The Giant Amazon Water Lily, Victoria Amazonica, is found growing naturally in the region of central Brazil known as Amazonia. The immense leaves are the largest of all plants. Some could be as big as 2.65 m (8 ½ feet) diameter and carry a weight of 45kg (100 pounds) spread evenly. The beauty of this plant is not only in the size of the leaf but also the beautiful patterned veins underneath that support the leaf's weight. The stems can reach as much as eighteen feet from the river bottom along the banks.
The incredible leaves unfurl from only 15cm (6 inch) to 2m (6 ½ feet) in 2-3 weeks - you can virtually watch them grow! The first flowers of the giant amazon water lily normally appear with buds up to 20cm across! The stunning flowers last for only 3 days, changing from pure white to delicate pink and purple.
The pure-white flowers open during the evening with a pineapple-like fragrance. A chemical reaction inside the flower heats the bloom to as much as 12°C (20°F) above the ambient temperature, helping to disperse the perfume and attract the scarab beetle pollinator. This flower is initially female and receptive to pollen carried by a beetle from another flower. As daylight approaches the flower shuts, trapping the beetle. During the day, the flower becomes male and produces pollen that coats the beetle as it tries to escape. The flower reopens the following evening as a dark pink. This color is unattractive the pollen-coated beetle which travels to another white flower.
Air-plants grow on the upper branches of tall trees non-parasitically, depending on the host only for support. Most plants get water and nutrients through their roots in the ground. For an air-plant, with their roots planted in the tree tops or sometimes upon some other object, this isn't an option. But they have a solution. First, the bare roots have an extraordinary ability to soak up water like blotting paper. The slightest rain or mist, and they absorb every drop.
They also have a way of gathering nutrients. Their roots trap falling leaves which eventually rot and provide the plants with their own personal supply of compost. 20,000 different plants -orchids, bromeliads and ferns have taken up this remarkable lifestyle.
Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals typically insects. Carnivorous plants appear adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic bogs and rock outcroppings.
Five basic trapping mechanisms are found in carnivorous plants.
1. Pitfall traps (pitcher plants) trap prey in a rolled leaf that contains a pool of digestive enzymes or bacteria.
2. Flypaper traps use sticky mucilage.
3. Snap traps utilize rapid leaf movements.
4. Bladder traps suck in prey with a bladder that generates an internal vacuum.
5. Lobster-pot traps force prey to move towards a digestive organ with inward-pointing hairs
Pitcher plant
Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with liquid known as a pitfall trap. Flying or crawling insects such as flies are attracted to the cavity formed by the cupped leaf, often by visual temptations and nectar bribes. The sides of the pitcher are slippery and may be grooved in such a way so as to ensure that the insects cannot climb out. The small bodies of liquid contained within the pitcher traps drown the insect, and the body of it is gradually dissolved.
The Venus Flytrap, is a carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey—mostly insects. Its trapping structure is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves and is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces. When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap closes if a different hair is contacted within twenty seconds of the first strike. If the prey is unable to escape, it will continue to stimulate the inner surface of the lobes, and this causes a further growth response that forces the edges of the lobes together, eventually sealing the trap hermetically and forming a 'stomach' in which digestion occurs. Digestion is catalyzed by enzymes secreted by glands in the lobes. Digestion takes about ten days, after which the prey is reduced to a husk. The trap then reopens, and is ready for reuse.
Sundews comprise one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants. They capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surface. The insects are used to supplement the poor mineral nutrition that sundews are able to obtain from the soil in which they grow.
Sundews are characterized by the glandular tentacles, topped with sticky secretions.. Small prey, mainly consisting of insects, are attracted by the sweet secretions of the peduncular glands. Upon touching these, the prey becomes entrapped by sticky mucilage which prevents their escape. The plant meanwhile secretes enzymes. These enzymes both dissolve the insect and free the contained nutrients. The nutrient soup is then absorbed through the leaf surface and can then be used to help fuel plant growth.
Espalier is the horticultural and ancient agricultural practice of controlling woody plant growth by pruning and tying branches so that they grow in relatively flat planes, frequently in formal patterns, against a structure such as a wall, fence, or trellis.
Espalier, trained into flat two dimensional forms are ideal not only for decorative purposes, but also for gardens in which space is limited.
The Karakoram Highway (KKH) (Urdu: شاہراہ قراقرم; Chinese: 喀喇昆仑公路) is the highest paved international road in the world.
The highway, originates from Havelian, about 100 kilometers from Islamabad (Capital of Pakistan), connecting Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan to Kashgar, a city in the Xinjiang region of China. The Karakoram Highway (KKH), which was blasted and bulldozed through an intractable landscape of furious rivers, deep gorges and sheer mountains in the 1960s and ’70s. It is a 1300 km marvel of engineering, around 810 Pakistani and 82 Chinese constructors died during the construction. Some say that due to its high elevation and the difficult conditions in which it was constructed, it is also referred to as the “Ninth Wonder of the World.” Karakoram Highway also known as Silk Road, as it traces one of the many paths of the ancient Silk Route. It is the highest border crossing in the world, over 4800 meters (roughly 16,000 feet) in the Khunjerab Pass at the border. For comparison, Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Western Europe, is 4810 m and Mount Whitney, the highest point in United States, is 4421. The notable places that can be directly seen while traveling on the highway are:
Indus River
Nanga Parbat, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, 9th highest Peak of the world at 8,126m
Gilgit River
Junction Point of the three Great Mountain Ranges - Karakorum, Himalaya and Hindu Kush
Rakaposhi, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, 27th highest Peak of the world at 7,788m
Diran, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, most dangerous mountain in Pakistan
Hunza River
Minapin Glacier
Passu Glacier
Cathedral Peaks near Passu
Ghulkin Glacier
Khunjerab National Park
Highest Border Crossing in the World
Karakul Lake in Xinjiang (China)
KKH & Indus River
Bridge on Indus River at KKH ( credit: Syed Suhaib)
This is the junction point of 'the three mightiest mountain ranges in the word'. The middle one is of course the Karakoram (black stone) range. The mountain on the left is part of the Hindu Kush range and the one on the right is part of the Himalaya
Photographer Gerald Donovan takes resolution to astounding new heights, announcing the composition of a 45-gigapixel panoramic landscape of Dubai that, if printed, would be the size of nearly 1,200 billboards.
