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posted: July 31st, 2010 |
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This page actually begins with June 25th - some weird plants we saw when we climbed Mt. Takao. It then jumps to July 2nd and a trip to Jindai Botanical Garden. The next stop is July 4th and a trip to the Aquatic Portion of Jindai Botanical Garden. Then you can see collages of the two new Violets which we saw last month at Oze National Park. In Row 12, we jump to July 9th and a 2nd trip to Oze National Park. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin June 25th |
On June 25th Kazuya and I went out to Mt. Takao. I didn't post anything from that trip on last month's web pages as they were already pretty full. Here are a few photos from that trip. The first 2 photos are of a very tiny mushroom which we spotted along the trail. The 3rd photo is a Phacellanthus tubiflorus - a plant without chlorophyll and also a parasite. There is not very much information available on this plant, so I can't say much more about it. It was kind of pretty.
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 Jun25_02_Takao_ Hikage_TinyFungusRC |
 Jun25_03_Takao_ Hikage_TinyFungusRC |
 Jun25_13_Takao_Hikage_ Phacellanthus_tubiflorusRC |
Here is a pink Hydrangea, a Tiger's Tail (Lysimachia clethroides) and a "stink bug". This is probably a species of Acanthosoma. The photo has been brightened up with Shadow Illuminator Pro. You can see how 1/2 of the insect is in the shadow of the leaf above it, so this use of Shadow Illuminator Pro was quite necessary.
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 Jun25_52_Takao_ Hikage_PinkHydrangeaRC |
 Jun25_27_Takao_Hikage _Lysimachia_clethroidesRC |
 Jun25_33SIPC_Takao _Hikage_StinkBugRC |
The first shot here is actually an Orchid - a Galeola septentrionalis. It is only in bud in this photo, you can search the web to find what the flowers look like. According to one web description which I found, they have no leaf and no chlorophyll. They take nutrition from fungi, like a parasite. First the hyphae of a fungus (e.g. Armillaria mellea) attempt to invade the roots of Galeola septentrionalis and are successful. After that the invader stocks nutrition in its hyphae. However, Galeola septentrionalis does not allow this to happen, and takes the nutrition from them instead until they are finally exhausted. It is very interesting that Galeola septentrionalis apparently pretends that it is easily conquered by the fungi. The 2nd shot is a domestic species of Campanula.
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 Jun25_15SIP_Takao_Hikage _Galeola_septentrionalisRC |
 Jun25_56_Takao_ Hikage_Campanula_spRC |
| End June 25th, Begin July 2nd |
Here is a visit to Jindai Botanical Garden - within easy bicycling distance of our house - on July 2nd. The first shot is an Albizia julibrissin. The next shot - a brilliant red Erythrina bidwillii and then a little different Erythrina crista-galli.
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 Jul02_01_JindaiBG_ Albizia_julibrissinRC |
 Jul02_07_JindaiBG_ Erythrina_bidwilliiRC |
 Jul02_12_JindaiBG_ Erythrina_crista_galliRC |
In this row you can see 2 Lotus blossoms.
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 Jul02_15_JindaiBG _LotusFlowerRC |
 Jul02_20_JindaiBG _LotusFlowerRC |
Here are 2 shots of Acanthus caroli-alexandri and then an amazingly blue Salvia guanantica. I really like these flowers - maybe it's because this shade of dark blue is so very uncommon in nature.
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 Jul02_28_JindaiBG_ Acanthus_caroli_alexandriRC |
 Jul02_29_JindaiBG_ Acanthus_caroli_alexandriRC |
 Jul02_39_JindaiBG _Salvia_guananticaRC |
Here are 2 shots of Artichoke (Cynara scolymus). We have never figured out if this is the Artichoke that you can eat. They certainly are a huge flower though - that is my big hand in the 2nd shot. The 3rd shot is a Blue Hydrangea. We didn't go to any specific Hydrangea Gardens this year, unlike last year. Sorry, this is the only Hydrangea shot you get this year.
