Musaceae Photos

Thursday, November 30, 2006
Shadows of Paradise
O.K. if you got here from the "Banana Photos" page
I am not going nuts or getting sloppy in my photo categorization. (well, at least not
the second one anyway.) The Bird of Paradise is actually a member of the
Banana [Musaceae] family. Strange but true!
But wait, it gets even stranger! Like bananas, Bird of Paradise
are botanically considered herbs since they do not produce any woody stems.
(That's right, even the biggest 25 foot banana tree is not really a tree at all.)
Well that is the botany lesson for the day. The photo is pretty nice too, if I do
say so myself.

Friday, November 17, 2006
Candle Leaf Banana
We were wandering through a nice garden store last weekend when I saw this banana plant. The leaf growing out of the center really caught my attention. It looks just like a candle to me. The opening on the top is shaped just like the flame. The large open leaf made a great background.

Saturday, October 7, 2006
Banana in the Rain
A few weeks ago we found two beautiful banana plants at the hardware store that were looking for a good home. They live right out front now. The other day it started to rain just as I was leaving the house and when I saw how the drops of water collected on the leaf I had to run back in and get my camera.

Thursday, March 23, 2006
Backlit Bird
This is another shot from our neighbors yard.
I like to walk by there and see whats blooming.
These flowers always make me think of my wife's
watercolors. She likes them so much that she
learned to watercolor specifically to paint
them.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Bird of Paradise
My neighbor has a beautiful garden. It's amazing
how many flowers you can get into a small space.
(we only have a few feet to play with around the building.)
This was snapped as I was taking the hound for a walk the other day.
My best friend was just wondering when Bird of Paradise bloom.
I guess this answers that question. :-D

Sunday, April 3, 2005
Bird of Paradise
This is another shot from a recent walk at the Santa Barbara Harbor. The setting sun made the colors on this beautiful flower stand out even more.

Friday, February 25, 2005
Banana Leaf
Still thinking about a nice vacation, this was from my first trip to Santa Barbara, before I lived here. I took 22 rolls of film in about 10 days, and I think I would use twice that in the same situation now.