Leader for today's Ramble: Linda
Link to Don's Facebook album for this Ramble.
Number of Ramblers today: 26
Today's emphasis: Looking for pollinators in the Flower Garden, via the American South, China and Asia, Native and Endangered Plants and Native American Southeastern Tribes sections and the Herb and Physic Garden. This was one last refresher on identifying basic types of pollinators in advance of the upcoming Great Georgia Pollinator Census, August 20-21, 2021.
Reading: Bob Ambrose treated us to a recitation of one of his poems: Jurassic Dreams and Katydids.
Show and Tell: Bob found a dead annual cicada on the walk down from the parking lot. Dale thinks it succumbed to a cicada fungus disease/infection. There are 17 species of annual cicadas in Georgia, though not all occur in the Athens area.
Link to Don's Facebook album for this Ramble.
Number of Ramblers today: 26
Today's emphasis: Looking for pollinators in the Flower Garden, via the American South, China and Asia, Native and Endangered Plants and Native American Southeastern Tribes sections and the Herb and Physic Garden. This was one last refresher on identifying basic types of pollinators in advance of the upcoming Great Georgia Pollinator Census, August 20-21, 2021.
Reading: Bob Ambrose treated us to a recitation of one of his poems: Jurassic Dreams and Katydids.
Show and Tell: Bob found a dead annual cicada on the walk down from the parking lot. Dale thinks it succumbed to a cicada fungus disease/infection. There are 17 species of annual cicadas in Georgia, though not all occur in the Athens area.
Announcements:
Emily reminded us that it is Dale's birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to him, much to his chagrin.
Emily reminded us that it is Dale's birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to him, much to his chagrin.
Today's Route: From the pergola (arbor) to the Flower Bridge and through the China and Asia Section, stopping at the Threatened and Endangered Plants bed, then through the Native American Southeastern Tribes Section, continuing on the shaded woodland trail from the Herb and Physic Garden down to the Flower Garden. We wandered the Flower Garden paths looking for pollinators before heading back to the Visitor Center.
LIST OF OBSERVATIONS:
Don spotted these lovely Fragile Dapperling mushrooms on his way to the arbor and said: "I would have to rate the common name for this one as one of my favorites among all living things."
American South Section:
LIST OF OBSERVATIONS:
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| Fragile Dapperling mushroom, cap fully expanded. |
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| Fragile Dapperling mushroom; cap starting to open.; |
Don spotted these lovely Fragile Dapperling mushrooms on his way to the arbor and said: "I would have to rate the common name for this one as one of my favorites among all living things."
American South Section:
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| Common Eastern Bumblebee on Downy Sweet Pepperbush |
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| Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Downy Sweet Pepperbush |
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| Red Bristle Fly on Downy Sweet Pepperbush |
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| Elephant's Foot |
Gary's mother, Minnie Crider, calls Elephant's Foot "Soldiers Plantain" because soldiers ate it for survival during the Civil War. This article reports that it also has anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2005290109600698
A Joro Spider orb and ancillary webs forming a three dimensional aerial structure. Several other Joro webs were seen in the same shrub. These smaller webs are occupied by smaller spiders, possibly immature males hoping they will get lucky when the larger female matures. The Joros are related to the Banana spiders found along the coast and into Florida.
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| Joro spider, enlarged view, not yet full adult size. |
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| Joro spider capture web. The sticky strands are in groups of four or five and separated from other similar strand groups by a slightly larger space. In addition, one of the outer sticky strands sometime joins a strand group next to it. You'll have to click on the photo to enlarge it enough to see this. |
A Joro Spider orb and ancillary webs forming a three dimensional aerial structure. Several other Joro webs were seen in the same shrub. These smaller webs are occupied by smaller spiders, possibly immature males hoping they will get lucky when the larger female matures. The Joros are related to the Banana spiders found along the coast and into Florida.
Joros were first noticed in Georgia only 8 years ago, Joro Spiders have spread far and wide and their numbers appear to be increasing rapidly; the impact on native spider populations is unknown. More information is here: https://news.uga.edu/joro-spiders-are-here-to-stay/
Turtleheads are in flower in the Bartram section of the International Garden. Both their common name and scientific name, Chelone, refer to the shape of the flower when viewed in profile. Chelone is the genus of sea turtles that includes Loggerhead, Kemp's Ridley, and others.
