Soo...
#Liverworts, anyone? Kinda like wonky mosses, but currently placed in their own phylum, Marchantiophyta. Most of them are not uncommon, but they're easily overlooked; small and bubbly guys that are really hard to photograph! Here are a few cool ones I've seen recently (names in img description):
#mosstodonAnd today Gall Week started, which means I need to walk around in my neighbourhood like a madman, turning leaves to see what hides there!
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/gall-week-2022
Gall Week 2022
Welcome to the 2nd Gall Week event! Please join us and document galls wherever you are at. Please photograph galls between Saturday, Sept. 3rd and Sunday, Sept. 11th. In order to contribute to our project, please join the project, and add your observations manually. You can also do it in bulk if you upload it on your desktop. From our 2021 project: Fall is a great time to go on galling expeditions, when many species have fresh summer/ fall generation on different plant species. Don't forget to add information about the host plant - as a note, or even better, in the fields: Host and Host plant ID field. You can also link to the host plant observation if you're not sure what it was. If you've never done this before, you can check what are the best host plants in your area. You can use gall or insect books from your area, websites (such as https://gallformers.org/), podcasts (https://podcast.naturesarchive.com/2021/09/14/galls/), and iNat. A good way to start is to look at one of the g...
Time for another plant pathogen? Yes, of course! The striped pea gall wasp (Cynips longiventris) makes galls on the underside of oak leaves. In the gall, the larva grows, having both protection and a food source I guess. My pic isn't very spectacular, the galls can even be polka striped in red and white, but here is mine:
In other balcony news, it seems like Malabar spinach doesn't like the balcony; it's probably been too sunny and hot, and the aphids have found them. Five out of six plants have survived, but they are really small, haven't started climbing at all, and most have wrinkly leaves from aphid infestation. I think they will have to remain indoor greens for me unless I can give them some shelter from the sun.
Here's something I find awesome: In the beginning of the summer, I sowed a bunch of REALLY old spinach seeds on my balcony, not expecting anything. Only two sprouted, and one died quickly. However, I left the other one alone until a couple of weeks ago, when it had seeded and dried up properly. Then I sowed its seeds in the same planter, and now I have a bunch of spinach seedlings! In these apocalyptic times, this kinda feels like something that's good to know.
Disappointed to see that this abomination of a pilot monument, sculpted by an actual Nazi (Carl Milles) in 1931, still stands in Stockholm.
I DID IT! This is my childhood secret forest lake, and I just took a skinny dip 😇
Met this sheep today, and if it isn't the devil himself, I don't know
A couple of weeks back, there were firetrucks all over our quiet little neighborhood, and ppl in my local F@$%book group were like OMG WHAT'S HAPPENING. Turns out it was a tumble dryer overheating and all the plastic in it melting, and it ALSO turned out that I booked that one fkn laundry room today 🤥
Lots of cool critters spotted today, too, including one of the biggest caterpillars I've ever seen!
