Magnolias and Cherry Trees in Hyde Park

In April I went to London to visit some friends for Easter Sunday Lunch and the Massacre of Golden Chocolate Bunnies. On the way I had to make my way through Hyde Park which had some flower beds.

While I'd expected to see more flowers Hyde Park seemed more about vast expanses of lawn with numerous paths and a scattering of trees. Given the size of Hyde Park and how I was trying to navigate across it using Google maps I suppose that impression may be mistaken. On top of that Google maps could not quite make up its mind as to where exactly I was which led me to taking me by a circuitous route instead of the straight bee line to the spot I wanted to get too did not help.

Nevertheless I did get to see some interesting sights which included a stream and small waterfall and some Mangolias and Cherry Trees.

I wanted to take a bit more time to explore and take pictures but was not sure how long it would take me to get across Hyde Park let alone find and navigate the streets and alleys I had to to get to my destination.

As it was, thanks to Goggle maps's uncertainty it was a good thing I did not linger. One area that I had hope to see were the lilies in the Italian Garden but they were empty when I passed them as the water lilies were no doubt still dormant.

Cherry Tree in Hyde Park

Hopefully I will be able to arrange another visit to London during the Waterlily blooming period. Well ... considering that I have yet to visit Kew Gardens that is something to add to my list of things to do.


 Binomial Name: Magnolia

Common names: Magnolia (English); (French); (Samoan); 

Taxonomic hierarchy: 

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae – Green plants

Infrakingdom: Streptophyta – Land plants

Superdivision: Embryophytea – 
Division: Tracheophyta – Vascular plants, tracheophytes

Subdivision: Spermatophytina – Spermatophytes (seed plants)

Infradivision: Angiospermae – Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class: Magnoliopsida – Diocotyledons

Superorder: Magnolianae –

Order: Magnoliales –

Family: Magnoliaceae – 

Genus: Magnolia – 

Species: Magnolia 

Notes: 

• I am using the taxonomical classification system used by ITIS (Intergrated Taxonomic Information System). I have decided to use this system in order to avoid confusion as well as because it offers a comprehensive hierarchy from kingdom right through to subspecies whereas other sources only go as far as order or  provide the names of some of the higher taxonomical ranks but only indicate "unclassified" rather than providing the rank.
• When and where possible I will endeavour to include alternatives classifications although  I may limit this to occasions where an opportunity arises to discuss the reason for the different classifications.
• Taxonomical data used in this post was retrieved [April 15 2015], from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database, http://www.itis.gov.

References:

Books:

• 
  

On-line sources:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Entry for Magnolia
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Entry for Magnoliaceae
• United States Department of Agriculture: Entry for
• The Plant List: Entry for
• University of Tennessee Herbarium Entry for
  
• 
  
• Texas A & M University: Entry for
  
• Missouri Botanical Garden: Entry for
  
• 
  
• Dave's Garden Entry for
• Wikipedia: Entry for Magnolia
• Wikipedia: Entry for Magnoliaceae
• Wikipedia: Entry for

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/

· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Magnolias in Fort Royal Gardens Bristol

Last week I decided that since I was going to be in the area that I would make a quick visit to the Fort Royal Gardens. I knew that I would have missed the fine display of crocuses and some of the earlier Spring flowers but hope that the Magnolias at least would still be in bloom.

Magnolia cylindrica in Fort Royal Gardens, Bristol, England

As you can see, I was not disappointed. As I came down the footpath from Fort Royal House I spied the blooms of one of the two Magnolias through a window of vegetation. Then, instead of continuing down the path I went left up a path that had previously been cordoned off, which led to an overlook of the small enclosure below the curtain wall that runs along one length of the enclosure that the two Magnolias are found. There I had a great view of the smaller Magnolia and a Cherry tree with white blooms which was on the street outside of the Gardens themselves. I'd never seen the Cherry tree because when you are inside the Gardens the boundary walls are too high and you have to walk through the small rear door / gate to see it.

Magnolia stellata in Fort Royal Gardens, Bristol, England

Last year in March I saw two Baba Mama Martenitsa Dolls hanging from its branches. I did not see any this time. Either the person or people who hung them up there last time were no longer in Bristol or the dolls had been taken down already. If you want to know more about them click on the link to my previous post on them.

