Leader for today's Ramble: Linda
Link to Don's Facebook album for this Ramble. All the photos that appear in this report, unless otherwise credited, were taken by Don Hunter.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=don.hunter.56&set=a.4987661561250369
Number of Ramblers today: 37
Today's emphasis: Plants flowering in the International Garden, Herb and Physic Gardens, Heritage Garden and Flower Garden
Readings: Bob Ambrose recited his poem, On the First Wave of Spring
Here is the link to his poem: https://bobambrosejr-poetry.blogspot.com/2018/03/on-first-wave-of-spring.html
Next, to commemorate St. Patrick's Day, David read two poems from Janisse Ray's House of Branches:
Link to Don's Facebook album for this Ramble. All the photos that appear in this report, unless otherwise credited, were taken by Don Hunter.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=don.hunter.56&set=a.4987661561250369
Number of Ramblers today: 37
Today's emphasis: Plants flowering in the International Garden, Herb and Physic Gardens, Heritage Garden and Flower Garden
Readings: Bob Ambrose recited his poem, On the First Wave of Spring
Here is the link to his poem: https://bobambrosejr-poetry.blogspot.com/2018/03/on-first-wave-of-spring.html
Next, to commemorate St. Patrick's Day, David read two poems from Janisse Ray's House of Branches:
Eleventh
I know where
the ribbon snake
lives-------
under the maple
by the barn.
One day when I
was there
a dead leaf
crackled like fire
and I saw her,
slip of green
I followed
around the waist
of the tree,
through already
dying grass.
When she turned.
To face me, eyes
burning, she
studied me.
I - wanting
To feel her softness,
her certainty, the stove
of her tiny heart ---
touched one finger.
only one,
upon her perfect tail.
At that moment
the tree opened
and she wound
inside, her
passageway
dark and narrow.
Long before
I turned away,
no doubt
she lay
on her mat of earth
at the bottom
of the maple
among the roots
strip
of brilliant
kindling.
The eleventh
Commandment is
love the earth
love the tree
love the snake.
Psychoanalysis
What does it mean, Sigmund Freud,
that the snake was not in my dream
but in the hallway, a brown velvet rope
stretched across the runner. It glimmered
like an Indonesian textile, new-
woven, lying across the path we travel
dozens of times a day between kitchen
and bedroom, front and back.
I called my husband, who
came from the porch and stood
opposite, length of perfect cord
between us. Strange as it was,
we were stranger. We watched,
only that, never moving
for broom or bag, no impediment.
We watched it glide across the floor,
behind a row of machines, hot water
heater, washer and dryer, through
a drift of spilled laundry powder, into
the accumulation of our lives, old
rag bag, dog shampoo, shoe polish,
spot remover, brushes and brooms,
window cleaner, jugs of vinegar,
ammonia and bleach.
Our lives are no place for you, beautiful,
this house no crevice in an old tree.
For your own sake, get out.
I know where
the ribbon snake
lives-------
under the maple
by the barn.
One day when I
was there
a dead leaf
crackled like fire
and I saw her,
slip of green
I followed
around the waist
of the tree,
through already
dying grass.
When she turned.
To face me, eyes
burning, she
studied me.
I - wanting
To feel her softness,
her certainty, the stove
of her tiny heart ---
touched one finger.
only one,
upon her perfect tail.
At that moment
the tree opened
and she wound
inside, her
passageway
dark and narrow.
Long before
I turned away,
no doubt
she lay
on her mat of earth
at the bottom
of the maple
among the roots
strip
of brilliant
kindling.
The eleventh
Commandment is
love the earth
love the tree
love the snake.
Psychoanalysis
What does it mean, Sigmund Freud,
that the snake was not in my dream
but in the hallway, a brown velvet rope
stretched across the runner. It glimmered
like an Indonesian textile, new-
woven, lying across the path we travel
dozens of times a day between kitchen
and bedroom, front and back.
I called my husband, who
came from the porch and stood
opposite, length of perfect cord
between us. Strange as it was,
we were stranger. We watched,
only that, never moving
for broom or bag, no impediment.
We watched it glide across the floor,
behind a row of machines, hot water
heater, washer and dryer, through
a drift of spilled laundry powder, into
the accumulation of our lives, old
rag bag, dog shampoo, shoe polish,
spot remover, brushes and brooms,
window cleaner, jugs of vinegar,
ammonia and bleach.
Our lives are no place for you, beautiful,
this house no crevice in an old tree.
For your own sake, get out.