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 Jul02_32_JindaiBG_ Cynara_scolymus_ArtichokeRC |
 Jul02_34_JindaiBG_ Cynara_scolymus_ArtichokeRC |
 Jul02_43_JindaiBG _Blue_HydrangeaRC |
| End July 2nd, Begin July 4th |
On July 4th we went to the Aquatic portion of Jindai Botanical Garden, which is separated from the main part by a couple of miles. I don't know what either of the first two shots are - interesting flowers is what they are! The first image was enhanced with Shadow Illuminator Pro. The 3rd shot is a Tone-Mapped (HDR) image of 3 exposures of a Lotus Blossom.
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 Jul04_04SIP_Jindai AquaticBG_PurpleFlowerRC |
 Jul04_20_JindaiAquatic BG_SmallWhiteFlowerRC |
 Jul04_12_13_14_Jindai AquaticBG_Lotus_ToneMappedRC |
Here is a shot of a Red Dragonfly followed by a plant with many white leaves (Saururus chinensis). Not all of the leaves are white, just many of them.
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 Jul04_16_JindaiAquatic BG_RedDragonflyRC |
 Jul04_07_JindaiAquatic BG_WhiteLeafPlantRC |
Here is a shot of a Blue Dragonfly and a beautiful Orange Day Lily.
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 Jul04_22_JindaiAquatic BG_BlueDragonflyRC |
 Jul04_28_JindaiAquaticBG_DayLilyRC |
| End July 4th, Begin New Violets on the "Violets" Page |
Here are collages of the two new (for us) Violets which we found last month at Oze National Park. The first one is Viola kamtschadalorum and the 2nd one is Viola verecunda f. violacens. Larger size images of these can be found on  .
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 Viola_ kamtschadalorumRC |
 Viola_verecunda_ f_violacensRC |
| End New Violets, Begin July 9th - Oze National Park |
On July 9th Kazuya and I got up at 4:00 AM, got ready and headed off to Oze National Park again. Yes - again! You may recall seeing that name previously because we went there just last month. You can refresh your memory HERE beginning in Row 11, if you so desire. We arrived at the entrance to the park at about 11:00 AM and these first 2 photos show us at the entrance sign. Note that the elevation here is 1,591 meters (= 5,200 feet). Last time we came here we spent 99% of our time in the marshland. This time it is our intention to climb Mt. Shibutsu (2,228 meters = 7,310 feet) and Mt. Koshibutsu (2,162 meters = 7,093 feet). We're going to camp-out in our tent at the very first group of huts and climb from there tomorrow morning. The 3rd photo in this row is Mimulus sessilifolius - a very pretty yellow flower.
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 July9th Oze003RC |
 Jul09_002_OzeNP_ Hatomachi_KazuyaRC |
 Jul09_011_OzeNP_ Mimulus_sessilifoliusRC |
We didn't get very far and we saw this cute little mouse along the trail. It let us take several photos before it scurried into the brush and disappeared. You can see that there are some big flies sitting on its back - wonder why? The 2nd shot is Mt. Shibutsu (on the right) and Mt. Koshibutsu (on the left) - these are the 2 mountains we'll be climbing tomorrow. This image is 3 photos which have been Tone-mapped into a single image. The 3rd shot is Lysichiton camtschatcense or Skunk Cabbage. Last month when we were here we took several shots of this plant in bloom, now the flowers are all gone and what remains are huge plants and lots of seed heads.
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 Jul09_018_OzeNP _Small_MouseRC |
 Jul09_025_26_27_OzeNP_ MtShibutsu_ToneMappedRC |
 Jul09_045_OzeNP_ Lysichiton_camtschatcenseRC |
First in this row is a very beautiful Iris setosa - WOW! The next shot is a colorful Azalea bush. The 3rd shot is our tent. The time is 1:38 PM and we are all set up. We no longer have to lug our heavy backpacks along with us. Now all we need is the critical equipment like rain-gear, emergency stuff and our lunch. At this time we are the only tent here. It ended up that we were the only campers on Friday night. Lucky for other people because it rained hard all night and most of the camp-ground was a virtual river of flowing water. We were smart though - we pitched our tent on the highest ground and we did NOT get wet.
