The Spice of Life @littlemsclick-blog - Tumblr Blog

Can we talk about Jennifer Lawrence's umbrella with the middle finger on it

i love her so much

I never want to share photos of celebrities that are clearly taken by the pieces of shit who invade their privacy like this, but bravo to Jennifer Lawrence for carrying this umbrella. I really want to meet her someday, and I hope that we could be friends, because she seems like a really awesome person.

americasgreatoutdoors

America’s first national monument, Devils Tower is a geologic feature that protrudes out of the rolling prairie in Wyoming. David Lane captured this amazing 16-image panorama of the monument illuminated by the Milky Way and green airglow. Of visiting Devils Tower, David says: “From ancient stories of the Pleiades taking refuge at the top to the generations of Native Americas that held it sacred, it had a deep sense of age and a stoic nature that impressed me. It’s so unexpected, so large in person, so steeped in traditions.”

indefenseofplants

The family with which milkweeds belong to, Apocynaceae, comes in many shapes, sizes, and lifestyles. From the open field milkweeds we are most familiar with here in North America to the cactus-like stapeliads of South Africa, it would seem that there is no end to their adaptive abilities. In particular, there is one genus within this family that I find particularly interesting. The genus Dischidia is native to tropical regions of China. Like its sister genus Hoya, they grow as epiphytic vines throughout the canopy. Though they are known quite well amongst those who enjoy collecting horticultural curiosities, Dischidia as a whole is relatively understudied. These odd vines do not attach themselves via spines, adhesive pads, or tendrils. Instead, they utilize their imbricated leaves to grasp the bark of the trees they live upon. One thing we do know about this genus is that most species specialize in growing out of arboreal ant nests. Ant gardens as they are referred to offer a nutrient rich substrate for a variety of plant life in the canopy to germinate in. Some species of Dischidia take this relationship with ants to another level. At least three species, D. complex, D. major, and D. vidalii produce what are called bullate leaves. These leaves start out like any other leaf but after a while the edges stop growing. This causes the middle of the leaf to swell up like a blister. The edges then curl over and form a hollow chamber with a small entrance hole. These leaves are ant domatia and ant colonies set up shop within these chambers. This provides defense for the plant but the relationship goes a little deeper. Crisscrossing the domatia are small roots. As ant detritus builds up in the chamber, the roots begin to extract nutrients. This is highly beneficial for an epiphytic plant as nutrients are often in short supply up in the canopy. In effect, the ants are paying rent in return for a place to live.

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Photo Credits: Richard Parker (http://bit.ly/1vDpsxe), Ria Tan (http://bit.ly/11MjVXI), li chen yu (http://bit.ly/1tpgTPK), and epiforums (http://bit.ly/15aACyz)