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The Northern Ends of the World: Longyearbyen in Svalbard
Important: Apologies, but unfortunately, due to damage to my flash during the last hike, macrophotographs taken were of subpar quality when lighting was low. The town of Longyearbyen in the archipelago of Svalbard lies above 78 degrees North, and is thus firmly within the Arctic Circle. In fact, it is considered to be the world’s…
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The Northern Tip of Europe: Honningsvåg, Nordkapp (North Cape), Storfjellet, and the Sherpa Stairways
The Arctic Circle is defined as that region of the world above around 66 degrees north latitude. Within this area, there is at least one day in the year when the sun is above continuously during the day (the Midnight Sun phenomenon). At around 71 degrees north latitude, the town of Honningsvåg in Norway lies…
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Off to the Lands of the Midnight Sun
We are on a northward journey to the arctic circle, where the sun never sets during summer, and this phenomena is called the midnight sun or the polar day. It happens because the earth is tilted slightly as it rotates and revolves around the sun. This journey by plane and ship began in Copenhagen, Denmark,…
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Grama Grasses of Missouri’s Prairies
Missouri sits squarely in the tallgrass prairie region, and the grassland plants that normally dominate in remnant prairies are relative giants, such as big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides). These grasses are rightfully the major focus of attention by nature lovers and cattle producers with native pastures in…
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Eragrostis spectabilis: They Grow Up So Fast
A couple of months ago, I decided to start some ornamental grasses from seeds. One of the seeds I bought was for Eragrostis spectabilis, a native that in its flowering adult form bears a slight resemblance to the Muhlenbergia ornamentals that I already had in my garden. The seeds were the tiniest of the lot,…
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Bamboos Red in Tooth and Claw
The common perception of bamboo has always been somewhat pacifistic, with images of cute pandas intermixed with the culms or images of the beautiful bamboo forests in temperate Asia. But research from the Amazon rainforest seems to show another aspect of this much-loved group of grasses. In the SouthWest Amazon rainforest, a vast area of…
Sejarah Poaceae (Volume 2)
The Story of Grasses – Grasslands and Grassy Open Ecosystems