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 Jul09_048_Oze NP_WildIrisRC |
 Jul09_055_ OzeNP_AzaleaRC |
 July9thOze059 _CampSiteRC |
After we set up our tent we spent the afternoon hiking out in the marshland. The 1st and 3rd shots in this row are Hemerocallis dumortieri var. esculenta aka Hemerocallis middendorffii var. esculenta. The background of the 3rd shot is Mt. Shibutsu. The 2nd shot is a very pretty little Oze Thistle.
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 Jul09_068_ OzeNP_DayLilyRC |
 Jul09_072_Oze NP_OzeThistleRC |
 July9thOze070_Hemerocallis DumortieriVarEsculentaRC |
In the first 2 shots you can see an abundance of Eriophorum vaginatum or Cottongrass and another species of Iris - Iris laevigata. The 3rd shot is another Hemerocallis dumortieri var. esculenta aka Hemerocallis middendorffii var. esculenta with Mt. Shibutsu in the background again.
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 Jul09_090_OzeNP_ Iris_CottongrassRC |
 Jul09_096_OzeNP_ Iris_CottongrassRC |
 Jul09_101_OzeNP_ DayLily_MtShibutsuRC |
Here is a closer shot of Iris laevigata in first position. The 2nd shot is a seedpod of Viola kamtschadalorum - a violet which we saw in bloom last month when we were here. You can see a collage of this violet above, in Row 11. The 3rd shot shows lots of Cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum).
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 July9thOze102 _IrisLaevigataRC |
 Jul09_126_OzeNP_Viola_ kamtschadalorum_SeedpodRC |
 Jul09_129_OzeNP_Cottongrass _Eriophorum_vaginatumRC |
Here in first position is Kazuya on the boardwalk with Mt. Hiuchigatake in the background. In 2nd position is a worker - they actually pack in supplies and pack out the garbage to the various huts. In the 3rd shot you can see Mt. Hiuchigatake in front of me and a whole lot of Eriophorum vaginatum.
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 Jul09_136_OzeNP_Boardwalk _Kazuya_MtHiuchigatakeRC |
 Jul09_131_ OzeNP_WorkerRC |
 July9thOze143_ EriophorumVaginatumRC |
In this row I am inserting 2 collages of a flower which we saw many of, and took many photos of. It is Pogonia japonica - an orchid. We saw it everywhere in the marshland and we took so many photos if it that I built these 2 collages and I am showing you these instead of showing you 14 individual photos.
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 Pogonia JaponicaRC |
 Pogonia Japonica1RC |
The same thing is true of these 2 collages of Eleorchis japonica - another beautiful orchid. We saw so many of this flower and took so many photos of it that I made these 2 collages so that I can show you 13 photos in just 2 images! Okay, now I promise not to show you any more photos of these 2 orchids. By the way, all 4 of these Orchid collages are also available on the "Special Items" Page (link just below, at bottom of page).
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 Eleorchis JaponicaRC |
 Eleorchis Japonica1RC |
The first shot here has been enhanced with Shadow Illuminator Pro to bring out the contrast of the Cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum). The 2nd shot is another shot of Iris laevigata and the 3rd shot is Iris laevigata and Eriophorum vaginatum. The time now is 2:38 PM. There are an additional 17 shots from July 9th on the next page, so please continue on!
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 Jul09_153SIP_OzeNP_ Boardwalk_MtHiuchigatakeRC |
 July9thOze146_ IrisLaevigataRC |
 July9thOze153_ EriophorumVaginatumRC |
| End Page 1, but July 9th continues on Page 2 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 2 for the continuation of today's adventure. |
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