The shot was captured over more than three hours using a Canon 7D mounted to a robotic GigaPan camera mount that uses imaging technology similar to that found on NASA's Mars rovers. The sweeping shot is actually 4,250 individual shots cobbled together seamlessly with Autopano stitching software.
Wake up and smell the world’s largest coffee: 2,010 gallons
The largest cup of coffee was 7,608.68 liters (1,673.67 UK gal; 2,010 US gal) and was made by GourmetGiftBaskets.com (USA) at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, on 15 October 2010.
World's Oldest Man
Thai Buddhist monk Luang Phu Supha, celebrates on what he claims is his 115th birthday at a temple in Phuket, Thailand. The revered monk's age would make him the world's oldest man.
Heaviest Vehicle Pulled
The record for the heaviest vehicle pulled over a level 100ft (30.48m) course weighed 57,243kg (126,200lb) and was set by the Rev Kevin Fast, from Canada.
Longest Fingernails
The longest fingernails belonged to American Lee Redmond, who started to grow them in 1979 and carefully manicured them to reach a total length of 8.65m (28ft 4.5in). Lee lost her nails in a car accident this year. Melvin Boothe, also from the US, has a set of fingernails that had a combined length of 9.85m (32ft 3.8in)
Shortest Man
The shortest known mobile living adult is "He Pingping", who was measured by a team of doctors in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China, and found to be 74.61cm (2ft 5.37in)
World's Tallest Man
The world's tallest man, Sultan Kosen from Turkey, poses for photographers next to school children at an event in London to promote the Guinness World Records 2010 book. Kosen, who is 2m 46.5cm (8ft 1in) tall, also claims the record for the largest hands and largest feet.
Fastest 100m Hurdles
The fastest 100m hurdles wearing swim fins is 19.278 seconds and was acheived by Veronica Torr (New Zealand) on the set of New Zealand Smashes Guinness World Records at the Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland.
The biggest koi carp in the world?
While on vacation in France, this man caught what is supposed to be the biggest koi carp in the world! The fish has been released just after the picture was taken. When asked why the big colored fish was released, the man answered: “I do not have a big enough bowl”!
Arborsculpture is the art and technique of growing and shaping trunks of trees and other woody plants. By grafting, bending and pruning the woody trunks and or branches are grown into shapes either ornamental or useful. The word is a conjunction of the words arbor (Latin for tree) and sculpture.
John Krubsack (1858-1941) was a banker and naturalist from Embarrass, Wisconsin. He conceived, planted and shaped living trees to create the first known grown chair. He started his chair in 1903 and harvested 11 years later in 1914.
Living Chair by Krubsack
Harvested Chair
Krubsack explains the process in which he grew the chair in detail:
After I had planted 32 trees all box elders, in the spring of 1907, I left them to grow in their new home for a year until they were six feet tall, before beginning the chair. In the spring of 1908 I gradually began the work of training the young and pliable stems to grow gradually in the shape of a chair. Most of this work consisted in bending the stems of these trees and tying and grafting them together so as to grow, if possible with all the joints cemented by nature. This was largely an experiment with me and it was with a great deal of interest that I watched and assisted nature in growing piece of furniture. The first summer's growth found all the joints I had made by tying and grafting grown firmly together. Some of the trees I found, however, grew much faster than others. To overcome this, I began to cut the stems of those trees that to my notion had grown large enough. This did not kill these trees but simply retarded their growth so as to give the weaker trees a chance to catch up. In this manner I let these trees grow for seven years. During the last two years I had only four trees growing from the root. These were the four that consisted the legs of the chair and all the other stems kept alive from these four stems because they were grafted to them. After the seventh year all the trees were cut, making in all eleven years from the time the seed was sown until the chair was finally completed.
Axel Erlandson (December 15, 1884 – April 28, 1964) was a Swedish American farmer who shaped trees as a hobby, and opened a horticultural attraction in 1947 advertised as "See the World's Strangest Trees Here," and named "The Tree Circus."
Erlandson sold his attraction shortly before his death. The trees were moved to Gilroy Gardens in 1985.
Revolving Door
Two Leg Tree
The "Basket Tree"
Emblem Tree
This living tree house located in Bio Park on Okinawa Island. This living tree house demonstrates the potential of training tree trunks into fun and functional garden elements. It is constructed using the basket weave technique out of Ficus trees.
Richard Reames, author of “How to Grow a Chair” and pioneer of the term “arborsculpture” grows a number of designs. He has made chairs, a peace sign and tool handles. He also wrote “Arborsculpture Solutions for a Small Planet” and creator of Arborsmith.com.
Richard and his friends enjoy his growing table and chairs
Living Bench
Live Red Alder chair and glass top table in containers
Faucet through a Tree
Auerworld Palace located in Germany: Living trees form the structure of an open-air palace.
