Denmark’s otherworldly circular ‘Garden City’

In the outskirts of Copenhagen lies a curious and idiosyncratic sight; Brøndby Haveby, a collection of houses nestled inside a grid of perfectly circular greenery. This Garden City was built in 1964 when the municipality of Brøndby signed off on the creation of the getaways. According to Henry, the design is based on the layout of typical Scandinavian villages that date back to the 10th century. Landscape architect Erik Mygind came up with the circular design as a way to promote a sense of community.

Tiny red cage is not man-made

This tiny red cage is actually Clathrus ruber — a species of fungus in the family Phallaceae and the type species of the genus Clathrus. It is commonly known as the latticed stinkhorn, the basket stinkhorn, or the red cage, alluding to the striking fruit bodies that are shaped somewhat like a round or oval hollow sphere with interlaced or latticed branches. The fungus is saprobic, feeding off decaying woody plant material, and is often found alone or in groups in leaf litter on garden soil, grassy places, or on woodchip garden mulches.

Japanese breed of chicken with exceptionally long tail

The Onagadori is a historic Japanese breed of chicken characterised by an exceptionally long tail. It has been designated as a Special National Natural Treasure of Japan (Tsudzuki, 2003). Males of the Onagadori show no moulting in some tail feathers and saddle hackles throughout their lives. In an exceptional case, tail feathers reach 10m long. Today, the Onagadori is mainly reared in Nankoku City, Kochi Prefecture, Japan. It has three plumage colour varieties: black-breasted white, black-breasted red, and white. This breed is thought to have been created during the Edo Era of Japan. At present, about 200 adult birds are reared by several private breeders in Nankoku city.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 27th, 2024