Passiflora caerulea
Cerinthe major
Picture by Mike Smith
Correa via the Exotic Garden, Norwich
‘A number of images depicting a flower with the face of a monkey are currently circulating via social media posts and the blogosphere. Many commentators have suggested that the images have been “photoshopped”.
However, the images are genuine and depict a real flower. The botanical name of (one of) the pictured orchids (top right) is Dracula gigas. Another orchid species, Dracula simia, also has flowers that resemble monkey faces. The name pays homage to the “monkey” resemblance (simia) as well as to a resemblance to the flowing cape and long fangs of the Dracula character in popular fiction.
These orchid species grow in their natural state in Colombian, Ecuadorian and Peruvian forests at high elevations are thus not often encountered by people in the wild. However, collectors have cultivated the plants elsewhere.’ (extract from hoaxslayer.com)
Other species names include:
Verbascum ‘Kynaston’
Vita Sackville-West wrote in 1936 that her Verbascums looked as though “a colony of tiny buff butterflies had settled all over them”. She described the colourings as “dusty, fusty, musty”. Verbascums have not changed much since then. The Cotswold Group about which she was writing are still grown, and there are others – for example ‘Megan’s Mauve’, and the new variety, ‘June Johnson’ – in which purple and apricot have become interwoven.
Verbascums make good partners for old roses (which they succeed in flower); in groups of plants with rounded or vase-shaped form to provide a contrast; or (where they are white-flowered) placed in front of softly coloured Hydrangeas.
Cornus is a genus of about 30- 60 species of woody trees and shrubs, commonly known as dogwoods. Most are deciduous, but a few are more like herbaceous perennials (subshrubs) and some are evergreen. Cornus is the latin word for ‘horn’ referring to the hardness of the wood.
Some of the Cornus species names are:
C. alba = white
C. canadensis = of Canada
C. candidissima = very white- the flowers
C. capitata = headed- the grouping of flowers
C. florida = flowering richly
C. fragifera = strawberry-like – the fruits
C. glabrata = glabrous
C. kousa = a japanese name
C. mas = male (mascula of Linnaeus)
C. nuttallii = after Nuttall
C. sanguinea = blood-red- the twigs
Nigel Boldero aka 'Old School Gardener'
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