AGAPANTHUS

Agapanthus is the only genus in the subfamily Agapanthoideae of the flowering plant family Amaryllidaceae. The family is in the monocot order Asparagales. The name is derived from scientific Greek: αγάπη (agape) = love, άνθος (anthos) = flower. Some species of Agapanthus are commonly known as lily of the Nile (or African lily in the UK), although they are not lilies and all of the species are native to Southern Africa (South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique) though some have become naturalised in scattered places around the world (Australia, Great Britain, Mexico, Ethiopia, Jamaica, etc.).

Species boundaries are not clear in the genus, and in spite of having been intensively studied, the number of species recognised by different authorities varies from 6 to 10. The type species for the genus is Agapanthus africanus shown here. A great many hybrids and cultivars have been produced and they are cultivated throughout warm areas of the world.

In Melbourne, these are planted widely in gardens, parks but also median strips of roads and nature strips. As they bloom around the time of Christmas, most Melburnians associate this flower with the Festive Season.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

XYLOCASTRO, GREECE

Xylokastro (Greek: Ξυλόκαστρο) is a seaside town or village and a former municipality in Corinthia in the Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Xylokastro-Evrostina, of which it is a unit or component. The municipal unit has an area of 310.252 km2. In 2011 its population was 5,715 for the town and 13,277 for the municipal unit. Geographic features include a large beach and semi-arid forests on varied terrain, scattered with early churches and evidence of early settlements and religious sites. It has narrowly separated upper and lower coastal roads and forms a medium-sized touristic village on the Gulf of Corinth.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wednesday Waters meme,

and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

ALCÁZAR OF CORDOBA, SPAIN

The Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos (Spanish for "Alcázar of the Christian Monarchs"), also known as the Alcázar of Córdoba, is a medieval Alcázar located in the historic centre of Córdoba, Spain next to the Guadalquivir River and near the Grand Mosque. The Alcázar takes its name from the Arabic word القصر (Al-Qasr, meaning "the Palace"). The fortress served as one of the primary residences of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon.

In early medieval times, the site was occupied by a Visigoth fortress. When the Visigoths fell to the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, the emirs of the Umayyad Caliphate in Damascus rebuilt the structure. The Umayyads fell to the Abbasid Caliphate and the surviving member of the Umayyad Dynasty, Abd ar-Rahman I, fled to Córdoba. Abd ar-Rahman I's successors established the independent Caliphate of Córdoba and used the Alcázar as their palace. The city subsequently flourished as an important political and cultural center, and the Alcázar was expanded to a very large compound with baths, gardens, and the largest library in the West. Watermills on the nearby Guadalquivir powered water lifting to irrigate the extensive gardens.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING

This post is part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

TWILIGHT

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Orange you Glad It's Friday meme,
and also part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme.

FRIDAY GREENS #102 - PERSIMMON FLOWER

Welcome to this meme active every Friday. The theme is "Friday Greens" and you can post images, art, photos where the predominant colour is GREEN!

GREEN is the colour between blue and yellow in the spectrum; coloured like grass or emeralds.

The persimmon (sometimes spelled persimon) is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros. Diospyros is in the family Ebenaceae, and other members of the genus are grown for ebony timber. The most widely cultivated species is the Oriental or Japanese persimmon, Diospyros kaki.

In colour, the ripe fruit of the cultivated strains range from light yellow-orange to dark red-orange depending on the species and variety. They similarly vary in size from 1.5 to 9 cm in diameter, and in shape the varieties may be spherical, acorn-, or pumpkin-shaped. The calyx generally remains attached to the fruit after harvesting, but becomes easy to remove once the fruit is ripe. The ripe fruit has a high glucose content. The protein content is low, but it has a balanced protein profile.

Persimmon fruits have been put to various medicinal and chemical uses. Like the tomato, persimmons are not popularly considered to be berries, but in terms of botanical morphology, the fruit is in fact a berry.

This post is also part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

If you take part in this meme:
*Please link back to this page from your blog, with the Friday Greens logo or link text;
*In the spirit of community, please visit other participants to see their photos and leave a comment;
*Leave a comment here in the comments box, which I appreciate very much!

