Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens - Jacksonville, Florida
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The garden sections of the zoo are interwoven with the animal exhibits and the pathways between them.

There are many species of bamboo growing in the Asian section of the zoo.
[A paved walkway leads to an arch. On one side of the path are bamboo shoots upwards of 20 feet tall. There is also lower-level vegetation along the path before the bamboo.]

Water lily
[Looking down on an open bloom which has pink-tipped white petals. There are long yellow stamen in the center of the bloom which is on a stalk sticking out of the water.]

Water lilies in a different pond in the Asian section
[There are three blooms in the image. One is blooming at the water's surface with its stem completely under water. A second bloom is fully closed with no color visible. The third bloom is on a tall stalk and is partially open in a vee shape. The blooms are pinkish purple and reflected in the water. There are a few circular lily pads flat on the water.]

The center of the American lotus flower, which holds the seeds, is a very interesting structure (looks like a shower head).
[Four long flower stems lead two a closed bloom, a partially-open white-petaled flower, and two structures which resemble upturned shower heads (lot of small holes in a cone-shaped structure). There are also very large leaves near the water.]

Nymphaea capensis is a type of water lily.
[This flower seeming to float on the water has more than 20 light purple petals which each end in a point. In the center of the flower is a section of thin strands which open from the center and extend back to the petals. The strands which have yet to open form a ball in the center. These strands are bright yellow on the inside and the light purple and yellow on the outside. ]

Victoria amazonica is Giant Water Lily. The pads, which are connected by stems under the water, can grow to several feet in diameter. The white flowers of these plants are also very large. (The bud on the right has yet to open.)
[Two images are  spliced together. The image on the left is a wide view of the pond with two plants extending pads and lily blooms across the water. There are tall bamboo plants on the land at the edge of the pond. The lily pads are one to two feet in diameter and have their outer edges cupped upward around the entire pad. Each plant has approximately six pads and two to three blooms which have yet to open. The image on the right is a closeup of a bud which has barely started to open. The outer color (the underside of the petals) are red-brown and the inner color is white. The green base of the bloom and the stem to it both have many hairs sticking out of them and would probably be scratchy to human skin.]

These small green "seeds" are duckweed and cover stagnant waters in Florida. They can be used as food for some of the critters in the zoo. They have no roots or stems, so a good rain will disperse them. (I do not know the name of the plants sticking out from the water.)
[Except for a few plants which look like litte umbrellas above the green, the water is completely covered by small green seeds. They float on the water and look like a green carpet.]

Pagoda flower
[The flowering portion of this plant is shaped like a cone. At different levels of the cone are a multitude of small pink-red flowers. The large leaves of the plant are below the cone.]

Colorful January bloom
[The thin tubular orange blooms of this plant are slowly unfolding from the center stalk. The top of the stalk is still tightly packed, but the lower blooms are either out to the side or downward. All leaves are below this stalk portion of the plant.]

An interesting bloom
[The top of this plant is a group of flowers with long yellow petals. Each bloom has orange tipped stamen which are significantly longer than the petals, so they stick from the bloom.]

Passion flower
[This bloom seems to be an inside out flower. It has purple petals which extend downward around the stem. Radiating from the top center are a multitude of thin squiggly purple strings. At the top center is what appears to be several large multi-lobed stamen which are light green, yellow, and pink.]

A type of wild sunflower
[A close top-down view of the bloom. It has 14 yellow petals with no space between the petals. The center has a lot of dark stubby stamen.]

I don't yet have the name for this, but I thought the yellow in the center was interesting.
[A close top-down view of the bloom with leaves and a bud with all the petals gone in the background. It has 13 thin yellow petals which do not overlap at all. The center is a ball of brown stamen. Within the brown are eight yellow spots which each appear to be a teeny-tiny flower.]

Bird of paradise
[The main part of this flower bends at a 90 degree angle from the stem to the left. This part is green with a pinkish upper edging. From that section extend upward three long oblong yellow-orange petals, an orange petal, a blue petal and two petals with both yellow and blue.]

Three clerodendrum plants showing the phases of blooming.
[Three photos stacked in a column. The top image shows the closed buds at the top of the plant. The flowering portion is a clump of upwards of 50 flowers in a half-globe shape. The closed buds are a purple-pink ball on an purple-pink stem. The middle image has five flowers fully opened. The bottom image shows nearly the entire clump fully blooming. Each flower has five thin petals with long stamen protruding from the centers.]

At the base of all those spikes is a growing berry.
[There are two pink-red berries behind some leaves. Out in the open is what appears to be a spiky flower with very long spikes in a globular shape. The spikes are light red while the center base is a very dark red.]

Rose
[A pink bloom of the non-traditional cup-style roses. There are green leaves and the red leaves of new growth nearby.]

Plumeria
[Five blooming flowers come out of waxy green leaves. Each flower has five petals which are mostly white with slightly yellow centers. There are also some pink streaks on one petal of each flower. Within the bunch are also at least a half-dozen blooms which are still pink stems which are fully closed.]

A unique colorful bloom
[The stems for the bloom on this plant hang downward. The bloom itself coming from the end of the stem is an elongated bulb that curves and opens into a saucer shape. The outside of the bloom is white and the inner portion is purple and white in a crackled pattern.]

This appears to be several types of cacti.
[Flowing from a blue square pot are several different types of cactuses. The main plant in the pot appears to be growing upward with large green leaves coming from the center of the plant. A second type of cactus appears to be vine-like and flows over the side of the pot and down to the ground. It seems to have grey flower-like buds. There are also some long thin

Continue to butterflies and other insects. (page 13 of 13)

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