Foto Phun

Here are some fun photos!!

I have been photographing every species of Asclepias I can find, in prepartion for the slide show. I am up to 7 species. Here is Asclepias variegata from Wayne County, MO. The flowers are white with a band of purple-pink around the middle.


Campsis radicans blooming on the side of my house. It volunteered and we haven't interfered. Campsis means "curvature", in reference to the stamens and radicans, of course, means "rooting", in reference to its habit. Fernald has "Cow-itch" as a common name for this species. I can't imagine the source.


Here is one of our more jazzy spring wildflowers in Missouri; Monarda bradburiana. The stems are unbranched and the leaves are sessile. Named in honor of John Bradbury (1768-1823) who collected plants with Thomas Nuttall while retracing the steps of Lewis and Clark in 1809-1811. In December of 1811, he sent the specimens he collected back to England on a freighter. He left the next day on the passenger boat. He was in New Madrid during the earthquake of 1811 and was delayed several weeks due to the devastation. By the time he made it to New Orleans, the war of 1812 broke out and he was detained for 5 years due to hostility between the US and Great Britian. When he finally made it home, he found that Fredrick Pursh, the scoundrel that he was, had broken into his specimens and described them all!! Robbed of his scientific glory, he returned to America and never took up botany again. I often raise a glass in honor of John Bradbury, and all the John Bradburys of the world.