Creeping Cucumber or Melonette is a native member of the Cucumber Family. Its tiny yellow flowers produce inch-long melons that look like miniature watermelons.
Mulberry Weed is a rapidly spreading exotic first seen in the U.S. in Louisiana in the 1950s, now spread throughout the eastern U.S. and along the Pacific coast. It is one many nemeses of gardeners in our region.
White Surprise Lily, native to Japan, is in flower along the trail to the Threatened and Endangered Species Garden.
Threatened and Endangered Plant Bed
Oval-leaved Campion is thriving in the Threatened and Endangered garden. The flowers appear to have many, very narrow petals but in fact there are only five, each deeply dissected into eight fringe-like sections. Only 16 populations of this species are known in Georgia from 11 counties, including Clarke, where it grows near the Middle Oconee River.
Another member of the genus Silene is also in flower today, the scarlet-flowered Royal Catchfly. There are only 4 populations of this gorgeous prairie species in Georgia where it is at the edge of its range.
Native American Southeastern Tribes Section
Asiatic Dayflower was introduced from East Asia to the U.S. as a garden plant and has spread to disturbed (and some natural) areas throughout most of the country.
The "living roof" of the equipment shed is thriving in this wet summer.
Trail from the Herb and Physic Garden to the Flower Garden
Late-flowering Boneset or Thoroughwort, so named for its many medicinal uses in pioneer days, including treating broken bones.
Sweet Autumn Clematis, native to east Asia, is blooming as it continues to climb high into a tree along the edge of the trail spur below the Heritage Garden. Its leaflets have entire margins - maybe a little wavy but not at all toothed. That's the most reliable way to distinguish it from native Virgin's Bower (Clematis virginiana), another high-climbing vine with sweetly fragrant flowers. Virgin Bower's leaflets are sharply toothed. Both species' flowers lack petals; along with the fragrance, it is the showy white sepals that draw in pollinators, including bees, wasps, butterflies, and moths.
Green-eyed Susan/Cut-leaf Coneflower hosting a Double-banded Scoliid Wasp, Common European Greenbottle Fly, and an unidentified thread-waisted wasp.
Chamber Bitters is a low, sprawling, annual weed, native to tropical Southeast Asia and now spread globally in tropical and temperate climates. It forms tiny yellow flowers - on the underside of stems at the base of each leaf - that develop into small round fruits. Its closely spaced, alternate leaves resemble the compound leaves of Mimosa and earn it an alternative common name, Mimosa Weed. Another garden nemesis!
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| Turtlehead |
Turtleheads are in flower in the Bartram section of the International Garden. Both their common name and scientific name, Chelone, refer to the shape of the flower when viewed in profile. Chelone is the genus of sea turtles that includes Loggerhead, Kemp's Ridley, and others.
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| Creeping Cucumber Note the tiny flowers |
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| Fruit of Creeping Cucumber (photo credit: Bob Peterson, Creative Commons) |
Creeping Cucumber or Melonette is a native member of the Cucumber Family. Its tiny yellow flowers produce inch-long melons that look like miniature watermelons.
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| Mulberry Weed |
Mulberry Weed is a rapidly spreading exotic first seen in the U.S. in Louisiana in the 1950s, now spread throughout the eastern U.S. and along the Pacific coast. It is one many nemeses of gardeners in our region.
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| White Surprise Lily |
White Surprise Lily, native to Japan, is in flower along the trail to the Threatened and Endangered Species Garden.
Threatened and Endangered Plant Bed
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| Ovate Catchfly |
Oval-leaved Campion is thriving in the Threatened and Endangered garden. The flowers appear to have many, very narrow petals but in fact there are only five, each deeply dissected into eight fringe-like sections. Only 16 populations of this species are known in Georgia from 11 counties, including Clarke, where it grows near the Middle Oconee River.
 | |
| Royal Catchfly |
Another member of the genus Silene is also in flower today, the scarlet-flowered Royal Catchfly. There are only 4 populations of this gorgeous prairie species in Georgia where it is at the edge of its range.
Native American Southeastern Tribes Section
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| Asiatic Dayflower |
Asiatic Dayflower was introduced from East Asia to the U.S. as a garden plant and has spread to disturbed (and some natural) areas throughout most of the country.
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| Living Roof |
The "living roof" of the equipment shed is thriving in this wet summer.
