Lena Struwe
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drgentian.bsky.social
Lena Struwe
@drgentian.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1.9K following 260 posts
Scientist, botanist, artmaker, microscopist, photographer, nature nerd, knitter & writer, iNatter, cares deeply about Earth's human and non-human inhabitants. (Views my own and I block AI content)
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drgentian.bsky.social
I cancelled my NYTimes subscription today, this is the last drop in the bucket. Seriously, whose bad decision was it to publish this anti-woman, anti-justice, and anti-equality piece? Feminism means equal rights and respect for all. "Conservative feminism" is fake, doesn't exist. Disrespectful, NYT!
Screenshot from NYTimes website, showing the headline of the Nov 6, 2025, opinion piece in Ross Douthat's series 'Interesting Times', titled: Did Liberal Feminism Ruin the Workplace? Also mentioned is the producer of the show, Victoria Chamberlin.
November 9, 2025 at 3:00 PM
drgentian.bsky.social
That feeling after you have read a truly uniquely wonderful book and you do not want to start another book because you know you will get disappointed when you compare, and you also know that the only way is down from a high point, to be able to find other high points in the reading landscape.
#books
A flower on the end of a flowering woody branch of a magnolia tree, with 9-10 dark to light pink, long and narrow petals spreading out, and fuzzy lightbrown bud scales below the flower, against a background of unfocused dark green and light blue sky and a few flowers in the distance. Photo (c) Lena Struwe, New Jersey, USA.
October 28, 2025 at 1:07 AM
drgentian.bsky.social
The talons of the red-tailed hawk are something truly impressive! We visited the Zoological Collection at #Rutgers University today with our students to investigate bones, skins, pickled, and taxidermied animal #biodiversity. #HiddenTreasures #SpecimenStories #museum #raptor #birds
A photo of two bird feet on a specimen of red-tailed hawk, with dark brown skin on feet with long black claws laying against white to beige-colored tail feathers.
October 16, 2025 at 2:43 AM
drgentian.bsky.social
The ivy-leaved morning glory has fruits that look like something out of… the seashore, medieval fashion fur hats, or rose buds… Right? Seen in New Jersey, USA.
Photo of climbing plant with two capsules surrounded by long-tipped, very hairy sepals. A green metal pole on the side.
September 19, 2025 at 4:33 AM
drgentian.bsky.social
New York City in fog, skyscrapers with ’their heads in the clouds’, 53rd Street, May 6, 2025.
Photo from urban city street level straight up into the sky showing several tall buildings disappearing into low grey clouds upwards. Colors are muted, nearly only grayscale. Photo by Lena Struwe, 2025
May 8, 2025 at 12:08 PM
drgentian.bsky.social
Here is a screenshot of the article that your link goes to for me (Rettkowski et al.): "Modulation of bone marrow haematopoietic stem cell activity as a therapeutic strategy after myocardial infarction: a preclinical study". Still goes to the wrong article (not Heidt et al.). No idea why...
screenshot of article: Modulation of bone marrow haematopoietic stem cell activity as a therapeutic strategy after myocardial infarction: a preclinical study by Rettkowski et al. (2025) in Nature Cell Biology.
April 28, 2025 at 12:01 PM
drgentian.bsky.social
Me playing with water drops, watercolor, and yupo (plastic) paper to see what happens - this will take hours to dry. I will post the results later.
Many drops of water on white paper, and within each drop are green to blue watercolor pigment. Each drop reflect 1-2 white lights on its surface. (c) Lena Struwe, 2025
April 25, 2025 at 12:30 AM
drgentian.bsky.social
When you found an interesting pond with green slimy algae but forgot your #plankton sampling jar and plankton net, and you luckily are right next to the student campus center’s cafe… #microscopysave #RutgersUniv #fieldwork #biodiversity #CookCampus #SEBS
A photo of a pond in a forest and in the foreground, on a ledge, is a plastic white and red cup with a Coca-Cola logo on it. (c) Lena Struwe, 2025. A photo of a pond in a forest and in the lower part, on a ledge, is a plastic white and red cup filled with water, algae, and plants. (c) Lena Struwe, 2025.
