Dracula Simia (Monkey Face Flower), Native To The Mountainous Regions of Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru

Dracula Simia is also called monkey orchid or the monkey-like Dracula, is an epiphytic orchid originally described in the genus Masdevallia, but later moved to the genus Dracula. The arrangement of column, petals and lip strongly resembles a monkey's face. The plant blooms at any season with several flowers on the inflorescence that open successively. Flowers are fragrant with the scent of a ripe orange.

This flower species was christened by botanist Carlyle A. Lueren in 1978. Dracula simia translates to "little dragon monkey, with reference to its long fang like petals." Despite their eerie resemblance to monkeys, the flowers are fragrant with the scent of a ripe orange. 

Today approximately 90 species that are found in moist forests, mostly in western Colombia and Ecuador, are recognized. Dracula have short, creeping rhizomes with short, erect, one-leafed, thin textured shoots with a distinct midrib. The colorful, typically single flowers are usually large and pendent, although some species exhibit erect inflorescences. Individual flowers are usually produced singly in succession and in some species, inflorescences are capable of producing 5, 6 or more flowers during the lifetime of the inflorescence.

The tips of the sepals form long, slender tails. At the uppermost part, the short petals have a warty texture which can give the appearance of two eyes along either side of the nose-like column. Draculas are very popular in hobbyist collections and many species and hybrids are now in cultivation. Whether due to the interesting flowers or to the fanciful names, D. vampira, D. chimaera, D. bella, D. gorgona and D. simia are some of the sought-after species.

The World Monocot Checklist contains 124 accepted names, including 2 natural hybrids. The genus Dracula is probably most famous for containing the monkey face orchids (Dracula simia). Thanks to our predisposition for pareidolia, we look at these flowers and see a simian face staring back at us. Less obvious, however, is the intricate detail of the labellum, which superficially resembles the monkey's mouth. A close inspection of this highly modified petal would reveal a striking resemblance to some sort of gilled mushroom.

Indeed, a mushroom is exactly what the Dracula orchids are actually trying to mimic. The main pollinators of this genus are tiny fruit flies that are mushroom specialists. They can be seen in the wild crawling all over Dracula flowers looking for a fungal meal and a place to mate. Some of the flies inevitably come away from the Dracula flower with a wad of pollen stuck to their backs. With any luck they will fall for the ruse of another Dracula flower and thus pollination is achieved.

Amorphophallus Titanum (Largest Unbranched Inflorescence In The World)

Amorphophallus Titanum, the titan arum, is a flowering plant with the  largest  unbranched inflorescence in the world. The talipot  palm, Corypha umbraculifera, has a  larger inflorescence, but it is branched  rather than unbranched. Amorphophallus  titanum is endemic to  Sumatra. Due to its odor, like that of a rotting corpse, the titan arum is characterized as a carrion flower, and is also known as the corpse flower or corpse plant.

The titan arum's berries arrange in a regular cylindrical form that resemble the packing of spheres inside a cylindrical confinement. Those structures are also called columnar structures or crystals. Amorphophallus titanum derives its name from Ancient Greek (άμορφος – amorphos, "without form, misshapen" + φαλλός – phallos, "phallus", and titan, "giant"). The popular name "titan arum" was coined by W.H. Hodge.

The titan arum's inflorescence can reach over 3 meters (10 ft) in height. Like the related cuckoo pint and calla lily, it consists of a fragrant spadix of flowers wrapped by a spathe, which looks like a large petal. In the case of the titan arum, the spathe is a deep green on the outside and dark burgundy red on the inside, with a deeply furrowed texture. The spadix is hollow and resembles a large baguette. Near the bottom of the spadix, hidden from view inside the sheath of the spathe, the spadix bears two rings of small flowers. The upper ring bears the male flowers, the lower ring is spangled with bright red-orange carpels. The "fragrance" of the titan arum resembles rotting meat, attracting carrion-eating beetles and flesh flies (family Sarcophagidae) that pollinate it. The inflorescence's deep red color and texture contribute to the illusion that the spathe is a piece of meat. During bloom, the tip of the spadix is approximately human body temperature, which helps the perfume volatilize; this heat is also believed to assist in the illusion that attracts carcass-eating insects.

