#tufa

[caldrive]

One last time… some more moody Mono Lake sunless sunrise pics (2025).

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Saturday 4 April 2026

In this cool glasshouse the Paeonia cambessedesii (Majorcan peony) was just about to flower. This compact herbaceous perennial has red stems bearing divided purple-tinged leaves and bowl-shaped rose-pink flowers. It grows best in fertile, humus-rich soil that is moist but well-drained in a sheltered position. These are long-lived plants which dislike root disturbance.

Jill Raggett

[contremineur]

Roman lararium (tufa, c. 1st to 2nd century AD)

Designed like a temple in miniature with pilasters, steps leading up, an eagle in the pediment and a different fruit behind each palmette acroterion, this would have stood in a wealthy Roman house or garden. From the time of Augustus onwards every Roman household would have had a lararium for the lar familiaris, the household deity that protected the members of the family, ensuring their health and prosperity, as well as other gods favoured by the family.

from here

[bluebelly-sun-serpentine]

August 4th, 2023

Although some people think of Mono as a barren lake, it supports a lot of life; alkali flies and brine shrimp rely on this habitat, and ospreys use it as a safe nesting spot (they fly into the eastern sierras to fish and then commute back with their catch). Seagulls from the coast fly over the sierras to breed here, and swallows nest in the tufa (the pillars you see). All sorts of insects and reptiles live on the lake shore. Everything smells of sage, salt, and coyote bush. It is just as beautiful in the winter. The lake doesn't freeze except sometimes along the edge, and the area does get snow. The lake's water level has been receding for a long time, and that's why the tufa are visible; they are formed by mineral springs underwater, so these towering structures are a very clear visual aid for the story of Mono's water loss.

[sstrange-cloudss-art]

[thorsenmark]

Letting Nature Pamper Me with Snapshots of Mono Lake by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking around the South Tufa area at Mono Lake with a view looking to the north to tufa towers and other formations present. Mono Lake-54

[cpleblow]

Mono Lake (during drought)

©cpleblow (2016)

dawn

[leahberman]

astra; mono lake tufa state natural reserve, california

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