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By D. Bruce Means

Ice Flowers
©2000 Bruce Means

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Around the World 2001 • Ice Flowers
Ice Flowers

On a cold day before sunup in late December 1976, Bruce Means discovered some fantastic ice formations growing out of the dead stems of White Crownbeard, a dogfennel-like perennial plant. No doubt hundreds of other people have seen these beautiful works of winter ice art, but Means seems to be the first scientist to realize how special these ice formations are. He is studying how they form, on which plants they occur worldwide, and whether there is any possible adaptive significance for what he has coined as "ice flowers." Bruce invites you to e-mail him if you have seen these wonderful freezlings. Bruce is especially keen to find out if anything similar occurs in Europe or Asia. If you want to know more about ice flowers, check out his popular publications about them:

Means, D. Bruce. 1985. Ice Flowers: Discovery. Bitter Sweet South 1(2):7-10.
Means, D. Bruce. 1985. Nature blooms in winter. Bitter Sweet South 1(3):12-14.
Means, D. Bruce. 2004. Nature's hidden works of art. Tallahassee Magazine 26(1):81-85.
Means, D. Bruce. 2004. Blossoms of ice. Natural History Magazine 113(1):36-37.
Means, D. Bruce. 2004. What is it? Geographica Section, National Geographic Mag., November.
Means, D. Bruce. 2005. Ice Flowers-A Cool Discovery. American Gardener. Jan-Feb issue. In press.

Photo Home • Stock Collection • Florida Photos • Rattlesnake Photos • Australia Photos
Around the World 2001 • Ice Flowers

Contact Bruce Means at:
D. Bruce Means PhD.
1313 Milton St.
Tallahassee, FL 32303
E-mail: means@bio.fsu.edu
phone: 850-681-6208
FAX: 850-681-6123