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@orchidhunter.bsky.social
I live at the interface of art and science. I write about plant science, but also interested in pop music, gay stuff, and baked goods. Defiantly optimistic. College professor in Twintown, MN. 🏳️🌈🇿🇦
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@orchidhunter.bsky.social
· Jul 9
The corpse flower towers over 6 ft tall today. I'm working hard to figure out how you'll be able to come see it once it opens!
Reposted by ʟᴇᴏɴ
Did you know botanist Sir Joseph Hooker travelled with two Bhotea mastiff dogs? Today’s featured image for #ExploreYourArchive Week #EYAPets is a playful drawing from his letters, showing Kinchin the dog being ‘taught’ to write.
December 3, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Did you know botanist Sir Joseph Hooker travelled with two Bhotea mastiff dogs? Today’s featured image for #ExploreYourArchive Week #EYAPets is a playful drawing from his letters, showing Kinchin the dog being ‘taught’ to write.
I've been playing with watercolor a bit recently. Here's a deep-sea exploration, in tropical tones.
December 3, 2025 at 4:31 PM
I've been playing with watercolor a bit recently. Here's a deep-sea exploration, in tropical tones.
I chipped away at a huge to-do list today, which unfortunately has the effect of precipitating to-do lists for the rest of the week.
What's on your to-listen/to-watch/to-eat list for the evening?
What's on your to-listen/to-watch/to-eat list for the evening?
December 2, 2025 at 11:59 PM
I chipped away at a huge to-do list today, which unfortunately has the effect of precipitating to-do lists for the rest of the week.
What's on your to-listen/to-watch/to-eat list for the evening?
What's on your to-listen/to-watch/to-eat list for the evening?
I'm not quite as fond
Of the season when
Ice drifts across the pond
And the air stings my face again
Of the season when
Ice drifts across the pond
And the air stings my face again
November 29, 2025 at 12:06 AM
I'm not quite as fond
Of the season when
Ice drifts across the pond
And the air stings my face again
Of the season when
Ice drifts across the pond
And the air stings my face again
'Tis the season.
Untitled by Harry Bertoia, 1938
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137858
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137858
November 27, 2025 at 4:53 PM
'Tis the season.
Reposted by ʟᴇᴏɴ
Treehoppers are wild! Like someone hit the "random" button on the character creator.
Look at this weird bug, Cladonota apicalis. from Ecuador.
Now imagine a horse shaped like this, or a wolf!
Why do treehoppers have such weird shapes?
It's a mystery! But we have some ideas.
(📷: Philipp Hoenle)
Look at this weird bug, Cladonota apicalis. from Ecuador.
Now imagine a horse shaped like this, or a wolf!
Why do treehoppers have such weird shapes?
It's a mystery! But we have some ideas.
(📷: Philipp Hoenle)
November 25, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Treehoppers are wild! Like someone hit the "random" button on the character creator.
Look at this weird bug, Cladonota apicalis. from Ecuador.
Now imagine a horse shaped like this, or a wolf!
Why do treehoppers have such weird shapes?
It's a mystery! But we have some ideas.
(📷: Philipp Hoenle)
Look at this weird bug, Cladonota apicalis. from Ecuador.
Now imagine a horse shaped like this, or a wolf!
Why do treehoppers have such weird shapes?
It's a mystery! But we have some ideas.
(📷: Philipp Hoenle)
How do people afford weddings?
November 19, 2025 at 2:59 PM
How do people afford weddings?
I brought doughnuts for my genetics students to munch on while they're doing their plasmid analysis this morning.
November 18, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I brought doughnuts for my genetics students to munch on while they're doing their plasmid analysis this morning.
Howdy, gang. What are you eating? What are you listening to?
November 15, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Howdy, gang. What are you eating? What are you listening to?
A quick five-mile run in the hazy woods of southeast Minnesota. It's 60°F on this Saturday in mid-November.
November 15, 2025 at 5:21 PM
A quick five-mile run in the hazy woods of southeast Minnesota. It's 60°F on this Saturday in mid-November.