Trail from the Herb and Physic Garden to the Flower Garden
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| Late-flowering Thoroughwort |
Late-flowering Boneset or Thoroughwort, so named for its many medicinal uses in pioneer days, including treating broken bones.
 |
| Sweet Autumn Clematis |
Sweet Autumn Clematis, native to east Asia, is blooming as it continues to climb high into a tree along the edge of the trail spur below the Heritage Garden. Its leaflets have entire margins - maybe a little wavy but not at all toothed. That's the most reliable way to distinguish it from native Virgin's Bower (Clematis virginiana), another high-climbing vine with sweetly fragrant flowers. Virgin Bower's leaflets are sharply toothed. Both species' flowers lack petals; along with the fragrance, it is the showy white sepals that draw in pollinators, including bees, wasps, butterflies, and moths.
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| Green-eyed Susan with a Double-banded scoliid wasp |
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| Green-eyed Susan with Common European Greenbottle fly and thread-wasted wasp. |
Green-eyed Susan/Cut-leaf Coneflower hosting a Double-banded Scoliid Wasp, Common European Greenbottle Fly, and an unidentified thread-waisted wasp.
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| Chamber Bitters |
Chamber Bitters is a low, sprawling, annual weed, native to tropical Southeast Asia and now spread globally in tropical and temperate climates. It forms tiny yellow flowers - on the underside of stems at the base of each leaf - that develop into small round fruits. Its closely spaced, alternate leaves resemble the compound leaves of Mimosa and earn it an alternative common name, Mimosa Weed. Another garden nemesis!
Flower Garden
Three species of skippers (Fiery Skipper, Horace's Duskywing and Silver-spotted Skipper) were visiting Lantana in the Flower Garden.
A Common Buckeye was seen busily visiting a number of different garden plants.
Bumblebees and Honey Bees were busily working at large bed of flowering Basil. The pollen baskets - corbiculae - of all these bees were packed with red pollen, source unknown.
Jim, the Flower Garden curator, showed us a shrubby vine called Redwing bearing five-petaled, yellow flowers and pinkish-red fruits resembling those of maples, each with two- or three-winged seeds that are wind-borne. This type of dry, winged fruit is called a samara. Redwing is native to South America.
"Hibiscus Row" near the eastern edge of the Flower Garden features several large-flowered species and cultivars of Hibiscus bearing red, pink, or white flowers. Our native Scarlet Rose-mallow, with its petals distinctively narrowed at the base, is included. Hibiscus flowers have quite distinctive reproductive parts. The stalks (filaments) of its numerous stamens are fused into a hollow tube, with the pollen-bearing anthers separating and curving away from the sides of the column. Growing up through and out the tip of the tube is the style topped with five stigmas that capture pollen and provide the moisture for it to germinate. This structure - many fused stamens enclosing the pistil - is called a "androgynophore," literally male-female-bearing. Below the petals is a cup-shaped, 5-parted calyx, and below that is a whorl of numerous narrow bracts called the epicalyx. This combination of androgynophore and epicalyx is unique to the Mallow family and is found in all Hibiscus species.
We saw numerous insects and one or more hummingbirds visiting these enticing flowers. They are drawn by the bright colors and the promise of nectar that is produced at the base of the flower. It is not clear as of this writing how a bee or other smallish insect crawling around the base of the flower manages to transfer pollen to the stigmas, several inches away, if at all. Perhaps all the pollination is carried out by the flapping of hummingbird wings, similar to swallowtails and wild azaleas? Stay tuned.
Hibiscus flowers are open for only one day. To prevent self-pollination, the stigma and the pollen-bearing anthers in a given flower will "ripen" at different times of the day. However, if cross-pollination does not occur by the end of the day, the styles will curl downwards, bringing the stigmas into contact with the anthers and effecting self-pollination. Even though self-pollination usually results in offspring with less genetic diversity (called inbreeding depression) than the offspring of cross-pollination, evolution has apparently "decided" that depressed offspring are better than no offspring at all.
