Tag: flowers

• Hooker’s Lips is the world’s most kissable plant

  

  The tropical plant Psychotria Elata aka ‘hooker’s lips’ or ‘Hot Lips,’ is Latin America’s most kissable plant.

  Native to Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama, the shrub’s enchanting red bracts mimic a woman’s luscious lips. Some of nature’s shapes and colors are biologically universal — especially these juicy puckers, which have also developed the nickname “Mick Jagger’s Lips.”

  

  Hooker’s Lips kissed by pollinating butterflies

  The plant has evolved its big red shape, a modified set of foot-long leaves, to pucker up and attract pollinators like butterflies and hummingbirds. But the lips are temporary, as they take their unique shape several days after opening.

  White flowers emerge inside the plant’s smoochy center between December and March.

  Sadly, deforestation and climate change are wiping the species off the Earth. People in Central America are also known to gift the plant during Valentine’s Day. But let’s be sure not to kiss this beautiful plant goodbye.

  

  

  

  The tropical plant Psychotria Elata aka ‘hooker’s lips’ or ‘Hot Lips,’ is Latin America’s most kissable plant. Native to Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama, the shrub’s enchanting red bracts mimic a woman’s luscious lips. Some of nature’s shapes and colors are biologically universal — especially these juicy puckers, which have also developed the nickname “Mick […]

  Wells Baum

  July 29, 2022

  Nature

  flowers, Nature, Plants

• Meet the first flower grown entirely in space, a zinnia flower

  

  “The earth laughs in flowers,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson in Nature and Selected Essays.

  We, humans, spend our entire lives blistering through space on a giant rock we call Earth with flowers in abundance. It is fascinating to know that we too can pollinate the cosmos.

  NASA astronaut and American engineer Scott Kelly captured the Orange Zinnia, enjoying the sunshine aboard the International Space Station in 2016.

  First ever flower grown in space makes its debut! #SpaceFlower #zinnia #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/2uGYvwtLKr

  — Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) January 16, 2016

  The harvest was part of the VEG-01 experiment during Expedition 46. Nasa used the seeds from growing pillows — watered via injected syringes — delivered on ISS Cargo to foster the Zinnia flowers.

  Plant research in space originally began in the 1970s to understand how plants grow in microgravity and to explore the possibility of autonomous gardening on deep space missions.

  See more of Kelly’s beautiful pictures after the jump.

  

  

  

  

  “The earth laughs in flowers,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson in Nature and Selected Essays. We, humans, spend our entire lives blistering through space on a giant rock we call Earth with flowers in abundance. It is fascinating to know that we too can pollinate the cosmos. NASA astronaut and American engineer Scott Kelly captured the […]

  Wells Baum

  April 17, 2021

  Nature, Space

  flowers, Nasa, Nature, space

• Aerial views of the tulip fields of Lisse

  

  The small Dutch town of Lisse is home to one of the most beautiful tulip fields in the world, the Keukenhof flower park.

  More than 7 million flower bulbs are planted every year as part of the flower’s annual Tulips’ expo.

  The spring flower garden features an assortment of vibrant colored tulips from deep shades like purple and maroon to pure white and yellow.

  It’s truly a mesmerizing sight of color.

  

  

  

  

  The small Dutch town of Lisse is home to one of the most beautiful tulip fields in the world, the Keukenhof flower park. More than 7 million flower bulbs are planted every year as part of the flower’s annual Tulips’ expo. The spring flower garden features an assortment of vibrant colored tulips from deep shades […]

  Wells Baum

  September 11, 2020

  Nature, Travel

  flowers, holland, Nature