The Universe in a flower

Blue_Morning_Glory - Click on Image to Enlarge
Image Credit copyright @ Xfg21042007/C5050Z


Like the Morning Glory in the picture, it is said the Universe started in an instant from a single node. In Time, Space (space-time) grew and unfolded outward like the funnel shape of the petals to arrive at where we are today. Sitting comfortably close to the fully open outer rim of the flower or Universe.

The light from the centre in the flower is pure white, the purples and blues are those wavelengths which are reflected, all other photons wavelengths and colours are trapped by the flower and held.

If we look at the body of the flower we could say the petals are like the sea of gravity or Space on which matter surfs and conglomerates into galaxies, and like droplets of rain water resting on the flower, which form into multiple shape and size bubbles, and by surface tension are bound.

As we reach the outer rim of the flower or Universe we are told, there, is to be found a cosmic event horizon or periphery. This of course we assume or perceive to be the boundary of the observable universe as it has come to be known.

While I was observing the flower, I couldn't fail to notice
the ant (and the bee) walking along the flower, walk right over the edge to the other side of the flower's boundary or periphery.

For you see, every flower, funnel shaped conical or pyramidal has a membrane or wall, which means it has an inner and outer wall. But of course to us sitting on one of these droplets in the inner wall of the flower Universe, the outside wall is hidden and as you can see, we cannot see beyong the periphery.

Fortunately for us all, the universe lasts a lot longer than the Morning Glory, which in all its majesty is here only for a day and its beauty gone in less than an hour shortly after the last sunray.

The flower typically lasts for a single morning and dies in the afternoon. New flowers bloom each day. The flowers usually start to fade a couple of hours before the petals start showing visible curling. They prefer full sun throughout the day.

[+/-] Click here to expand

Morning glory is a common name for over a thousand species of flowering plants in the family the Convolvulaceae, belonging to the following genera:
Calystegia
Convolvulus
Ipomoea
Merremia
Rivea
As the name implies, morning glory flowers, which are funnel-shaped, open at morning time, allowing them to be pollinated by hummingbirds, butterflies, bees and other daytime insects and birds, as well as Hawkmoth at dusk for longer blooming variants. The flower typically lasts for a single morning and dies in the afternoon. New flowers bloom each day. The flowers usually start to fade a couple of hours before the petals start showing visible curling. They prefer full sun throughout the day, and mesic soils. In cultivation, most are treated as perennial plants in tropical areas, and as annual plants in colder climates, but some species tolerate winter cold.

Morning glory is also called asagao (in Japanese, a compound of 朝 asa "morning" and 顔 kao "face"). A rare brownish-coloured variant known as Danjuro is very popular. It was first known in China for its medicinal uses, due to the laxative properties of its seeds. It was introduced to the Japanese in the 9th century, and they were first to cultivate it as an ornament. During the Edo Period, it became a very popular ornamental flower. Aztec priests in Mexico were also known to use the plant's hallucinogenic properties to commune with their gods (see Rivea corymbosa).

Ancient Mesoamerican civilizations used the morning glory species Ipomoea alba to convert the latex from the Castilla elastica tree and also the guayule plant to produce bouncing rubber balls. The sulfur in the morning glory's juice served to vulcanize the rubber, a process pre-dating Charles Goodyear's discovery by at least 3,000 years.

Because of their fast growth, twining habit, attractive flowers, and tolerance for poor, dry soils, some morning glories are excellent vines for creating summer shade on building walls when trellised, thus keeping the building cooler and reducing air conditioning costs.

In some places such as Australian bushland morning glories develop thick roots and tend to grow in dense thickets. They can quickly spread by way of long creeping stems. By crowding out, blanketing and smothering other plants, morning glory has turned into a serious invasive weed problem.

Ipomoea aquatica, known as water spinach, water morning-glory, water convolvulus or swamp cabbage, is popularly used as a green vegetable especially in East and Southeast Asian cuisines.

The seeds of many species of morning glory contain d-lysergic acid amide, ergoline alkaloids better known as LSA. Seeds of I. tricolor and I. corymbosa (syn. R. corymbosa) are used as hallucinogens. They are about 5% to 10% as potent as LSD. Users also report the overall experience and some of the effects to be rather similar to those of LSD. However, caution must be taken as some commercial seed producers protect their seeds with a chemical that may cause vomiting, nausea and abdominal pain if the seeds are eaten.

So enjoy Today and Every Day!
Here's wishing you All a fine Earth Day this Sun day.
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