Ficus carica (the plants) makes a breathtaking display of aerial greenery filling the glass dome of what was once a chapel. Tradition has it that the dome was built round the tree.

growing somewhere ugly doesn’t make you any less beautiful

It's Fossil Friday! Behold the dazzling colors of an iridescent ammonite (Placenticeras intercalare). A relative of today’s squids, this ammonite lived some 80 million years ago near what is now Alberta, Canada. This fossil’s spectacular coloration is the result of millions of years of high temperatures and pressures. As these forces acted on nacre in this ammonite’s shell, it was transformed into a gemstone known as an ammolite. Along with amber and pearl, ammolite is one of only a handful of gems made by living organisms. You can spot this rare specimen in the Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Collections Core in the Museum’s Gilder Center.

More scenery from Redwoods National Park in northern CA, USA.