FIELD BINDWEED

Convolvulus arvensis (field bindweed) is a species of bindweed in the morning glory family (Convolvulaceae), native to Europe and Asia. It is a climbing or creeping herbaceous perennial plant growing to 0.5–2 m high.

The leaves are spirally arranged, linear to arrowhead-shaped, 2–5 cm long and alternate, with a 1–3 cm petiole. The flowers are trumpet-shaped, 3-5 cm diameter, white or pale pink, with five slightly darker pink radial stripes. Flowering occurs in the mid-summer, when white to pale pink, funnel-shaped flowers develop. Fruit are light brown, rounded and 1/8 in. (0.3 cm) wide. Each fruit contains 2 seeds that are eaten by birds and can remain viable in the soil for decades.

Although it produces attractive flowers, it is often unwelcome in gardens as a nuisance weed due to its rapid growth and choking of cultivated plants. It was most likely introduced into North America as a contaminant in crop seed as early as 1739, as an invasive species. Plants typically inhabit roadsides, grasslands and also along streams. Its dense mats invade agricultural fields and reduce crop yields; it is estimated that crop losses due to this plant in the United States exceeded US$377 million in the year 1998 alone. In one of the tales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Our Lady's Little Glass, this flower is used by Our Lady to drink wine with when she helps free a wagoner's cart. The story goes on to say that "the little flower is still always called Our Lady's Little Glass."

Field bindweed intertwines and topples native species. It competes with other species for sunlight, moisture and nutrients. It poses threats to restoration efforts and riparian corridors by choking out grasses and forbs. It can decrease habitat biodiversity. It is one of the most serious weeds of agricultural fields in temperate regions of the world.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

WAHLENBERGIA

Wahlenbergia stricta, or Australian Bluebell, Tall or Austral Bluebell, is an Australian wildflower from the Campanulaceae family. It is considered the most commonly encountered of the Wahlenbergias. It is found in all Australian states but not the Northern Territory. It is often seen growing by the side of the road, enjoying the extra runoff.

W. stricta is a perennial herb flowering mainly in spring or summer with pale blue bell-like flowers. The leaves are long and linear, 5–70 millimetres long. The five-petalled flowers are erect on long, slender stems and about 6–20 millimetres in diameter. It forms thin, carrot shaped tubers. Australian bluebells are generally easily propagated by division or root cutting. The seed is a very fine, black powder. It germinates readily in a few weeks and is best directly sown into tubes or cells as the seed and plant are very small and hard to separate and prick out.

There are a number of common cultivars, including various shades of blue from a saturated blue similar to #00f through to white. Various double forms are available. To maintain a cultivar propagation must be by vegetative means (division or cuttings). Once established W. stricta is very hardy - the pot can be dried out completely and the plant reduced to a tuber, yet it will reshoot when the rain comes. It is hardy in a range of soils from sand to gravel, clay to humus.

This post is part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

PALM COVE, AUSTRALIA

Palm Cove is a beach community in Far North Queensland, Australia located 27 kilometres north of the city of Cairns. It is named after the palm trees that line the beach. At the 2006 census, Palm Cove had a population of 1,215.

Palm Cove is located in Far North Queensland on the Australian coast. Arlington Reef is the closest section of The Great Barrier Reef to Palm Cove being around 30 km offshore. The reef shelters the inshore waters from the Coral Sea swells creating relatively calm waters between the reef and the beach. To the west of Palm Cove is the Macalister Range National Park which is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage area. Since Palm Cove is located in a tropical climate, the average summer temperature is between 24˚C and 33˚C; average winter temperature is between 14˚C and 26˚C.

The major industry for Palm Cove is tourism. Palm Cove is also a tourist destination due to its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. Palm Cove is the location of many world-renowned resorts and hotels such as the Drift Resort, Alamanda, the Mantra Amphora Resort, Peppers Beach Club, and the Reef House. The pristine beaches and Palm tree lined paths are used by joggers, walkers and cyclists and netted life guard patrol swimming enclosures offer safe access to the sea all year round. The Palm cove jetty is one of the regions most popular fishing spots where anglers regularly catch species such as mackerel, Giant Trevally or "G.T's" and shark.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

SPARROWS

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme.