PASSING JET

Walking along the Yarra River in Abbotsford, Melbourne, enjoying the vast areas of parklands and nature reserve along the river, one can momentarily be distracted by a passing jet up in the sky, leaving behind it long streamers of contrails...

Contrails (short for "condensation trails") or vapour trails are long, thin artificial clouds that sometimes form behind aircraft. Their formation is most often triggered by the water vapour in the exhaust of aircraft engines, but can also be triggered by changes in air pressure in wingtip vortices or in the air over the entire wing surface. Contrails are made of water in the form of a suspension of billions of liquid droplets or ice crystals.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme.

KALANCHOE

Kalanchoe (also written Kalanchöe or Kalanchoë), is a genus of about 125 species of tropical, succulent flowering plants in the Family Crassulaceae, mainly native to the Old World but with a few species now growing wild in the New World following introduction of the species. Most are shrubs or perennial herbaceous plants, but a few are annual or biennial. The largest, Kalanchoe beharensis from Madagascar, can reach 6 m tall, but most species are less than 1 m tall.

Members of the Kalanchoe genus are characterised by opening their flowers by growing new cells on the inner surface of the petals to force them outwards, and on the outside of the petals to close them. The genus was first described by the botanist Michel Adanson in 1763. Reportedly, the name came "from the Chinese name for one of the species." This Chinese species is thought to have been either Kalanchoe ceratophylla or Kalanchoe spathulata. Kalanchoe ceratophylla is called 伽蓝菜 in China, not very close in pronunciation: qiélán cài or jia lan cai depending on the romanisation.

The genus Bryophyllum was described by Salisbury in 1806 and the genus Kitchingia was created by Baker in 1881. Kitchingia is now regarded as a synonym for Kalanchoe, whereas some botanists treat Bryophyllum as a separate genus. Here are some fine specimens of various Kalanchoe hybrids, sold as indoor house plants here in Melbourne.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

CORDOBA, SPAIN - ALCAZAR

The Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos (Spanish for "Alcázar of the Christian Monarchs"), also known as the Alcázar of Córdoba, is a medieval Alcázar located in the historic centre of Córdoba, Spain next to the Guadalquivir River and near the Grand Mosque. The Alcázar takes its name from the Arabic word القصر (Al-Qasr, meaning "the Palace"). The fortress served as one of the primary residences of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon.

In early medieval times, the site was occupied by a Visigoth fortress. When the Visigoths fell to the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, the emirs of the Umayyad Caliphate in Damascus rebuilt the structure. The Umayyads fell to the Abbasid Caliphate and the surviving member of the Umayyad Dynasty, Abd ar-Rahman I, fled to Córdoba. Abd ar-Rahman I's successors established the independent Caliphate of Córdoba and used the Alcázar as their palace. The city subsequently flourished as an important political and cultural center, and the Alcázar was expanded to a very large compound with baths, gardens, and the largest library in the West. Watermills on the nearby Guadalquivir powered water lifting to irrigate the extensive gardens.

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,
and also part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

CYPRESSES IN MORNINGTON

Hesperocyparis macrocarpa, commonly known as Monterey cypress, is a species of cypress native to the Central Coast of California. It has been introduced as cultivated species in many other temperate climates such as in South Africa and Australia, shown here in Mornington, Victoria.

This is a medium-sized coniferous evergreen tree, which often becomes irregular and flat-topped as a result of the strong winds that are typical of its native area. It grows to heights of up to 40 m in perfect growing conditions, and its trunk diameter can reach 2.5 m. The foliage grows in dense sprays which are bright green in colour and release a characteristic aroma when crushed. The leaves are scale-like, 2–5 mm long, and produced on rounded (not flattened) shoots; seedlings up to a year old have needle-like leaves 4–8 mm long.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Trees & Bushes meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

CINERARIA

This post is part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme.

WAITING

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

SATURDAY SILHOUETTES #5

Welcome to the Saturday Silhouettes meme. This is a weekly meme that looks at SILHOUETTES in photography.

SILHOUETTE |ˌsɪlʊˈɛt| noun The dark shape and outline of someone or something visible in restricted light against a brighter background.
ORIGIN - late 18th century: Named (although the reason remains uncertain) after Étienne de Silhouette (1709–67), French author and politician.

This post is also part of the Skywatch Friday meme
and also part of the Saturday Critters meme.

Please join me by linking your photo in which a silhouette plays a prominent part in the composition of your image:

FERN

This post is part of the Friday Greens meme.

JACOBINIA

A member of the Acanthaceae family, the Brazilian plume flower or jacobinia (Justicia carnea) is a shade-loving, soft-wooded shrub (ht 1.5m) with large, lush leaves. Thick plumes of white, pale pink or deep pink tubular flowers appear in regular flushes from early summer to late autumn. A form with dark purplish underleaves is known as 'Radiant' - perhaps more correctly should be called 'Huntington Form'.

