Ed. Note: Much as when the Garden photographer tells you something is special, when one of the Garden’s serious plant guys shoots you an email, you sit up and listen. This happened recently when I got an email from Jon Peter, Plants Records Manager about a little purple flower.
The Botanical Garden’s living collections is among the greatest in the world and contains more than 1 million plants. Jon Peter, Plant Records Manager, periodically shines the spotlight on a particular species that can be found within our 250 acres.
This pretty flower is of Centratherum punctatum. The name Centratherum comes from the Greek kentron meaning spur and anthos meaning flower; referring to the flower having a spur-like base. The specific epithet punctatum means spotted. It goes by many common names including larkdaisy, Brazilian button flower, pineapple thistle, porcupine flower, Brazilian bachelor’s button and Manaos beauty.
In honor of The Orchid Show: On Broadway‘s public preview (today is the Member’s Preview), we decided to dedicate this week’s “Morning Eye Candy” posts to the cast of characters that will play both starring roles and bit parts in the Garden‘s ode to all things orchid and Broadway.
(photo by Mark Pfeffer)
Previously Featured Cast Members of The Orchid Show: On Broadway:
The Conservatory (photo by Garden photographer Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Six weeks, dozens of new community members, and thousands of photos later, we’re down to 12 finalists in the first ever Caribbean Garden Photo Contest! We had a blast looking at all of your gorgeous shots, and I know that our photo guru Rich Pomerantz had a really great time meeting and working with many of you in the Conservatory. But like all good things, the contest had to come to an end (even though we’re already looking forward to next year!).
And there’s still time to vote in the contest to help us determine two overall winners in the Sense of Place and Macro categories! All you need is a free Flickr, Yahoo or Google account, and then you can leave a comment on your favorite photographs. The winner in each category will be determined based upon a final tally of comments and favorites gathered from today until Monday, March 7 at noon. So get clicking and support your favorite photographer!
Scott A. Mori, Ph.D., Nathaniel Lord Britton Curator of Botany, has been studying New World rain forests for The New York Botanical Garden for over 35 years. He has witnessed an unrelenting reduction in their extent and, as a result, is concerned about their survival.
Dr. John Pipoly
Botanists at The New York Botanical Garden discover, classify, and study the evolutionary relationships of plants and fungi, their ecological interactions, and how they are used by mankind. Their tool kit for identifying and studying plants includes examining a plant’s external appearance, internal appearance, and it’s genetic makeup (done through the aid of DNA sequencing). The knowledge our students gain in their studies gives them the ability to recognize plants and fungi even when only fragments of them are available. As a result, Garden scientists are periodically called upon by authorities to identify poisonous mushrooms, herbal medicines (whether whole, or ground into powders), hallucinogenic and other plant derived drugs, and even plants associated with crimes. The latter is called forensic botany.
Last November, a Ft. Lauderdale resident spotted a container floating in a canal outside of his house. When he went to see what was inside, he was astonished to find a pair of arms and legs inside. The torso was subsequently discovered by fishermen in a nearby canal, and a severed head was discovered by employees of a hardware store in another locality. This dismembered corpse was identified by its fingerprints as Warren Danzig, whose residence was listed as the home of Jamie Saffran. When officers visited his home, they were told that Danzig was in the Dominican Republic and only used Saffrran’s home as a place to get mail.
Because plant parts, especially leaves, were mixed in with the body parts the police contacted Dr. John Pipoly, a graduate of The New York Botanical Garden/City University of New York joint Ph.D. program in 1986. Pipoly, who is an urban horticulture extension agent for Broward County, was called to help identify the plant remnants mixed in with the body parts. Pipoly is a trained plant taxonomist (a scientist who, among other things, classifies and identifies plants) so the task of figuring out the name of a plant from just its parts did not seem the impossible task that it would seem to most people. Immediately, he recognized that the leaves represented two different cultivated plants, which he suspected were the umbrella tree, Schefflera actinophylla and the Chinese privet, Ligustrum sinense. He then used the plant collections in the herbarium of the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Coral Gables to confirm his identifications. Although the umbrella tree was common in the area, Pipoly had never seen the Chinese Privet in Broward County.
Finding parts of the umbrella tree and the rare Chinese privet intermixed with the body parts as well as on the property of Jamie Saffran confirmed the suspicion of the authorities that Saffran was likely the murderer. Other evidence was the discovery of the same kind of rope found with the body and on his property as well as the use of Danzig’s credit card by Saffran to pay for part of his daughter’s education. Saffran was recently denied bond in the case.
Pipoly’s position involves many tasks, such as heading the Florida Master Gardener Program, monitoring climate change, identifying what pests attack plants, and determining what native plants are best for growing as ornamentals, but it’s unlikely he ever imagined that one day he would help solve a murder!
