Two more CPs

Rounding up the, uh, carnivorous plant roundup, here are two more protein-loving veggies:

Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), red variation

Drosera dielsiana, a tropical sundew

Pitchers! (Part 2: Nepenthes)

And now, howzabout some Nepenthes, the plant genus for which I created this blog in the first place!

N. rajah, the largest pitcher plant on Earth. (No, not THIS specimen, of course!)


N. x "Red Leopard" (N. ventricosa x maxima)


N. ventricosa x pectinata


N. sibuyanensis, up close and personal

Pitchers! (Part 1: C. follicularis)

I haven't posted any shots of carnivorous plants in a long time - shame on me, after all, this IS the Pitcher Post! Well, here comes a new batch now: a few pix of my Cephalotus follicularis, the Australian Pitcher Plant.


For the gear queers amongst you:
Pentax K10D
SIGMA 105mm F2.8 EX DG Macro
Kenko extension tubes (12+20+36 mm)
Tripod
IR remote

Dragonfly Naiad Shells and Friend

These dragonflies - or rather, the naiad shells they left behind - seem to have come right out of some two-bit SciFi videogame. Insectoid Warriors from Outer Space! Soulless ectotherms with merciless eyes!

They can't be bargained with!
They can't be reasoned with!
They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear!
And they absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead!
RAAAAHHHHRGH!

Ahem. My apologies to James Cameron - guess I got a little carried away there with those AlienTerminatorFromHell similes...

Anyway, what I like about this scene is how that cutsey-wootsey little ladybug literally walks all over those fearful creatures, tearing apart and taking the piss out of of their formidable War of the Worlds appearance...

A few random shots

These are from the box labeled "POST ON BLOG, ALREADY!" that's been sitting under my desk for what seems like almost a year now...just an unconnected jumble of random shots.

Enjoy anyway!


Agapanthus africanus


Magnolia, backlighted



Water bamboo (Zizania caduciflora). Dig the artsy frame!


Duckweed forming some Central Asian country I can't remember the name of...one of those 'stans I think.


At Ch'ingshan Waterfall, Yangmingshan National Park, North Slope

Taiwan's Prettiest Arachnid

Nephila maculata (人面蛛), the largest species of the Golden Orb spiders. That tiny orange putz is her husband....but who needs men for anything else but procreation, especially if you're Queen of the Underbrush?

The Purity of the English Language

The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.

^{James Nicoll}