A House Built of Glass. Plant of the Day: Silk Floss Tree "Chorisia speciosa"
No sun today. An overcast sky with bright but diffuse lighting
is a photographers dream setting for taking good pictures in a house built of
glass. I unfortunately didn't arrive here
early enough to get many photos before visitors started arriving. However, with good diffuse lighting
conditions and lots of interesting subject matter, I'm happy with what I'm able
to get. There are more visitors today than I've ever seen resulting in the most
talking I’ve done to answer questions and provide information.
The Sunken Garden Holiday Flower Show is in its last few days. This show is a muted flowery vision of poinsettias intermixed with a variegated intermixing of green garnish. The gardeners have put together a vision of loveliness that describes the wintery holiday season. This flower show ends on Monday, January 2, 2017. The green garnish, including such plants as rosemary and epiphytic air plants, provides the trim to the flowers that effectively enhances the overall vision.
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| Holiday Flower Show |
There are a variety of fruits and flowers blooming in the North Garden and Palm Dome and a strong perk of my position is to see eyes light up when visitors see and experience the many wonders of the conservatory.
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| Silk Floss Tree Trunk |
The Plant of the Day, one of the many wonders, is the
Silk Floss Tree, Chorisia speciosa, a deciduous tree found in the North Garden,
native to South America. Flowers on this
tree look similar to a hibiscus flower.
The nectar attracts insects resulting in pollination. Like the name
implies, the flowers produced on this tree are followed by pear-shaped capsules
(fruit pods) filled with seed embedded within silky white floss. This floss cannot be spun into silk but
rather it is used to stuff pillows and cushions. The wood is not strong enough to be used as
lumber, but is used in some communities to make wood pulp, paper and small
wooden items of utility like canoes.
This tree is commonly used as an ornamental tree in warm locations.
The trunk of the Silk Floss Tree is green due to the high chlorophyll
content in the bark, allowing the tree to photosynthesize when the tree has no
leaves. Visitors to the North Garden can see that the Como Silk Floss Tree
trunk is green and there are no leaves anywhere on the tree. It is surviving just fine although I hope to
see smaller branches, leaves and eventually flowers on this tree. The trunk is
also studded with thorns, thought to be an evolved mechanism against predators.
For more information:
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=277944&isprofile=0&
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