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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Chiloscyphus semiteres, a leafy liverwort. Pretty dry, this specimen, but still pretty.

A photo of the forest ground, showing sticks, stones, leaves, and a green mat of liverworts at its center.

A close up of a mat of dry Chiloscyphus.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Rosulabryum billardierii (Bryaceae). A widespread species in Vic in most habitats and on most substrate. It has rosettes of leaves that give it a star-shaped appearance. Leaf marings are borderd by hyaline cells and the apex and costa are lightly toothed, giving it a distinctive appearance.

A microscopy image of mosses and sticks. There are a few species of mosses with different leaf shapes, and they are all a vibrant green.

A microscopy image of a moss with leaves in a rosette. They are a vivid light green.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

I need to get caught up on microscopy over here! This is a female Golden Stag Beetle (Lamprima aurata) that I found (deceased) in my yard over summer. I'm pretty obsessed with how these turned out, her colours are absolutely stunning. #inverts #insects #beetles

A macro photo of a female beetle, looking down on her from above. You can see her red-coloured head with small jaws, then her blue/green iridescent thorax and elytra. Her head and thorax have a pitted texture, while her elytra is mostly smooth with fewer pits.

A macro photo of a female beetle, looking down on her from above. This is a closeup of her head and thorax, showing the red colour of her head and the blue/green of her thorax. Both are heavily pitted.

A macro photo of a female beetle, looking down on her from above. This is a closup of her thorax and the top of her elytra. Both are an iridescent blue/green/yellow in this photo. The thorax is heavily pitted, the elytra less so.

This is a closeup of her elytra, showing how smooth the texture is. There are speckles of small, shallow pits. The colour is an iridescent blue/green/purple.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Its been a while! March was extremely hectic between working on submitting a manuscript for review, giving talks and general Masters work. Have a photo of some Grevillea pollen from the archives (Grevillea jephcottii, taken in 2022). The centre pollen grain is showing pollen tube growth!

A microscopy photo taken under brightfield of several Grevillea pollen. The pollen is fat and triangular, with each tip bearing a rounded protrusion. A pollen grain in the centre has a gelatenous-looking tube extending out of one of the bulbus tips. This is a pollen tube.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Grevillea barklyana, aka the gully grevillea. Endemic to Victoria and critically endangered (this is from a horticulture plant). When you take a close look you'll notice it has PINK pollen. From my own dissections the pollen starts out as yellow and turns pink as the florets mature and open.

A microscopy image of a bunch of opening Grevillea flowers. They have bright pink styles looped down into the flower, forming a series of pink arches.

Bright pink and triangular pollen on a pollen presenter (tip of style).

Dissection of an unopened flower showing pollen presenter nestled up against anthers packed with bright yellow pollen. The pollen turns pink as the floret matures before opening.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Teaching Fish microscopy (thankful she waited till after I was done using the microscope to rub her face all over it).

A tortoiseshell cat with green/yellow eyes sniffing the eyepiece of a dissecting microscope on top of a desk.

A tortoiseshell cat with green/yellow eyes rubbing her face on the eyepiece of a dissecting microscope on top of a desk.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

And that's a wrap for #VicBioCon26! Thanks to everyone who came to chat, you're all amazing 🫶

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Here in the Plants and Pollinators 1 session at #VicBioCon! 🎉 🎉

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Tomorrow I'll be presenting at #VicBioCon! I've got a speed talk in Plants and Pollinators 1 (at 11:45am) and have a poster that evening at 5pm. Come say hi and ask me about my Acacias! 😊

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Senna artemisioides (Fabaceae)! Unlike typical peas, these have 5 rounded petals of unequal size and a showy display of long brown anthers at their centre. It is a buzz-pollinated plant (it has poricidal anthers), requiring bees to vibrate at a specific frequency to release its pollen.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

#Cryptandra tomentosa! This plant is in the #Rhamnaceae family, with its genus name referring to its anthers being hidden by hood-shaped petals. Unfortunetly, the specimen I had to photograph weren’t very fresh so this is a species I’ll need to come back to in the future.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Starting off the new year with #Asterolasia trymalioides subsp. trymalioidea (Rutaceae), aka the alpine star-bush! An alpine plant found in NSW and Vic, its five-petaled flowers look like little yellow stars, and the fine petals shimmer under light (really hard to capture via photos!).