At the bottom of the Flower Garden some of us discovered numerous pouch-like swellings on the Sumac leaves and midvein. These are the work of an aphid, called the Suman Gall Aphid. In the spring, as the sumac is producing leaves, it is visited by an aphid that lays a single egg, usually on the mid-veine. The plant reacts by enveloping the egg with a growth of tissue that begins as a small, spherical swelling. The egg hatches and the aphid nymph begins feeding by sucking plant juices. When the nymph becomes sexually mature it starts to produce more aphids parthenogenetically; i.e., without benefit of a male. Those aphids, in turn, produce more aphids and the number within a single gall grows exponentially. Ultimately the aphids leave the gall and migrate to mosses that may be growing nearby. There they over-winter and in the spring male and female aphids are produced, mate, and the females fly off to find more sumac, completing the life cycle. Visit this website for a lot of excellent photographs of the galls and the aphids.
We opened several of the thin-walled galls and found them filled with white fuzz. It didn't dawn on me what this was until much latter: the cast off exoskeletons of hundreds in not thousands of aphids. Each aphid molts five times before reaching reproductive age. Given the exponential rate of increase of the aphids and multiplying by five and you get a gall filled with white fluff.
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| Fiery Skipper |
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| Silver-spotted Skipper |
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| Horace's Duskywing |
Three species of skippers (Fiery Skipper, Horace's Duskywing and Silver-spotted Skipper) were visiting Lantana in the Flower Garden.
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| Common Buckeye |
A Common Buckeye was seen busily visiting a number of different garden plants.
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| The pollen baskets of this Bumblebee are packed with red-colored pollen. |
Bumblebees and Honey Bees were busily working at large bed of flowering Basil. The pollen baskets - corbiculae - of all these bees were packed with red pollen, source unknown.
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| Redwing flowers |
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| Redwing fruits |
Jim, the Flower Garden curator, showed us a shrubby vine called Redwing bearing five-petaled, yellow flowers and pinkish-red fruits resembling those of maples, each with two- or three-winged seeds that are wind-borne. This type of dry, winged fruit is called a samara. Redwing is native to South America.
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| Hibiscus flower with column bearing the anthers below the five stigmatic surfaces at the end. The nectaries are at the base of the column. |
"Hibiscus Row" near the eastern edge of the Flower Garden features several large-flowered species and cultivars of Hibiscus bearing red, pink, or white flowers. Our native Scarlet Rose-mallow, with its petals distinctively narrowed at the base, is included. Hibiscus flowers have quite distinctive reproductive parts. The stalks (filaments) of its numerous stamens are fused into a hollow tube, with the pollen-bearing anthers separating and curving away from the sides of the column. Growing up through and out the tip of the tube is the style topped with five stigmas that capture pollen and provide the moisture for it to germinate. This structure - many fused stamens enclosing the pistil - is called a "androgynophore," literally male-female-bearing. Below the petals is a cup-shaped, 5-parted calyx, and below that is a whorl of numerous narrow bracts called the epicalyx. This combination of androgynophore and epicalyx is unique to the Mallow family and is found in all Hibiscus species.
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| Honey Bee at the bottom of a Hibiscus flower. |
We saw numerous insects and one or more hummingbirds visiting these enticing flowers. They are drawn by the bright colors and the promise of nectar that is produced at the base of the flower. It is not clear as of this writing how a bee or other smallish insect crawling around the base of the flower manages to transfer pollen to the stigmas, several inches away, if at all. Perhaps all the pollination is carried out by the flapping of hummingbird wings, similar to swallowtails and wild azaleas? Stay tuned.
Hibiscus flowers are open for only one day. To prevent self-pollination, the stigma and the pollen-bearing anthers in a given flower will "ripen" at different times of the day. However, if cross-pollination does not occur by the end of the day, the styles will curl downwards, bringing the stigmas into contact with the anthers and effecting self-pollination. Even though self-pollination usually results in offspring with less genetic diversity (called inbreeding depression) than the offspring of cross-pollination, evolution has apparently "decided" that depressed offspring are better than no offspring at all.
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| Sumac galls (photo by Bob Ambrose) |
At the bottom of the Flower Garden some of us discovered numerous pouch-like swellings on the Sumac leaves and midvein. These are the work of an aphid, called the Suman Gall Aphid. In the spring, as the sumac is producing leaves, it is visited by an aphid that lays a single egg, usually on the mid-veine. The plant reacts by enveloping the egg with a growth of tissue that begins as a small, spherical swelling. The egg hatches and the aphid nymph begins feeding by sucking plant juices. When the nymph becomes sexually mature it starts to produce more aphids parthenogenetically; i.e., without benefit of a male. Those aphids, in turn, produce more aphids and the number within a single gall grows exponentially. Ultimately the aphids leave the gall and migrate to mosses that may be growing nearby. There they over-winter and in the spring male and female aphids are produced, mate, and the females fly off to find more sumac, completing the life cycle. Visit this website for a lot of excellent photographs of the galls and the aphids.