Show and Tell:
 | |
| Chinese Violet Cress |
Linda presented a sprig from one of the many Chinese Violet Cress currently seen in beds around the Garden. A nearby sign called it “Color Up Purple,” one of the many cultivars of Wild Cabbage (Brassica oleracea). Wild Cabbage was selected and cultivated over many centuries to produce an amazing diversity of vegetables; e.g., cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, and kohlrabi. But the sign is for a plant that hasn’t yet appeared this year. The plant we actually examined is Chinese Violet Cress (Orychophragmus violaceus). It is in the same family as Wild Cabbage and has the same distinctive smell and taste and the same four-petaled flowers that earned this family the name “crucifer,” or cross-bearing. According to the Missouri Botanical Garden, Chinese Violet Cress “is native to roadsides, forests, fields, thickets, valleys, hillsides, sunny slopes and garden areas in central China. It is cultivated in China as a vegetable, with stalks typically harvested in the second year after flowering. Flowers and leaves are also edible and make tasty additions to salads.” Its invasive potential is unknown. Whether it is a larval host plant for our native butterfly, Falcate Orange-tip, is also unknown. Native crucifers provide early spring opportunities for this butterfly to lay its eggs.
Today's Route: We left the Children's Garden, heading down the paved path, passing by the American South section, across the Flower Bridge and through the China and Asia Section. From there we passed the Threatened and Endangered Plant bed, through the Native American Southeastern Tribes Section and into the Physic Garden. We then took the connecting walk, past the Pawpaw Patch into the Heritage Garden, after which we walked through much of the Flower Garden, coming back through the Rose Terraces and Heritage Garden, again, and back out to the parking lot.
OBSERVATIONS:
Don and Heather conducted some pre-Ramble explorations and found several species of interest:
 |
| White-lip Globe Snail ? |
A snail, possibly a White-lip Globe Snail. That species was identified by Charles Wharton as one of seven species of land snail he found in his survey of the plants and animals of the State Botanical Garden.
Flowering Dogwoods beginning to expand their showy, white bracts
 |
| An American Toad, nearly camouflaged in the mulch in one of the beds near the pergola. |
The snail and the toad represent the beauty and the problem with iNaturalist. Many of the photos submitted were taken from the wrong angle for identification. Not the fault of the photographer, It's the nature of the subject. Snails, for example, are hard for experts to ID and the key features are hard, or impossible to see in photos of the living animal.
The toad could be one of two species in our area: Fowler's Toad or American Toad. The easiest feature that discriminates between these species is the color of the belly -- Fowler's has a white belly, American has a darker underside with scattered spots. American also has enlarged warts on its calf and Fowler's has calf warts the same size as the rest of the leg. There is a ridge of skin behind the eye that contacts the large gland behind the eye on the shoulder in Fowler's. In the American the large gland is separated from the ridge or it may touch a rearward extension of the ridge. These features are very difficult is see, even in excellent photographs. Don tells me that INat identified the toad as a Southern Toad, but that species does not occur in our area; it's a coastal plain species.
Georgia Rock Cress is planted along the paved path into the American South Section of the International Garden. This is one of the rarest species in Georgia, with only a handful of populations surviving in the northwest corner of the state near Rome and in the Fall Line, near Columbus. The plants seem to love rocky cliffs and bluffs, or perhaps they inhabit these stressful environments because there's little competition there. They are clearly flourishing in the rich beds at the Garden. As the name "Cress" indicates, this species is a member of the family Brassicaceae: its flowers are cross-shaped and its sap has the sulfurous smell and taste characteristic of this family. The compounds responsible for these distinctive tastes and smells evolved in this family as a way to discourage browsing animals; some people also find the taste bitter and the cooking odors revolting, while others welcome a plateful of collards or turnip greens on New Year's Day.
A patch of four or five Chattahoochee Trillium is flourishing along the path into the International Garden; ramblers wondered how these plants got here. Not being a Piedmont native, this species is found at the Garden in the Dunson Native Flora Garden and environs. It's likely that a deer ate one of the fruits of the Dunson plants and later deposited the seeds here with its dung. It's also possible - though probably unlikely due to the distance involved - that the seeds were brought here by ants. Ants are the primary dispersal agent for Trillium seeds in the wild but typically don't carry seeds more than two meters. Each Trillium seed comes equipped with a fleshy attachment called an elaiosome that is rich in fat and other nutrients. The ants grab the elaiosome in their jaws and drag the seed into their nest. They feed the elaiosome to their larvae and carry the still intact seed to their waste dump, where the seeds find a nice rich bed (of ant poop and dead ant bodies) for germination. Unfortunately, the exotic invasive Red Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) competes with native ants for wildflower seeds and is not skilled at dispersing seeds, often destroying most of the seeds it gathers.
