FUMITORY

Fumaria officinalis (common fumitory or earth smoke) is the most common species of the genus Fumaria in Western and Central Europe. It is a herbaceous annual plant, which grows weakly erect and scrambling, with stalks about 10 to 50 cm long. Its pink 7 to 9 mm flowers appear from April to October in the northern hemisphere. They are two lipped and spurred, with sepals running a quarter the length of the petals. The fruit is an achene.

The plant contains alkaloids, potassium salts, and tannins. It is also a major source of fumaric acid. The "smoky" or "fumy" origin of its name comes from the translucent colour of its flowers, giving them the appearance of smoke or of hanging in smoke, and the slightly greey-blue haze colour of its foliage, also resembling smoke coming from the ground, especially after morning dew.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

SEQUESTERED

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

LAP OF LUXURY

A pet dog living in the lap of luxury!

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

PINK CAMELLIA

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ORANGES

 The orange is the fruit of the citrus species Citrus × sinensis in the family Rutaceae. It is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related Citrus × aurantium, referred to as bitter orange. The sweet orange reproduces asexually (apomixis through nucellar embryony); varieties of sweet orange arise through mutations.

The orange is a hybrid between pomelo (Citrus maxima) and mandarin (Citrus reticulata). The chloroplast genome, and therefore the maternal line, is that of pomelo. The sweet orange has had its full genome sequenced. Sweet oranges were mentioned in Chinese literature in 314 BC.

As of 1987, orange trees were found to be the most cultivated fruit tree in the world. Orange trees are widely grown in tropical and subtropical climates for their sweet fruit. The fruit of the orange tree can be eaten fresh, or processed for its juice or fragrant peel. As of 2012, sweet oranges accounted for approximately 70% of citrus production. In 2014, 70.9 million tonnes of oranges were grown worldwide, with Brazil producing 24% of the world total followed by China and India.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,

and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

SUNRISE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

LOBELIA

Lobelia erinus (Edging Lobelia, Garden Lobelia or Trailing Lobelia) is a species of Lobelia native to southern Africa, from Malawi and Namibia south to South Africa.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

IKARIA, GREECE

Icaria, also spelled Ikaria (Greek: Ικαρία), is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. According to tradition, it derives its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology, who was believed to have fallen into the sea nearby. Administratively, Icarian forms a separate municipality within the Ikaria regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Agios Kirykos. The historic capitals of the island include Oenoe and Evdilos (the latter shown here).

This 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.

AT THE PARKLANDS

With the lockdown restrictions due to the pandemic, our drives to the countryside have stopped rather unceremoniously. We are lucky to live within walking distance to the Darebin Parklands, so when the weather is fine, this is a marvellous location to take a walk in.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,

and also part of the Blue Monday meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme.

AUTUMN

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.