Nature - Work Of Living Art

public domain image:wikipedia

Eucalyptus deglupta is a fast-growing tall tree, commonly known as the Rainbow Eucalyptus, the Mindanao Gum, or the Rainbow Gum. It is the only Eucalyptus species found naturally in the Northern Hemisphere. Its natural distribution spans New Britain, New Guinea, Ceram, Sulawesi and Mindanao. This tree is cultivated widely around the world, mainly for pulpwood used in making paper. Nevertheless, it is also a popular ornamental tree, due to its uniqueness amongst eucalyptus.

The Rainbow Eucalyptus gets its common name from the dazzling multi-colored streaks of color on its trunks and limbs. Many people may think that they were painted on, but these ever-changing colors are in fact an entirely natural feature. The rainbow eucalyptus bark is smooth, and as it grows, it exfoliates thin layers of spent tissue. This process occurs annually at different times. Once the layers come off, they expose new and fresh green bark. As the newly exposed bark gradually matures, it transforms from bright green to a dark green, and after that bluish to purplish, then pink to orange, and finally, the color becomes almost maroon right before exfoliation occurs. Because this process is happening in different zones of the trunk and in different stages, at the same time, the colors are varied and almost continually altering. As a consequence, the tree will never have the same color pattern twice, making it similar to a work of living art.

Source from wikipedia and eucalyptusdeglupta

The Beautiful Rainbow Roses

public domain image:wikipedia

You may think that these unusual and breathtaking Rainbow Roses are artificial or even painted, but they are in fact 100 percent natural roses. Well almost… they have been messed with, on a genetic level...

It seems that the Rainbow Rose has had its petals artificially colored. The technique takes advantage of the rose's natural processes by which water is drawn up the stem. By splitting the stem and dipping each part in a differently colored water, the colors are drawn into the petals resulting in a multi-colored rose.

The rainbow rose is obtainable in different color combinations. The most admired is the variant with all the colors of the rainbow. There are also the tropical variant combinations (red/pink and yellow), and the ocean variant combinations (green and blue). Other color combinations are also probable, however black and white is impossible to make.

Source: wikipedia

Lovely Green Design Ideas Inspired Nature

Regardless of how advanced our society and technology is, we can never stop thinking about our origins, and we will at all times need something green around us. There is no doubt that the best idea is in fact spending some time in the countryside, but unfortunately, it isn’t always possible. On the other hand, there are some great ideas and interesting ways to bring the outdoors into your home instead. Have a look at a few of these beautiful images that I found in damncoolpictures.com which has many other images for you to see. Get inspired and create your own 'Green Design Idea' - hope you enjoy!

Incredible – These Flowers Are Actually Human Bodies

Are you sure that you are actually seeing flowers? Well look again, that’s right these flowers are actually human bodies! These spectacular illusions are created through the use of cleverly laid out bodies decorated in diverse colors. You will definitely find it hard not to be amazed by these images.

I would like to thank Jared for informing me about the name of the artist that created these awe-inspiring images. Her name is Cecelia Webber. Feel free to check out the new work that she has created at www.ceceliawebber.com

What A Beauty - Images Of The World's largest Water Lilies!

Victoria amazonica (the world´s largest species of water lilies) is one of my favorite plants because it is so unique, like from a fairy tale! It is renowned for its huge greenish leaves (up to 3 m in diameter) that float atop the water and its beautiful night blooming (open at dusk and close by noon) pineapple sweet-smelling flowers (up to 40cm in diameter) that bloom during summer. Each flower usually lasts about 24 hours. They open white the first night and become pinkish to rose-purple the second night. Victoria amazonica is indigenous to the shallow waters of the Amazon River basin. These amazing water lilies can support up to 70 pounds.

This giant water lily was once called Victoria regia after Queen Victoria of the UK when it was discovered by the explorer Robert Schomburgk in 1837, but the name was superseded.

Source: wikipedia
For more images: just4funpak

Interesting Facts About Bees

Bees are known as the only insects that produce food for man. They are responsible for pollinating about one-third of the foods we consume. Besides honey, they also produce beeswax. These flying insects can be found on any continent (besides Antarctica) that contains insect-pollinated flowering plants. The best known bee species are the European honey bees. They also happen to be the ones that I like the most because, as its name suggests, they produce honey (as do a few other types of bee) and I love eating food made with honey.
Among the various species of bees, there are both solitary and social bees. The Solitary bees typically produce neither honey nor beeswax. Of all the Social bee species, the honeybee has the most organized society. A colony of honeybees is headed by the queen who is usually the mother of all the bees in the hive. The queen bee lays eggs from early spring to the end of summer. During its lifetime of about 5 to 7 years, it may lay up to 100.000.000 eggs.

The males of the colony, known as the drones have only one function, they fertilize the eggs the queen lays. The female bees are the worker bees. The drones hatch from unfertilized eggs and females (queens and worker bees) hatch from fertilized eggs. One of the most important tasks of the female bees is to collect the pollen and nectar from the flowers to supply the hive. The pollen provides protein for the bees, and the nectar is stored in open cells where it will dry into honey.
Bees that have found food sources containing high concentrations of nectar go back to the hive to tell the others the good news. They use a pattern of “dancing” which varies from species to species, which tells the other bees the location and distance of their discovery. Worker bees who attend the queen bee lick a substance from its body. They pass this substance from one to another as a communication that the queen is well. Should the queen die or vanish, the news would rapidly be passed around. The bees would then find a new queen.

Insect Camouflage in Nature

Many insects blend into their surroundings so completely that it is difficult to see them. They possess some form of disguise called camouflage, for many reasons, one of them is to deceive predators. Camouflage is one of the secret weapons that these insects have to defend themselves from being captured by their natural enemies.

Among the beautiful surroundings that nature has to offer us, there are many disguised insects. Some “caterpillars” carry out the shape and color of the leaf so perfectly that it makes the caterpillar seem as if it is part of the leaf. They can move freely among the leaves without being noticed. Another interesting insect is the “leaf insect” which has a flat body and, as its name suggests, looks remarkably like a leaf in appearance. The wings, antennae, and legs are all leaf-shaped too. Its color varies from wine red to grass green, with shadings of brown. During the daytime hours it is extremely still – so still that it looks like loose or dead leaf on the ground. With the coming of darkness, it starts to move, and during the night it moves around freely.

Insects are also outstanding imitators. Imitation is one of the ways they have to watch themselves from their natural enemies. Some insects take on the appearance of another animal to deceive a predator. This kind of imitation is called mimicry. The owlet moth provides a fascinating example of mimicry. The markings on the lower part of its wings look like the two big eyes of an owl. When the wings are folded and the moth is relaxing, the design is not visible. But when the moth is threatened by a predator, which is usually a bird, it unfolds its wings and the two eyes suddenly come into sight like the eyes of an owl. Startled, the predator flies away, this helps the owlet moth gain a few seconds to fly away as well.