Skin rash, self-induced. I'm OK. - a photo on Flickriver

            We botanists are a hardy, self-sacrificing lot. Our goal is to bring botanical enlightenment to the world, in whatever way(s) we can. Of course, one really good way to do this is by studying plant taxonomy. (After all, you can't know anything about plants until you can attach names to them.) So, as a plant taxonomist, I am fully signed-on to the importance of herbaria in research. The process of preparing good quality specimens for herbarium collections is not an easy one: for one thing, it involves being able to make accurate observations on the plants being studied in the field, and during the process of turning them into useful specimens. After they are pressed and dried, obviously, you've lost the opportunity to observe them in a living state.
      So today, I was doing some field work in lower Lexington County, South Carolina, a place with a variety of habitats, including high-quality sandhills. One of the plants we encountered was a species of a local stinging "nettle", the genus is Tragia. The species is Tragia urens (of course the epithet means "burning"). Now, depending upon the population of this species, the plants may or may not be particularly virulent in the stinging department. And he only way you can tell --or make such an observation-- is by applying the foliage to your skin. (Or someone else's if they agree to this!) In this case, there was no effect at all. For about 20 seconds. Then the rash came up, and it did indeed burn.
      Being a self-sacrifical botanist, of course, I just ignored the searing pain. It's all for science. A sort of noblesse-oblige kind of thing, eh?
   

Taken on: May 7, 2009

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Sets appears in: • South Carolina, RAW

Groups appears in: • DANGER! • Flickritis: over 87,000 waiting for a vaccine. more » • Science Nerd Depot • Page of Pain • Six Word Story • The World Through My Eyes ... • No Wankers • bad news • Botanical Morphology and Anatomy • the REAL South Carolina « less

Camera: NIKON COOLPIX P4, f/3.4, 1/4 sec, 7.5mm, ISO 50 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	NIKON COOLPIX P4
Aperture:	f/3.4
Exposure Time:	0.25 sec (1/4)
Focal Length:	7.5mm
ISO:	50
Exposure Bias:	-0.3 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 Windows
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