It was pretty bitchin’

Sings a song, sounds like she’s singin’

That’s quite the combo, but I’d smash

Always a solid choice.

Now to spend 20 minutes with the scraper to spend 20 more getting it unstuck.

These are great shots. Pileated woodpeckers are pretty cool.

The sun is falling perfectly. A great showing of the starling’s iridescence.

Fun fact: that iridescence effect is caused by different feather structures reflecting light into different wavelengths.

Winter buns! If only I could get so lucky. I’ve been on the prowl for some chilly buns since we got a decent snowfall, no luck. I’m certain I’ll get some good ones though.

I’ve got another fun fact that adjacently relates to this plant.

So the ghost pipe leeches off of those mycorrhizal fungi, but those fungi share a symbiotic relationship with the tree. The fungi help the trees absorb water and nutrients and the fungi get sugar in return. Some of the most well known plants wouldn’t be nearly as present if this relationship didn’t happen. Take wild blueberries for example. They grow in acidic soil that is poor in nutrients. They’d die without these fungi. While not all mycorrhizal relationships are necessary, a vast majority of plants have this relationship.

That blew my mind when I first read it, lol. Sorry for ranting.

These ones were probably 8" or so IIRC. I think these were the tallest I’ve found so far. Usually they’re shorter and more hunched over.

It does look like a scrotum, lol

Horses gonna horse of course.

I love it! She looks extra pretty!

That’s interesting, thanks for sharing. I’ve not seen this plant before, too cool.

Carnivorous plants are truly alien.

Gorgeous! I love it!

I’m not sure, but that is a good point. That and seed dispersal seem like a good reason, that or it’s a latent trait from a shared ancestor.

That’s awesome. I have to get me a setup like this when spring comes around. Thanks for this.

They’re mostly located on the East coast and Northern Midwest US. They’re all over Canada. Most states have some carnivorous plants though. The one I really want to find in the wild is Darlingtonia californica the cobra lilly. It’s an absolutely gorgeous plant, but only found in Northern California and parts of Oregon.

Source of photo