Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Dogbane family

There were several Allamanda plants growing in the garden at the Blue Waters Inn, on the island of Tobago. I love their large, vivid yellow flowers that remind me of when we lived in Brunei, Borneo, for three and a half years, almost 50 years ago. "Allamanda is a genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. They are native to the Americas, where they are distributed from Mexico to Argentina. Some species are familiar as ornamental plants cultivated for their large, colorful flowers. Most species produce yellow flowers." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allamanda Bear with me, everyone, as I think I am going to have to post 6 photos from my trip each day, otherwise it will take me many months (years?) to get them on to Flickr. Obviously, no comments expected, unless you happen to like one photo in particular. Actually, I am so disappointed with my photos - never have so many photos come out blurry, many totally blurry and no use at all. Not sure why, though the light was often really bad and maybe the humidity had some effect. For some species, I am going to post awful shots, just for the record. It will take me forever to do any kind of write-up about this trip, but eventually, I hope to get some kind of description written. Right now, I'm not quite sure where I was and when, lol! We arrived back in Calgary two evenings ago, on 21 March 2017, and I have to get myself organized. Totally dead beat after such a busy time away, dealing with extremely early mornings and hot, humid weather. Those of you who know me well, know that I am a dreadful night-owl, so getting up around 5:15 am was an absolute killer. Also, heat and humidity don't agree with my body, so each trip out was quite exhausting. In the morning of 21 March, we had to get up around 2:00 am, as we had such an early flight (5 and a half hours) from Trinidad to Toronto - followed by a four-hour flight back to Calgary. On our very first day, we had three flights in a row, as we flew from Calgary to Toronto, then Toronto to Port of Spain on Trinidad, from where we had a short flight to the island of Tobago. This adventure was only the second holiday (or was it actually my third?) of any kind, anywhere, that I have had in something like 30 or 35 years! The other holiday was a one-week holiday with my great friends from England, Linda and Tony, when we went down south to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons in September 2012. I have had maybe half a dozen weekends away, including to Waterton National Park, which have helped keep me going. Six birding/photographer friends and I decided that we would take this exciting trip together, spending the first two or three days on the island of Tobago and then the rest of the time at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the nearby, larger island of Trinidad. What a time we had, seeing so many beautiful things - and, of course, everything was a lifer for me. Some of these friends had visited Costa Rica before, so were familiar with quite a few of the birds. There was a lot more to see on Trinidad, so we were glad that we chose Tobago to visit first and then spend a longer time at Asa Wright. The Asa Wright Nature Centre is such an amazing place! We stayed in cabins up or down hill from the main building. Really, one doesn't need to travel away from the Centre for birding, as so many different species visit the Hummingbird feeders that are right by the huge, open veranda, and the trees of the rain forest that live in the area, high up a mountainous road. The drive up and down this narrow, pot-holed road was an adventure in itself! Never would I ever do this drive myself - we had a guide who drove us everywhere in a van/small bus. I had read many accounts of this road, lol! And now I am going to take a break from typing and go and make myself some breakfast - already missing the great food that was provided every single day at Asa Wright and the Rum Punch that appeared each evening. I don't drink at all, so I wasn't sure if I would even try the Punch - glad I did, though, as it was delicious.

There was no sign giving the name of this beautiful tropical flower in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. Think I've posted a photo of this plant species before, so will check later, when I get back home. Taken on 9 April 2013. I think this is called Adenium. "Adenium obesum is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, that is native to the Sahel regions, south of the Sahara (from Mauritania and Senegal to Sudan), and tropical and subtropical eastern and southern Africa and Arabia. Common names include Sabi star, kudu, mock azalea, impala lily and desert rose." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenium_obesum</! It started to snow when I was out on a walk all morning at Carburn Park, and it's still snowing, just lightly at the moment. It was cold, with an icy wind, especially while we were walking along the edge of the Bow River. This afternoon, it's 0C (windchill -7C) and there is s spring snow storm in effect. Snow for tomorrow, too - it will be Tuesday before we see any sun again. Can't wait!

This flower reminds me of the yellow Allamanda flowers I usually see when I go to the Calgary Zoo, but I don't know if it is the same or not. Later: thanks to Art and cpf1 for the ID - much appreciated!

Aren't these just amazing flowers? They are only very small, but wow, when seen macro size, they are incredible. Makes me think of a fancy little flower-shaped button sewn on to a piece of fleecy fabric, lol! Not as sharp as I would have liked, though : ( "Hoya is a genus of 200-300 species of tropical climbing plants in the family Apocynaceae (Dogbane), native to southern Asia (India east to southern China and southward), Australia, and Polynesia. Common names for this genus are waxplant, waxvine, waxflower or simply hoya. This genus was named by botanist Robert Brown, in honour of his friend, botanist Thomas Hoy." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoya Jim (Garnite), I've just read the great news on Mim's (Mimbrava) photostream, that your operation went well! We couldn't have wished for more! Thought this fleecy Hoya flower might make you feel all warm and cozy, lying there in your hospital bed : ) All best wishes! If anyone else would like to send healing thoughts to Jim - he really needs all the thoughts and prayers he can get - please go to the For Garnite Group here: www.flickr.com/groups/1655195@N20/ and post your good wishes and beautiful images there.

Allamanda is a tropical shrub, native to South and Central America. I remember it from many years ago, when we lived in Seria, Brunei, Borneo. The plant in my photo is growing in the new Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. Such a lovely yellow. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allamanda

Photographed on 3rd August along the Marston Creek trail, Kananaskis. This native plant grows in dry, sandy areas and open forests, June-August. It has small, very attractive, cup-shaped flowers (6-9 mm long). A member of the Dogbane family. "The milky juice of this plant yields a type of latex and several attempts have been made to grow Spreading Dogbane commercially for the production of rubber. The Blackfoot used the milky juice as a shampoo to make their hair shiny." From "Plants of Alberta" by Royer and Dickinson.