tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
White Sweet Alyssum, Lobularia (Alyssum) maritima.
Photographed on Manhattan's Upper West Side
on West 83rd street, across from the post office.
Image: GrrlScientist, 27 May 2009 [larger view].
When I was a kid in Washington State, I saw Alyssum everywhere, so I never appreciated them until recently. Seeing these tiny flowers was like being reunited with a long-lost friend.
Lobularia is a genus comprising roughly 100-170 species of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. They are native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region.
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Buying seeds here is not a quick process. First there's the perusal of all the seed catalogs, the dreaming and fantasizing with my garden porn.
I won't usually publish ID updates here, but I did want to remind everyone who wants to participate that this is going on - please feel free to jump in, post updates at your blog, on facebook or in the comments of the update threads (posted on Fridays) at www.
I plant weeds sometimes. I just feel I should admit this upfront, and come out with it and accept your outrage.
Oooh, a cabbage!
And who else mis-read the name as "New York City Asylum"?
the misread was my hope.
I did ^_^
I have some version of those growing freely in my front yard...and gutters ;)
The plant is called "Sweet Alyssum", but the genus seems to be Lobularia. I was curious about why that was, so I looked in Wikipedia, which says that the genus Lobularia is a little group of half-a-dozen species which used to be considered part of the genus Alyssum. I'd guess they were given their own genus on the basis of molecular evidence.
The plant is called "Sweet Alyssum", but the genus seems to be Lobularia. I was curious about why that was, so I looked in Wikipedia, which says that the genus Lobularia is a little group of half-a-dozen species which used to be considered part of the genus Alyssum. I'd guess they were given their own genus on the basis of molecular evidence.