DESKTOP 2535 - THE BIRDS

Worrying view from your window if you've just watched Hitchcock's "The Birds"...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

DESKTOP 2534 - STREPTOCARPUS

A popular house plant, Streptocarpus, is an Afrotropical genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae (the Gesneriads). The genus is native to Afromontane biotopes from central, eastern and southern Africa, including Madagascar. The flowers are five-petalled, salverform tubes, almost orchid-like in appearance, and hover or arch over the plant. In the wild, species can be found growing on shaded rocky hillsides or cliffs, on the ground, in rock crevices, and almost anywhere the seed can germinate and grow. For the home, there are now many hybrids of various colours and forms available.

The genus is defined by having a spirally twisted fruit (from Greek via Latin, where strepto = twisted, carpus = fruit - Greek: Στρεπτόκαρπος), although this character is also found in some other Old World genera of Gesneriaceae. Although generally referred to simply as "Streptocarpus", or "Streps", the common name for subgenus Streptocarpus is "Cape Primrose", referring to the nativity of several species to South Africa and their superficial resemblance to the genus Primula.

The common name for subgenus Streptocarpella is "Nodding Violet". There are a few odd Asian species of Streptocarpus that however do not belong in the genus. Molecular systematics has shown conclusively that they are not true Streptocarpus and should be placed in another genus. DNA studies have shown that, despite not having a twisted fruit, the genus Saintpaulia (African Violets) evolved from within the Tanzanian Streptocarpus subgenus Streptocarpella. This particular hybrid with the striking dark blue flowers is  "Anderson's Crows' Wings".

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 2533 - RAINY DAY

A really wintry day by the Yarra River in Yarra Bend Park in suburban Melbourne.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

DESKTOP 2532 - PRAMBANAN TEMPLE, JAVA

Prambanan or Rara Jonggrang (Javanese: ꦫꦫꦗꦺꦴꦁꦒꦿꦁ, romanized: Rara Jonggrang) is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimūrti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the Preserver (Vishnu) and the Transformer (Shiva). The temple compound is located approximately 17 kilometres (11 mi) northeast of the city of Yogyakarta on the boundary between Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces.

The temple compound, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia and the second-largest in Southeast Asia. It is characterized by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu architecture, and by the towering 47-metre-high (154 ft) central building inside a large complex of individual temples. Prambanan attracts many visitors from around the world.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 2531 - ON A WALK

Amazing what one sees on a long walk...

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme.

DESKTOP 2530 - AT THE MARKET

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

DESKTOP 2529 - BOATS

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

DESKTOP 2528 - MORNING SILHOUETTES

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

DESKTOP 2527 - CYMBIDIUM ORCHID

Cymbidium, or boat orchids, is a genus of 52 evergreen species in the orchid family Orchidaceae. It was first described by Olof Swartz in 1799. The name is derived from the Greek word kumbos, meaning 'hole, cavity'. It refers to the form of the base of the lip. The genus is abbreviated Cym in horticultural trade. This genus is distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia (such as northern India, China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Borneo) and northern Australia. The larger flowered species from which the large flowered hybrids are derived grow at high altitudes.

Cymbidium plants are sympodial and grow to a height of 60 cm and the racemes as high as 90 cm. The raceme grows from the base of the most recent pseudobulb. Each flower can have a diameter of 5 to 10 cm, according to the species. They bloom during the winter, and each plant can have up to fifteen or more flowers. The fantastic range of colours for this genus include white, green, yellowish-green, cream, yellow, brown, pink, and red [and orange] and black (and there may be markings of other colour shades at the same time), but not blue.

The flowers last about ten weeks. They have a waxy texture. The rounded sepals and petals have about the same dimensions. They show very diverse colour patterns, different for every species. Cymbidium is one of the most popular and desirable orchids in the world because of the beautiful flowers. These plants make great houseplants, and are also popular in floral arrangements and corsages. They have been cultivated for thousands of years, especially in China. Cymbidiums became popular in Europe during the Victorian era. One feature that makes the plant so popular is the fact that it can survive during cold temperatures (as low as 7˚ C or 45˚ F).

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 2526 - WEB

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.