Both male and female flowers grow in the same inflorescence. The female flowers open first, then a day or two following, the male flowers open. This usually prevents the flower from self-pollinating.

After the flower dies back, a single leaf, which reaches the size of a small tree, grows from the underground corm. The leaf grows on a somewhat green stalk that branches into three sections at the top, each containing many leaflets. The leaf structure can reach up to 6 m (20 ft) tall and 5 m (16 ft) across. Each year, the old leaf dies and a new one grows in its place. When the corm has stored enough energy, it becomes dormant for about four months. Then the process repeats.

The corm is the largest known, typically weighing around 50 kg (110 lb). When a specimen at the Princess of Wales Conservatory, Kew Gardens, was repotted after its dormant period, the weight was recorded as 91 kg (201 lb). In 2006, a corm in the Botanical Garden of Bonn, Germany was recorded at 117 kg (258 lb), and an A. titanum grown in Gilford, New Hampshire by Dr. Louis Ricciardiello in 2010 weighed 138 kg (305 lb). However, the current record is held by a corm grown at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, weighing 153.9 kg (339 lb) after 7 years' growth from an initial corm the size of an orange. Amorphophallus titanum is native solely to western Sumatra, where it grows in openings in rainforests on limestone hills. However, the plant is cultivated by botanical gardens and private collectors around the world.

The titan arum grows in the wild only in the equatorial rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia. It was first scientifically described in 1878 by Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari. The plant flowers only infrequently in the wild. It first flowered in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, UK in 1889, with over one hundred cultivated blossoms since then. The first documented flowerings in the United States were at the New York Botanical Garden in 1937 and 1939. This flowering also inspired the designation of the titan arum as the official flower of the Bronx in 1939, only to be replaced in 2000 by the day lily. The number of cultivated plants has increased in recent years, and it is not uncommon for there to be five or more flowering events in gardens around the world in a single year. Advanced pollination techniques mean that this plant is rarely cultivated by amateur gardeners. However, in 2011, Roseville High School (Roseville, California) became the first high school in the world to bring a titan arum to bloom.

In 2003, the tallest bloom in cultivation, some 2.74 m (9 ft 0 in) high, was achieved at the Botanical Garden of the University of Bonn in Germany. The event was acknowledged by Guinness World Records. In 2005 this record was broken at the botanical and zoological garden Wilhelma in Stuttgart, Germany; the bloom reached a height of 2.94 m (9 ft 8 in). The record was broken again by Louis Ricciardiello, whose specimen measured 3.1 m (10 ft 2 in) tall in 2010, when it was on display at Winnipesaukee Orchids in Gilford, New Hampshire, US. This event, too, was acknowledged by Guinness World Records.

In cultivation, the titan arum generally requires 7 to 10 years of vegetative growth before blooming for the first time. After its initial blooming, there can be considerable variation in blooming frequency. Some plants may not bloom again for another 7 to 10 years while others may bloom every two to three years. A plant has been flowering every second year (2014,16, 18 and 2020) in the Botanical Garden in Copenhagen. There have also been documented cases of back-to-back blooms occurring within a year and corms simultaneously sending up both a leaf (or two) and an inflorescence. There has also been an occasion when a corm produced multiple simultaneous blooms.

The spathe generally begins to open between mid-afternoon and late evening and remains open all night. At this time, the female flowers are receptive to pollination. Although most spathes begin to wilt within twelve hours, some have been known to remain open for 24 to 48 hours. As the spathe wilts, the female flowers lose receptivity to pollination.

Self-pollination was once considered impossible, but in 1999, Huntington Botanical Garden botanists hand-pollinated their plant with its own pollen from ground-up male flowers. The procedure was successful, resulting in fruit and ten fertile seeds from which several seedlings were eventually produced. Additionally, a titan arum at Gustavus Adolphus College, in Minnesota, unexpectedly produced viable seed through self-pollination in 2011.