A closeup of a brilliant yellow star-shaped flower. It has five petals, a central stigma that is 5-lobed and yellow anthers on long yellow filaments.

A cross-section of the same flower, focusing in on the 5-lobed stigma atop a thin style. The ovaries underneath are covered in dense white hairs.

A macro photo of a flower bud. It is round in shape but you can clearly see the furrows outlining the five petals it has. The outside is covered in stellate (star-shaped) hairs.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

#Citrus australiasica, aka the #fingerlime! These flowers are off a cultivar I’ve been growing for several years now. They’re lovely plants if you don’t mind having a living pincushion in your garden (they are absolutely covered in spines).

A macro view of a fingerlime flower looking almost top-down. It has three petals which are ovoid and white on the inside with pink on the outside. In the middle are yellow anthers on pink filaments. The leaves in the background are a vibrant green.

A macro view of a fingerlime flower looking at it from the side. It has three petals which are ovoid and white on the inside with pink on the outside. In the middle are yellow anthers on pink filaments. The leaves in the background are a vibrant green.

A macro view of a developing fingerlime flower from the side. The petals are ovoid and white on the inside with pink on the outside. In the middle are yellow anthers on pink filaments. The leaves in the background are a vibrant green.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

Leucopogon virgatus var. brevifolous (Ericaceae)! This pecies is endangered in Victoria and ocurrs in a relatively small range of heathland in the west of the state (it occurs outside the state, too!). It’s a small shrub to 50cm and has tiny flowers (4-10mm long) with densly hairy petals.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

#Pandorea pandorana, aka wonga vine! This climbing plantncan get over 6m high. It has gorgeous tubular flowers that are white-creamy on the outside and a deep burgundy-purple on the inside. The anthers are pressed up against the top of the floral tube, almost cris-crossing over the style.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

#Daucus glochidiatus, aka Australian carrot! This is a plant in the family #Apiaceae and can be anywhere from 3-60cm tall. Its flowers are impossibly tiny, only about 1.5mm in diameter with minute purple petals (which made it difficult to photograph, even with a microscope!).

A microscopy photo showing most of a Daucus plant, including seed pods on shoots to the right and a shoot to the left with flowers.

A close-up of the seed pod of the plant. It's ovoid and covered in spikey white bristles.

A close-up of the flowers of the plant. They have 5 tiny purple petals on top of a ovoid ovary. they are incredibly small and most of their parts are covered in bristles, obstructing much from view.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

This weeks features #Dimorphotheca ecklonis (Asteraceae)! This is a species of #daisy from South Africa that’s commonly grown in gardens here. Their ligules (what appear as petals) can be white to purple, while the centre disc florets are a deep blue/purple. They’re quite striking flowers up close!

A microscopy image of a daisy with white ligules that are purple at their base, and a centre full of deep blue/purple disc florets. The outer circle of disc florets is starting to flower and are expulsing bright yellow pollen.

A microscopy image of a daisy with white ligules that are purple at their base, and a centre full of deep blue/purple disc florets. The ligules are covered in many clear hairs at their bases. The outer circle of disc florets is starting to flower and are expulsing bright yellow pollen.

A closeup of the base of the ligulate florets, showing how hairy they are.

A closeup of a disc floret, showing its five purple petals and the sex organs at the centre of the flower expelling bright yellow pollen.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Excited to share that I'm one of the lucky photographers to get one of my photos published in Ecology Matters by @ecolsocaus.bsky.social! It's incredibly surreal seeing something you made printed in a book. You can spot Manuka buds on page 12! ❤️

A smiling person with glasses and shoulder-length brown and blue/green hair is standing in front of a fig tree holding a hardcover book titled "Ecology Matters".

A zoomed-in photo of an open book, looking at a photo of manuka flowers buds.

