Well after the controversy of my deciduous reel, I thought I'd make my botanical term for the week about it! 😆 Deciduous: falling seasonally, e.g. of the leaves and bark of some trees, (2) a plant losing its leaves for part of the year, caducous: Falling early (eg: stipules) evergreen: Not losing leaves Definitions from PlantNET. What have you learnt this week? I would love to learn something from you!

Hey guys, I just came back from the lab and I have big news! We recently isolated and photographed more Glomeromycota spores (they are very different frome one another so I’m expecting that there is a little biodiversity within the rizosphere of Calamagostris). For the people that don’t know what I’m talking about, check out my little post in the ecology section!

I am currently in the middle of a little walk and I found a beautiful “carpet” of Sedum coeruleum, a stunning red Crassulacea. They actually thrive on calcareous rocks and tend to root in the rocky substrate (litophyte). They are excellent bioindicators, (since they can accumulate heavy metals) and are very useful when it comes to prevent soil erosion! What’s your favorite crussulacea? Do you know any other species that comes from the genus Sedum? Let me know!

I recently started studying for my internship, the mutualistic relationship between a coastal Poacea called Calamagostris arenaria, and fungi that belongs to the phylum Glomeromycota. Glomeromycota fungi are obbligated symbiontes (they NEED to establish a mutualistic relationship with Calamagostris in order to thrive) that form inter-radical hyphae in the host ; they are fundamental to enhance the immune system, the absorption capacity, and the stress tollerance of the host in exchange for nutrients. But why are they so important? Because they can't survive in stressed areas (mechanical, chemical, biological stress ecc...) and as a result, they can be excellent bio indicators for coastal restoration! AMF (Arbuscular Michorrizical Fungi) are commonly found in the form of spores, and today I isolated my first samples! Hope you find this little ecology pill interesting, I will share with you the pictures that i took in the lab.

Okay so you've seen the prizes right!? $2989 worth of prizes and the first 3 people on the leaderboard will share the epic prizes. Trust me, they are not far ahead. SO I thought to try help everyone get some points & share something, we could do a fun competition! The competition works in two parts Competition: 1. Post a set of photos of a plant, without ANY hint or suggestion to what it is. (or just one if you only have one BUT MAKE SURE ITS A CLEAR PHOTO!) 2. Comment under as many peoples photos with a KEY FEATURE of their plant. EG: This plant has leaves with a serrate edge 3. If someone comments on your post, leave (😏) a like 👍 if they are right! 4. OR if you know the plant, also comment what plant it is 🤯 (this is worth the same as a key feature) Use the category (Plant ID) and have some fun! Competition ends on Sunday at midnight. The person with the most points, will be much closer to collecting the prize! 🫛🌴🪻OKAY HERE'S MINE: Leave a comment with a key feature of this plant & then separately post your own plant!