Plant of the day is: Alstroemeria spp. or Peruvian lily

Alstroemeria spp. or Peruvian lily

Well I think the picture says it all really why this should warrant a plant of the day spot.  The flower above is most likely a result of interspecific crosses and lots of dedication and hard work.  A shout out to the breeders!  As noted below in Taxonomy I initially was abhorred by the length of the family name and then remembered that I've been seeing Alstroemeria in catalogs for a couple years now and it's not THAT hard to roll off the tongue.  

Taxonomy:  This is the type genus of the family Alstroemeriaceae or the Peruvian lily family.  It is a relatively small family with only 4 genera but those 4 genera do give us about 200 species.  Another really neat genus of this family is Bomarea which is a vine that produces some (often) very pretty showy flowers.  The species Bomarea edulis has been used since pre-Columbian times as a food source (the tubers are edible).

ID:  Well, you should be able to guess right off the bat that this puppy is a monocot, see those flower parts in 3?  Not 6...3 :P.  Well, the "roots" consist of a slender rhizome that forms larger "sausage like" structures that look a bit like thicker tubers.  According to Wiki it looks a bit like a Dahlia.  Comparing the pictures they are a bit different though, the "tuber" like structures on the Alstroemeria are not as tightly grouped as Dahlia.

 Dahlia roots

Alstroemeria roots

                                  

I spoil you guys...  anyways though so the rhizome on Alstroemeria is apparently a little dainty until ya consider its sausages.  Felco shout out!  If you bothered to make it this far this plant, and the family have an awesome and interesting characteristic.  Resupinate leaves!  Thanks to Wiki for have a link to resupinate.  Fancy word for the leaves actually flipping upside down.  Basically they twist at the base of the leaf so that what you see as the upper leaf surface is actually the bottom.  If it weren't so damned late and I had more time I'd like to dig into why oh why it would do this, there is always a reason...

Culture:  Most of the hybrids you'll run into originate from South American species.  The only species note on MoBot's page for Alstroemeria aurea mentions that it is zone 7 hardy.  Last winter, they would have lived in the ground most likely.  They do like medium moisture well drained soils (like everything in the garden seemingly) and in our brutal summers I imagine they would appreciate afternoon shade or a part sun/dappled sunlight spot (this according to MoBot but I should think that sounds spot on...feel free to chime in Jason).  They can be overwintered inside in containers or dug from the soil but again MoBot says the rhizomes are very brittle and hard to dig.  Make sure not to water them.

There is much more I could share abou the ID and the culture and on and on...I recommend any avid gardener give this plant a look for the garden or perhaps to try as an indoor plant.  What a lovely looking flower and there is a lot of information/stories about this plant to be found.  It's a beaut.  Did I mention they are really popular for cut flower arrangements?  See...it never ends....ahhhhh!

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/plant-finder/plant-details/kc/a436/alstroemeria-aurea.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alstroemeria

Plant of the day is: Alseuosmia macrophylla or toropapa

Plant of the day is Alseuosmia macrophylla or toropapa/karapapa 

Well, we'll just see if Jade Lee reads these things.  As she is fan of its habitat range...and maybe she saw some of them?

Range:  This little guy is endemic to the north part of the north island of New Zealand.  It is present throughout the island but on the volcanic plateau it is replaced by another species A. turneri.  It can also be found on the south island but only on the north and west parts of it.  

Taxonomy:  This is the type genus for the small family Alseuosmiaceae ...yet ..NOT one that rolls off the tongue well.  This one is going to be a challange to get to stick I'm afraid.  Depending on where you look there are up to 3 genera included in the family but most often just Alseuosmia and Crispiloba (crispy lobes?? heh).  

ID:  The info on this stuff is pretty limited from what I'm finding just as a warning.  I believe the leaves are alternate but from looking at pictures look like they are almost subopposite sometimes. The flowers are kind of pinkish red.  This is an evergreen and the leaves are serrated/dentate.  Stem also looks very green.  Can grow to about 1.5m high and 1 wide so essentially a shrub.  Apparently semi woody.  The flowers are very fragant and for a mini etymology lesson, Alseuosmia means "fragrant grove."  Macrophylla obviously means "big leaf."

Culture:  Likes moist, shady, well drained spots.  Link refers to loving a rotting log in the woods.

Overall this is a very attractive and nifty plant.  It can be rooted with varying degrees of success from cuttings, layers well, and seed can be hard to germinate.  Possums apparently like it?  

This plant is sold for garden use in NZ, I'm kind of surprised there isn't more readily available info but hey...I don't have that much time tonight to do more of a hunt.