April 11, 2025 at 9:51 PM
drgentian.bsky.social
After the #handsoff demonstration in Princeton, NJ (with great speakers, great crowd, great signs), an Aperol Spritz at Teresa’s restaurant. Aperol is an Italian invention from over 100 years ago and includes one of my favorite plants, the gentians :).
Glass with orange-colored Aperol spritz drink with ice and black paper straw, against dark background. (c) Lena Struwe, 2025
April 7, 2025 at 12:55 AM
drgentian.bsky.social
Climate change and early spring warming - when the magnolias flower in March in New Jersey, USA. This tree opened its flowers today (!), when it got up to over 80 degrees F outside. I love #flowers, but this is not normal… #climatechange #phenology #earlyspring
Photo of dark pink flowerbud of a magnolia, with soft-hairy protective scales at the base. Photo by (c) Lena Struwe Photo of dark pink half open flower of a magnolia, with many stamens inside the tepals. Photo by (c) Lena Struwe Photo of of a magnolia tree, full of flowerbuds that are starting to open with pink flowers. Photo by (c) Lena Struwe
March 29, 2025 at 11:39 PM
drgentian.bsky.social
In the middle of the storm and bad news, make some space for art, friends and nature. Take breaks to gather inner strength.
Here is a drawing I made yesterday after Cezanne’s Three Pears, with color pencils. Find your own creative outlet to stay sane. We all know things are crazy. (c) L Struwe
Colorpencil drawing of 3 green-yellow pears on a white plate with blue rim, on a soft tablecloth with purple patterns (c) Lena Struwe, 2025 (reinterpreted after Cezanne)
February 8, 2025 at 5:34 AM
drgentian.bsky.social
If you see this, quote with flowers from your gallery. (Quince)
An orange-red half-open flower against a background of brown and grey thin branches. (c) Lena Struwe, 2025.
January 26, 2025 at 6:11 AM
drgentian.bsky.social
Just some amazing earthly rocks at #Natural #History #Museum in London. Agate, opal, agate, and petrified wood - so soft-looking but hard. #geology #rocks #science #nature #pattern #nature (Own photos, Lena Struwe).
Swirly and bubbly patterns in brown, white, orange and yellow on a polished surface of an agate rock. (c) Lena Struwe. An rock with opal shows a white-yellow non-transparent matrix with areas of very metallic shimmering dots in green, turquoise, silver, and blue. (c) Lena Struwe. Agate rock shows dark orange matrix with many small light-colored circles with yellow centers. (c) Lena Struwe. Petrified rock, circular trunk of tree stem now fossilized as a heavy rock, polished on top surface so you can see tree rings inside. (c) Lena Struwe.
January 16, 2025 at 6:31 PM
drgentian.bsky.social
Och, vill du kommentera och läggs uppgså klicka på kommentarsikonen, sedan väljer du en bild från telefonen genom att klicka på den lilla blå fotoikonen till vänster nedan. ALT-text är en beskrivning av bilden du kan lägga till för de som har nedsatt syn, helst på engelska.
January 16, 2025 at 6:03 PM
drgentian.bsky.social
When you cut down the stems of the invasive barberry (Berberis thunbergii) you will find sunshine inside the stems. Yellow berberine pigment - now how to save this gorgeous color? (New Jersey, USA, own photo; (c) Lena Struwe, 2024). #colors #photography #botany #science #dyeing
A photo of a cut through plant stem showing a deep yellow color in the center, surrounded by orange bark. Outside of stem is greyish-brown. Japanese barberry, Berberis thunbergii, in New Jersey, USA. (c) Lena Struwe, 2024.
January 8, 2025 at 4:28 AM
drgentian.bsky.social
I like this! ’Struwe-like solutions…’ by Hocquet (2018).
I have no idea what this paper is actually about, I just happened to find it today in a library database. (Abstract in first comment).
Screen shot of a first page of a scientific article.
