Artful Contortions (Phormium Leaf)
For more black and white images check out Dragonstar’s Weekend in Black and White.
This is a leaf of a dwarf cultivar of NZ Flax (phormium tenax, probably ‘surfer’ or ‘elfin’). I found it in a clump of somewhat overgrown vegetation in our garden. Some of the leaves of that plant and several others were quite misshapen, but this one was the most extreme, and just beautiful. I think that the twists and twirls are the result of insect activity (maybe mites), interfering with the normal growth process. If anybody can shed more light on this, I would be very interested. (The whole curly part is about 3-4cm.)
An expert told me that this is an instance of fasciation — fascinating!
The images date back several years, and I have not seen much of this phenomenon in recent times. But I like the top picture a lot (it is a natural sepia toning anyway, so a good candidate for black and white), and the story is intriguing. Three more examples below.
Toi Toi (Cortaderia toetoe)
Toi Toi is a NZ native grass, belonging to the family Cortaderia, just as the introduced Pampas Grass. Here the winter sun is caught by the feathery flower stands of a clump of toi toi at the edge of the bush in Titirangi.
For more black and white images check out Dragonstar’s Weekend in Black and White.
Painted Boxes: Grapevines (Ted Rogers)
(Wednesday is for painted boxes.)
This transformer was painted by Ted Rogers in 2008. It is located outside Faracs Grandview Estate Wines at 172A Don Buck Road, Massey. What better subject than grapevines with tempting bunches of ripe grapes!
Painted Boxes: Bush Scenes (Monique Endt)
(Wednesday is for painted boxes.)
This transformer is outside 75 Royal Road, Massey. Painted by local artist Monique Endt with bush scenes, there was also some involvement of Royal Road School, coordinated by Kelly Knowles.
There are birds: kakariki(?), pukeko and NZ wood pigeon above, pukeko, fantail, tui and wood pigeon below. Plants:ferns, kowhai with the yellow flowers, nikau with red berries, cabbage tree with white bloom (bottom left).
Painted Boxes: Bush Scenes (Monique Endt)
Painted Boxes: Bush Scenes (Monique Endt)
Strings of Pearls (Whau)
Another shot of whau pods after a foggy morning, taken at Arataki Visitor Centre. The Whau (Entelia arborescens) is a shrub or small tree, endemic to New Zealand. It is a deciduous plant, laden with prickly seed pods in winter. I liked how the out of focus dew drops on the left echo the shape of the cluster of pods.
Whau Pod (Steve Woodward 2007)
Olympic Park in New Lynn (map) is home to a good number of works by Steve Woodward. This one is entitled Whau Pod, and if one thinks of these pods in terms of yesterday’s post (I certainly would), then one might well mutter about artistic licence and such like. However, the answer lies in looking at the pods after they have fully ripened, as in the picture below: one can clearly see the six chambers, filled with seeds of some pinkish coloration – the sculpture depicts their falling out of the pod.
One of the streams bordering Olympic Park is the Whau Stream.
Whau Pod with Seeds
Whau Pods
On Saturday we had thick fog until late morning, and I found these beautifully decorated whau pods at the Arataki Visitor Centre. The Whau (Entelia arborescens) is a shrub or small tree, endemic to New Zealand. It is a deciduous plant, laden with prickly seed pods in winter.
