Plant Photo: Heck Let's Just Call Them Ghostberries !

 

A Little Rant About This Plant

 

 

 

For everyone's entertainment, I spend hours keeping myself gainfully unemployed.

Going on twelve hours, now, I've been busy getting tonight's blog post ready.

From page 155 of  ISBN978-4-408-32351-0, I have an identification.

They have a photo of the same plant, I shot outside the Wooden Toy Museum.

That's the Yambaru Field Guide, all in Japanese.

Not a problem, シラヌマカズラ, translates to Shiranumakazura, I can read that part.

Somebody Needs to Tell the Search Engines

 

 

No matter where you type the words, English or, Japanese, nothing shows up.

Even the Wikipedia folks USA and Japan, kept giving me nothing.

Then Along Came This Bright Idea

 

What do you call a white berry ?

Type that in the #1 search engine in the world, and BINGO !

Along came Wikipedia, which some folks don't like, and good old Britannica.

Now, I know we have some sort of Snowberry or, Ghostberry here.

They are also known as Waxberry, of the Symphoricarpos family.

The Research Will Continue

 

For now, we'll just call them Ghostberries.

It doesn't snow, in Okinawa but, we have a few ghosts. I just haven't captured one, yet.

Patience, we're working on it !

 



Surprised While Taking Fern Photos in Yambaru Forest



Who Would Have Guessed: Insect Repellant ?

 

 

It's November and Christmas is just around the corner.

When we went north in Okinawa, I offered Map It Dude some bug spray.

He was hiking, to the highest peak on this island.

Not me. Been there before, a few times and decided not to do the 2 hour climb.

I said, bug spray and insect repellant are in my pack.

"Nah, there won't be any mosquitoes; it's too cold for them."

There wasn't any wildlife, being active so, I decided to shoot plants and ferns.

I, left the bug spray and crèmes in the vehicle.

Shooting images of ferns from different angles can keep me busy for a few hours.

It was so quiet, in the jungle, you could probably hear a snake slithering.

But, that wasn't the only thing that surprised me.

The weather warmed up and, it woke up the mosquitoes.

There were plenty of fern photos taken so, I headed back down the trail.

That's when I met these red ferns, alongside the highway.

Confirmation, on their names is pending, along with lots of other things.

Remember that movie star, Robert Redford ?

Well, he gave me an idea.

For the time being, I'll just call these guys the Redfern Brothers.

Does anyone else have a better idea ?


NOTE: The weather in Okinawa, Japan can fool you sometimes.

So, it's a good idea to always be prepared for tropical sunshine.

Insects don't follow the calendar; they follow the thermometer.

And, the weather on the Ryukyu Islands doesn't necessarily follow any calendar, either.

In years past, I recall going to the beach, to swim, during winter months.

The sun doesn't burn me and bugs won't bite me, usually.

Most of the repellants and cremes, I carry, are for others to use.

Something tells me, the secret ingredient, that protects me is in Orion Beer.

Well, the past few days I was on some strong medicine, trying to kick a cold.

Doctors orders:  No Alcohol

Those pesky bugs feasted on me, yesterday because my Orion levels were depleted.

The cold is all gone.  No more drugs.

Downtown, I have some catching-up to do.

Have a great weekend !

Have You Ever Seen a Wooden Toy Museum ?

  An Attraction in the Yambaru Hills of Okinawa

 

 

 

 

Here are some photos to give you an idea what it's like.

Knowing what I know, now, I wished I had played with some of the toys.

Everything in the place is made of wood.

The idea behind all of this, is to turn kids-on to nature, in a wooden playground.

Just thrilled, to be in there, shooting photos, I didn't touch any of the stuff.

Back in the office, I researched (online) and learned something.

They made these toys from different types of wood.

Some of the heaviest and some of the lightest woods, in all of Japan.

On the way out of the place I read a sign.

It said something about Forest Therapy and I wish I had picked-up some of those toys.

Should we ever go back to that place again, I'll see if I can feel the difference.

Yeah, Buddy.  I'll go get myself forest therapized !

More About This Museum



Wildlife Photo: Okinawan Tree Lizard (キノボリトカゲ リュウキュ)

This photo was taken upstream from the Yambaru Wildlife Conservation Center.

That's in the northern area of Okinawa, Japan.

The scientific name: Japalura polygonata polygonata.

They have a National Institute of Environmental Studies somewhere in Japan.

And, they put this poor guy on their Invasive Species list.

It seems like some of the northern Prefectures don't like our lizards.

They claim the lizards got accidentally introduced by hitchhiking on ornamental plants.

Well, you know what RyukyuMike has to say about that ?

Quit taking ornamental plants, that lizards are hitchhiking on, from the Ryukyu Islands!

References:

 Invasive Species of Japan

Snakes, Frogs, Lizards and Turtles In Japan