Dr. Joan Bushwell's Chimpanzee Refuge

Friday Flower Porn: Parts of Glass

Posted by Dr. Joan Bushwell on February 9, 2007
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These otherworldly blossoms have no genus and species so I’ll reach back to my plant taxonomy class and name them Chihuliensis fabulosa.

These were spotted at the Dale Chihuly exhibit in the New York Botanical Garden last fall.

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For more realistic glass flowers, if you’re in Cambridge MA, be sure to check out the glass flower collection, which receives a four pant-hoot rating on the Bushwellian scale of cool and unusual things to see in the Boston area, at the Harvard Museum of Natural History:

This unique collection of over 3,000 models was created by the glass artisans, Leopold Blaschka and his son, Rudolph. The commission began in 1886, continued for five decades, and represents more than 830 plant species.

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Comments

  1. #1 Warren
    February 9, 2007

    The commission began in 1886, continued for five decades, and represents more than 830 plant species.

    …and, last week, it was blown up by the Boston bomb squad when a troglodyte noticed “A buncha fake flahrs whut mighta bin put’ere bah TUR’RISTS” and phoned the PD in a fit of single-neuron hysteria.

  2. #2 Doc Bushwell
    February 9, 2007

    …a fit of single-neuron hysteria.

    Ha! I hope you don’t mind if I co-opt this handy little phrase for future use.

    Yes, those glass flowers are evil, eeeeeeevil weapons of silicate botanical destruction, and their continued existence would only embolden the terrorists.

    As a former resident of the Boston area (Cambridge), I could only shake my head and think, “Now why am I not surprised by this massive burst of overreactive clusterfuckery?” Good old Mumbles Menino. Too bad the Boston firefighters and cops were pulled away from more pressing tasks by Aqua Teen Hunger Force Lite Brites.

  3. #3 Warren
    February 9, 2007

    Co-opt away. It’s not like I could prevent it from happening anyway. ;)

    To be fair, I think we can see how the flowers (at least) could be regarded as threatening, since there’s nothing more menacing than a clearly-organized group of pistil-packers.

  4. #4 Bill from Dover
    February 9, 2007

    I’ve often wondered where the line between due diligence and pure bat-shit insane panic lay. Now I know it’s somewhere in Beantown.

  5. #5 llewelly
    February 10, 2007

    I’ve often wondered where the line between due diligence and pure bat-shit insane panic lay. Now I know it’s somewhere in Beantown.

    That’s funny. For the last five years, I thought that line was in the voting booth.

  6. #6 FF
    December 5, 2008

    What is the flowers name