Magnolia stellata in Fort Royal Gardens, Bristol, England

Here (below) is the bigger tree although in truth it is not that much bigger although its flowers certainly are much bigger.

Magnolia cylindrica in Fort Royal Gardens, Bristol, England

The ground below the bigger Magnolia was already strewn with fallen petals so I am glad I did not leave it too late to visit the gardens because I might have missed them altogether. I think that they will still be in bloom for another few weeks given that there were still a lot of flower buds developing. But, the thing about Magnolias is that when they are in bloom, they are worth visiting over and over again. That is unless you are lucky and have one in your garden or in a neighbors garden, which you can admire.
In Brussels there is one right across the street. There is also another one which is in a garden adjacent to Tillens Block. I have seen several other Magnolias throughout Bristol and hope that I will be able to take photos of the to show you the different colours and shapes.

Flowers of Magnolia cylindrica in Fort Royal Gardens, Bristol, England

The thing with some flowers is that sometimes even after their petals fall off or they dry up, they still somehow manage to look beautiful and or intriguing. If you want to see more Magnolias, scroll down to the Labels (on the right hand side) and look for Magnolia. That should take you to all the current posts that have Magnolias in them.

Close up of flower that has lost all its petals. Magnolia cylindrica in Fort Royal Gardens, Bristol, England

From what I have been able to find on line it appears that the smaller tree is a Magnolia stellata (although it might be a Magnolia x loebneri "Leonard Messel" AGM, which is a hybrid of Magnolia stellata and Magnolia Kobus which was created by Max Löbner.
The other one looks like Magnolia cylindrica although I'm not sure anymore after seeing other photos that show different looking flowers and fruit (which I never saw on this tree). However, it the flowers look a lot like the ones on the Missouri Botanical gardens website so i am going to assume that this is correct and that I just have never seen the fruit. Also it is a species in threat of extinction and listed on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. this is due to habitat loss in the Huang-Shan mountain range in Anhui Province, China.

Binomial Name: Magnolia cylindrica

Common names: Huang-Shan Magnolia (English);


Binomial Name: Magnolia stellata
Common names: Star Magnolia (English); Magnolia étoilé (French); Magnolia estrellada (Spanish); Stern-Magnolie (German); Magnolia stellata (Italian)

 

 Binomial Name: Magnolia kobus
Common names: Kobushi Magnolia (English); Magnolia de Kobé (French); Magnolia kobus, Magnolia del Norte del Japón (Spanish); Kobushi-Magnolien (German); Magnolia stellata (Italian)

Taxonomic hierarchy: 

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae – Green plants

Infrakingdom: Streptophyta – Land plants

Superdivision: Embryophytea – 
Division: Tracheophyta – Vascular plants, tracheophytes

Subdivision: Spermatophytina – Spermatophytes (seed plants)

Infradivision: Angiospermae – Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class: Magnoliopsida – Diocotyledons

Superorder: Magnolianae –

Order: Magnoliales –

Family: Magnoliaceae – 

Genus: Magnolia – 

Species: Magnolia 

Notes: 

• I am using the taxonomical classification system used by ITIS (Intergrated Taxonomic Information System). I have decided to use this system in order to avoid confusion as well as because it offers a comprehensive hierarchy from kingdom right through to subspecies whereas other sources only go as far as order or  provide the names of some of the higher taxonomical ranks but only indicate "unclassified" rather than providing the rank.
• When and where possible I will endeavour to include alternatives classifications although  I may limit this to occasions where an opportunity arises to discuss the reason for the different classifications.
• Taxonomical data used in this post was retrieved [April 16 2015], from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database, http://www.itis.gov.