As the spathe gradually opens, the spadix releases powerful odors to attract pollinators, insects which feed on dead animals or lay their eggs in rotting meat. The potency of the odor gradually increases from late evening until the middle of the night, when carrion beetles and flesh flies are active as pollinators, then tapers off towards morning. Analyses of chemicals released by the spadix show the stench includes dimethyl trisulfide (like limburger cheese), dimethyl disulfide (garlic), trimethylamine (rotting fish), isovaleric acid (sweaty socks), benzyl alcohol (sweet floral scent), phenol (like Chloraseptic), and indole (like feces).

The Monumento a la Virgen de la Paz, Southwest of The City of Trujillo, Venezuela.

The Monumento a la Virgen de la Paz is a colossal statue honoring Mary. Completely made out of concrete, it is located 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) southwest of the city of Trujillo in Venezuela. At 46.72 metres (153.3 ft) tall it is the 48th tallest statue in the world, the tallest statue in South America and the second-tallest in the Americas, the fourth-tallest statue depicting a woman in the world, and the tallest statue of Mary in the world. It is 16 metres (52 ft) across, with a base that is 18 metres (59 ft) deep, and weighs 1,200 tonnes.

It was designed by the Spanish-Venezuelan sculptor Manuel de la Fuente and opened on 21 December 1983 by President Luis Herrera Campins.The monument stands at about 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) above sea level, in the region named Peña de la Virgen where it is said that the virgin appeared in the year 1570. From the monument there are spectacular panoramic views of the region: on a clear day, one can see all of the state of Trujillo, parts of the Sierra Nevada de Mérida, and the south coast of Lake Maracaibo.

Since 1568 the virgin of  Nuestra Señora de la Paz (Our Lady of Peace) has been the spiritual patron of Trujillo; since 1960 she has been the patron of this diocese, as well.The dove in the statue's right hand symbolizes the responsibility of the presidency of Venezuela to make peace across the land. For many years the statue was administered through a private foundation, before passing to the directorship of the government of the state of Trujillo.

Despite its colossal size and the importance of its commemorative symbolism of the patron saint of the state, the monument is one of the least visited tourist spots in Trujillo and in Venezuela. In Easter 2010 the Trujillo government reported 11,000 visitors to the monument, while the José Gregorio Hernández sanctuary received close to 80,000 visits, and the traditional way of the cross in the town of Tostós was visited by approximately 57,000 tourists.

The Trujillo area has been relevant in the Christian mysticism beliefs of the inhabitants of the lands around the monument since colonial times. The Virgin of Peace is the patron saint of the state of Trujillo, and the state flag has a green triangle, in its center a white star and inside the star the silhouette of a dove, a symbol of peace. 

The origins of the image of the Virgin of Peace probably dates back to the 7th century, associated with Saint Ildefonsus of Toledo (606-667), an archbishop of Toledo, Spain, noted for his devotion to the Virgin Mary. Tradition relates that on a December night, Ildefonsus entered the Cathedral of Santa María de Toledo and witnessed a great illumination inside the temple, purporting to see the Virgin sitting in the archbishop's chair, which has been interpreted as divine approval of Ildefonsus' teachings.

The area of Trujillo where the monument is now erected was inhabited by an indigenous society known as Eskuke. It was the site of an indigenous uprising led by the Cacique Pitijoc, of the Cuicas ethnic group against the Spanish colonists. The indigenous people were defeated, and Trujillo was founded in 1557, with the belief of the Virgin of Peace introduced to replace the indigenous goddess Ikake.

The name of the monument, the place and the Virgin all refer to the legend of her appearance. On the hill called Peña de la Virgen, according to legend from the late 1550s, the image of the Virgin Mary appeared to several residents of the town of Carmona. With unique features and a youthful spirit, the young woman appeared walking in the afternoons to buy candles for her hearth, and it was in a grocery store where some men asked her why she was alone; she answered that she was "not alone, but with God, the sun and the stars", or "children, don't forget that I walk with God, my protector". As they followed her, the locals saw her hide behind a rock that began to spark, discovering that she was not a mortal young woman but that she was the Virgin Mary.

