dysdelic garden

Order #64

April 21, 2025

What's special about the number 64? Probably nothing much, although... it is a square number. As such, we may find it in squarey places, such as, a chessboard. Indeed, there are 8x8=64 individual mini-squares on the whole square chessboard.

Many people associate being good at chess with high intelligence. There is a lot of freedom in chess and so complex decision trees have to be considered before making moves. The founder of information theory, Claude Shannon, had once considered the number of possible chess games. Shannon estimated that there are, known as the Shannon number, 10^120 (ref?) possible chess games. Compare estimates with the number of possible checkers games, 10^60 (ref?). Both staggeringly enourmous.

Clearly chess is complex, with each piece playing out its own role in sometimes unforeseen ways. It's no wonder that people analogize their own lives and decisions as being like chess.

Now chess involves 32 difference pieces, and each piece belongs to 6 different categories (bishop, knight, king, queen, rook, pawn). The game of life on the other hand, at least here on earth, has many more pieces. There are estimated to be 10^16 (ref?) individual organisms on our planet. Of course taxonomists have noticed overlap between organisms and groups of organisms and classified every living thing into heirarchies in the form of species->genus->family->order->class->phylum->kingdom.

Most of the organisms I'm personally interested in are the angiosperms, or flowering plants. There are estimated to be 300,000 angiosperm species, 13,500 genera, 416 families, and 64 orders. Ah 64 angiosperm orders, feels like we're back to square one. We can try to tame the complexity of angiosperm species with this convenient number of 64.

To better familiarize myself with the biodiversity available to us here on planet Earth, Koyo and I have decided to take on the sidequest of experiencing at least one species from each order! Thus I present to you, my angiosperm pokedex, including photo evidence of each encounter, below! As of May 21 2025, I have met 36 of the 64 orders, as summarized in the figure.

Acorales

Alismatales

Monstera deliciosa aka Swiss cheese plant
Zantedeschia aethiopica aka calla lily

Amborellales

Apiales

Fatsia japonica aka false castor oil plant
Hedera helix aka common ivy
Hymenosporum flavum aka Australian frangipani

Aquifoliales

Arecales

Arecaceae sp. aka palm tree

Asparagales

Agapanthus africanus aka African lily
Dietes grandiflora aka fairy iris
Dracaena draco aka dragon tree
Kniphofia uvaria aka torch lily

Asterales

Arctotis stoechadifolia aka african daisy
Baccharis pilularis aka coyote brush
Tagetes lemmonii aka Lemmon's marigold

Austrobaileyales

Illicium verum aka star anise

Berberidopsidales

Boraginales

Echium candicans aka pride of madeira

Brassicales

Rhamphospermum nigrum aka black mustard
Tropaeolum majus aka garden nasturtium

Bruniales

Buxales

Buxus microphylla aka Japanese box

Canellales

Caryophyllales

Armeria maritima aka thrift seapink
Carpobrotus edulis aka sea fig
Drosanthemum floribundum aka pale dewplant
Limonium perezii aka Perez's sea lavender
Mesembryanthemum tortuosum aka kanna
Soehrensia spachiana aka torch cactus

Celastrales

Maytenus boaria aka Maiten tree

Ceratophyllales

Chloranthales

Commelinales

Tradescantia zebrina aka inchplant

Cornales

Cornus sericea aka red osier dogwood

Crossosomatales

Cucurbitales

Dilleniales

Dioscoreales

Dipsacales

Scabiosa columbaria 'Butterfly Blue' aka dwarf pincushion flower
Valeriana rubra aka red valerian

Ericales

Arbutus sp. aka strawberry tree

Escalloniales

Escallonia rubra aka redclaws

Fabales

Acacia longifolia aka golden wattle
Bauhinia sp. aka orchid tree
Wisteria sp.

Fagales

Quercus lobata aka valley oak

Garryales

Gentianales

Psychotria viridis aka chacruna

Geraniales

Pelargonium sp. aka geranium

Gunnerales

Huerteales

Icacinales

Lamiales

Acanthus mollis aka bear's breeches
Amphilophium buccinatorium aka Mexican blood-trumpet
Buddleja davidii aka butterfly bush
Chionanthus retusus aka Chinese fringetree
Coleus neochilus aka lobster bush
Diplacus aurantiacus aka orange bush monkey-flower
Jasminum polyanthum aka pink jasmine
Lavandula dentata aka French lavender
Leonotis leonurus aka wild dagga
Phlomis fruticosa aka Jerusalem sage
Salvia apiana aka white sage
Salvia 'Bon Bon'
Salvia chiapensis aka Chiapas sage
Salvia clevelandii aka fragrant sage
Salvia divinorum aka diviner's sage
Salvia glutinosa
Salvia microphylla 'Hot Lips'
Salvia sclarea aka clary Sage
Salvia spathacea 'Avis Keedy' aka yellow hummingbird sage
Thunbergia gregorii aka orange clockvine

Laurales

Umbellularia californica aka California bay

Liliales

Alstroemeria sp. aka peruvian lily

Magnoliales

Magnolia grandiflora aka southern magnolia
Magnolia liliiflora aka lily magnolia

Malpighiales

Passiflora edulis aka passion flower
Ricinus communis aka castor oil plant

Malvales

Hibiscus arnottianus aka white rosemallow
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis aka Chinese hibiscus
Malva occidentalis aka coronado island tree mallow
Malva olbia aka garden tree mallow
Malva subovata aka tree mallow

Metteniusales

Myrtales

Eucalyptus globulus aka blue gum
Heimia salicifolia aka sinicuichi
Oenothera speciosa aka pink evening primrose

Nymphaeales

Oxalidales

Pandanales

Paracryphiales

Petrosaviales

Picramniales

Piperales

Anemopsis californica aka yerba mansa
Asarum caudatum aka wild ginger

Poales

Hordeum brachyantherum aka meadow barley

Proteales

Leucospermum cordifolium aka ornamental pincushion

Ranunculales

Berberis sp. aka barberry
Eschscholzia californica aka California poppy
Papaver somniferum aka opium poppy

Rosales

Eriobotrya japonica aka loquat
Prunus cerasifera aka cherry plum
Rhaphiolepis indica aka Indian hawthorn
Rosa sp. aka rose

Santalales

Phoradendron macrophyllum aka broadleaf mistletoe

Sapindales

Citrus sp.

Saxifragales

Aeonium arboreum aka tree aeonium

Solanales

Calystegia macrostegia aka coast morning glory
Datura stramonium
Datura wrightii
Ipomoea nil aka Japanese morning glory
Nicotiana glauca aka tree tobacco
Nicotiana sylvestris aka woodland tobacco
Nicotiana tabacum aka tobacco