References:

Books:

• 
  

On-line sources:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Entry for Magnolia
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Entry for Magnoliaceae
• United States Department of Agriculture: Entry for
• The Plant List: Entry for
• University of Tennessee Herbarium Entry for
  
• Royal Horticultural Society Article: Magnolia
• Royal Horticultural Society Article: Magnolia campbelii Survey 2015
• Royal Horticultural Society Article: Magnolia x leobneri "Leonard Messel"
• Royal Horticultural Society: Entry for Magnolia stellata
• Missouri Botanical Garden: Entry for Magnolia cylindrica
• Floridata Entry for Magnolia stellata
• Dave's Garden Entry for
• Wikipedia: Entry for Magnoliales
• Wikipedia: Entry for Magnoliaceae
• Wikipedia: Entry for Magnolia
• Wikipedia: Entry for Magnolia stellata
• Wikipedia: Entry for Magnolia kobus
• Top Tropicals: Entry for Tropical Magnolias
• Top Tropicals: Entry for Magnolia stellata
• Top Tropicals:Entry for Magnolia cylindrica

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/

· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Strange Relatives: Theobroma cacao and Hibiscus

Who would have imagined that the cocao tree, Theobroma cacao (from which cocoa products like chocolate are derived) belongs to the same family as the hibiscus, Malvaceae. The small tree is native to the Central and Southern Americas and was cultivated and used by the native Mesoamerican civilizations for millennia for culinary, medicinal and ceremonial purposes. It was also used as currency much like pepper and salt was used as currency in various parts of the world.

On a recent visit to the University of Bristol Botanical Gardens in search of some other plants I found myself in the greenhouses looking a small tree whose leaves reminded me of the cocao tree. On closer inspection I was proven right when I saw the familiar miniature flowers.

Unfortunately it appeared that the tree was infected with Black pod disease. This is caused by Phytophthora a genus of seven species which can all cause this.


Additional Information:

Scientific Name: Theobroma cacao

Common names: Cacao tree, cocoa tree (English);  (French); (German); Violeta de barranca (Spanish);

Taxonomic hierarchy: 

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae – Green plants

Infrakingdom: Streptophyta – Land plants

Division: Tracheophyta – Vascular plants

Subdivision: Spermatophytina – Spermatophytes (seed plants)

Infradivision: Angiospermae – Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class: Magnoliopsida –

Superorder: Asteranae –

Order: Lamiales –

Family: Malvaceaeaceae –

Genus: Theobroma – 

Species: Theobroma cacao– 

Scientific Name: Hibiscus

Common names: Cacao tree, cocoa tree (English);  (French); (German); Violeta de barranca (Spanish);

Taxonomic hierarchy: 

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae – Green plants

Infrakingdom: Streptophyta – Land plants

Division: Tracheophyta – Vascular plants

Subdivision: Spermatophytina – Spermatophytes (seed plants)

Infradivision: Angiospermae – Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class: Magnoliopsida –

Superorder: Asteranae –

Order: Lamiales –

Family: Malvaceaeaceae –

Genus: Theobroma – 

Species: Theobroma cacao–

Notes: 

• I am using the taxonomical classification system used by ITIS (Intergrated Taxonomic Information System). I have decided to use this system in order to avoid confusion as well as because it offers a comprehensive hierarchy from kingdom right through to subspecies whereas other sources only go as far as order or  provide the names of some of the higher taxonomical ranks but only indicate "unclassified" rather than providing the rank.
• When and where possible I will endeavour to include alternatives classifications although  I may limit this to occasions where an opportunity arises to discuss the reason for the different classifications.
• Taxonomical data used in this post was retrieved [June 15 2014], from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database, http://www.itis.gov.

References:


On-line sources:

• Royal Horticultural Society: Entry for
• Kew Royal Botanical Gardens: Entry for Theobroma cacao
• Official Website of the: Bristol University Botanical Gardens 
•  
• World of Pinguicula: Entry for 
• Missouri Botanical gardens: Entry for 
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database: Entry for 
• Seedaholic: Entry for 
•  

• Wikipedia: Entry for Theobroma cacao
• Wikipedia: Entry for Theobroma
• Wikipedia: Entry for Hibiscus
• Wikipedia: Entry for Hibisceae
• Wikipedia: Entry for Malvaceae
• Wikipedia: Entry for Malvales

Additional resources:


Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Planting some Garden Onions, Allium cepa

 Garden Onion Allium cea -
Two red onions and a regular onion

During February while browsing through the selection of bulbs, seeds, seedlings and shoots I came across some packets of onion bulbs. They only had the red and brown varieties but since I tend to use red onions in my salads I picked up a bag of Red Baron seed bulbs.Since it was still cold outside and we'd had hail and generally typical winter weather I thought it best not to plant anything outside. Given the limited room in my bedroom I decided that to give the onions a head start I could try planting them in a cell tray and then transplant them later. That way by the time they had some leaves and a nice healthy set of roots I could transplant them into a bigger container and then put them outside on the roof. By then the weather should be more clement.

