this week's #Paleostream was a Valentine's Day special where we drew fossil angiosperms!

this week we drew Florissantia (i drew F. quilchenensis), Lovellea, Leguminocarpum olmensis, and Sagaria

Guichenotia macrantha

This is an example of a plant in the Malvaceae (the Mallow Family, or Hibiscus Family) native to Australia. Like so many of the Australian plants we grow at the Ruth Bancroft Garden, it comes from the winter-rainfall region in Western Australia (in this case, to the north and east of Perth). Its fuzzy cut-leaf foliage and delicate lavender-pink lantern-like flowers make it a delightful garden subject.

…inside a flower …

Here's a plant that you're not likely to see outside of the Southwestern US or Baja California: Malacothamnus, the bush mallow. Although fairly recognizable at the genus level, they're extremely hard to ID to species. They're typically found in very early successional areas that have experienced recent fire. This plant, from the San Gorgonio wilderness, was growing in an area heavily burned in the 2016 Valley Fire.

Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

Hollyhock - Maeve McCarthy , 2022.

Irish.b.1964 -