We opened several of the thin-walled galls and found them filled with white fuzz. It didn't dawn on me what this was until much latter: the cast off exoskeletons of hundreds in not thousands of aphids. Each aphid molts five times before reaching reproductive age. Given the exponential rate of increase of the aphids and multiplying by five and you get a gall filled with white fluff.
SUMMARY OF OBSERVED SPECIES:
Fragile Dapperling Leucocoprinus fragilissimus
Downy Sweet Pepperbush Clethra tomentosa (syn.Clethra tomentosa var. pubescens)
Common Eastern Bumblebee Bombus impatiens
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly Papilio glaucus
Bristle (Tachinid) Fly Juriniopsis adusta
Elephant's Foot Elephantopus tomentosus
White Wood Aster Eurybia divaricata
Joro Spider Trichonephila clavata
Turtleheads Chelone sp.
Bottlebrush Buckeye Aesculus parviflora
Camelia Camelia sp.
Melonette Melothria pendula
Mulberry Weed Fatoua villosa
White Surprise Lily Lycoris albiflora
Oval-leaved Campion Silene ovata
Royal Catchfly Silene regia
Japanese Stilt Grass Microstegium vimineum
Asiatic Dayflower Commelina communis
Goldenrod Solidago sp.
Black Cohosh Actaea racemosa
Late-flowering Thoroughwort/Boneset Eupatorium serotinum
Sweet Autumn Clematis Clematis terniflora
Green-eyed Susan/Cut-leaf Coneflower Rudbeckia laciniata
Double-banded Scoliid Wasp Scolia bincincta
Common European Greenbottle Fly [ Lucilla sericata
Thread-waisted Wasp Family Sphecidae
Chamber Bitters Phyllanthus urinaria
Lantana Lantana camara
Fiery Skipper Hylephila phyleus
Horace's Duskywing Skipper Erynnis horatius
Silver-spotted Skipper Epargyreus clarus
Common Buckeye butterfly Junonia coenia
Redwing Heteropterys glabra
Hibiscus cultivars Hibiscus sp.
Scarlet Rose-mallow Hibiscus coccinea
Sumac Gall Aphid Melaphis rhois
Fragile Dapperling Leucocoprinus fragilissimus
Downy Sweet Pepperbush Clethra tomentosa (syn.Clethra tomentosa var. pubescens)
Common Eastern Bumblebee Bombus impatiens
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly Papilio glaucus
Bristle (Tachinid) Fly Juriniopsis adusta
Elephant's Foot Elephantopus tomentosus
White Wood Aster Eurybia divaricata
Joro Spider Trichonephila clavata
Turtleheads Chelone sp.
Bottlebrush Buckeye Aesculus parviflora
Camelia Camelia sp.
Melonette Melothria pendula
Mulberry Weed Fatoua villosa
White Surprise Lily Lycoris albiflora
Oval-leaved Campion Silene ovata
Royal Catchfly Silene regia
Japanese Stilt Grass Microstegium vimineum
Asiatic Dayflower Commelina communis
Goldenrod Solidago sp.
Black Cohosh Actaea racemosa
Late-flowering Thoroughwort/Boneset Eupatorium serotinum
Sweet Autumn Clematis Clematis terniflora
Green-eyed Susan/Cut-leaf Coneflower Rudbeckia laciniata
Double-banded Scoliid Wasp Scolia bincincta
Common European Greenbottle Fly [ Lucilla sericata
Thread-waisted Wasp Family Sphecidae
Chamber Bitters Phyllanthus urinaria
Lantana Lantana camara
Fiery Skipper Hylephila phyleus
Horace's Duskywing Skipper Erynnis horatius
Silver-spotted Skipper Epargyreus clarus
Common Buckeye butterfly Junonia coenia
Redwing Heteropterys glabra
Hibiscus cultivars Hibiscus sp.
Scarlet Rose-mallow Hibiscus coccinea
Sumac Gall Aphid Melaphis rhois
