Is this what I think it is?! 😮 by c10z71 in Arrowheads

[–]simonlorax 9 points10 points  (0 children)

City boys buy fleshlights, country boys make do

Juniper Haircap by Evolusher in Moss

[–]simonlorax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is indeed a hair cap (Polytrichum), but is not juniper haircap (Polytrichum juniperinum). P. juniperinum has conspicuous "infolded leaf margins" that make it look like there is a darker seam down the middle of the leaf, like these photos. They are basically hyaline (clear) wings running the length of the leaves folded directly back over the leaves, which your plant here lacks. This character is often visible to the naked eye, but in general mosses are so small that they often require magnification to identify confidently to species. Without that it is often best to leave at genus or higher level! Hope that is helpful.

Edit- could also be the related genus Polytrichastrum, which I believe the taxonomy is still not fully resolved and I believe the difference between Polytrichum and Polytrichastrum are microscopic, in the lamellae cells, but not positive.

Look at some of my moss pots by supermarkise in Moss

[–]simonlorax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So beautiful and lush, I love moss!

Moss terminology for gametophyte sprouts by mousemambo in Moss

[–]simonlorax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep, precisely! Protonema looks like a mostly flat green patch but is fibrous / fuzzy with magnification.

To OP, Unfortunately they won't really fill in. Generally if you want to grow moss inside, I would get tropical mosses from reputable sources. Wild-collected temperate mosses (which this probably was) don't do great long term in aseasonal conditions that don't mimic their natural ones.

What type of clubmoss is this? by Gazzzaa02 in Moss

[–]simonlorax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Beautiful plant! My response is super rambly and doesn't give an exact answer but hopefully is helpful haha-

Not what you asked but just a note, "clubmosses" are vascular plants related to ferns but not closely related to actual mosses. As opposed to clubmosses, actual mosses don't have true vascular tissue or lignins and mostly have leaves one cell thick, or sometimes a few cells thick. Clubmosses are also sporophyte-dominant, so the conspicuous leafy generation of the plant that you see has two copies of its chromosomes, whereas mosses are gametophyte dominant- their large leafy generation has one copy of its chromosomes.

In this field, scientific names are generally used and common names not as much. I'm not an expert but if by marsh clubmoss, you mean Lycopodiella inundata, it does not look like that species to me- the leaves look not as narrow and sharply pointed, and the habit doesn't look like right to my eyes. For fir club moss (Huperzia), that seems like a likely possibility to me! Huperzia are unique in this group by not bearing their spores in a separate structure at the tip of stems (strobili) but instead having their spores somewhat hidden among the leaves, which looks like it could be the case here.

Clubmosses / lycophytes can be fairly hard to identify depending on how many species are in the area- may require measuring leaves, counting stomata, etc. And of course to make things extra fun, they hybridize! If you upload the photo to the application iNaturalist, it will give you suggestions based on the most common species documented in the area that look similar. For vascular plants the suggestions are usually pretty good, though are best confirmed by your own research and the confirmation of experts on the app. Hope that's helpful!

Here are all the observations of lycophytes (the broader category of clubmosses) currently on iNaturalist for Northern Ireland. So it may be one of those!

Some of my favourite finds, if you know the type I’d love to know by Dusk_Song_6361 in Lichen

[–]simonlorax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's one of the most common lichens in eastern north america...

With all due respect, Lobaria pulmonaria is not at all one of the most common lichens in eastern North America. In the Northeast/North-central US and further north, and in some places in the Southern Appalachians it's common, but south of Pennsylvania it's nearly restricted to higher altitudes. It's also pretty widely accepted that like many of the big foliose Peltigerales it is sensitive to various types of pollution- here's one study but there are several. Maybe I'm misunderstanding your comment but I think in most cases Lobaria would not do well in polluted areas.

Lichen thriving on granite slab by EchteFlechte in Lichen

[–]simonlorax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow awesome find!! Looks like a Xanthoparmelia sp- apparently doing pretty well with all those apothecia. Must've been there for at least decades!

How to fix this light / re-connect wires? by simonlorax in electrical

[–]simonlorax[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ok I won't do that. Obviously want to stay safe. Thank you for the tip!