The construction of the monument began as an idea of First Lady of Venezuela Betty Urdaneta de Herrera Campins, who was from Trujillo, and the state governor Dora Maldonado de Falcón.

On 21 December 1983, during the bicentennial year of the birth of Simón Bolívar, the Monumento a la Virgin de la Paz was inaugurated, with the liturgical blessing of the newly ordained cardinal José Alí Lebrún Moratinos. The statue shows the Virgin Mary in a blue robe, and its construction had lasted 18 months, carried out by the sculptor Manuel de la Fuente and the engineer Rosendo Camargo, with support of Juan Francisco Hernández. The monument sits on a steel structure, which includes the skeleton of the hollow concrete sculpture. It has a weight of 1,200 tonnes spread over 46 meters high, of which 8 tonnes is the weight of the head alone. The cost of the monument was 9 million bolívares.

Despite the fact that Pope John Paul II never visited Trujillo, the dedication of the monument was attended by the Venezuelan ambassador to the Holy See, Luciano Noguera Mora, and was accompanied by a television message from the Pope that was broadcast to the Venezuelan Catholic community.

The monument fulfills the function of an extraordinary viewpoint: ascending inside the statue, using stairs that fill the entire interior of the statue, visitors can stop at each of the five viewpoints or lookouts: one for each cardinal direction, and a fifth from the statue's eyes.

First lookout: located at the level of the Virgin's knee, 18 meters from the base, which is accessed by a mechanical elevator. From this height you can see the city of Trujillo.

Second lookout: located in the left hand of the statue, 4 meters above the first lookout, you can see the city of Trujillo and its surroundings, including the Llanos de Monay, the Agua Viva reservoir, Betijoque, Motatán, and rural parts of Pampanito and Isnotú. It is accessible by wide steps.

Third lookout: located in the right hand of the statue, 26 meters up. The Teta de Niquitao can be seen from this height, which at 4,006 metres (13,143 ft) high is the highest point in the state of Trujillo.

Fourth lookout: located at the waist level of the statue, at 28 meters high, which can also be reached by elevator. From here, more distant sights can be seen, including La Ceiba, the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo, the ridges of the Sierra Nevada de Mérida, various plains and much of the land from Trujillo to the state of Lara.

Fifth lookout: located in the eyes of the Virgin, 44 meters high, this lookout the most extensive and impressive view. It is reached by more than 200 wide steps.

In addition to the viewpoints, the monument consists of a chapel and a bell tower, which rings out every half hour. The dome of the chapel is decorated with a stained glass window. In the center of this, a dove appears surrounded by luminous colors that allude to the spiritual splendor of the symbol

Lower down the mountain than the Peña de la Virgen, to one side of the monument, there is a group of publicly accessible caves collectively known as Cuevas de la Peña de la Virgen II (Caves of the Peña de la Virgen II). Local folklore says that the caves are interconnected and that the indigenous people of the past used them not only for their religious ceremonies but also to travel through the state. Other caves complexes nearby include the Cuevas de la Peña de la Virgen I, Cueva El Zamurito and Cueva El Ronco. The movements of the Andes over the centuries will have closed whatever connected passageways were supposedly present. The followers of the Virgin frequently visit these caves, often in religious processions, and give offerings and candles at the site.

Vessel (TKA), Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, Manhattan, New York City, USA

Vessel (TKA) is a structure and visitor attraction built as part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Built to plans by the British designer Thomas Heatherwick, the elaborate honeycomb-like structure rises 16 stories and consists of 154 flights of stairs, 2,500 steps, and 80 landings for visitors to climb. Vessel is the main feature of the 5-acre (2.0 ha) Hudson Yards Public Square. Funded by Hudson Yards developer Related Companies, its final cost is estimated at $200 million.