That's it folks, short and sweet.  Alseuosmiaceae ...what a pain.

http://www.vibrantearth.co.nz/catalogue/plantsdetail.php?pid=62&name=Alseuosmia%20macrophylla.

http://nzpcn.org.nz/flora_details.aspx?ID=1488

Sagittaria secundifolia

Plant of the day is: Sagittaria secundifolia or Little River arrowhead

Why?:  There are over 80 species I could have chosen, so why this one?  Well, this is actually a plant native to a very small area in northeastern Alabama...the Little River if you could guess?  This plant is critically imperiled and its last known population exists in a small area of the Little River system.  It is endangered because it is very sensitive to water quality, a very sensitive indicator if you will.  The usual human causes for water/soil degradation are at fault for this species problems:  building shopping malls, surface mining, agriculture, building roads, Walmart, w/e ...*sigh*.  Other species nearby are also endangered but you can check the Wiki.  We need to treat our soil and water better though.  /end rant.

Taxonomy:  Yep, moving along with the A families.  This is a member of Alismataceae or the water-plantain family.  Alismataceae is a fairly small family with only 11 genera and between 85-95, these are generally water loving plants and mostly perennials.  They have a cosmopolitan (fancy word for wide distribution across the world) distribution and are more often found in the northern hemisphere.  See species ID notes for further morphological characteristics

Habit/Range:  Well like I said earlier, northeastern Alabama along the Little River.  For a more detailed view here is a link, and the lack of a conservation plan from the .gov site it came from.  yay.  US Forestry site does have a recovery plan though. This site lists it as occuring in 7 counties.  Finding a map of the Little River was more annoying than I was willing to get into so I'm going to contact some map nerds I know to look into this for me. 

http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=Q2VT

ID:  O.k.  the good stuff (for me).  This is a monocot and as such, they tend to have flowers in parts of 3.  This plant has 3 petals and 3 sepals.  The petals themselves are usually very short lived but are white.  Let me elaborate, the male flowers on top have white petals and the female flowers on the bottom do not have petals.  I find myself questioning now pollination methods and just not having the will to spend another 10-15 minutes figuring it out...later.  You can find these out in the wild growing right out of the bedrock at rivers edge.  When the water levels drop a bit they send out their little flower stalk and flower.  When the water levels are just right, reportedly they can float right on the water.  Super cool, what an experience that would be.  They flower from May to August so, if you in that area of the world and hiking along the river, keep an eye out!!  Seeing these flowering and growing where they grow is going to be helpful.  Unlike most other members of this genus/family it kind of lacks that characteristic arrowhead leaf formation.  In the photo below if you look you can see the flower structure coming out of the water.  Enjoy.

That's all for now, hope I get to see this plant before we destroy it.

Also for my own purposes researching, the end of these will become a kind of link dump to eliminate the need to look stuff up again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittaria_secundifolia

http://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/service/library/index.php3?docID=72&docHistory

Plant of the Day is: Akania bidwillii or turnipwood tree

Plant of the day is: Akania bidwillii or turnipwood tree

Why this plant you ask?  You guessed it.  It is the next A families on the list and it doesn't seem to be as bad of a tongue twister.  This is a tree, btw.  A tree.  It is called turnipwood because when it is cut down it gives off a bit of a foul odor similar to turnips...hey I don't make the calls.

Taxonomy:  Well this is the type genus for the family Akaniaceae.  Thankfully another small family containing Akania (which is a monotypic genus) and Bretshniedera which according to your local taxonomist could deserve its own family.  There is not a lot of easily obtainable info about family characteristics on this one.  I'll just have to give you this species traits and call it good at that for now...perhaps revist the also monotypic Bretshniedera some time (it's flowers are cooler actually).  Bretshniedera is endangered, so that, ...is a bummer

ID:  A "mid-size" tree growing up to 12 meters.  Well as you can tell the leaves are pinnately compound.  The leaves themselves are alternate and the leaflets of the leaves are arranged opposite (as you can see in the picture above).  The leaflets themselves are kind of neat and are very lanceolate and toothed.  A pretty rough looking leaflet really.  The upper side of the leaf is dark green and glossy.  The petioles of the leaves are reportedly a bit swollen.  The flowers are for the sake of sanity and to get away from morphological jaron we'll say they have 5 petals and the flowers are on panicles.  The corolla is hairy, mayhaps?  The fruit is supposed to be a dull red football looking capsule that then dries down and releases 1-2 seeds.  From the absurd bits of info I can find it can be elusive to find flowering and find fruit for.  

G'day mate!:  This species is endemic to Australia, and is a widespread but uncommon tree of New South Wales and Queensland down under.  The photo above is courtesy of Melbourne Royal Botanical Gardens actually, where you can allegedly find some of these.  I'll be looking on my next visit :).  Also I love watching this spell check light up when I use botanical terms lulz.

This was a tough one to find stuff on for having a family named after it I thought.  Gar.

