This fine specimen (Platycerium sp.) belonging to a club member began as single frond in a small hanging basket. It has never been transplanted and thirty years later has a leaf span over 6 feet and a rhizome over 3 feet in diameter. The small basket is still in there – somewhere.
a mighty Staghorn fern
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Plant TumorPlant Tumor
Do plants get cancer? The answer is, ‘Yes’, if cancer is defined as dysregulated cell growth, but typically plant cancer is different than in animals. Plant cells have a rigid cell wall that limits metastatic spreading of cancer cells through the plant. Instead, the tumor grows as a single mass called a gall. Also, most plant tumors/galls are caused by a viral infection that disrupts the normal expression of genes. Here is an example that I found in my garden. I think this is an onion bulb where the new shoot has developed as a tumor of abnormal stem/leaf cells.
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Dutch Iris (Iris hollandica). I forgot that I planted a few of these bulbs last year. What a great reminder.
European Plane TreesEuropean Plane Trees
This photo was taken in Lyon, France after a rain which made the bark on the trunk of this plane tree, Platanus acerifolia, really glisten. Related to sycamore they can grow large and tall providing wonderful shade along roads and in parks. Seen occasionally in San Diego and it is on the list of San Diego City Parks planting guide.