Garden Onion Allium cepa

The other thing was that I wanted to try out this mycorrhizal fungi preparation which is supposed to help the plants' growth by developing a secondary set of roots. In a nut shell mycorrhizal fungi have a symbiotic relationship with their hosts. In essence it improved the ability of their hosts to extract nutrients from the soil.
The whole topic is quite fascinating so I will be doing at least one post dedicated to discussing these fascinating organisms and their relationship with plants. That is aside from the other posts I have planned on fungi. So keep an eye out for these.

Garden Onion Allium cepa

A few weeks after I planted the bulbs in the seed tray most had sprouted leaves and when I pulled one up to check its roots I was pleased to discover that it had a nice set. I ended up potting that in a small pot all by itself. Then a few weeks later I got some planting troughs and transplanted the rest. I filled two planting troughs with ten (10) each and popped them out onto the roof.

Onions are in the two plastic terracotta pots on the right.

The handful left got distributed into other pots with other plants which will make things interesting considering I did not keep tabs which post they went into other than that they were mainly with other bulbs. I still have some more bulbs left and have been trying to decide if I should plant them too or at least pop them into a cell tray to at least get them started while I figure out what to do with them or where to put them because at the end of the day what am I going to do with thirty plus onions come harvest time?


Genus Name: Allium cepa
Common names: Onion, Garden onion (English);  (Danish);  (Dutch);  (German);  (French);  (Italian);  (Spanish);(Samoan);

Taxonomic hierarchy: 

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae – Green plants

Infrakingdom: Streptophyta – Land plants

Superdivision: Embryophytea – 
Division: Tracheophyta – Vascular plants, tracheophytes

Subdivision: Spermatophytina – Spermatophytes (seed plants)

Infradivision: Angiospermae – Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class: Magnoliopsida – Diocotyledons

Superorder: Lilianae – Monocots, monocotyledons

Order: Asparagales –

Family: Amaryllidaceae – 

Subfamily: Lilioideae – 
Tribe: Amaryllidioeae – 
Genus: Allium – 

Species: Allium cepa

Notes: 

• I am using the taxonomical classification system used by ITIS (Intergrated Taxonomic Information System). I have decided to use this system in order to avoid confusion as well as because it offers a comprehensive hierarchy from kingdom right through to subspecies whereas other sources only go as far as order or  provide the names of some of the higher taxonomical ranks but only indicate "unclassified" rather than providing the rank.
• When and where possible I will endeavour to include alternatives classifications although  I may limit this to occasions where an opportunity arises to discuss the reason for the different classifications.
• Taxonomical data used in this post was retrieved [February 26 2015], from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database, http://www.itis.gov.

References:

Books:

• 
  
•  

Articles:

• Gianinazzi-Pearson, Vivienne "Plant cell responses to Arbuscular Mycorrhzial Fungi: getting to the roots of the symbiosis" in The Plant Cel, Vol 8, 1887-1883, October 1996. American Society of Plant Physiologists. P

PDF

PDF


pdf

On-line sources:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Entry for Allium cepa
• Kew Royal Botanical gardens: Entry for Allium cepa
• United States Department of Agriculture: Entry for
• The Plant List: Entry for 
• University of Tennessee Herbarium Entry for
• Missouri Botanical Garden: Entry for 
•  Thompson & Morgan: How to grow garlic
• NHS: Is garlic and everyday superfood?
• Dave's Garden Entry for 
• Good food: Entry for Garlic
• Wikipedia: Entry for Asparagales
• Wikipedia: Entry for Amaryllidaceae
• Wikipedia: Entry for Allium
• Wikipedia: Entry for Allioidea
• Wikipedia: Entry for Allium ampeloprasum
• Wikipedia: Entry for Elephant garlic
• Wikipedia: Entry for Onion
• Wikipedia: Entry for Garlic
• Wikipedia: Entry for Infra-specific
• Wikipedia: Entry for 
• Wikipedia: Entry for Arbuscular mycorrhiza
• Wikipedia: Entry for Basidiomycota
• Wikipedia: Entry for Ascomycota
• Wikipedia: Entry for Zygomycota
• Wikipedia: Entry for Glomeromycota 
• Wikipedia: Entry for 