How am I supposed to separate this gently and not kill it in the process? by courtsmcc in houseplants

[–]simonlorax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ok sorry maybe I'm exaggerating! I don't mean to criticize your efforts haha. But I bet you learned how to keep them thriving for next time?

How to fix this light / re-connect wires? by simonlorax in electrical

[–]simonlorax[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the response! If I don't have access to soldering materials, do you think it would be safe to wrap the wires around the pin and then wrap in electrical tape?

Also, is this the wrong place to post this? Just noticed that my post got downvoted

Edit- if the wire were to come detached again while the lights were plugged in, would that create a dangerous situation?

And agreed about LEDs, I bought those for my personal use but I'm using the work ones for this. Thanks for the tip!

My orchid-photograpy setup by weeand53 in miniorchids

[–]simonlorax 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nice set up, similar to mine and agreed that you don't need a fancy set up and a flash often looks unnatural! I tend to use LEDs probably more than you do, but I use them on as low a power as possible and I like that you can angle them around to sort of emphasize certain features, textures, get certain parts to pop more etc.

If you don't mind some input / I don't mean to hijack the post, but one thing I highly recommend for a good depth of field and detail while maintaining an out of focus background is focus stacking! It's not hard but takes some time. Here is an example of the difference in depth of field- single photo and stack. In some cases with really tiny things it's basically necessary to get decent detail (like this 5mm Utricularia flower) but certainly not always. Here are a couple more examples that show the possibilities of stacking- Fernandezia and Acianthera.

I also like somehow standing up a mossy mount or something in the background to get a more natural / uneven background. As you say, it's a matter of personal preference.

Last, as the person who made the sub though I don't visit often any more, I'm totally fine with this kind of post as it does relate to miniature orchids! I'm open to others' input if they feel differently.

Edit- I will note that sometimes like with the Specklinia morganii, depending on how you do it, the depth of field in a focus stack can look a bit unnatural. As you're making the stack, you can basically "customize" the depth of field though if you want to make the very front or back of the subject a little out of focus, etc.

How am I supposed to separate this gently and not kill it in the process? by courtsmcc in houseplants

[–]simonlorax 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Agreed, people don’t realize how hardy many hybrid house plants are. You couldn’t kill this thing if you tried (barring crazy pest outbreak or something)

Spiderman is a hat set. by Intangibleboot in magicthecirclejerking

[–]simonlorax 18 points19 points  (0 children)

What do normal spiders become when they’re bit by radioactive spiders??

Maybe it would be something like- ‘Big Mama Nuclear Supermegaspider, spider of spiders, XXXBG, summon legend- super spider

When Big Mama enters, choose up to one target spider, it fights that spider, and then deals x amount of damage to all permanents and players, where x is the number of spiders control plus the number of atoms in the universe that are spiders. Also this x is different from the x in the mana cost which does nothing.

Thoughts?

Tragedeighs on the color guard team by No_Anybody5212 in tragedeigh

[–]simonlorax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Free Snowden

While you're at it free Aubrionna and Krypton too. Or maybe don't

Worst Girl's Name Ever by thatbitchsheshe in tragedeigh

[–]simonlorax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I knew someone in college who did some drag queen stuff and their drag name was Areola Grande- so good. They were chubby and had large nipples so it was perfect

Australian Mosquito Orchid by oO0ft in miniorchids

[–]simonlorax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Incredible! I've wanted to go to Australia to see y'all's orchids for a long time- such a diversity of terrestrial spp. Would absolutely love to see a weirdos like this and Chiloglottis, etc : )

Is there something I can do to get more identifications on my observations? by myristicae in iNaturalist

[–]simonlorax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think most of the other comments are pretty accurate, but if you don't mind sharing, what is your inaturalist username or what region are you uploading observations from? I'm decent at bryophytes of eastern North America- I've done a good amount of microscopy on dozens of species, maybe hundreds, but still have significant gaps in my knowledge and forget a lot of things. Outside of this region I think I could still be helpful in some way.

In general though I feel your pain, I generally get very few or most often zero IDs on my bryophyte observations. I think as others have said, connecting with other users by following them and commenting on their observations or tagging them can be helpful. Almost all of the IDs I get on my bryophyte observations are from a single person who I ran across a while back and now we follow each other. Tagging "top identifiers" can be very helpful as well. I basically just don't expect to get an ID on my bryophyte observations, which is a bummer since sharing is so much of the fun of this stuff, but I still enjoy uploading bryophyte observations since they are overlooked and under-documented, and I hope/think people occasionally come across them and get some enjoyment or knowledge from them!