January 7, 2025 at 12:57 AM
drgentian.bsky.social
Good quote to have ready to go in your mental pocket during a lab meeting or class:

”Now this is complicated so get your brains out of neutral!”

Vera Stanhope,
In VERA, season 1, episode 3 (British mystery TV drama)
Photo of detective Vera Stanhope, middle-age white woman in green field hat, olive green raincoat, and a scarf, short brownish hair, behind her blue sky and blurry green lands - as shown on TV screen. On the photo is also the subtitle ‘Right’ in white text.
January 6, 2025 at 4:51 AM
drgentian.bsky.social
A hyrax (rock dassie) is sunning itself on a rock by Cape of Good Hope, southern tip of Africa, and beyond the horizon is Antarctica. These #animals are related to elephants (similar feet!), had a common ancestor long ago. (Own #photography, c Lena Struwe, 2008) #nature #Africa #ocean #bluesky
A little thick-bodied animal with brown fur, very short legs and small paws, triangular compact head, short nose, very small rounded ears, and black nose is sitting on an a light orange rock, partially in shade from a taller rock cliff on the right side. The rock also has a lot of gray and bright orange lichens growing on it. The background is the a bright blue ocean (lower half) and light blue sky (upper part). Photo from South Africa, Cape of Good Hope, 2008, (c) by Lena Struwe.
January 4, 2025 at 3:21 AM
drgentian.bsky.social
Waiting for warmer times, they will come. Big winds and chills outside today, but the sun is shining. Planting hopeful seeds today for future growth (winter sowing).

Leaflets on a legume tree in a school yard in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (Own photo, c Lena Struwe). #botany 🌱 #green
A photo of a leaf with many tiny leaflets, darkgreen on upper surface, lighter green below. The midvein (rachis) is in the upper center down to the right corner, with 7 side branches arranged as opposites along the midvein. There are many small, tightly placed leaflets (elliptic, twice as long as wide) on each side branch, upright. The whole photo is filled with many small green leaflets in two shades of green. (Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, photo c Lena Struwe)
January 2, 2025 at 3:43 PM
drgentian.bsky.social
Well, the word I got is not one I would associate with me or the world right now. Unless you talk about flowers, plankton, trees, birds, arthropods, sunsets, waves, color spectra, rocks, and the awesomeness of the universe. I like some flaws in my life, so not sure how to view this result. Hmmm.
January 1, 2025 at 3:58 PM
drgentian.bsky.social
I wonder if the new Asian grocery store intentionally has (edible and weedy) chickweed (Stellaria media, Caryophyllaceae) included on the photo of the melons? Seen today in New Jersey, USA. Lovely! #weeds #biodiversity #advertising #botany #food #ethnobotany Own photos (c) Lena Struwe, 2024.
Photo of a large photo used to cover up a whole window in a supermarket building . The wall is brick and window trim and sashes black. Windows are large display windows and you can see 3 of them. The photo stuck into the window shows a few large yellow melon the the left, and lots of little plants in the center. They are deep green with opposite leaves and small white flowers. Photo of a large photos used to cover up a whole set of windows in a supermarket building . The wall is brick and window trim and sashes black. Windows are large display windows and you can see 6 of them. The windows have stick-on photos of plants, mostly fruits and vegetables. There are melons, watermelons, and peppers.
January 1, 2025 at 5:42 AM
drgentian.bsky.social
Fresh banana stems (10 cm in diameter) at the new local Asian market! My mind: wow, how can I use these to teach #plantanatomy better… cells, leaves, epidermis, stems, monocot, vascular bundles, stains, #microscopy….? And of course, must test it first. #botany #education #food #plantlove 🌱 🔬
Photo of a cross section of a banana stem wrapped in thin plastic and surrounded by many tightly wrapped banana leaf stalks surrounded by other vegetables in Asian food market. The banana piece is beige to brown, with a center circular stem, evenly yellow. Around it are thin halfmoon-shaped cross sections of leaf stalks, tightly wrapped around the central stem. Each leaf part shows banded patterns in beige and white. Own photo, (c) Lena Struwe, 2024. Musa sp. , Musaceae.
