Archives: November2009

• Lupinus pilosus

  

  Lindsay again wrote today’s entry:

  Thank you to Claire Woods, aka buildingadesert@Flickr, for sharing today’s photo (original image | Botany Photo of the Day Flickr Pool)!

  Lupinus pilosus, commonly known as the blue lupine, is an Old World lupine, occurring from southern Greece through western Turkey to Israel. Its distribution broadly overlaps a second Old World lupine species, Lupinus palaestinus, but the two are never found in the same plant communities (allopatric). Both are species of edaphic environments, but Lupinus palaestinus is generally confined to the light soils of coastal Israel.

  The two species are of taxonomic interest. Despite being similar morphologically and having an equal number of chromosomes, they have not produced any viable intermediate hybrids in nature. Research has indicated that the two species differ in pollination apparatuses, genic imbalances and partial reproductive barriers.

• Abstaining Boobies Get “Sexier”

  Male blue-footed boobies that take a yearlong sex sabbatical get a brighter shade of blue in their feet the following year, which makes them more attractive to females, a new study says. Video.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• SPACE PHOTOS THIS WEEK: Rosy Haze, Black Hole Jet, More

  A dusty nebula reflects an odd light, orbiting probes reveal forest decline, a black hole “zaps” a galaxy into existence, and more in the week’s best space pictures.