Today's Ramble was led by Linda Chafin.
All the photographs of today’s ramble, except where
otherwise credited, were taken by Ted LaMontagne; they can be seen on the SBG
Nature Rambling Facebook album.
Today's post was written by Linda Chafin.
25 Ramblers met today.
Today's reading:
Bob Ambrose recited a poem, In Perpetual Spring, by Amy Gerstler.
Announcements: The starting time for our Nature Rambles will change to 9:00 AM, beginning on June 7, 2018. This will remain our start time for the foreseeable future.
Show-and-Tell
started with Dale passing around the twigs of two oaks:
Scarlet Oak, with
second-year acorns continuing to develop on last year’s growth; 2018 acorns on new twig growth will be ripe in the fall of 2019; and,
White Oak, with
its acorns developing only on this year’s twigs and ripening this fall.
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| Scarlet Oak acorns on last year's new growth |
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| White Oak acorns beginning development on this year's new growth |
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| Southern Magnolia flower (missing 1 "petal") |
Linda passed around a Southern Magnolia flower, with its
heavy white petals and rich lemony fragrance. Magnolia Family flowers have been
found in the fossil record from 95 million years ago–before bees evolved. It’s
thought that the flowers co-evolved with beetles. Magnolia flowers have several
traits considered to be “primitive” or ancestral to the whole taxonomic division
of flowering plants. These include: beetle pollinators, a lack of difference
between sepals and petals, presence of both female and male reproductive
structures that are spirally arranged, and radial symmetry. So, Southern
Magnolias are not just representatives of the Old South, but of old everywhere.
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| Empty Polyphemus Moth cocoon |
Richard brought an empty cocoon of one of the large Silk
Moths. The most likely candidates are the Luna Moth or the Polyphemus Moth.
Because the cocoon was firmly attached to its twig it is most likely of the
latter species. (The Luna moth wraps its cocoon inside a leaf of the host plant,
unattached to the twigs. In the fall the leaves drop and the Luna cocoon winds
up in the leaf litter.)
Some ramblers were perplexed about the name, Polyphemus.
It’s an allusion to the name of the giant that attacked Odysseus’ men on the
island of the Cyclops. Look at this picture of a Polyphemus Moth and see if you can guess why the name was appropriate:
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| Polyphemus MothBy [User:Kadoka1]Template:Stephen Lody Photography [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons |
Today's route:
Today’s ramble started at the aquatic plant fountain on the Visitor Center
front plaza, then proceeded into the International Garden, through the
Threatened and Endangered Species Garden, over the Pawpaw Bridge into the Heritage
Garden, and thence to the air-conditioned splendor of the Visitor Center.
The aquatic garden
is really coming into its own now, with White Water-lilies (Nymphaea odorata) in full bloom and the
Mississippi Mud Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica kohni) sunning itself on
the mossy rim of one of plant displays.
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| Spider Lily |
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| Oakleaf Hydrangea |
On our way to the International Garden, we stopped to
admire a showy cultivar of Oakleaf Hydrangea. Many cultivated species of Hydrangea have large or colorful sterile
flowers that visually attract pollinators. However, sterile flowers have
neither nectar or pollen to reward insect visitors, nor do they have stamens or
pistils to give or receive pollen. These hydrangeas, with their large blue or
pink “pom-pom” or “mophead” flower heads, are “food deserts” for insects.
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| Fertile Oakleaf Hydrangea flowers below the showy, sterile flowers |
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| Stokes' Aster |
This unusual member of the Aster Family is Stokes’ Aster,
native to wet pine flatwoods and savannas (and roadside ditches through these
habitats) in the Coastal Plain from North Carolina west to Louisiana. Fairly
common in most of those states, it is known from only a dozen sites in Georgia,
and is tracked by Georgia DNR as a Special Concern species. It is widely
cultivated and available in the horticultural trade under several cultivar
names, such as 'Blue Danube' and ‘Rosea,’ a pink-flowered version.
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| Bottlebrush Buckeye Inflorescence with numerous flower buds |
Bottlebrush Buckeye is just coming into bud on the long
spikes that will mature in a few weeks to two-foot-high, erect “bottle brushes”
of white, fragrant flowers. This shrub is native to Alabama, southwest Georgia,
and the Fall Line of South Carolina but flourishes here in the Piedmont. It is
rare throughout its range. For a buckeye, it is a late bloomer, sometimes
flowering as late as July. Stay tuned for more photos and info as the flowers
develop.
