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 ( 431 )
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Is There Beauty in the Great Basin?
"I begin to think the Great Basin, like many other great things in this world, a great humbug ... very interesting to the geologist and geographer, but... Read more
Posted on 03 June 2021 OUTDOORS -
Danny's Rock Tree
Tree-following (kinda).I'm on the road, so instead of reporting on my followed trees, Flash and Spike, I introduce you to Danny's rock tree, next to an... Read more
Posted on 11 May 2021 OUTDOORS -
Herbarium: The Quest... (a Book Review & More)
In the early 1980s, Barbara Thiers, Director of the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium (NY Botanical Garden), and 15 other prominent botanists were asked to com... Read more
Posted on 26 April 2021 OUTDOORS -
Tree-following in April—Peak Laziness
My trees, Spike and Flash, have done nothing that's obvious to humans. I give them water during warm spells, hopefully they're putting it to good use. I check... Read more
Posted on 14 April 2021 OUTDOORS -
Mapping the Laramie Plains II: 3rd Dimension Captured
Two views of Sheep Mountain[s]: 1895 USGS map and 2011 photo looking northwest from Sodergreen Lake.To refresh your memory, and for you who missed Mapping the... Read more
Posted on 09 April 2021 OUTDOORS -
Mapping the Laramie Plains I: in Pursuit of the 3rd Dimension
"... almost every hill and cañon can be determined at a glance!" From first Laramie, Wyoming Sheet (USGS 1895; public domain).In the spring of 1893, Albany... Read more
Posted on 27 March 2021 OUTDOORS -
Tree-following: Let It Snow!!
Two days ago, I took a few photos of Flash and Spike, the trees I'm following this year. As you can see, there's nothing left of the little bit of snow that... Read more
Posted on 14 March 2021 OUTDOORS -
Tree-following 2021: Flash and Spike
This year, I'm following two trees that moved into my yard last summer. After I paid a modest fee to Rooted in Laramie, two Tiger Tree employees showed up,... Read more
Posted on 14 February 2021 OUTDOORS -
Chokecherry Farewell
Purple-leaved chokecherry, August 2020.Yesterday afternoon, I went to LaBonte Park to bid adieu to the chokecherry tree I followed this year. But I forgot my... Read more
Posted on 14 December 2020 OUTDOORS -
Tweedy's Pussypaws' Tortuous Taxonomic Journey
Tweedy's pussypaws has long challenged plant taxonomists. Should they abandon Darwinian evolution for an alternative? Photo by Hike395.Tweedy's pussypaws lives... Read more
Posted on 16 November 2020 OUTDOORS -
November News, from Leaves to Windows
Not surprisingly, the chokecherry tree in LaBonte Park that I've been following this year is mostly bare, only a few dead leaves were hanging on. Just as well,... Read more
Posted on 12 November 2020 OUTDOORS -
Our Long Love Affair with the US Mail
Library of Congress (LOC)Communication is among our greatest desires. Being hyper-social animals, we demand more information, more news whether good or bad, mor... Read more
Posted on 15 October 2020 OUTDOORS -
Trees Turning, Trees Burning
With Laramie's trees now changing color, the debate is on. Some claim that chlorophyll, the compound that captures solar energy and also makes leaves green, is... Read more
Posted on 11 October 2020 OUTDOORS -
Sea Shells in the Church Walls (& Other Mysteries of the Casper Formation)
For geologist and bishop Nicholaus Steno, science was a way to understand God's work (source).On the morning of August 13,1894, mason Michael Bergin picked up... Read more
Posted on 03 September 2020 OUTDOORS -
My Purple Tree on a Lovely Day in the Park
Last month, an afternoon thunderstorm kept me from visiting the chokecherry tree I'm following. So when I saw it yesterday, I was really surprised. It's... Read more
Posted on 14 August 2020 OUTDOORS -
A Tree-related Post
I had it all planned: errand 1, errand 2, … errand 5, then to LaBonte Park to visit the tree I’m following. It would be a nice outing by bicycle on a sunny... Read more
Posted on 14 July 2020 OUTDOORS -
Rust in the Forest – Complicated, but at Times Sweet
Little yellow fir tree on big green fir tree?First I spotted it—dense yellow growth on a subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa). Then I was hit by a powerfully sweet... Read more
Posted on 02 July 2020 OUTDOORS -
Naming Trees
all the trees have names,both family and genuson small brass plaques at the base of each …looking once like any otherburlapped ball of rootswhen it was lowered... Read more
Posted on 13 June 2020 OUTDOORS -
Laramie’s Opera Houses—culture on the Frontier
Apparently Swain Little's public brawl didn't hurt their business.On a chilly February evening in 1874, Laramie grocer A.G. Swain stepped before a large... Read more
Posted on 21 May 2020 OUTDOORS -
Tree-Watching and Spinning Birds
Among its many lockdown articles, The New York Times featured one last week that I think might be of interest to fellow tree-followers: “7 Tips for Watching... Read more
Posted on 14 May 2020 OUTDOORS