New Zealand: Flax reflected

Just because I stopped showing pictures of New Zealand after returning from the big South Dakota trip doesn’t mean you couldn’t have been regaled with more of them. Here, for example, is a view from February 22 showing flax plants reflected in one of the South Island’s Mirror Lakes. No upside-down sign needed.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

New Zealand: flax

Along with ferns, the other practically ubiquitous type of native plant one sees in New Zealand is flax. At least that’s what the British called it after they arrived and found the Māori using the fibers of the plant to make cloth, just as the Europeans used flax to make linen. The Māori call these members of the lily family harakeke, the most common species of which is Phormium tenax.

On February 12, after driving a few minutes west from the site where I took the picture of sand dunes that you saw last time (and you can still see them in the background this time), I came to the Arai-Te-Uru Recreation Reserve, where I was able to portray these New Zealand flax plants in the stage after they’ve produced and shed seeds.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

Compare and contrast

Compare and contrast, as English teachers are fond of saying, the two little yellows that you see here from the Doeskin Ranch on April 8. The first is rock flax, Linum rupestre, whose flowers are intrinsically small, from about a quarter to a half of an inch across (6–13mm). The second is an opening bud of Navajo tea, Thelesperma simplicifolium, which was in the process of opening out to a larger size. A few days ago you saw a developed flower head of this species serving as a platform for a big-eyed fly.

Just remember to keep your compare-and-contrast essays under a thousand words.

© 2016 Steven Schwartzman