[Exceptionally] Pretty pictures: transmitted light -- Part XLIV

A lot of things aren't working properly for me at the moment (oddities with loading certain websites, a literal headache, a bureaucratic thing which prompted an unscheduled trip to Iowa City yesterday -- and no, Mercury is not in retrograde), so tasks like e-mail and plant-watering are piling up, necessitating a transmitted light post.

(The previous transmitted light posts can be found here.)

Pilea cadierei. Quite a bit duller than you'd expect from seeing the leaves by reflected light, but sort of quietly interesting. To me, anyway.

Curcurbita sp. (C. pepo?), petals. Many of these photos are very old: I've been taking pictures faster than I've been using them. I think this is from fall 2009.

Pandanus veitchii.

Polyscias balfouriana. This isn't the greatest picture, but P. balfouriana tends to have veins that are particularly good for photographing.

Quercus sp., autumn. I can't decide whether the tears and brown spots improve transmitted light photos of deciduous trees like Quercus (oak) and Acer (maple) or ruin them.

Iresine herbstii 'Blazin' Rose.'

Weigela sp. I really like this kind of leaf. Not particularly taken with the plant (one came with the house: it isn't causing any problems, and it's impressively large, but it doesn't do much for me either. Considering how difficult it is to get enough light in the house, I'd really sort of prefer that we not have anything tall in or near the house at all. But it's probably staying anyway.

Hypoestes phyllostachya, white cv.

Dieffenbachia NOID. I keep seeing this variety over and over, but I have no idea what it's called. My best guess is 'Golden Sunset,' but given how many varieties there are, and how variable the leaves may be, a lot of them sort of shade into one another, and it's hard to be very sure.

Musa 'Zebrina Rojo.' (possibly Ensete 'Zebrina Rojo.') Sort of the obvious favorite from the set.

[Exceptionally] Pretty pictures: transmitted light -- Part XXXIX

It's hard to follow the plant profiles. Even when it's not a great profile, I've put enough effort into it that I usually don't have time to come up with something else. So: transmitted light photos.

(The previous transmitted light posts can be found here.)

Peperomia orba. I don't know why this wound up being such a crappy picture; the leaves are thick, but I've gotten better pictures with thicker leaves before. Unlucky, perhaps.

Taraxacum officinale. This one, on the other hand, is unpleasant because it was taken at the end of fall and the leaf in question was old. There may have been mildew on it too.

Senecio macroglossus.

Fragaria x 'Fort Laramie,' autumn. I was reminded last fall how brilliant the colors can be on strawberry plants. One of those things I knew at one time but forgot about.

Callisia repens.

Colocasia esculenta. If you only concentrate on the darker areas around the main veins, this sort of looks like a few very carefully-arranged green feathers.

Caladium 'Cardinal.'

Weigela florida 'Alexandra.' If I'm reading correctly, the on-line consensus is that this is the same as 'Wine and Roses.' Looks pretty, whatever you call it. A little dark for the yard, maybe.

Stromanthe sanguinea 'Triostar.' These often turn out nicely, but I rarely think that the photo came out looking like the leaf actually looked in person. This one isn't quite right either (though it's still a nice picture).

Quercus sp., autumn. I have a lot of autumn Quercus photos stockpiled; this isn't the best one by a long shot, but it's still my favorite from this set.

Pretty pictures: Pink

Today we have various thoughts from the plant kingdom about the idea of "pink." In a couple cases, it's maybe more my questionable judgment, and the plant was actually thinking of "purple," but whatever. I had a whole bunch of pictures that I needed to do something with, having just sifted through almost the whole photo backlog, and this sort of post is a really efficient way of getting through a lot of photos in a hurry, even if they're not seasonally-appropriate, as some of these aren't.

Asclepias syriaca flowers in extreme close-up. Some insect life visible if you look closely and/or open the photo full-size in a new window.

Polygonum persicaria. I don't think anybody actually likes this plant, but it's awfully familiar, at least. And technically pink, so it counts.

Lamium NOID. Shortly after taking this picture, I was looked at suspiciously by two women talking to one another over their backyards' fence. I expect that the suspicious looks happen all the time, but I'm not normally in a position to see them, so it was noteworthy.

Cyclamen persicum NOID. I don't see the frilly-edged Cyclamens for sale very often. Not that I necessarily want one. I just think it's interesting what is and isn't popular.

Torenia 'Catalina Pink.' This is arguably more purple than pink, but the tag said it was pink.

Ipomoea NOID. If loving morning glories is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Zinnia 'Profusion Cherry.' I had sort of intended to get some Zinnias this year, or at least some Zinnia seeds. As with all my other outdoor-related plans, that didn't work out.

Cyclamen NOID. This is probably my favorite photo from the batch.

Portulaca grandiflora, second-generation flower. These have not yet taken off like I'd hoped, but considering how late I started them, I suppose I can't be too disappointed. I should still be able to collect enough seeds to try again next year.

Weigela NOID. Came with the house. The husband and I are both kinda meh about it, but it'd be a lot of work to take it out, and neither of us have any ideas for something we'd rather see in that spot, so it stays.

Hibiscus moscheutos 'Dave Fleming,' at the ex-job. I've seen hardy Hibiscus varieties I covet, but this isn't one of them. It's big and bright enough that I find it sort of alarming. Not the sort of Hibiscus you want to run into, walking around the back yard at night.