Louisiana calling

     I recently visited two beautiful and interesting locales in Louisiana.  I visited them both in the 1990s, and they deserved a repeat visit.

     The first, Longue Vue Gardens, is in New Orleans.  The house and gardens were developed from 1924 to the 1930s.  It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2005.

     The second is the Atchafalaya Swamp, about a hundred miles west of New Orleans.  Two levees were built alongside it in the 1930s to prevent flooding following a devastating flood in 1927.  It is 2200 square miles in size, and it is primarily populated with bald cypress trees (Taxodium distichum).  Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneiodes), an epiphyte, commonly grows on the trees, and it was harvested by the Cajun people (French people originally from Nova Scotia in the 1760s) for use as car seat stuffing, diapers, and many other uses.

Curiosities of Egypt

     Recently I was in Egypt, one of my favorite places in the world.  I found a few interesting plants there, in spite of the desert conditions.

     The first photo is of a shrub inside St. Katharine Monastery, built in the 6th Century.  Its location is at the spot where Moses is believed to have received the Ten Commandments on top of nearby Mt. Sinai.  He first was supposed to have received directions from God after he was drawn to a "burning bush" that was not consumed by fire.  This shrub is believed by many to be that same bush, alive after all the years since that event.  It is Rubus ulmifolius sanctus, the last epithet reflecting its religious significance.  Who knows for sure?   

   The next two photos of a tree in a park in the city of Aswan appears to be in the family Leguminaceae.  I thought the stem growing out of the trunk was interesting.

   The next two photos are of a neat desert shrub that I do not recognize.  I would appreciate an ID.

   I thought the last photo was kind of cute, with a statue of King Ramses II having a "halo" of palm leaves.  It was taken in the famous Karnak Temple in the city of Luxor.