4 of 6 of the New York Botanical Gardens. I like the sculptural form of the lily seed pods. Each one is slightly different. I replaced most of the backgrounds and enhanced my photographs in Photoshop.
I just learned the difference between a lotus and a lily:
Lotuses belong to the family Nelumbonaceae. The leaves and flowers of a lotus rise above the water’s surface.
Water lilies belong to the family Nymphaeaceae. The leaves and flowers of a water lily float on the water surface. The leaves of a tropical water lily float on the water surface, but its flowers are about 6-8 inches above the water surface.
We met our guide for Troll Expeditionsin Vik who drove us and a small group up to the Glacier. Our leader is in orange on the right. He is an expert mountaineer and has led numerous scientific expeditions and rescued many people in trouble. Unfortunately, the cave had collapsed before we arrived. They are looking for a new one. It is a race against global warming.
To make up for the lack of an ice cave our guide also drove us to Hjorleifshofdihellir Cave on the shore, also called the Yoda Cave because the opening looks like Yoda. TheYoda Cave is located in between the Gýgjagjá and Rituberg. It is large with echoing. If you have watched the Star Wars movie, you can see that you will recognize the cave’s opening as soon as you arrive. Named after Hjörleifur. “According to historians, Hjörleifur, the first settler in Iceland visited Iceland around the eighth century with his foster brother Ingólfur Arnarson. Both the brothers were sailing in different ships and they drifted apart on the way to Norway. Ingólfur lived at Ingólfshöfði and Hjörleifur landed at Hjörleifshöfði. After some time, the slaves of Hjörleifur turned against him and killed him. Slaves fled with his wife to Westman Islands. As Ingólfur got to know about the killing of his brother, he decided to take revenge and killed the slaves. At the top of Hjörleifshöfði cave, Hjörleifur is believed to be buried.”
Marc (pictures signed Felix are by Marc) photographed a spider catching a fly outside the cave. The flies where enjoying the sticky sap on Angelica.
Sherry by Troll Expeditions’s van, Ice Cave Expedition starting from Vik 7/15/2021
Yesterday we went to the Chandler Preserve in Mt Sinai, Long Island, New York with the Linnaean Society of NY. After the main field trip was over a few of us went to a field by the Chandler VOR-DME nearby.