The original Manuka buds photo, showcasing two pink flower buds against green needle-like leaves and a pink background.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

#Styphelia ericoides (Ericaceae), aka the pink beard heath! This is a widespread shrub to 2m high that has typical beard-heath flowers: tubular and densly hairy (bearded) on the inside. The flowers are very small (1-1.5mm long), creamy-white with pink tips. #plants #photography

A white flower with 5 pink-tipped petals looking like a star, the insides of which are covered in dense white hairs.

A branch of developing flowers (almost bullet-shaped, they're long and pointed at the tip and are white and pink) and deep green leaves on a hairy brown stem.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

Lets get back into it: weeks microscopy features #Actinobole uliginosum! This plant is so tiny, only a few cm high, that you’d need to be on your hands and knees in the dirt to really notice it exists. It’s an #Asteraceae with cottony leaves and white-creamy coloured flowers.

A green succulent-looking plant covered in cottony white hairs with a inflorescence with white 'petals' in the middle.

A green succulent-looking plant covered in cottony white hairs, peering down into the inflorecense in the middle.

A cross-section of the same plant showing inflorescence structure. Florets are long and yellow-green with a pale ovary (where the seed will form) at their base.

A cross-section of the same plant showing inflorescence structure. This plant has two inflorescences forming, one in the centre which is more developed than one to the right.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Wrapped up my field work this past weekend by visiting Acacia daviesii (FFG listed critically endangered)!! Very bittersweet. I'm looking forward to the break but kind of sad I won't see my species for a bit.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

#Thrips! Thrips are thrips both singular and plural, and if you do any sort of floral morphology or pollen work you'll come across a million of them. This guy was hiding out in an Osterospermum floret. #inverts #photography

A thrips peeking out from a floret of a daisy. The petals are a deep violet and there is bright yellow pollen everywhere.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

A blue ant (Diamma bicolor)! She's not actually an ant, she's a wasp (though they're both Hymenoptera). A species I've always wanted to see. 🥹

A photo of the ground with dirt, plants and a very metallic blue ant-looking wasp. She has bright red legs.

A photo of the ground with sand, plants and a very metallic blue ant-looking wasp. She has bright red legs.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Colour spectrum of Caladenia carnea (pink fingers). They range from hot pink, light pink, a faint blush of pink to totally white. Found out in western Vic. ❤️🩷🤍

A very hot pink Caladenia carnea flower.

Caladenia carnea flower with just a faint blush of pink

Completely white Caladenia carnea flower

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

Last week I had the most amazing time demonstrating LTU BOT2PDE students out in Natimuk, far western Victoria. Got my hands dirty with inch flora and saw some good flowers. 🌸

My hands holding a small green inch flora, Halosperma demisium.

Caladenia tentaculata flower hidden within a dead shrub.

A Glossodia flower covered in drops of rain.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

A few flowers from the weekend, celebrating wrapping up work at one of my field sites. Not my target species but so lovely to see. ❤️

Nodding greenhood with my index finger for scale (it's maybe 3cm high).

Dusky fingers against a blurry rock background.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

Had a brief trip to Sydney and saw some very Sydney things. #binchicken

A bin chicken eating out of a rubbish bin in the Sydney CBD.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

A few snaps of what's growing at one of my field sites that aren't my target species (I did not take enough time to photograph non-study species 😞)

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Yesterday was national #wattle day! Here's my two Masters species, #Acacia daviesii (timbertop wattle, first two photos) and Acacia sporadica (pale hickory wattle, last row photos). Both critically endangered, I'm very lucky I get to work with them. ❤️❤️

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

This weeks #microscopy- #Plagiochila fasciculata! Featuring intercalary androecium (male reproductive parts). They're very common in wet forests and give off a strong camphor/mothball smell. I love getting students to sniff them (they often don't know what the smell is and find it revolting).

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Swamp wallaby supervising my field work. 🥹

A scrubby box ironbark woodland with a dark brown Swamp Wallaby in the center, partially obscured by a small shrub.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Zoopsis leitgebiana, a leafy #liverwort in the family Lepidoziaceae found in wet rainforests here in Vic. This was my first time spotting the species, so what a treat to photo it! It's leaves are bi-lobed and made of just a few individual cells. Very tiny species. #bryophytes

An individual branch of Zoopsis leitgebiana stretching out off the soil. It tapers at its tip and is bright green.

