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15_the_circle) wrote2008-06-23 01:55 am
botanical discovery
[OT from cottage renovations]
reports of sightings in the Grove of Artificia sinofabricans have previously appeared in this space. there's no reason to suspend the search for examples of the outer fringe of botany simply because one is traveling.
(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)
Ventura, California
the cumulative experience of having lived in California off on and on during the 1960s and 1970s, supplemented by regular visits since then, did nothing to prepare me for the appearance of these specimens, seen from (of course) a freeway onramp.
it would appear that scientists have been at work in an effort to improve unsightly palm trees by grafting onto them elements from that most pervasive symbol of our times, the cellular telephone tower.
Artificia cytoturrica
(a new species in family Arecaceae)
the idea of keeping a cell tower in sight is clearly intended to comfort contemporary Californians who might become disoriented or distressed at the thought of being off-network. clearly things were working out as planned as there was no sign of widespread panic nearby.
no subject