltage threshold, a water bridge forms between the two containers across the thread - which remains even when the containers are separated!

Typically, the diameter of this bridge is no more than 1-3 mm, but can remain intact as far as an 25mm! The surface temperature, due to the voltage, rises from about 20 °C (68 °F) up to 60 °C(140 °F)! The longest that the phenomenon has lasted is 45 minutes.

Read more

biocreative: Defining the Numinous.

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 06:10:06 -0700

biocreative:

Defining the Numinous.

Word of the Day #2: Phytophotodermatitis

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:22:00 -0700

Today’s notable word is phytophotodermatitis: an inflammatory skin reaction caused by dual exposure to a toxic plant and the sun. This is a fun one to break down: phyto=plant, photo=light, derma=skin, itis=inflammation; from the Greek. Keep your eye out for two of the Bay Area’s phytophototoxic species, Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum) and Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). The latter is known to cause serious sunburn-like reactions.