Bus Stop Biosphere V

Pictures of flora from a curious commuter, late March to early May 2013.

< Bus Stop Biosphere IV

What: Alcea rosea (Common Hollyhock) leaves
Family: Malvaceae
Where: Underneath the Fremont Rocket.
When: 3/17/13
Notes: According to Quattrocchi, the origins of Alcea is “Greek alkea ‘mallow’, Latin alcea, ae for Malva alcea L. (Plinius).”

What: Daphne laureola (Daphne-laurel) flowers and leaves
Family: Thymelaeaceae
Where: Steps at 40^th and Fremont
When: 3/17/13
Notes: I find this plant a bit weedy with a pungent smell when you break its stems.

What: Rhododendron sp. (Azalea)
Family: Ericaceae
Where: Denny Park
When: 3/25/13
Notes: According the Merriam-Webster, azalea is “New Latin, genus name, from Greek, feminine of azaleos dry, from azein to parch, dry; akin it Hittite, ḫat- to dry up and probably to Latin ador emmer. First Known use: 1760”. According to Quattrocchi, this refers to the preferred habitat of this subgenera of the genus Rhododendron.


What: Aucuba japonica (Gold Dust Plant)
Family: Garryaceae
Where: 9^th Avenue and Virginia Street in front of Cosmopolitan Condominium
When: 3/25/13
Notes: This is the first time I ever saw this plant with flowers. I was surprised by the brown, almost purple flowers. The genus name comes from “Aukubi or ao-ki or aokiba, the Japanese name.” [Quattrocchi]

What: Aesculus hippocastanum (Horse-Chestnut)
Family: Sapindaceae
Where: Fremont Avenue North
When: 4/6/13, 5/3/13
Notes: This tree has a crazy burl-like structure around the trunk from which lots of new growth sprouts.

What: Lunaria annua (Money Plant)
Family: Brassicaceae
Where: Fremont Avenue North
When: 4/15/13
Notes: Purple flowers are followed by ghostly white seedpods that form the basis of many of the plant’s common names: Money Plant, Silver Dollars, Chinese Coins, etc. The generic name means “moon-like,” also referring to the seedpods.

What: Plantanus sp. (Sycamore)
Family: Plantanaceae
Where: 9^th Avenue between Lenora Street and Virginia Street.
When: 5/3/13
Notes: The “Beebe and Runyan Furniture Northwest” refers to a company that occupied the building. According to Seattle.gov “[b] By 1936 at least until 1955, the building housed the Northwestern Furniture Sales Company and, subsequently, was the home of Beebe and Runyon Furniture.”

What: Trifolium incarnatum (Crimson Clover)
Family: Fabaceae
Where: Near Stone Way North and North 41^st Street.
When: 5/9/13
Notes: This clover is another one of those plants that stops me in my tracks when I see it and I wonder why I don’t have some.