Finally found an herbarium sheet!! (check them Wiki references folks...and also donate!)

http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Akania~bidwillii

Mesembryanthemum crystallinum or ice plant

Plant of the day is: Mesembryanthemum crystallinum or ice plant

Fun stuff:  This plant contains so much water that it is often planted around houses in California to protect against wildfires.  Apparently it is almost impossible to burn..  Also, notice the little bladders on the stem above, pretty neat right?

Sad stuff:  It is considered an invasive weed in California...smooth move.  Also widespread in Australia.

Taxonomy:  The next 'A' list species on my quest brings me to Aizoaceae often described as the fig-marigold family or ice plant family.  This is a family of mostly arid climate plants, about 96% of them are endemic to arid or semi arid parts of Africa.  They are generally pretty famous for having flowers that persist for quite some time.  The flowers are usually perfect (male and female organs) and lack true petals.  The sepals are often fused in a bit of a cone.  There is quite a bit of variability in the flower structure really and some look almost like daisies.  The flowers of this family are often quite spectacular and as I've been looking through these I've thoroughly enjoyed the colors...Doreanthus is another great genus here to check out!  Good PotD for my next trip around.

Edible:  Yep, leaves are edible, high water content.  Probably a great find out in a dry place if you need it.  One definitely worth knowing for those in southwestern California and parts of Arizona.  You'll actually be removing a weed while doing it.  Win.  (P.S.  don't eat anything you haven't 100% identified ...don't be a moron clause).

Crystals:  If you don't look at the pictures here on Wiki you are a chump, they are fantastic and give you a little insight into why the species is crystallinum.

Flowers and entymology:  So this particular species closes its flowers up at night to protect its gametes/organs/naughty bits/what-have-you  and opens in the day time.  Because of this, when the species was first named back in 1684 by Jacob Breyne, the greek roots of Mesembrianthemum (the genus) meant "noon flower."  Later on it was discovered that there were indeed night flowering species and the name was changed to Mesembryanthemum or "middle fruit"  ...middle/noon kinda the same thing as you can see.  Silly that one vowel changes the meaning that much but whatever.

The nerd find:  I try to find at least a few things off the beaten Wiki path for anyone that actually makes it this far.  This one is a sweet find.  Depending on the moisture availability, this plant will switch from a C3 to CAM photosynthetic pathway.  This is pretty damned amazing from an evolutionary standpoint...that kind of energetic elegance is truly amazing...crazy stuff.  Also, the plant tends to accumulate salt, when the plant dies that salt is leached out into the soil...creating an environment suitable for itself, while decreasing competition from other plants that cannot germinate in more saline soils.  Because of the tough nature of this plant, it has spread considerably from its home in Southern Africa.  It is now a fairly troublesome plant in many areas of the world, notably in Australia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesembryanthemum

Plant of the day is: Aextoxicon puncatum

Habitat/Range:  A species endemic to the Valdivian temperate rain forests of Chile and Argentina.  These are a fairly common and native tree of these absolutely beautiful forests that I would like to visit some day.  The are usually found on the southern side of Chile's Pacific coast.  In those environments, they receive moisture most days with the longest spells without water usually only a month.  Populations of this plant (and I DUG for this tidbit :)...) are so disjunctive due to tectonic shifts in the late Tertiary period that split them up.  Kinda neat.

Taxonomy:  This is the next 'A' family to go and boy is it absurd.  Aextoxicaceae.  Really rolls of the tongue right?  The good news is that once I know this species I'm done with the family.  Aextoxicon puncatum is the sole member of family.  Pretty neato.  Just like a Ginkgo.  Bad rhyme, cool plant.

Culture:  This tree makes up the canopy of the aforementioned forests and can receive a lot of direct light OR a fair bit of shade as it is growing up to takes its place in that roll.  To handle the broad range of light it has a pretty waxy leaf, which you can see in pictures.  This both protects from the sun and limits moisture loss.  It prefers moist, well drained soils...like ...in a rain forest.  It IS actually hardy to zone 8 temperatures I think I saw down to -10C.  It can also handle short periods being covered in snow.  I'm not sure I've seen this growing anywhere in the states (could be one right here in STL and I might not know)...if anyone sees on or knows of one PLEASE let me know.

Morphology:  Well, it is a dioecious plant and as such has male and female flowers on different plants.  The flowers are ...interesting and difficult to describe.  They produce a fruit that is a drupe (think...cherry) that is kind of bluish black and doesn't look at all edible.  The leaves are slightly hairy and a bit glossy (or pubescent).  The main vector for pollination is believed to be wind.  Leaves are alternate to sub-opposite and do have a little bit of a petiole.

Bottom line:  Seems a neat tree, it is one that has been studied with great interest and ultimately I'll definitely have to come back and read up on some of the finer details of its ecological relationships.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aextoxicon