February24_2010

Botanical Glossary - Home - References Cited

Photos - Frames left and right: A section of the canal that is destined for repair - the flowing water has eroded the bright red dirt lining the hill side of the canal - this section needs a cement liner upgrade.

Center frame: Hibiscus Spp (Hibiscus shrub, Rose of Sharon) - shrubs like this grow wild in the area and add eye candy to the landscape. Hibiscus is a genus of plants with member species often noted for their showy flowers and commonly known as hibiscus or sorrel or less widely as rosemallow or flor de Jamaica. This large genus includes about 200–220 species of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae native to warm, temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. The genus also includes both annual and perennial herbaceous plants, as well as woody shrubs and small trees.

The leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to lanceolate, often with a toothed or lobed margin. The flowers are large, conspicuous, trumpet-shaped, with five or more petals, ranging from white to pink, red, orange, purple or yellow, and from 4-18 cm broad. The color of the Hibiscus grows darker as it ages. The fruit is a dry five-lobed capsule, containing several seeds in each lobe, which are released when the capsule splits open at maturity.

Photos - Frames left and center: A living, center, and dead Agave Macantha (Dagger-tip Agave) at left frame. The Dagger-tip Agave has glaucous-green leaves with spines on their tips. The Latin genus name is derived from the name of the daughter of Cadmus, king of Thebes. The genus contains species of cacti with leaves that grow in rosettes. They flower only once, when very old. Agave diverts all its energy resources into producing a very tall flowering stalk of creamy-yellow flowers, at the expense of its life. After the flowers have finished blooming, the plant withers and dies.

Frame right: A funnel web weaver spider nest... the rocks and embankments are peppered with these creatures nests.

Photos - The irrigation canal at Vista Hermosa looking wide with Picacho Mountain in background (frame left) and close ups of the canal cut through solid rock (center frame) and a gate valve for one of the farmer's fields along the El Rio Valley (frame right).

Click here for more photos of the Canal at Vista Hermosa, Oaxaca Mexico for this day.