Hollis
MY BLOGS
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In the Company of Plants and Rocks
http://plantsandrocks.blogspot.com/
Natural history blog focusing on botany, ecology and geology ... from the field as much as possible!
LATEST ARTICLES ( 430 )
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South Dakota Tree-Following—Prairie Crabapple
Pyrus ioensis. 1913, Curtis's Botanical Magazine. Source.This month's tree-following report features another tree from South Dakota, part of my effort to learn... Read more
Posted on 14 March 2024 OUTDOORS -
Fruits of the Rose Family—a Cornucopia!
How many Rosaceous fruits are in this painting? Answer at end of post. (Still Life with Fruit by Severin Roesen, 1852; Smithsonian Open Access)The Rosaceae is... Read more
Posted on 25 February 2024 OUTDOORS -
South Dakota Tree-Following—Plains Cottonwood
"A circle of cottonwood-leaf toy tipis made by Indian children of Plains tribes ... These they made in numbers and placed them in circles like the camp circle o... Read more
Posted on 13 February 2024 OUTDOORS -
Scaling a Dome of Broken Glass
View south from top of Obsidian Dome; Glass Creek Dome mid photo, Sierra Nevada on skyline.After touring the Mono Craters, accompanied by the spirit of... Read more
Posted on 31 January 2024 OUTDOORS -
Visiting the Mono Craters with Israel Russell
Do you see wreaths of vapor? Or the lurid light of molten lava? (D. Mayer photo)Last September I toured the Mono Basin in the company of the great pioneering... Read more
Posted on 12 January 2024 OUTDOORS -
Tree-Following in South Dakota—Black Hills Spruce
Black Hills Spruce in the Cathedral Spires high in the Black Hills (State of South Dakota photo).It's time for a January tree-following report but I've given... Read more
Posted on 08 January 2024 OUTDOORS -
Merry Red & Green to All!
Red Baneberry, Actaea rubra, Wyoming.How did red and green become our Christmas colors? Maybe you're thinking, as I did, "From holly, of course!" But recently... Read more
Posted on 25 December 2023 OUTDOORS -
Junipers in December & Views from Above
Trail 1 dusted with snow.Once again we ventured northeast of Laramie to visit the two three Rocky Mountain Junipers we're following (I added the Fallen One... Read more
Posted on 09 December 2023 OUTDOORS -
"Trees Are Poems ... "
The usual view. Left arrow marks my junipers, right points to the fallen one. Note sign on left.Late yesterday afternoon we visited the two Rocky Mountain... Read more
Posted on 14 November 2023 OUTDOORS -
Orachs on the Corner—Russian Or French?
Foodscaping.Summer before last (2022), the City of Laramie had our street redone. As part of the project, sidewalks were added where there were none, for exampl... Read more
Posted on 06 November 2023 OUTDOORS -
Mono Lake—the Simple Life
When friends asked where I was going on my trip last September, I learned to say "Mono Lake". It was the only place in central eastern California they knew. Read more
Posted on 26 October 2023 OUTDOORS -
Treefollowing: a Pine I Met in California
What happed to that tree?After a warm hike up Obsidian Dome we cooled off in the van, parked in the shade of pines. That's when I noticed the unusual tree... Read more
Posted on 09 October 2023 OUTDOORS -
A Marine Graveyard in West-central Nevada
Eye of the IchthyosaurMy visit to the volcanoes of eastern California last May was far too short, but there was nothing I could do. Life called. Read more
Posted on 18 September 2023 OUTDOORS -
Tree-following: Good News (mostly)
After skipping a month, we headed off to visit the Rocky Mountain Junipers I'm following this year. There were big changes. The grass is mostly straw-colored... Read more
Posted on 13 September 2023 OUTDOORS -
Panum Volcano: "just a Baby" but What a Life So Far!
Panum: phreatic, pyroclastic, Strombolian, or extruded? Answer: all of the above. (Google Earth 2019)."Pa-num, in the Pa-vi-o-osi [local Paiute] language,... Read more
Posted on 25 August 2023 OUTDOORS -
Volcanic Tableland & Owen's River Gorge
Last May on the way home from the West Coast, we stopped below the steep east face of the Sierra Nevada. From the campsite I looked out across the broad Volcani... Read more
Posted on 14 August 2023 OUTDOORS -
Treefollowing: Last Year's Tree & a Carboniferous Pond
Remember this tree? (August 2022)Given how lovely it's been in the Laramie Mountains, I decided to check on the Balsam Poplar I followed last year instead of... Read more
Posted on 07 August 2023 OUTDOORS -
Cowboy's Delight
Not what you expected?On my tree-following expedition last week, I saw patch after patch of Sphaeralcea coccinea in full bloom. For many years I knew it as... Read more
Posted on 17 July 2023 OUTDOORS -
Tree-following: Junipers in July
My field assistant stayed home (too warm). But I managed to find both my trees and the shutter release button, thereby verifying my visit. Read more
Posted on 14 July 2023 OUTDOORS -
Goodbye, Jan Conn—legendary Rock Climber, Caver, Musician & Much More
Jan Conn (center) with her woodworking group.Jan Conn passed away in May at age 99. She was a valuable part of my life, following a lifestyle to which I aspired... Read more
Posted on 01 July 2023 OUTDOORS