December 31, 2024 at 10:12 PM
drgentian.bsky.social
Smaller format for traveling and #naturejournaling - Moleskine #Watercolor journals. They can take a good amount of water, open flat, come in landscape binding (for long horizontal views) and are archival. It is cold press, so surface a bit bumpy, but you can draw in ink and pencil. #sketching
My field kit for nature journaling outdoors. Photo of red zippered bag, gray on inside with many compartments with 2 small watercolor palettes (businesscard-sized in metal), ruler, brushes, pens and pencils, tiny water spray bottle, waterbrush, and metal clips. On top of that is the sketchbook with a watercolor image of a long, horizontal landscape from the coast of Gotland - blue sea along the horizon, light blue sky, beige and yellow cliffs to the very left, and in the distance a narrow sliver of an island with a thin lighthouse on it; in the foreground along the whole double page are the beach with green (several shades) of shrubs and herbs, some gray low rocks along the shore, and a sandy beach in the center. The sketching kit and sketchbook is laying on some rocks among grass. (Sketch kit is made by Art Toolkit). Photo and art by (c) Lena Struwe, 2022. #naturejournaling #watercolor #plein air
December 31, 2024 at 4:14 AM
drgentian.bsky.social
Part 2 of Alstroemeria flower #microscopy - monosulcate #pollen grains, with a long slit opening (no stains used, natural yellow color). Needle-shaped calcium oxalate crystals called raphides common in the cells of the style. Stigma surface with clear papillae. (Own photos, c Lena Struwe, 2024)
Three yellow and partially translucent "boat-shaped" pollen grains on a clear background. Microscopy of fresh flowers of Alstroemeria. (c Lena Struwe, 2024) Many small yellow and partially translucent "boat-shaped" pollen grains on a clear background. You can also see small, thin, and needle-shaped raphides among them. Microscopy of fresh flowers of Alstroemeria. (c Lena Struwe, 2024) About 20 small, thin, and needle-shaped raphides seen in darker grey on light grey background. Microscopy of fresh flowers of Alstroemeria. (c Lena Struwe, 2024) Surface of the stigma is seen on the upper part as round and clear cells, with some cells showing finger-like clear extensions (papillae) extending down wards into the light-gray background. Microscopy of fresh flowers of Alstroemeria. (c Lena Struwe, 2024)
December 30, 2024 at 12:46 AM
drgentian.bsky.social
Last night's #microscopy of Alstroemeria (Peruvian lily) whole fresh petals: dark magenta nectar guides on white petals: from below #light to sidelight (regular or UV) - glimmers and shimmers of botanical anatomy. Part 1. (Own photo, Lena Struwe, 2024). #botany #real #plantscience #photography #pink
Photograph of Alstroemeria (Peruvian lily) whole fresh petals: in the top right a wide streak of dark magenta cells (the nectar guide) surrounded by many small white to greenish-grayish petal cells, looks like small tiny sparkling dots (viewed in regular light from below in the microscope) - crossing from below left to higher right is a lighter colored vein. (c) Lena Struwe, 2024. Photograph of Alstroemeria (Peruvian lily) whole fresh petals: in the middle lower part, a wide triangular streak of dark magenta cells (the nectar guide) surrounded by many small white to greenish-grayish petal cells, which looks like small tiny sparkling dots (viewed using sideways surface light from LED flashlight) - crossing from below upright to above are two branching veins in even gray color. (c) Lena Struwe, 2024. Photograph of Alstroemeria (Peruvian lily) whole fresh petals, surface photo using sideways UV LED light: cells on surgace is shown as small tiny dots, in either black, dark blue, or bright pink. Crossing from below upright to above are two veins in dark color. (c) Lena Struwe, 2024. Photograph of Alstroemeria (Peruvian lily) whole fresh petals, surface photo using regular white light from below: cells on surface are shown as long rectangular and pink squares. Each epidermal cell has thin wavy ornamentation on its cell surface, (c) Lena Struwe, 2024.
December 30, 2024 at 12:17 AM