Patterns [SOOC]

Looking up I thought this looked really interesting. I shot and for a change the image looks like what I saw! All backlit, of course, looking up in the greenhouse.

Class: Cycadopsida
Order: Cycadales
Family: Zamiaceae, same family as the “cardboard palm,” posted several weeks ago, http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2013-01-11
Genus: Dioon
Plant: D. edule.
Common names:
• “Chestnut Dioon”
• “Palma de la Virgen,” belying its Mexican origin and explaining the tag in the greenhouse, “Virginia Palm”

From the University of California Museum of Paleontology, http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/seedplants/cycadophyta/cycads.html » “Cycads are an ancient group of seed plants with a crown of large compound leaves and a stout trunk. They are a minor component of the flora in tropical and subtropical regions today, but during the Jurassic Period, they were a common sight in many parts of the world. For this reason, the Jurassic is often referred to as the ‘Age of Cycads’.

“Today only a handful of cycads still exist, and many are facing possible extinction in the wild (such as Microcycas in western Cuba). However, because of their large attractive leaves, many cycads have found a home in public and private gardens around the world. … Though cycads are often known by this name [‘palm’], they are not closely related to the palms.”

Species’ page at PhytoImages, http://www.phytoimages.siu.edu/cgi-bin/dol/dol_terminal.pl?taxon_name=Dioon_edule&rank=binomial

Taken at the SIUC Plant Biology Greenhouse, http://www.plantbiology.siu.edu/facilities/plant-biology-facilities/greenhouse/index.php

One year ago (“The Swinglines’ two youngest have a question about their older brother…”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-02-26
Two years ago (“Saturday morning haunt”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-02-26

26th February 2013 26th Feb 13