Bees can't see in the red end of the spectrum but are attracted to the blue color of mature Bluebell flowers which they can see and which advertises the presence of nectar. The pink color may discourage nectar-robbing by bees, who are known to pierce the base of flower tubes to extract nectar before the flowers mature and produce viable pollen. However, the long floral tube and lack of a good "landing platform" limit the type of bees that visit these flowers. Only long-tongued bees can reach the nectaries hidden in the base of the tube and they must do so quickly since most bees are not good at hovering for more than a few seconds.
As we approached the Alabama Snow Wreath hedge in the Threatened and Endangered Species Garden, Heather pointed out the calls of both the Red-tailed Hawk and the Red-shouldered Hawk in the woods to the right of the path. Alabama Snow Wreath flowers abundantly, but rarely produces viable seed.; it seems to reproduce only by the spread of rhizomes (underground stems). The flowers lack petals: their showiness is due to the long white stamens with their yellow anther tips. Alabama Snow Wreath is rare in Georgia, occurring naturally only in northwestern counties. It is rare throughout its range of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri, but is widely available in the nursery trade.
Rue-anemone flowers lack petals and depend on their bright white sepals
to attract pollinators, which include various bees and flies. These
plants typically flower early then disappear by late spring.
Green-and-Gold flower heads are visited by a variety of insects and
continue to produce flowers well into the summer
OBSERVED SPECIES:
 | |
| Georgia Rock Cress |
Georgia Rock Cress is planted along the paved path into the American South Section of the International Garden. This is one of the rarest species in Georgia, with only a handful of populations surviving in the northwest corner of the state near Rome and in the Fall Line, near Columbus. The plants seem to love rocky cliffs and bluffs, or perhaps they inhabit these stressful environments because there's little competition there. They are clearly flourishing in the rich beds at the Garden. As the name "Cress" indicates, this species is a member of the family Brassicaceae: its flowers are cross-shaped and its sap has the sulfurous smell and taste characteristic of this family. The compounds responsible for these distinctive tastes and smells evolved in this family as a way to discourage browsing animals; some people also find the taste bitter and the cooking odors revolting, while others welcome a plateful of collards or turnip greens on New Year's Day.
 | |
| Chattahoochee Trillium |
A patch of four or five Chattahoochee Trillium is flourishing along the path into the International Garden; ramblers wondered how these plants got here. Not being a Piedmont native, this species is found at the Garden in the Dunson Native Flora Garden and environs. It's likely that a deer ate one of the fruits of the Dunson plants and later deposited the seeds here with its dung. It's also possible - though probably unlikely due to the distance involved - that the seeds were brought here by ants. Ants are the primary dispersal agent for Trillium seeds in the wild but typically don't carry seeds more than two meters. Each Trillium seed comes equipped with a fleshy attachment called an elaiosome that is rich in fat and other nutrients. The ants grab the elaiosome in their jaws and drag the seed into their nest. They feed the elaiosome to their larvae and carry the still intact seed to their waste dump, where the seeds find a nice rich bed (of ant poop and dead ant bodies) for germination. Unfortunately, the exotic invasive Red Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) competes with native ants for wildflower seeds and is not skilled at dispersing seeds, often destroying most of the seeds it gathers.
 |
| Photo by Douglas W. Jones of Trillium recurvatum seeds with pale-colored elaiosomes, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaiosome |
 | |
| Yaupon Holly hybrid with yellow fruit, possibly 'Anna's Choice'. |
 |
| Virginia Bluebells, an early spring ephemeral, with its pink buds and blue, fully opened flowers. |
 |
| Pansy cultivars are planted along the Flower Bridge. All pansies originated as hybrids of several European species of violets (genus Viola), including Viola tricolor which has been flagged as an invasive in some parts of the U.S. |
 |
| 'Leonard Messel' Magnolia, a cultivar derived from crossing two Asian magnolias, Magnolia kobus and Magnolia stellata, and referred to as Magnolia X loebneri. Note that cultivar names are always enclosed in single quotation marks and are never in italics like scientific names. |
 |
| Showy stamens of Alabama Snow Wreath flowers |
As we approached the Alabama Snow Wreath hedge in the Threatened and Endangered Species Garden, Heather pointed out the calls of both the Red-tailed Hawk and the Red-shouldered Hawk in the woods to the right of the path. Alabama Snow Wreath flowers abundantly, but rarely produces viable seed.; it seems to reproduce only by the spread of rhizomes (underground stems). The flowers lack petals: their showiness is due to the long white stamens with their yellow anther tips. Alabama Snow Wreath is rare in Georgia, occurring naturally only in northwestern counties. It is rare throughout its range of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri, but is widely available in the nursery trade.
