the tortoise and the corm

Today I learned that some people take desert tortoises home with them and that it's illegal to do so, but oh, isn't he cute, looking over his shoulder at us??


We walked off the trail around him so as not to freak him out and got the front end:


Ok, so 'cute' wasn't my first thought this morning when we found this beastie striding up the trail. Because of that article, my first thought was more along the lines of how many years he'd been walking that particular piece of trail. And I have no idea if he was a he or a she. I don't tend to go around picking up the wildlife just to check my pronouns.

I also learned that:

1. There is such a thing as a corm.
2. Corms aren't bulbs. They're planty underground storage containers made of stem. (Just repeat that to the next botanist you meet. Also, 'bipalmate.')
3. "Corms can form many small cormlets called cormels."

This isn't a corm, but it has purty flowers.