The concept of Vessel was unveiled to the public on September 14, 2016. Construction began in April 2017, with the pieces being manufactured in Italy and shipped to the United States. Vessel topped out in December 2017 with the installation of its highest piece, and it opened on March 15, 2019. In January 2021, following a series of suicides at the Vessel, it was indefinitely closed to the public.

The TKA abbreviation in the structure's name stands for "Temporarily Known As". Upon opening, Vessel received mixed reviews, with some critics praising its prominent placement within Hudson Yards, and others deriding the structure as extravagant. Vessel was also initially criticized for its restrictive copyright policy regarding photographs of the structure, as well as its lack of accessibility for disabled visitors, although both issues were subsequently addressed.

Vessel is a 16-story, 150-foot-tall (46 m) structure of connected staircases between the buildings of Hudson Yards, located in the 5-acre (2.0 ha) Hudson Yards Public Square. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick,Vessel has 154 flights, 2,500 steps, and 80 landings, with the total length of the stairs exceeding 1 mile (1.6 km). The copper-clad steps, arranged like a jungle gym and modeled after Indian stepwells, can hold 1,000 people at a time. The structure also has ramps and an elevator to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), though only three of Vessel's landings are ADA-accessible as of 2019.

Vessel is 50 feet (15 m) wide at its base, expanding to 150 feet (46 m) at the apex. Stephen Ross, the CEO of Hudson Yards' developer Related Companies, said that its unusual shape was intended to make the structure stand out like a "12-month Christmas tree." Heatherwick said that he intends visitors to climb and explore the structure as if it were a jungle gym. At the top of the structure, visitors can see the Hudson River.

Vessel was designed in concert with the Hudson Yards Public Square, designed by Thomas Woltz from Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. The attached 5-acre (2 ha) public square has 28,000 plants and 225 trees, located on the platform upon which Hudson Yards is built. The plaza's southern side includes a canopy of trees, while the southeast entrance also contains a fountain. A "'seasonally expressive' entry garden" stands outside the entrance to the New York City Subway's 34th Street–Hudson Yards station, across from Vessel. The plaza also connects to the High Line, an elevated promenade at its south end.

Although Vessel had originally been slated to cost $75 million, the projections were later revised to between $150 and $200 million. Heatherwick attributed the greatly increased price tag to the complexity of building the steel pieces. The pieces of Vessel were assembled in the comune of Monfalcone in Italy.Ships transported the sections of the sculpture to Hudson River docks.

"Vessel" was planned to be the structure's temporary name during construction, with a permanent name to be determined later. After Vessel opened, Hudson Yards asked the public to give it a formal name, creating a website devoted to that effect.

The concept of Vessel was unveiled to the public on September 14, 2016, in an event attended by hundreds of people including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.Hosted by Anderson Cooper, the event featured a performance from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater that evoked the interlocking design of Vessel's staircases.

In April 2017, the first major piece of the sculpture was installed at Hudson Yards. Construction started on April 18 with the installation of the first 10 pieces of the 75-piece structure. It was projected for completion in the spring of 2019, with the other 65 pieces arriving in five batches.The structure topped out in December 2017.In October 2018, it was announced that the opening of Vessel had been scheduled for March 15, 2019, and that tickets to enter the structure would become available in February. By January 2019, Hudson Yards officials were soliciting public suggestions for a rename of Vessel. Though the structure had no official name, the Hudson Yards website called it the "Hudson Yards Staircase". Vessel opened as scheduled on March 15, 2019.

The Rock Islands, Southern Lagoon of Palau, Between Koror and Peleliu, Koror State.

The Rock Islands of Palau, also called Chelbacheb, are a collection of several hundred small limestone or coral uprises in the Southern Lagoon of Palau between Koror and Peleliu, now an incorporated part of Koror State. There are between 250 and 300 islands in the group according to different sources, with an aggregate area of 42 square kilometres (16 sq mi) and a maximum height of 207 meters (679 ft). The islands were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012

The Rock Islands are sparsely populated and famous for their beaches, blue lagoons, and the peculiar umbrella-like shapes of many of the islands themselves. Many of the islands display a mushroom-like shape with a narrower base at the intertidal notch. The indentation comes from erosion and from the dense community of sponges, bivalves, chitons, snails, urchins, and others that graze mostly on algae.

