#quillworts

[wenbochenphoto]

Came across my very first record of Australian quillwort: Isoetes gunnii. It grows in shallow water of a glacier lake in the central plateau of Tasmania.

[melangle]

quillworts in a full puddle on a granite outcrop

[thebashfulbotanist]

My sister, the student who is the “other half” of this blog, tells me that these are semiaquatic Isoetes quillworts, and that their genus evolved in the Jurassic period. Apparently, @botanyshitposts is fond of this one :) I’m just fond of touring the conservatory at night before Halloween!

[botanyshitposts]

I’m spending the morning at a colloquium teaching about Quillworts. u may ask, ‘what the hell is a quillwort?’ and the answer is I have no idea I’ve only had them vaguely discribed to me by a few excited quillwort grad students around a campfire no more than three (3) days ago. one of them had a hat on from a quillwort convention. I’m under the impression that 1. they’re a lycophyte, related to the terrifying plants called Horsetails (please look them up they’re mcfucky), 2. there aren’t many species of them and they’re hard to find even in places where they’re native and 3. they are profoundly loved and adored by a faction of devoted botanist fans. i asked said excited campfire botanists what they look like and I was told something along the lines of “spikey kinda, but like fluffy, like a mat, but also like pointy like grass but kinda not, they like water??? i love them”

I will report on my findings

[melangle]

I've loved quillworts since i learned of thier existence but I've only just learned of tumblrs love of quillworts, they are hard to photograph, I have a degree in Fine Art and 2 weeks from a degree in Conservation Biology and I'm the defacto bryologist of my state* They are hard to photograph, at least in my state , the 9 species in WA overlap alot in habitat and morphology, despite destinct spore ornamentations. *Dm if u disagree I need someone who cares abt moss to talk to

[melangle]

Quillworts in a damp ephemeral pool upon a granite outcrop in Western Australia

[botanyshitposts]

hiya! i'm a current phd student in neuroscience/evo bio and i saw your post about the articles and papers you got on nepenthes, and one of my friends in the department is doing his thesis on nepenthes! and i have another friend who works with isoetes. he loves the everloving fuck out of isoetes. just thought it was cute and cool to see real life and tumblr dash collide :)

1. all the Isoëtes people I’ve met so far in my life love the everloving fuck out of Isoëtes it’s like a trend 2. you know what we need? a modernized book about Isoëtes. like if you try to find books about Isoëtes there’s like a shitton in German from like 1809 or whatever and nothing else. we gotta bring Isoëtes to the public. we gotta have Isoëtes of the world, introduction to Isoëtes, with all the known species in it, with illustrations, evolutionary biology, info on their weird ass photosynthesis, etc. Isoëtes coffee table book. i feel like they’re the only goddamn plant denomination out there that doesn’t have one of these like big modern worldly safari books on them.

*slams my fists on the table* BRING QUILLWORTS TO THE PUBLIC WHERE THEY MAY BE LOVED AND ADORED BY ALL!!!!!!!!!

[botanyshitposts]

quillworts out of the lake into the streets 2k18