In case you’ve missed some of the previous installments, NYBG photography instructorRich Pomerantz has a series of how-to videos specifically designed for garden photographers. In this episode, Rich talks about the age-old technique known as the “Rule of Thirds”.
Rich has an upcoming class that will be based out of our Midtown Education Center but will take photo trips to the High Line Park. Be sure to sign up while spots are still available. The flora should be amazing in May!
Do you have a burning question garden photography question that we can pose to Rich? Maybe your question will turn into the next tutorial! You can leave your suggestions in the comments.
In anticipation of opening day of The Orchid Show: On Broadway, we decided to dedicate this week’s “Morning Eye Candy” posts to the cast of characters that will play both starring roles and bit parts in the Garden‘s ode to all things orchid and Broadway.
(photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Previously Featured Cast Members of The Orchid Show: On Broadway:
Ed. note: Here at the Garden, we are surrounded by plants and knowledgeable plant people, which means that even the average Garden employee/cubicle dweller tends to soak up a lot of information about how to best care for our plants. To many at the Garden, this immersion, combined with a nascent love of plants plus easy access information has driven us to practice what we preach in the form of tending a windowsill garden. On occasional Wednesdays, we’ll introduce you to some of the Garden’s many windowsill gardeners. We hope you enjoy this look at what our window gardeners grow.
Who are you and what do you do at the Garden? Amy Litt, Director of Plant Genomics and Cullman Curator. I study how plant genes differ among species and how those differences in genes are responsible for differences in plant form and function. In other words I study the genetic basis of plant diversity. I also teach and mentor graduate, undergraduate, and high school students.
What kind of plants do you have in your windowsill garden?
Mostly ferns, and one tiny “living stone.” The latter is a type of desert-adapted plant that grows in the driest parts of Africa. It has almost no stem and very fleshy leaves which store water; it only has 2-4 leaves at a time, and it grows in rocky soil that covers it up to the tops of the fat leaves, to keep it cooler from the hot sun. There are some for sale in the Garden Shop.
In anticipation of opening day of The Orchid Show: On Broadway, we decided to dedicate this week’s “Morning Eye Candy” posts to the cast of characters that will play both starring roles and bit parts in the Garden‘s ode to all things orchid and Broadway.
(photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Previously Featured Cast Members of The Orchid Show: On Broadway:
In ancient Greek the word for theatre (theatron) means a place for seeing. As the New York born actress, Stella Adler once said ‘It is the place people come to see the truths about life’. The Orchid Show: On Broadway with the award-winning set designer Scott Pask and image maker Drew Hodges will be celebrating the universal truth that myriad members of the Orchidaceae family are some of the biggest divas in the plant world.
In the 19th century, Covent Garden used to rely on the brilliant white light produced by lime or calcium flares to illuminate their leading ladies hence the expression “in the limelight”. Every year when the long and dreary winter extends endlessly the Garden explodes with light, color and sensual perfumes from the Orchid Show.
Brassia or spider orchids will send shivers up your spine; Oncidium or dancing ladies mimic tiny flamenco dancers dangling from their flowery spikes and their perfume is often enticing. Ondontoglossum will grab you with the barbs on their labellum; mother natures’ way of giving insects something to take hold of when they feed and pollinate. One of my favorites, Zygopetalum will be giving the ensemble a run for their money with their exquisite hyacinth perfume.
Leave the lime flares at home – most of these orchids like bright dappled light similar to the conditions of their native rainforest homes. The Zygopetalum is semi-terrestrial and prefers a slightly damp moisture-retentive mix that is capable of providing good drainage. The rest of the troupe are epiphytic and do best if you saturate them with water (a heavy rain storm) and then let to begin to dry out. Many of the orchids you will find in the show are complex hybrids that are easy to care for.
With the theatrical backdrop, the producers of the show will make sure that they look their best for opening night. These ladies have their routine down and will not disappoint. The Orchid Show will be open on Saturday March 5th (Friday, March 4th for Member’s Only) and runs until Monday, April 25th.
Home Gardening Demonstrations on basic orchid care will be given on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 and 3:30 p.m. There will also be Cabaret performances in the afternoon. Visit our website for full details of events.
In anticipation of opening day of The Orchid Show: On Broadway, we decided to dedicate this week’s “Morning Eye Candy” posts to the cast of characters that will play both starring roles and bit parts in the Garden‘s ode to all things orchid and Broadway.
(photo by Mark Pfeffer)
Previously Featured Cast Members of The Orchid Show: On Broadway:
In ancient Greek the word for theatre (theatron) means a place for seeing. As the New York born actress, Stella Adler once said ‘It is the place people come to see the truths about life’. 