Dr. Chips has sent his old friend the Phytophactor a couple of pictures of a plant he found growing on Denali, you know that biggish mountain in Alaska. However, other than thinking the flower looks a bit like a Calceolaria, which would be a long ways from its home in the Andes, that pinnate leaf just doesn't look right for that genus. So give me a hand. What is this thing?
It has been far too long since we had a botanical identification quiz, although having a couple of sharpies among your readers has greatly cut down on the number of guesses on previous quizes, which have averaged about 1! The solution to the problem is obvious; make the quiz a lot harder, and here is an admission, the Phactor got this one wrong in response to a student query during a field trip to a botanical garden, but my students were impressed anyways. Explanation will follow later. This quiz features the most ornamental and striking feature of this plant, the exfoliating bark, and we'll see how you do.
isn't right especially since she "appreciates my sense of humor". Many people, including Mrs. Phactor, think this sort of encouragement is unwise. Nonsense! 
their identity proved correct. Cindy said her plant seemed to grow wild 
around San Francisco, but it has escaped from cultivation and has weedy proclivities (in fact it's a pest down under). It is a long way from home in the Madeira Islands. My plant was being cultivated at the Kew Gardens. Both can grow to 2 meters tall.
than usual, this rather healthy specimen of a vine caught my attention, adorned as it was in fruit. So before it pulls down this utility pole, can anyone identify this utilitarian plant? 
