Summer – Page 31 – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Atacama School Days

Dive In

November 27, 2020November 14, 2020 MichaelStephenWills

A photographic essay

Children are our hope and the future. The yellow sign reads “UNESCO Contribution. the restoration of five classrooms of School number 35.”

From their web site: UNESCO encourages international peace and universal respect for human rights by promoting collaboration among nations. Its mission is to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue.

Click any photograph for a larger view and use Ctrl-x to zoom in closer.

Click me for the first post of this series.

References

Websites

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works World Heritage page

The Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works site (Chile), removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger/

Night Blooming Cereus VII

reaction to cold temperature

November 19, 2020October 28, 2020 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

For the final post of this series on Cereus blooms, of the four buds two failed to fully open after the weather turned cold in late September/Early October. Here is the failed bloom from the same opening bud featured in the last Cereus posting.

Click me for another Cereus flower post.

References

Wikipedia, “Epiphyllum, “Epiphyllum oxypetalum,”epiphyte.”

Night Blooming Cereus VI

soon to open

November 17, 2020October 26, 2020 MichaelStephenWills16 Comments

Here is a continuation of the previous Cereus posting, the ultimate macros of a bloom on the edge of opening.

Click me for another Cereus flower post.

References

Wikipedia, “Epiphyllum, “Epiphyllum oxypetalum,”epiphyte.”

Night Blooming Cereus V

evening preparation

November 15, 2020October 24, 2020 MichaelStephenWills11 Comments

Almost bursting open, the third of four flower buds of our Night Blooming Cereus caught one October evening just before opening. The black background is repurposed anit-weed ground cover material.

Here is a series of flash photographs at varying apertures and angles. The white rods are emerging anthers, the pollen-containing tips of long stamens seen in my previous postings of the open flowers.

Click me for another Cereus flower post.

References

Wikipedia, “Epiphyllum, “Epiphyllum oxypetalum,”epiphyte.”

Night Blooming Cereus III

Source of popular name?

November 3, 2020October 30, 2020 MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

In an earlier posts the popular name of this plant, “Night Blooming Cereus” was introduced as incorrect, still there must be some truth in the name, I believe it is found in the developing flower stalk and bud.

“Cereus” is from the Greek word for candle. Don’t these developing flower stalks, resemble a candle and the bud a flame?

Click image for a larger version.

Here’s the flower from an earlier bloom this season.

Click me for another flower post, “Another Woody Peony.”

References

Wikipedia, “Epiphyllum, “Epiphyllum oxypetalum,”epiphyte.”

The path beckons

just around the corner

October 31, 2020October 30, 2020 MichaelStephenWills7 Comments

What is there, just beyond?

Click image for a larger version.

Click Me for another Malloryville post, “Formed By Water.”

Copyright 2020 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Blue Way

Thursday Door

October 22, 2020October 14, 2020 MichaelStephenWills10 Comments

A photographic essay

Click any photograph for a larger view and use Ctrl-x to zoom in closer.

Click me for the first post of this series.

References

Websites

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works World Heritage page

The Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works site (Chile), removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger/

Atacama Swim Time

Dive In

October 18, 2020October 14, 2020 MichaelStephenWills

A photographic essay

Click any photograph for a larger view and use Ctrl-x to zoom in closer.

Click me for the first post of this series.

References

Websites

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works World Heritage page

The Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works site (Chile), removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger/

Lost World

worn, defiled

October 16, 2020October 14, 2020 MichaelStephenWills

A photographic essay

Click any photograph for a larger view and use Ctrl-x to zoom in closer.

Click me for the first post of this series.

References

Websites

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works World Heritage page

The Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works site (Chile), removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger/

Night Blooming Cereus II

What is this plant?

October 15, 2020October 24, 2020 MichaelStephenWills5 Comments

Epiphyllum oxypetalum, the scientific name for this plant identifies the name “Night Blooming Cereus” as incorrect. The plant is of the genus Epiphyllum, identifying it as an epiphytic organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it.

Nor is it in the tribe Cereeae, derived from the Greek and Latin word for “wax”, “torch” or candle. Plants of the Cereeae tribe, including those in the genus Cereus, are cactus with a columnar structure, are are terrestrial, not epiphytic, plants.

Epiphyllum oxypetalum, also know as Dutchman’s pipe cactus, princess of the night, queen of the night, is a species of cactus and one of the most cultivated species in its genus. E. oxypetalum rarely blooms and only at night, and its flowers are reported to wilt before dawn.

The species name oxypetalum is derived from the word, “oxy” meaning sharp, pointed, acute for the characteristic petal shape.

For the bloom photographed here, I can report it was in this condition 7 am, after sunrise, and did not wilt until after noon.

Click me for the next post of this series.

References

Wikipedia, “Epiphyllum, “Epiphyllum oxypetalum,”epiphyte.”