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A contaminate bacteria on a fungal agar dish had a bright yellow color, so I sequenced the 16s gene to identify it.

16s sequence: CATGCaAGTCGAACGATGCTTTCGGGCATAGTGGCGCACGGGTGCGTAACGCGTGGGAATCTGCCCTTGGGTCTGGGATAACAGTTGGAAACGACTGCTAATACCGGATGATATCGCGAGATCAAAGATTTATCGCCCGAGGATGAGCCCGCGTCAGATTAGCTAGTTGGTGGGGTAAAGGCCTACCAAGGCGACGATCTGTAGCTGGTCTGAGAGGATGATCAGCCACACTGGGACTGAGACACGGCCCAGACTCCTACGGGAGGCAGCAGTGGGGAATATTGGACAATGGGCGCAAGCCTGATCCAGCAATGCCGCGTGAGTGATGAAGGCCTTAGGGTTGTAAAGCTCTTTTACCCGGGATGATAATGACAGTACCGGGAGAATAAGCCCCGGCTAACTCCGTGCCAGCAGCCGCGGTAATACGGAGGGGGCTAGCGTTGTTCGGAATTACTGGGCGTAAAGCGCACGTAGGCGGCTTTGTAAGTCAGGGGTGAAAGCCTGGAGCTCAACTCCAGAACTGCCTTTGAGACTGCATCGCTTGAATCCGGGAGAGGTAAGTGGAATTCCGAGTGTAGAGGTGAAATTCGTAGATATTCGGAAGAACACCAGTGGCGAAGGCGGCTTACTGGACCGGGATTGACGCTGAGGTGCGAAAGCGTGGGGAGCAAACAGGATTAGATACCCTGGTAGTCCACGCCGTAAACGATGATAACTAGCTGTCCGGGGACCTGGTCTTTGGGTGGCGCAGCTAACGCATTAAGTTATCCGCCTGGGGAGTACGGCCGCAAGGTTAAAACTCAAAGGAATTGACGGGGGCCTGCACAAGCGGTGGAGCATGTGGTTTAATTCGAAGCAACGCGCAGAACCTTACCAGCGTTTGACATGTCCGGACGATTCCCAGAGATGGGTCTCTTCCCTTCGGGGACTGGAACACAGGTGCTGCATGGCTGTCGTCAGCTCGTGTCGTGAGATGTTGGGTTAAGTCCCGCAACGAGCGCAACCCTCGCCTTTAgTTACCATCATTTAgttgGGtACTCTAAAggAACCGCcGgTGAtAagCC

Raríssima e pouco conhecida, essa planta parasita fungos micorrízicos. São conhecidos apenas dois indivíduos que estão depositados em uma coleção cientifica do Rio. Essa é a primeira foto na natureza dessa espécie.

Plants do make noises too. Perhaps not the proverbial growth of grass, but exploding seed capsules are part of the soundscape in the Santa Monica Mountains this time of the year. I noticed it first when I tried to locate a Wing-tapping Cicada and realized that the Vetches fooled me, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/48232169.

Bigpod Ceanothus trees are even noisier than Vetches because they carry many more fruits per cubic meter. If you wait and listen close to one, you’ll be bombarded with seeds from the exploding, ripe fruits.

Wikipedia notes about the fruit of these trees: “The inside of the capsule is divided into 3 valves, each valve holding a seed. The capsule dehisces neatly in three at the central band to release the seeds.” And, “Dehiscence is the splitting, at maturity, along a built-in line of weakness in a plant structure in order to release its contents, and is common among fruits, anthers and sporangia. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part. Structures that open in this way are said to be dehiscent. Structures that do not open in this way are called indehiscent, and rely on other mechanisms such as decay or predation to release the contents.”

Dehiscence doesn’t mean there’s necessarily a hiss. In this case it’s a sharp ticking sound. In the background of the recording are a Common Raven and a Northern Mockingbird.

To celebrate the quieter times, I petitioned @finatic, the creator of https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/audio-observations-from-around-the-world, to include maybe a few plants in his project that is animalia only.