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| Indian Pink |
One of our most spectacular native wildflowers, Indian
Pink (Spigela marilandica) ought to
be named Firecracker Plant, in my humble opinion, but that name is already
dedicated to several other plants, so I won’t confuse things further by
insisting on a new name. Both the leaves and the roots of Indian Pink are loaded
with alkaloids and calcium oxalate crystals, making them unpalatable, even
toxic, to animals. Officially included in the United States Pharmacopeia, its
roots were used medicinally to expel tape worms and round worms, but there were
enough scary side-effects, that that use has fallen out favor in the U.S.
During the ramble, I stated that the plants contain strychnine (they are in the
so-called Strychnine Family, Loganiaceae) but Dale discovered that the toxic
compound is actually a different alkaloid named spigeline, which will also make
you very sick. Those gorgeous red flowers are pollinated by – surprise! – ruby-throated
hummingbirds. The Georgia Native Plant Society has good cultivation info at
this website: https://gnps.org/plants/indian-pink-spigelia-marilandica/
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| Blue Wild Indigo seed capsules |
Blue Wild Indigo (Baptisia
australis) is the only Baptisia
in Georgia to have blue flowers; others have white, cream-colored, or yellow
flowers. This plant flowered about a month ago and has since set a nice crop of
its inflated legume fruits.
As with all Wild Indigos, the seeds inside will harden
and turn dark as they mature on the inner wall of the pod; the pod itself will
dry and turn black or brown by late summer. At that point, the seeds can be
shaken easily inside the pod, earning these plants the nickname of “rattle
pod.”
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| Blue Wild Indigo split open to show developing seeds |
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| Monarch butterfly nectaring on Verbena sp. |
We were treated to the sight of two Monarch butterflies
nectaring on colorful Verbena flowers (Verbena
sp.) in the Medicinal Herb garden. They may also be laying eggs on nearby
milkweed plants (Asclepias spp.). The
offspring of these particular Monarchs may continue to fly northward or they
may continue to reside in the southeast. Most of what is known of Monarch
migration is based on northern and midwestern butterflies. Some southeastern
Monarchs appear to be non-migratory and others are thought to possibly migrate
to southeastern coastal areas or peninsular Florida.
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| Bumblebee visiting flowers of Indian Hemp (Common Dogbane) in the Medicinal Herb garden |
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| Rough Daisy Fleabane was tucked under the Tall Pawpaw trees. |
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| Daddy long legs |
Immature Daddy long legs are starting to be seen in the garden. Daddy long legs are a type of Arachnid, the group of arthropods that includes spiders and scorpions. The formal name for their group is the Order Opiliones; informally they are better known as Harvestmen (in England) or Daddy long legs (in the US). They are quite harmless and, no matter what the internet says, they are not venomous -- they don't even have venom glands.
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| Lauren Muller in mosquito-proof fashions |
On our way back to the Visitor Center, we ran into Lauren
Muller, recently graduated with her Master’s degree in Conservation Horticulture
under the direction of the Garden’s Director of Research and Conservation, Jim
Affolter. Last time the ramblers saw Lauren, she was deep into her study of
milkweeds and her work with the Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plants. Lauren
just started a wonderful job as Invasive Plant Management Coordinator for the
NE Georgia Invasive Plant Cooperative. She was at the Garden today, scoping out
Japanese Stilt-grass infestations for future work days – and she came well
prepared for the current onslaught of mosquitoes at the Garden. We are lucky to
have Lauren working on behalf of native plant communities in Clarke County and
beyond!
SUMMARY OF OBSERVED SPECIES
Common Name
|
Scientific Name
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Scarlet Oak
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Quercus coccinea
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White Oak
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Quercus alba
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Southern Magnolia
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Magnolia
grandiflora
|
Polyphemus Moth
|
Antheraea
polyphemus
|
White Water-lily
|
Nymphaea odorata
|
Mississippi
Map Turtle
|
Graptemys pseudogeographica kohni
|
Daddy long legs
|
Arachnida: Order Opiliones
|
Spider-lily
|
Hymenocallis
sp.
|
Oakleaf Hydrangea
|
Hydrangea
quercifolia
|
Stokes’ Aster
|
Stokesia laevis
|
Bottlebrush Buckeye
|
Aesculus
parviflora
|
Indian Pink
|
Spigelia
marilandica
|
Blue Wild Indigo
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Baptisia
australis
|
Monarch
|
Danaus plexippus
|
Verbena
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Verbena sp.
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Milkweed
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Asclepias
spp.
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Bumblebee
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Bombus sp.
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Indian Hemp/
|
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Common Dogbane
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Apocynum
cannabinum
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Tall Pawpaw
|
Asimina triloba
|
Rough Daisy Fleabane
|
Erigeron
strigosus
|
