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posted: May 31st, 2013 |
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This page, the final page for May, begins with the 25th and a trip to Jindai Botanical Garden. Then we take you to May 26th and a trip to and climb of Mt. Takao and Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro-Yama in a search for the Dendrobium moniliforme Orchid. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin May 25th |
On Saturday, May 25th, Kazuya and I went to Jindai Botanical Garden because it was supposed to rain, but we wanted to get outdoors and do something. We found the water lilies to be nicely in bloom - and we sighted a turtle on a hump in the pond.
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 May25_02_Jindai BG_WaterLilyRC |
 May25_04_Jindai BG_WaterLilyRC |
 May25_12_Jindai BG_TurtleRC |
We also found the Paeonia japonica there and seeing as this is lower elevation than the mountains where we found it earlier in the month, it had bloomed quite some time ago. After showing you all of the flowers of this species on the previous pages, we thought it might be nice to show you the seed pods of this species too. From the wildflower garden area, we proceeded to the Rose Garden! That red one is SO SATURATED - and the photo was not taken with anything except normal settings. We both commented "WOW, what saturated colors!" There was another super-saturated rose - an orange one, but we did not take any photos if it. This one is SO SATURATED that it makes the greens of the leaves appear as if they are black & white!
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 May25_14_JindaiBG_Paeonia _japonica_SeedPodsRC |
 May25_19_Jindai BG_RoseGardenRC |
 May25_24_Jindai BG_RoseGardenRC |
Here is a nice colored rose. That's followed by a Dracula bella an orchid with the flowers growing below the roots - apparently this one grows in trees in it's native habitat - elevations of 1,700 to 2,000 meters in dense cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador. The 3rd shot shows Bletilla striata - a very common orchid around here, it's a usual home-owner's flower, but beautiful.
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 May25_29_Jindai BG_RoseGardenRC |
 May25_32Crop_JindaiBG_ Dracula_bella_OrchidRC |
 May25_36_JindaiBG_ Bletilla_striataRC |
In 1st position is a tightly cropped close-up of the Bletilla striata orchid so that you can see the interior of the flower - interesting to compare with the interior of the Cephalanthera falcata collage on Page 2, Row 21. In 2nd position is another Bletilla striata photo - this one with a beautiful "Stink Bug" on it. In 3rd position is a flower of the Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip Tree aka Tulip Poplar) - a large tree with tulip shaped flowers. These flowers were 3 or 4 meters over our heads, so the photos are zoomed quite a bit.
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 May25_39Crop_JindaiBG_ Bletilla_striataRC |
 May25_40_JindaiBG_ Bletilla_striataRC |
 May25_52_JindaiBG_ Liriodendron_tulipiferaRC |
Here are 2 more shots of flowers of the Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip Tree aka Tulip Poplar).
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 May25_55_JindaiBG_ Liriodendron_tulipiferaRC |
 May25_58_JindaiBG_ Liriodendron_tulipiferaRC |
And, the final 3 shots from this outing - 3 shots of Kniphofia sp. - interesting that not even the Botanical Garden knows what species it is!
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 May25_62_Jindai BG_Kniphofia_spRC |
 May25_64_Jindai BG_Kniphofia_spRC |
 May25_63_Jindai BG_Kniphofia_spRC |
| End May 25th, Begin May 26th |
On Sunday, May 26th, we went out and climbed Mt. Takao (for the 90th time) (599 m = 1,965 ft) and Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro-Yama (for the 40th time) (670 m = 2,199 ft). The first thing we found were several Cremastra appendiculata Orchid plants. In this row are shots of 2 of them. The first one shows the single long leaf of this species - it was the first time we'd ever seen (or maybe, noticed) the leaf. The center shot - out of chronological order for landscape/portrait mode balance - is a shot of a Caesalpinia decapetala var. japonica tree. See the next row for increasingly zoomed in shots.
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 May26_01_MtTakao_ Cremastra_appendiculataRC |
 May26_14_MtTakao_ YellowFlowerTreeRC |
 May26_11_MtTakao_ Cremastra_appendiculataRC |
In 1st and 2nd positions are increasingly zoomed-in shots of the Caesalpinia decapetala var. japonica tree. Note the bright yellow flowers! In 3rd position is one of the things we specifically came here to find - Dendrobium moniliforme - Sekkoku in Japanese - The Japanese Stone Orchid.
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 May26_13_MtTakao_ YellowFlowerTreeRC |
 May26_12_MtTakao_ YellowFlowerTreeRC |
 May26_16_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
Here are 3 more shots of Dendrobium moniliforme - Sekkoku in Japanese - The Japanese Stone Orchid. We come here most every year in late May or June to find this Orchid, so if you want to see more photos of it, go to the "All Photos List" page and search for it. Alternately, you can use the Google Search tool just below.
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 May26_18_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 May26_19_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 May26_35_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
And, 3 more shots of Dendrobium moniliforme - Sekkoku in Japanese - The Japanese Stone Orchid.
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 May26_36_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 May26_37_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 May26_43_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
Another 3 shots of Dendrobium moniliforme - Sekkoku in Japanese - The Japanese Stone Orchid. Note that the 2nd and 3rd shots show a pink-colored plant. These are quite rare it seems.
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 May26_45_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 May26_46_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 May26_52_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
In first position is a 4 shot Panorama of Dendrobium moniliforme - Sekkoku in Japanese - The Japanese Stone Orchid. In 2nd and 3rd positions are 2 shots of a very high one. Keep in mind that these are found only in the oldest and tallest cedar trees. The best way to see them is by walking up on the hill - where the main trail is - and looking horizontally out at the trees - which have their trunks down in the valley below us.
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 May26_MtTakao_55_56_57 _58_CylinCropSIP_PanoramaRC |
 May26_63_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 May26_64_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
Here is the final shot of Dendrobium moniliforme - Sekkoku in Japanese - The Japanese Stone Orchid in first position. In 2nd and 3rd positions are examples of Pseudopyxis depressa f. angustiloba - another late May and June flower which we come here to find.
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 May26th_058_MtTakao_ DendrobiumMoniliformeRC |
 May26_74_MtTakao_Pseudopyxis _depressa_f_angustilobaRC |
 May26_76_MtTakao_Pseudopyxis _depressa_f_angustilobaRC |
Here are the 3 final shots for May, 2013. The first one is another example of Pseudopyxis depressa f. angustiloba, the 2nd shot is a very pretty small blue flower - possibly Scutellaria bracyspica. The 3rd shot is a huge "Sno-Cone", or Kakigori in Japanese. You can buy these for ¥400 at the small "restaurant" at the summit of Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro-Yama. You can judge the size by using my hand for scale. These are strawberry flavored.
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 May26_80_MtTakao_Pseudopyxis _depressa_f_angustilobaRC |
 May26_84_MtTakao_ SmallBlueFlowerPlantRC |
 May26th_106_Mt Kobotoke_KakigoriRC |
| End May 26th, End Page 3, End May 2013's Photos |
Here are links to separate web pages - all of them will open in a new window (or new tab). The first link shows some photos of our DVD Collection, an AVI Movie of our Home Theater System and 9 photos of our Sharp Aquos TV. The 2nd link shows our entire DVD collection in DVD Profiler (if you're asking yourself what might be good to rent for the weekend). The DVD's will be sorted by date purchased. You can click on the "Title" Column to sort that way if you desire. The 3rd link shows our entire DVD collection in php DVD Profiler, which is much more sophisticated than the plain vanilla DVD Profiler just above it. The 4th link takes you to a set of pages which show you the FRONT cover-art of our entire DVD collection.
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 January 1, 2013 - DVD Collection & Home Theater System   
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