Justicia carnea needs hard pruning in late winter, and regular dead-heading during summer will help to promote new blooms. It will also flourish in sunny spots but is useful for shaded sites, as are so many of the Acanthaceae family, which do so well in temperate climates. Whilst it will stand neglect, it responds well to feeding and watering. It is easily propagated from cuttings. It is a good companion to hydrangeas, Plectranthus species, ferns and camellias. The white form looks pretty with silver-leaved companions, such as Plectranthus argentatus and Pilea cadierei.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

BEANS, BROCCOLI & BITTER MELON

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Footstep Digital Art Meme,

and also part of the Friday Greens meme.

WINTRY SUNSHINE

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Trees & Bushes meme,
and also part of the Tuesday Afternoon meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

COLLINGWOOD MURAL

We often see this type of mural in Melbourne: An artwork reproduced on big sheets of paper (a photocopier may be involved), the pieces joined together to form the image, various amounts of trimming and then pasting on a wall much like a poster. Some paint may be used (as in this instance) to highlight aspects of the design. This one on an old building in Collingwood. It is signed "Lucy Lucy".

This post is part of the Monday Murals meme.

RAINBOW LORIKEETS

Rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus) are a species of Australasian parrot found in Australia, eastern Indonesia (Maluku and Western New Guinea), Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It is widespread in the Melbourne area. It is feeding on a native gum tree, Eucalyptus leucoxylon "Flowering Yellow Gum", which is currently in bloom all over Melbourne.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

SATURDAY SILHOUETTES #4

Welcome to the Saturday Silhouettes meme. This is a weekly meme that looks at SILHOUETTES in photography.

SILHOUETTE |ˌsɪlʊˈɛt| noun The dark shape and outline of someone or something visible in restricted light against a brighter background.
ORIGIN - late 18th century: Named (although the reason remains uncertain) after Étienne de Silhouette (1709–67), French author and politician.

Escaping Winter...

Please join me by linking your photo in which a silhouette plays a prominent part in the composition of your image:

CACTUS SKY

Cereus is a genus of cacti (family Cactaceae) including around 33 species of large columnar cacti from South America. The name is derived from Greek (κηρός) and Latin words meaning "wax" or "torch". The genus Cereus was one of the first cactus genera to be described; the circumscription varies depending on the authority. The term "cereus" is also sometimes used for a ceroid cactus, any cactus with a very elongated body, including columnar growth cacti and epiphytic cacti.

The specimen shown here is growing happily in the Melbourne Botanic Gardens and is the species C. uruguayanus.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,
and also part of the  Friday Greens meme.

RHODODENDRON

Rhododendron (from Ancient Greek ῥόδον rhódon "rose" and δένδρον déndron "tree") is a genus of 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae), either evergreen or deciduous, and found mainly in Asia, although it is also widespread throughout the Southern Highlands of the Appalachian Mountains of North America. It is the national flower of Nepal. Most species have showy flowers which bloom from late winter through to early summer. Azaleas make up two subgenera of Rhododendron. They are distinguished from "true" rhododendrons by having only five anthers per flower.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ATHENS, TOWER OF THE WINDS

The Tower of the Winds, also called Horologium [Greek: Horologion (“Timepiece”); in modern Greek, the structure is called Aéreides ("Winds").] is a building in the Agora of Athens erected about 100–50 BC by Andronicus of Cyrrhus for measuring time. Still standing, it is an octagonal marble structure 12.8 m high and 7.9 m in diameter. Each of the building’s eight sides faces a point of the compass and is decorated with a frieze of figures in relief representing the winds that blow from that direction; below, on the sides facing the sun, are the lines of a sundial. The Horologium was surmounted by a weather vane in the form of a bronze Triton and contained a water clock (clepsydra) to record the time when the sun was not shining.

The Greeks invented the weather vane; the Romans used it in the belief that the wind’s direction could foretell the future. Initially described by the Roman architect Vitruvius (1st century BC), the Tower of the Winds was fancifully reconstructed in the 16th-century editions of his work by Cesare Cesariano and Giovanni Rusconi. Although these fanciful images influenced designs by 17th-century English architects Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor, accurate illustrations were not published until 1762, when they appeared in volume one of James Stuart and Nicholas Revett’s The Antiquities of Athens.

The Tower of the Winds was subsequently influential in the Greek Revival, notably in the versions of it built by Stuart in the landscaped pairs at Shugborough, Staffordshire, Eng. (c. 1764), and at Mount Stuart, County Down, Ire. (1782), and in James Wyatt’s more imaginative Radcliffe Observatory Tower, Oxford, Eng. (1776).

This post is part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.