Odd and Strange Plants

The Zombie hand mushroom (photo, extreme left) looks like a dead hand with a bad smell like a dead fish or rat.

The pitcher plants (photo, middle) are carvinorous plants. Their pitcher-like shape attracts insects by their sweet smell and color. The liquid inside traps, drowns, and dissolves the insects.
Next t is the Venus Fly Traps. They catch and eat flies with their wide-open traps that react at speeds of ½ second to capture the flies!!! Earlier seen in South Carolina and North Carolina, its population is much less now. This can be grown at homes also.

The Corpse Flower of Indonesia (photo, extreme left). It stays for two days and will reappear only after 1-3 years.

Source: Google

Image: Google

Fuji-San (Mount Fuji), Japan

Mount Fuji is Japan’s highest mountain at 3776 feet high. It is a dormant stratovolcano currently classified as active with a low risk of eruption that last erupted since 1707. It lies on the border between Yamanashi and Shizouka. The Japanese worship as a sacred mountain. A visit to the base of the Mount Fuji can be done on a one-day trip from Tokyo. . When the sky is clear, it is visible from Tokyo. There is the Fuji Five Lake located at 1000 meters roughly above the sea level and is an ideal place to see the Mount Fuji. Its symmetrical cone is a well known symbol of Japan. Numerous writers have written about Mount Fuji and numerous paintings are available. It is very cold and the cone is mostly covered by snow for several months of the year. The highest temperature is 17.8°C. Around 200,000 tourists climb this mountain each year mostly in July and August via numerous routes. This is relatively a young volcano having attained its present shape 5000 years ago due to volcanic activities.

Image: Google

Source: Google

Antarctica's mountain peaks

What the Russian scientists had discovered 50 years ago has now been mapped by teams of experts from Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Japan, Germany, and the US.

Yes, the first detailed maps of the Gamburtsev subglacial mountain in the East Antarctica are now available. These maps do confirm these mountains as similar to the Alps in Europe with high peaks and valleys. Dr. Fausto Ferraccioli from the British Survey Team notes interesting findings. The team feels that the peaks might have formed quickly burying Antarctic landscape up to four kilometers.

This team also discovered water under the Antarctic ice by flying 120,000 km by two survey aircraft. Rugged terrain with deeply etched valleys and peaks were also traced by them. These mountains and peaks are the size of the Alps in Europe.

The team used two survey aircraft fitted with special sensors and spent six weeks under minus 30C temperature to get an exciting 3D picture of these peaks. Some of these peaks are as tall as Mont Blanc. They hope to get more information about climate change from these studies on the Gamburtsev range in East Antarctica.

The Antarctica, which is covered with ice for more than 35 million years is bigger than America. The ice in Antarctica is capable of raising world sea levels by 57 meters if at all it melted. Imagine the damage if even a fraction of this ice melts due to global warming.

The data collected by the survey team seems to suggest the presence of vast aquatic system of lakes and rivers under the Antarctic ice sheets. Just as mountain ranges are formed due to collision between continents, the Antarctica too undergone such force about 500 million years ago while the Alps are much, much younger at 50 or 60 million years or so!

Source: Times of India, February 26, 2009
Image: Google

Nonggang babbler

NEW BIRD SPECIES FOUND

Ornithologists in China have found a new species of the fist-sized babbler bird, a dark brown bird with white specks on its chest. They initially found it in 2005 and have since declared it an undescribed species. It is named Nonggang babbler or Stachyris nonggangensis referring to the Chinese region where it was found. A formal description was published last year in the Auk, which is the journal of the Virginia-based American Ornithologists’ Union.

This bird was also found in the southwestern China’s Guangxi in December 2008.

This bird resembles a wren-babbler as it prefers running to flying and spends most of its time on the ground. About 100 numbers of this species have been identified so far in the natural reserves of southwestern China. Ornithologists are looking for these birds in the northern Vietnam where similar habitat exists.

Some more new species of birds are also expected to be found in China.

A WARNING! The fragility of the karst ecosystem an its destruction by man are the great threats to the bird’s existence.

Source: Times of India February 3, 2009

Maypop flower by different names

A flower by different namesin Botanical Gardens,Hyderabad. Its flowers are known by different names as shown below: Most of these names are mythological and interesting.

In Telugu, it is Kaurava-Pandava puvvu. The 100 radical filaments of the corona all around depict the Kauravas while the five anthers represent the Pandavas.

In Manipur, it is called the Radhika nachom probably representing the dance of Krishna and Radha along with the many gopikas dancing around.

In Bengali, it is called the Jhumkalata, a creeper (lata) with jumkhas. If turned over, this flower would look like a pretty earring or jhumkha.

In English, it is called the Passion Flower, the passion of Christ on the cross. In Europe, it is a symbol of crucification. The 72 radial filaments denote the crown of Thorns. The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles. The top three stigmata represent the three nails and the lower five anthers represent the five wounds.

In Spanish language, this flower is similarly called Espina de Cristo (Christ's Thorn).

In Germany, it is called Muttergottes-Schuzchen (Mother of Gods’ Star).

Japanese call it the clock-faced flower.

In North America, it is called the Maypop, the water lemon, and the wild apricot.

Courtesy: The Hindu Young World January 27, 2009