A green mat of liverworts growing on top of soil.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

A few #Drosera from today! Such amazing little plants. The ground was absolutely covered in them.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

#Zoopsis argentea! One of the smallest liverworts in Vic. This leafy liverwort's leaves are recuded to only two single cells (others in the genus don't have such reduced leaves). It's very common on logs and tree ferns in rainforests here. #bryophytes #liverworts

A microscopy image highly zoomed in on a flattened green shoot of Zoopsis argentea, against a backdrop of brown substrate. You can clearly see the individual cells making up the plant. Its 'stem' is made up of rectangular cells (2 wide) and its 'leaves' are also made of two cells, coming out each side of the 'stem'.

A microscopy image of a large mat of flattened green shoots of Zoopsis argentea, against a backdrop of brown substrate. You can clearly see the individual cells making up the plant. Its 'stem' is made up of rectangular cells (2 wide) and its 'leaves' are also made of two cells, coming out each side of the 'stem'.

A microscopy image highly zoomed in on a mat of flattened green shoots of Zoopsis argentea, against a backdrop of brown substrate. You can clearly see the individual cells making up the plant. Its 'stem' is made up of rectangular cells (2 wide) and its 'leaves' are also made of two cells, coming out each side of the 'stem'.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Fun little shot down the microscope of an Acacia polyad (pollen cluster) surrounded my bacteria after sitting in out in avsucrose solution for a few days. Trialing protocol for pollen tube germination. 😊

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

I got to go trudge through the muddy rainforests of eastern Vic recently, searching for threatened bryophytes. My favourite place. ❤️

A view of a rainforest creek, which is more like a seepage here. The ground is wet and muddy and littered with rocks and fallen logs covered in bryophytes. Tree ferns are all around.

A view of a rocky hill deep in a rainforest. The ground is wet and muddy and littered with rocks and fallen logs covered in bryophytes. Tree ferns are all around.

A view of a dense rainforest. The ground is wet and muddy and tree ferns are everywhere, taller than a human stands.

A close up of a rock covered in the moss Cyathophorum bulbosum.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

I've been hard at work in the background setting up a new Redbubble account. 🎉🎉If you've ever wanted a print or sticker of my photography and art, this is the place! I'll be slowly adding more prints, let me know if there's one you want that I'm missing. 😊 BotanyByYen.redbubble.com

botanybyyen.redbubble.com

BotanyByYen Shop | Redbubble

BotanyByYen is an independent artist creating amazing designs for great products such as t-shirts, stickers, posters, and phone cases.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

#Hardenbergia violacea! I've shared one of these photos before, but here's two new ones at different angles (including a look at the reproductive organs!). These will be blooming all over Melbourne soon.

A macro photo looking down on a bunch of Hardenbergia violacea flowers from above. The flowers are a bright violet with some magenta in places. They have two bright yellow-green dots at the point where the standard petal meets the keels.

A macro photo looking up at a bunch of Hardenbergia violacea flowers from beneath. The flowers are a bright violet with some magenta in places. The underside of their keels are whitish.

A macro photo looking at reproductive organs within a Hardenbergia flower, with the wing and keel petals removed. The stigma pokes up from a ring of anthers. The anthers have dehisced and specks of pollen are all over the plant.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

#Oxalis pes-caprae, a plant with a unique feature called #heterostyly. This is a floral polymorphism where individuals in a species have variation in the position of their reproductive organs (specifically stigma and stamen). Oxalis pes-caprae is #tristylous, meaning it has three floral morphs.

A diagram overtop a cross-section of an Oxalis pes-caprae flower. Each part of the flower has a label. On the left says "Anthers" and points to two layers of anthers (one at the top of the flowe and one at the bottom). On the right it says "petals", "stigmas" "style" and "sepals".

A series of three photos showing cross-sections of Oxalis pes-caprae flowers. The first image shows the short-styled morph. The middle is the mid-style morph and the last is the long-styled morph.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Went to go check how far off my target species is from flowering and I couldn't help but look for #liverworts. This is #Chaetophyllopsis whiteleggei, a leafy liverwort absolutely covered in cilia. One of my favourites but rare to see.