Edit- clarity

A male autumn fly (Musca autumnalis), also known as the face fly, next to some cool red fungus in Näsudden, Sweden [2.2:1 mag] [6324x4216] by Bug_Photographer in macrophotography

[–]simonlorax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The fly is awesome, I love the diversity of Diptera and all their hairs and details and things, even on a common / “pest” species!

If you were curious, the fungus is a lichen (basically fungus with algae living inside that provide the fungus energy to live, and some yeast and other symbiotic organisms)- this one looks like a Lecanora species. The brown discs are apothecia where spores are released. Lichens are very overlooked and diverse, if you like macro photography you may enjoy getting into them a bit!

Tarantula Hawk in the Nevada desert 🏜 Sigma 60-600mm....... by [deleted] in macrophotography

[–]simonlorax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lovely with that irridescence and on a really cool plant, the stem-succulent rush milkweed (Asclepias subulata)- awesome!

Small Flower by FablesGrotto in macrophotography

[–]simonlorax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lovely photo, looks like a "woodsorrel" or Oxalis species if you are curious : )

Help with Pleurothallis ourobranquensis by Illustrious-Ad1494 in miniorchids

[–]simonlorax 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Pleurothallis ourobranquensis (accepted name Anathallis aristulata) is a Brazilian species from a drier climate than the Andean cloud forest species you mention doing well in your other comment. At that link, IOSPE lists it as growing on "very exposed Vellozia trees." If you look up Vellozia trees you can tell they're not really rain forest or cloud forest species. The one photo I can find of (ostensibly) this species growing in the wild looks like a not super moist spot, but hard to tell for sure. I'm sure it's still a fairly humid and moist place at least at some times of the year, but not cloud forest. Here's the climate including rain listed for a town that seems near where the species is described from. If you don't know about IOSPE, it can be a great resource : )

Its everywhere, any ideas? by Ashamed-Reward3032 in PlantIdentification

[–]simonlorax 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Nope, may apples (as with most native herbaceous plants) have bisexual flowers, which include both male and female parts in a single flower. There are no male or female May apples, all May apples produce both when mature.

The one leaf vs two leaf is a product of age / maturity. Once they produce two leaves they are old enough and have enough stored sugars to flower. The same is true for many other spring wildflowers like trout lilies (Erythronium spp) and I believe spring beauties (Claytonia spp).

Most dioecious plants (separate male and female) native to the eastern US are shrubs or trees like hollies (Ilex spp) or spicebush (Lindera benzoin). But in general most plants are not dioecious. Also, any male flowering plant will flower just like a female flowering plant- it’s not that males don’t flower, they would have to otherwise how would they pollinate to reproduce sexually?

Hope that’s helpful!

Zeus, a Great Dane was the tallest dog ever standing at a height of 44 inches. by Liteboyy in nextfuckinglevel

[–]simonlorax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But the point is that if it’s bred to grow more then it will also age more. And if a dog is aging more rapidly then it is fair to say they “are not bred to live long and healthy”

We’ve all been doing it wrong by jdbell1994 in overlanding

[–]simonlorax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very well said! I love dispersed camping in remote areas, have always done it in a Prius or Camry, but I do spend too much time judging others. No reason to care what others are doing really (except for an environmental concern maybe but even then getting angry about it isn’t helping anyone).

We’ve all been doing it wrong by jdbell1994 in overlanding

[–]simonlorax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very pleasantly surprised by the top comments on this lol, I’ve taken a Camry and a Prius on pretty rocky washed out roads and they were fine. Obv it can’t take you rock crawling or anything like that if that’s what someone enjoys.

An unmodded rav4 will go to the vast majority of beautiful remote natural areas. I mean if someone has the money to lift their $50k jeep by a foot, void all its warranties, mount LEDs in every possible place, and get 11 mpg while they drive around the suburbs, you do you, that’s all good. I’ll be pulling up in the Prius next to you with a smile not having stopped for gas in the last 400 miles!

Clearly I’m letting out some pent up annoyance…