s_k_johnsgard's Favourites

This is the last of a stand of native Persimmon trees that was first recorded in 1831, separated by at least sixty miles from its closest relatives on western Long Island. At the turn of the twentieth century there were over 100 trees here, but by 1923 there were only 29 left. A poignant, but premature, notice was published at that time in the Yale Forest School News: “There is no reproduction, and it is now only a question of a few years until these few remnants are defeated in their struggle for existence.”

Notice: Images may be slightly distorted due to my scanner.

Scan of wild-collected seeds. Collected in Piedmont, Alabama in September 2022. I don't remember the exact location or date of collection.

Scan was made August 6, 2023.

Notice: Images may be slightly distorted due to my scanner.

Scan of wild-collected seeds. Collected in Piedmont, Alabama in August 2022. I don't remember the exact location or date of collection.

Scan was made August 6, 2023.

Disclaimer: Images may be slightly distorted due to unknown problems with my scanner.

These are wild-collected seeds I scanned while testing out my scanner earlier this year. I just found this in a folder of seed scans on my computer after forgetting about them for several months, so I decided I might as well upload them here. These seeds were collected from a couple different locations in Piedmont, Alabama in August 2022. I can't remember the exact locations or dates, however.

Scan was made January 10, 2023.

My scanner is not the greatest, but if you have any requests for a plant/plant part I should scan, feel free to let me know. I'd love to scan it and upload it.

Short shrubby tree, smooth grey bark, berries look similar to blueberries when ripe but are much darker - especially inside. Berry pulp is very dark, almost like molasses. Almost no notable taste. Leaves are small, rounded, somewhat thick, and smooth. Wondering if edible and/or would make a good wood stain. Looking for blues and purples.

Beautiful metallic blue nudibranch found floating in the shallows by rockpools. Long slender body with small blunt head. Two large ‘forelegs’, two smaller ‘hindlegs’ and two ‘tailfins’, shaped like large many fingered hands, spread out from the body. Beautiful metallic blues ranging from silvery cornflower blue to deep primary blue. Long thin pointed tail.
Specimen was able to use limbs to deliberately cling to rock surfaces when the tide went out.
Specimen around 1.5 inches in length.

found a small-flower pawpaw and a common persimmon growing right next to eachother! Very convenient for showing the differences :)

The small-flower pawpaw's the bigger plant on the left <--

the common persimmon's the smaller one on the right -->

Both have smooth, alternating leaves, but the pawpaw leaves are narrow at the base and wider at the top, and the persimmon leaves are more evenly oval shaped.

It also looks like the leaves on the persimmon are spaced further apart than on the pawpaw, thought this might not be something that applies to all of them.