Archive for October, 2013
Perry is Blooming!
This will be just a quick post. The photo below is of Perry, Serenity Mahoney (Gustavus ’15), and Bryan Voigt (Gustavus ’15), taken at 10:08 this morning. Perry had begun to open earlier in the morning, and is now nearly fully open (3:35). More photos to follow in another post.
Perry Powerhouse
Perry the Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus titanum) has grown massively since my last post, and is nearing anthesis. I and various Perryophiles, including a growing number of students, have been documenting this reach for the sky. See captions on each of the photos for details of the surge. Click here for three live streaming Perry webcams. […]
Perry’s Spadix Emerges
The rapid growth of Perry the Corpse Flower’s inflorescence continues to transfix all who are viewing it. The students (Nate Friedley ’15, Serenity Mahoney ’15, Nick Ulen ’15, and alumnus Tuan Tran ’13) and I had photo shoots with Perry this past Wednesday (October 16) and Friday (October 18). The Friday session was coupled with […]
Perry’s Sleepy Interlude
Perry the Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus titanum) went to sleep in July, only to re-awaken in September. That two-month snooze was the shortest so far. Perry’s first post-leaf sleep lasted nearly nine months; the second one was four months (and I was shocked at how short that one was…). The pictures in this post depict Perry […]
Perry Smiles, Anthesis is Near
It’s now official – Perry the Corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) will bloom soon! We were able to detect a bit of spathe by peeking into Perry’s shoot during the photo session this past Friday (October 11). Over the weekend, Perry smiled in all his/her glory, and this morning (Monday) at about 10:00 we had a […]
Perry’s Smile Brews
Perry the Corpse Flower’s shoot continues to grow rapidly in both height and girth. We took some pictures today (October 11) of Perry with now-standard Perryophiles Nate Friedley (Gustavus ’15), Serenity Mahoney (Gustavus ’15), and Nick Ulen (Gustavus ’15), shown left-to-right in the photo. For direct comparison, I’ve included a photo from last week’s blog […]
Wooly Bear Caterpillar, Interpreting the Fall Landscape
The following is a submission from a Gustavus student in Dr. Cindy Johnson’s “Interpreting the Fall Landscape” class held in the Arboretum. Special thanks to Dr. Johnson and her students….. “Look Out!” by Sara Lundgren ’15 As a cross-country runner I run across many creatures on the side of the road almost daily. Recently […]
New England Prairie Aster, Interpreting the Fall Landscape
The following is a submission from a Gustavus student in Dr. Cindy Johnson’s “Interpreting the Fall Landscape” class held in the Arboretum. Special thanks to Dr. Johnson and her students….. New England Prairie Aster by Jennifer Steffen September 24th, 2013 Sunny; fair skies; Temp Low 70’s I was out in Purple Coneflower Prairie a little […]
Perry is Popping
Perry the Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus titanum) is growing like Jack’s Beanstalk! The new shoot appeared about two weeks into September (see the photo from September 13, scaled to Tuan’s hand), and it was, as of Friday, October 4, approaching 20 inches / 50 centimeters in height! I won’t make a declaration as to the nature […]
Insights From a Fall Tree
Maple leaf Falling down Showing front Showing back -Ryokan, Japanese Zen poet It is officially autumn. The birds and squirrels are busy creating caches of seeds for the winter, the grasshoppers are busily eating all the grass, and the leaves are changing color. I know that a lot of people have mixed feelings about this […]