Vibrant gerbera daisy_January 2016

      Yesterday a beautiful red-colored gerbera in a pot moved into my room ;) The Gerbera belongs to the Asteraceae family and is also called African Daisy. The Gerbera is native to Africa, South America and Asia. The Gerbera is a common cut flower and decorative garden plant. 

      In the picture below you can see that gerbera has few rings of stamens and stigmas. The stamens represent male reproductive part of a flower and produce pollen, whereas the stigmas are female reproductive parts of flowers.  While looking at the photo I was wondering why the pollen is yellow (in contrast to the white stigmas)??? The answer is easy – yellow color of the pollen comes from the flavonoids. Flavonoids are plant chemicals that are present not only in flowers, but also in fruits and leaves e.g. autumn leaves. Since flavonoids have antioxidant effects, probably they protect gerbera´s gametes against mutagenic effects of the ultraviolet radiation that is emitted by the sun.

The stamens (yellow) and the stigmas (white) of a gerbera.

Gerbera daisy in a pot.

Winter_part 2, Munich, Germany, January 2016

Winter, Munich, Germany, January 2016

Finally winter has come to Munich! When I woke up in the morning it was already white. I decided to go for a walk. Let´s have a look what I found! ;)

Water Drops & Reflections on Water_Munich, Germany, January 2016

Water is necessary for all living organisms. Where there is water, there is also life, and that is why NASA´s motto in the search for life on other planets is ´´follow the water´´ ;) Water is the most basic component of the organisms. Human body contains about 60-70% water (newborn babies ~78%, adults ~60%). The most watery organs in our body are lungs that contain ~83% of water, while bones contain only ~31% of water. Without food we can survive ~ 3 weeks, but without water only a week.