New music from Austra and Orville Peck today. It's gonna be a fun Friday driving playlist!
November 14, 2025 at 1:50 PM
New music from Austra and Orville Peck today. It's gonna be a fun Friday driving playlist!
I just want to bake things and listen to records. But then somebody needs to eat the baked goods.
November 13, 2025 at 12:11 AM
I just want to bake things and listen to records. But then somebody needs to eat the baked goods.
I went to the gym anyway. 💪
Help, I have a sugar crash, but I need to go to the gym now. If only I had a charging dock like a little roomba.
November 13, 2025 at 12:09 AM
I went to the gym anyway. 💪
Help, I have a sugar crash, but I need to go to the gym now. If only I had a charging dock like a little roomba.
November 12, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Help, I have a sugar crash, but I need to go to the gym now. If only I had a charging dock like a little roomba.
your nerve-endings are what I love to touch
causing quivers and shivers and tingles and such
your pilomotor reflex delights me much
causing quivers and shivers and tingles and such
your pilomotor reflex delights me much
November 12, 2025 at 8:07 PM
your nerve-endings are what I love to touch
causing quivers and shivers and tingles and such
your pilomotor reflex delights me much
causing quivers and shivers and tingles and such
your pilomotor reflex delights me much
As someone who grew up within two degrees of the Tropic of Capricorn, tonight held a very special magic for me.
November 12, 2025 at 3:30 AM
As someone who grew up within two degrees of the Tropic of Capricorn, tonight held a very special magic for me.
Do you not see? Do you not see how every day we save ourselves from the jaws of despair, with every word read or written, every seed saved or sown, every cup of tea passing between parched lips? Unfurl your fingers clenched like fern fronds, because the future is in the making and we are the makers.
November 11, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Do you not see? Do you not see how every day we save ourselves from the jaws of despair, with every word read or written, every seed saved or sown, every cup of tea passing between parched lips? Unfurl your fingers clenched like fern fronds, because the future is in the making and we are the makers.
My students did so well in genetics lab today! They did restriction enzyme digests of their recombinant DNA plasmids, and then verified insert size with gel electrophoresis. My favorite part is that every student felt a true sense of accomplishment by the end of the session.
November 11, 2025 at 6:06 PM
My students did so well in genetics lab today! They did restriction enzyme digests of their recombinant DNA plasmids, and then verified insert size with gel electrophoresis. My favorite part is that every student felt a true sense of accomplishment by the end of the session.
Oh gosh. It's snowing!
November 9, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Oh gosh. It's snowing!
Hark! It's home time, huzzah! But first, a brisk walk to the gym for a wee workout.
November 7, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Hark! It's home time, huzzah! But first, a brisk walk to the gym for a wee workout.
I'm hosting greenhouse First Friday again, and the rare plants in the collecting are POPPING OFF. From (merely) critically endangered to extinct in the wild, botanical institutions play a big role in preserving the beauty and diversity we might otherwise lose.
November 7, 2025 at 6:30 PM
I'm hosting greenhouse First Friday again, and the rare plants in the collecting are POPPING OFF. From (merely) critically endangered to extinct in the wild, botanical institutions play a big role in preserving the beauty and diversity we might otherwise lose.
I shall now observe my religious practice*
*listen to the new Allie X record
*listen to the new Allie X record
November 7, 2025 at 1:42 PM
I shall now observe my religious practice*
*listen to the new Allie X record
*listen to the new Allie X record
It's time for students to start registering for the spring semester and the entire university IT infrastructure is crashing. Office drawer gin, I say!
November 6, 2025 at 5:21 PM
It's time for students to start registering for the spring semester and the entire university IT infrastructure is crashing. Office drawer gin, I say!
I've already two factor-authenticated myself six times in the last five minutes. I need to start keeping a bottle of gin in a drawer in my office.
November 6, 2025 at 5:05 PM
I've already two factor-authenticated myself six times in the last five minutes. I need to start keeping a bottle of gin in a drawer in my office.