SKINK

Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae. Together with several other lizard families, including Lacertidae (the "true" or wall lizards), they comprise the superfamily or infraorder Scincomorpha. With about 1200 described species, the Scincidae are the second most diverse family of lizards, exceeded only by the Gekkonidae (geckos).

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

STORMY SKY

Flying in to Perth in a recent trip, we flew into some stormy clouds as we were approaching the airport. Sure enough, when we landed, the heavens opened and the big wet came. I didn't think this photo would come out as it was all quite dark and the plane was moving, but it seems to have captured the moment.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

PEACE LILY

Spathiphyllum is a genus of about 40 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to tropical regions of the Americas and southeastern Asia. Certain species of Spathiphyllum are commonly known as Spath, Cobra Lilies or Peace Lilies.

They are evergreen herbaceous perennial plants with large leaves 12–65 cm long and 3–25 cm broad. The flowers are produced in a spadix, surrounded by a 10–30 cm long, white, yellowish, or greenish spathe. The plant is hardy does not need large amounts of light or water to survive.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ON THE WATER IN ZAKYNTHOS

Zakynthos or Zante (from Venetian) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Zakynthos is a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and its only municipality. It covers an area of 410 km2 and its coastline is roughly 123 km in length. The island is named after Zakynthos, the son of a legendary Arcadian chief Dardanus. The name, like all similar names ending in -nthos, is pre-Mycenaean or Pelasgian in origin. Zakynthos has a thriving tourism industry.

The most famous landmark of the island is the Navagio beach. It is a cove on the southwest (northwest near village of Anafonitiria) shore, isolated by high cliffs and accessible only by boat. The beach and sea floor are made of white pebbles, and surrounded by turquoise waters. It is named after a shipwreck (MV Panagiotis), which sank near the shore around 1980 and then ended up on the beach.

Numerous "Blue Caves", are cut into cliffs around Cape Skinari, and accessible only by small boats. Sunrays reflect through blue sea water from white stones of cave bottoms and walls, creating interesting effects. The whole western shore contains numerous interesting rock formations, particularly arches. Northern and eastern shores also have some wide sandy beaches, many of which are packed with tourists in summer months.

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

JAPANESE QUINCE

Chaenomeles is a genus of three species of deciduous spiny shrubs, usually 1–3 m tall, in the family Rosaceae. They are native to eastern Asia in Japan, China and Korea. These plants are related to the quince (Cydonia oblonga) and the Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis), differing in the serrated leaves, and in the flowers having deciduous sepals and styles that are connate at the base.The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, and have a serrated margin. The flowers are 3–4.5 cm diameter, with five petals, and are usually bright orange-red, but can be white or pink; flowering is in late winter or early spring. The fruit is a pome with five carpels; it ripens in late autumn.

Although all quince species have flowers, gardeners in the West often refer to these species as "flowering quince", since Chaenomeles are grown ornamentally for their flowers, not for their fruits. These plants have also been called "Japanese quince", and the name "japonica" (referring to C. japonica) was widely used for these plants in the 19th and 20th centuries, although this common name is not particularly distinctive, since japonica is a specific epithet shared by many other plants. The names "japonica" or "Japanese quince" were (and still are) often loosely applied to Chaenomeles in general, regardless of their species. The most commonly cultivated Chaenomeles referred to as "japonica" are actually the hybrid C. × superba and C. speciosa; C. japonica itself is not as commonly grown.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

TWILIGHT TIME

A wonderful evening at the Darebin Parklands in Melbourne.

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footsteps Inspiring Photography meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

URBAN LANDSCAPE

Living in a big city one can become completely lost in the concrete and glass of modern high rise buildings. In Melbourne we are experiencing an upsurge in the construction of such monstrosities and what was a large but liveable city is now fast becoming a pullulating megalopolis, cold and grey.

This post is part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.

MOSSY MICROCOSM

Some moss growing between two stones makes up a whole microcosm where the circle of life turns constantly. A plane seed has landed on the mossy bed, but it is unlikely it will germinate there...

This post is part of the I Heart Macros meme.

PERTH SKIES

While flying out of Perth during a recent trip, I snapped these shots with the city in the distance and some beautiful cloudy skies above it.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

CYCLAMEN

Cyclamen is a genus of 23 species of perennials growing from tubers, valued for their flowers with upswept petals and variably patterned leaves. Cyclamen species are native to Europe and the Mediterranean Basin east to Iran, with one species in Somalia.It was traditionally classified in the family Primulaceae but recently has been reclassified in the family Myrsinaceae. In the APG III system (2009 onwards), Myrsinaceae was not recognised, but was sunk into Primulaceae, which in that system is circumscribed very broadly, as Myrsinoidea sub-family.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.