Rock Islands Southern Lagoon covers includes 445 uninhabited limestone islands of volcanic origin. Many of them display unique mushroom-like shapes in turquoise lagoons surrounded by coral reefs. The aesthetic beauty of the site is heightened by a complex reef system featuring over 385 coral species and different types of habitat. They sustain a large diversity of plants, birds and marine life including dugong and at least thirteen shark species. The site harbours the highest concentration of marine lakes anywhere, isolated bodies of seawater separated from the ocean by land barriers. They are among the islands’ distinctive features and sustain high endemism of populations which continue to yield new species discoveries. The remains of stonework villages, as well as burial sites and rock art, bear testimony to the organization of small island communities over some three millennia. The abandonment of the villages in the 17th and 18th centuries illustrates the consequences of climate change, population growth and subsistence behaviour on a society living in a marginal marine environment.

A 4,912 ha site encompassing the Rock Islands has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports populations of most of Palau’s endemic birds, including Micronesian megapodes, Palau ground doves, Micronesian imperial pigeons, Palau fruit doves, swiftlets and kingfishers, Micronesian myzomelas, morningbirds, Palau fantails, flycatchers and bush warblers, giant, dusky and citrine white-eyes, and Micronesian starlings.

The islands and surrounding reefs include Palau's most popular tourist sites, such as the Blue Corner, Blue Holes, German Channel, Ngermeaus Island, and the famed Jellyfish Lake, one of many marine lakes in the Rock Islands that provides home and safety for several kinds of stingless jellyfish found only in Palau. It is the most popular diving destination in Palau, offering some of the most diverse dive sites on the planet, from wall diving and high current drift dives, to manta rays and sharkfeeds, to shallow lagoons, decorated caves, and overhangs. Tourist attractions also include Dolphin Bay, where a staff of veterinarians and trainers educate guests about dolphins.

The only inhabited place on the islands is called Dolphin  Bay (on Ngeruktabel, 5 km from Koror). It is the location of Palau's national aquatics park, and  hosts headquarters of Palau's Park rangers.

The marine site covers 100,200 ha and is characterized by coral reefs and a diversity of other marine habitats, as well as 445 coralline limestone islands uplifted due to volcanism and shaped over time by weather, wind and vegetation. This has created an extremely high habitat complexity, including the highest concentration of marine lakes in the world, which continue to yield new species discoveries. The terrestrial environment is lush and at the same time harsh, supporting numerous endemic and endangered species. Although presently uninhabited, the islands were once home to Palauan settlements, and Palauans continue to use the area and its resources for cultural and recreational purposes. This is regulated through a traditional governance system that remains an important part of national identity.

The islands contain a significant set of cultural remains relating to an occupation over some five thousand years that ended in abandonment. Archaeological remains and rock art sites are found in two island clusters - Ulong and Negmelis, and on three islands - Ngeruktabel, Ngeanges, and Chomedokl. Remains of former human occupation in caves, including rock art and burials, testifies to seasonal human occupation and use of the marine ecosystem, dating back to 3,100 BP and extending over some 2,500 years.

Permanent stone villages on a few islands, some dating back to between 950 and 500 BP, were occupied for several centuries before being abandoned in the 17th-18th centuries, when the population moved to larger islands. The villages include the remains of defensive walls, terraces and house platforms. The settlements reflect distinctive responses to their local environment and their abandonment demonstrates the consequences of population growth and climate change impacting on subsistence in a marginal environment.

The descendants of the people who moved from the Rock Islands to the main islands of Palau identify with their ancestral islands through oral traditions that record in legends, myths, dances, and proverbs, and traditional place names the land- and seascape of their former homes.