Computers and newsgroups are wonderful. I got a few very helpful responses
yesterday which enabled me to locate the mysterious 'burgs of Kilby and
Nansemond in Suffolk County Virginia. Thanks ya'll!
I've been queried a couple of times from people about my mysterious
last posting, regarding Tasmania, i.e....
>Richard, thanks for the template for Australia. I don't think I
>need a separate Tasmania, as I can fake it with a r
Sorry about that, but I was in the process of writing ``raisin'' when I
was distracted and apparently never finished my thoughts.
Last weekend I was hiking in the desert and decided to key out some cacti.
All around was the standard sprawling bushes of prickly-pear cactus,
_Opuntia engelmanii_. Anyway, I tried something Michael Chamberland once
told me---I stuck my finger in the mass of anthers in a flower, and
amazingly they all moved towards the pistil. The motion took less than a
second, and was quite remarkable (as you can tell because I am remarking
on it).
I also spotted some _Echinocereus pectinata_, a cactus with very pretty
coloration on its spines.
>There is also one more. It isn't really a carnivorous plant as such. It is
>_Capsella_bursa-pastoris_ (L.) _medic_ or Shepard's purse. The plant itself
>is not carnivorous, but the seed is. It exudes a sticky substance and traps
You know, with time I've decided I don't buy the idea that this plant is
carnivorous. My reason is that, sure this thing could catch bugs if the
seeds were in water and some free swimming critters came by, but this
plant is not found in aquatic or riparian conditions! It is a plant found
in dry soil!
Barry