Monthly Archives: December 2006
El Niño and Panama, Part 2. The Doldrums
Back in October, I started looking at some precipitation data for our region and wondered whether we were beginning to see any effects of the current El Niño, which is predicted to continue through May 2007. Since I’m so new … Continue reading
Aphelandra and the big sex cell
Blooming now at the edge of a “tangled bank” of growth alongside our seasonal stream is an Aphelandra species, relative to the zebra plant, A. squarrosa. It is a shrub with a candle-like flower-head or inflorescence. You can see in … Continue reading
No internet but bananas continue to grow
We’ve been without internet since last Friday, but the banana stalk is still changing. For those who do not wish to go through all 60 images that I now have at Flickr on banana development, I’ve put together a set … Continue reading
Bananas, plantains; pollination, parthenocarpy
How do you tell the difference between a plantain and a banana? It’s pretty straightforward when you walk into a fruit and vegetable stand and see large, green plantains next to smaller, yellow bananas. Plantains are starchy and are cooked … Continue reading