http://treesforlife.org.uk/forest/ecology/mycorrhizas/
http://www.thenaturalgardener.co.uk/mycorrhizal_fungi.php

http://www.rootgrow.co.uk/mycorrhizal-fungi.html
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=633


Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/

· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Lilies

I picked this Lily up at a flower store. Unfortunately they did not have any indication as to the name, binomial let alone vernacular. I assume it is a hybrid since it seems that flower store tend to sell hybrids. But I could be wrong.

In any case it was quite striking and had a subtle scent unless you stuck your nose into it (like I did) to really get a lungful. There were three stalks and they each produced about three flowers.

I ended up taking some photos with different coloured backgrounds. The lighting in these might be a bit strange. That is because I took them at night and the bedroom light tends to give photos a weird yellowish tinge but I have a radiant heater which gives of a bright light which in some photos comes out as a orange glow.

Unfortunately although my camera does have a macro function it cannot take super macros. However, I did manage to get some halfway decent close ups in an effort to show the spikey bits at the base of the petals just around the stamens. You can also see the pollen grains on the anthers and some stuck on the stigma.

Latter I took some more photos during the day. This was a bit later and you can see all the pollen dusting the petals. The spikes at the base of the petals is not all that obvious which is a pity because they added to the exotic beauty of the flowers.

This is the best macro my camera could get. Eventually I will graduate to a more advanced camera with changeable lenses and I will get a lens specifically designed for macros. First I need to master the camera I have. So, sorry for not being able to provide photos that are more detailed.

These lilies are now withered although for some reason I expected them to stay green and hopefully produce another batch of flowers. I guess not. In any case I bought a handful of bulbs which are growing. So sometime soon, perhaps in a few months I will start having a blaze of colours, not to mention a profusion of scents. I am looking forward to taking lots of photos to share with everyone.

Genus Name: Lilium

Common names: Lily (English); Lilje (Danish); Lilie (Dutch); Lilien (German); Lys, Lis (French); Giglio (Italian); Lirio (Spanish);(Samoan); 

Taxonomic hierarchy: 

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae – Green plants

Infrakingdom: Streptophyta – Land plants

Superdivision: Embryophytea – 
Division: Tracheophyta – Vascular plants, tracheophytes

Subdivision: Spermatophytina – Spermatophytes (seed plants)

Infradivision: Angiospermae – Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class: Magnoliopsida – Diocotyledons

Superorder: Lilianae – Monocots, monocotyledons

Order: Liliales –

Family: Liliaceae – 

Subfamily: Lilioideae – 
Tribe: Lilieae – 
Genus: Lilium – 

Species: Lilium unknown species

Notes: 

• I am using the taxonomical classification system used by ITIS (Intergrated Taxonomic Information System). I have decided to use this system in order to avoid confusion as well as because it offers a comprehensive hierarchy from kingdom right through to subspecies whereas other sources only go as far as order or  provide the names of some of the higher taxonomical ranks but only indicate "unclassified" rather than providing the rank.
• When and where possible I will endeavour to include alternatives classifications although  I may limit this to occasions where an opportunity arises to discuss the reason for the different classifications.
• Taxonomical data used in this post was retrieved [February 11 2015], from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database, http://www.itis.gov.

References:

Books:

• Jefferson-Brown Michael, HRS Wisley Handbooks: Lilies, Royal Horticultural Society, 2008

On-line sources:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Entry for Lilium
• United States Department of Agriculture: Entry for
• The Plant List: Entry for 
• University of Tennessee Herbarium Entry for
• Missouri Botanical Garden: Entry for 
• 
  
• Dave's Garden Entry for
• Wikipedia: Entry for Lilium
• Wikipedia: Entry for Liliaceae
• Wikipedia: Entry for Liliales
• Wikipedia: Entry for 

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/

· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/