A blurry photo of leafy liverworts growing on eucalyptus bark. It has the appearance of hispid, densely packed balls of plants.

A more close up photo if these liverworts among mosses. They are hispid, covered in dense cilia and rosette-like.

A very blurry macro photo of the liverworts, showing their cilia covered leaves.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

Had a wedge-tail land right in front of us as we were driving into my field site yesterday. And, of course, this was RIGHT after I realised I'd forgotten my binoculars.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

Some bits in Fryers Range State Forest, western Vic.

A photo down the middle of a dried up creek bed. The bed is wide (maybe 5-10m) and the sides are rocky. There's eucalyptus trees around, and scrubby vegetation. Some trees have fallen into the creek bed.

A photo down the middle of a dried up creek bed. This part is narrower than the last photo, at most 5m wide. The sides are steep but irregular and not rocky. The creek bed is full of dried leaves. There's eucalyptus trees around, and scrubby vegetation.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

This week's feature- Prostanthera incisa. Their anthers are often clasped together and only seperate after being disurbed by a pollinator. Here the filaments and connective parts are white/pink while the theca are a vibrant purple. They are speckled with pollen that look like grains of rice.

A macro photo looking into a Prostanthera incisa flower. The flower is open and has a long, curved style coming out from down the corolla. Its four anthers are clasped together in the middle of the flower.

A macro photo looking deeper into a Prostanthera incisa flower. The flower has a long, curved style coming out from down the corolla. Its four anthers are clasped together in the middle of the flower. The filaments and connective parts of the anther are white-pink, while the theca of the anther are a vibrant purple. They're speckled with pollen grains that look like rice.

A macro photo looking at the four anthers of a Prostanthera incisa flower from the side. The filaments and connective parts of the anther are white-pink, while the theca of the anther are a vibrant purple. They're speckled with pollen grains that look like rice.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Childlock doesn't work when your cat will sit on the button to turn it off. 🤦

A photo of a cheeky tabby cat with a white belly and paws. He's sitting ontop of a gas heating unit, right on top of the controls.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

This weeks #microscopy- #Rutidosis leptorrhynchoides (Button wrinklewort)! An endangered grasslands daisy in Vic and ACT. Daisy 'flowers' are liars- they're actually a whole bunch of individual florets! Florets develop from the outside in and each can create one seed. Alt text has more info.

A top-dpwn view of a Rutidosis leptorrhynchoides flower head. Florets open from the outside in, and the very centre of the flower has florets that ar eyet to fully open. Many of the outer ones have opened and stigmas have emerged out the tops.

A cross-section down the centre of a Rutidosis leptorrhynchoides flower head (capitulum). This is a side view showing the structure of the florets and their insertion into the receptacle (base of the capitulum). Florets develop from the outside in, and the inner florets have yet to fully open. Ovaries at the base of each floret have yet to fully develop and appear white.

A cross-section down the centre of a Rutidosis leptorrhynchoides flower head (capitulum). This is a side view zoomed in on developing seeds. Seeds that are filled appear brown, while aborted/unfertilised seeds are white. The feathery white appendages at the top of each seed are the pappus.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Yuzu helping me plan for field work. At least he knows how to make the most out of a sunny day!

A photo of a tabby cat with a white belly and paws laying on a rug in a sunbeam under a desk.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

A bit of #microscopy for this week, featuring #Swainsona sericea! You can see its curved style with a line of hairs on its inward side (which is covered in yellow #pollen). This species is endangered in Victoria, but I was lucky enough to work with them on a reintroduction project in undergrad.

A microscopy image of the style and stamen of Swainsona sericea. The style is curved and green with a row of white hairs along its inward curve. The hairs are covered in bright yellow pollen. Its anthers are bright yellow and mostly shriveled, appearing to have dehisced their pollen. The background is blurry colours of bright purple-pink to more violet, which are the colours of the petals.

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Yen @botanybyyen.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Art stall success! Big thanks to everyone who came by to support us students. 🥹

A photo of a table set up as an art stall. It has a big banner hanging in front that says "environment and genetics artist market". The tabletop is full of art prints, bookmarks, cards and stickers.

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