.jpg) |
| Georgia Dwarf Trillium is an extremely narrow endemic, found only in one county in northwest Georgia. Several small populations are being safeguarded at the Botanical Garden, here in the T&E Garden and also in the Dunson Garden. |
 |
| A Golden Ragwort flower head emerging from its protective covering of purple bracts. The purple pigment, anthocyanin, seen in the bracts and stem, acts as a kind of sunscreen to tender new growth. |
 |
| Basal leaves of White Avens are mottled with silvery green and deeply divided into many segments. They bear little resemblance to the solid green, three-lobed stem leaves which will follow in early summer. |
 |
| Amber Jelly Fungus, a wood-rotting fungus, appears in the winter on dead twigs and branches. It is a "resurrection fungus," with the capacity to dry to nearly nothing then rehydrate after a rain or even a heavy dew. They can also rebound after being frozen solid. The "fruiting," or spore-producing, bodies cover the glistening upper surface but are nearly invisible. |
 | |
| Rue-anemone (or Windflower) and Green-and-Gold are among the earliest wildflowers to bloom in Piedmont forests | . |
 |
| May-apple plants are emerging on "Native American Hill," near the base of the large boulder. Most plants are topped with a single leaf but a few plants have forked stems, with each of the two forks bearing a leaf. Between the leaves, a small bud is forming that will produce a flower in April and a fruit in May. |
 |
| Russell discovered a fallen branch covered on one side with a variety of lichens, including Perforated Ruffle Lichen and Old Man's Beard, and on the other side with the beautiful golden-tan Wrinkled Crust fungus |
 |
| Don's close-up photo of the Wrinkled Crust reveals the intricate patterns on its surface |
 |
| Pawpaw trees are in bud, their hairy sepals protecting the six developing petals within. |
 |
| The red-brick wall that connects the Physic Garden and the Heritage Garden is covered with Creeping Fig. Kathy pointed out that this species has a high potential to become invasive; she has seen it covering acres of land in a park in Florida. |
 |
| Eastern
Redbud, bright pink against the bright blue sky, is a classic north
Georgia scene in March. Longleaf Pines in the fast-growing "rocket
stage" are in the foreground. |
 |
| One of the two honey bee hives in the Flower Garden recently swarmed, necessitating the insertion of a third hive to accommodate the new colony. |
 |
| The leaves of Hyacinth and some other spring-flowering bulbs are hydrophobic, i.e. water-repelling, causing dew and rain to form shimmering beads on the waxy surface. Some of our native plants also have hydrophobic leaves, notably in the Piedmont, Jewelweed, which we will see in late summer. For an interesting explanation of hydrophobicity in plants, turn to Science Friday: https://www.sciencefriday.com/educational-resources/hydrophobicity-will-the-drop-stop-or-roll/ |
 |
| A large stand of a native Viburnum cultivar growing near the wildlife viewing platform on the north side of the Flower Garden is in full flower. Each flat-topped flower cluster consists of many small, white, five-petaled flowers with golden stamens. |
 | |
| A Tuft-legged Orbweaver working her web in the hedges in the Heritage Garden. |
 |
| Making our way back to the parking lot after the ramble, some of us came upon several large red dumpsters. The south-facing side of one of the dumpsters was covered with a maze of slug grazing trails, where slugs have been dining on the algae (and possibly a few lichens) for months. The patterns were quite beautiful, actually. |
 |
| Don and Heather noticed several Carolina Anoles sunning and hunting prey in front of the Porcelain & Decorative Arts Museum. One stationed on the iron grate at a drain was dark brown to almost black, approximating the surrounding colors. Another stalking a wasp in a Spurge was the more typical green color. |
OBSERVED SPECIES:
Chinese Violet Cress Orychophragmus violaceus
White-lip Globe Snail?? Mesodon thyroidus
White-lip Globe Snail?? Mesodon thyroidus
Dogwood Cornus florida
American Toad Anaxyris americanus
Oriental Paper Bush Edgeworthia chrysantha
Georgia Rock Cress Arabis georgiana
Chattahoochee Trillium Trillium decipiens
Yaupon Holly Ilex vomitoria 'Anna's Choice'
Sticky Catchfly/Wild Pink Silene caroliniana
Virginia Bluebells Mertensia virginica
Pansies Viola x wittrockiana
Oconee Azalea Rhododendron flammeum
Tea Camellia Camellia sinensis
'Leonard Messel' Magnolia Magnolia x loebneri
Creeping Mazus Mazus reptans
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus
Alabama Snow Wreath Neviusia alabamensis
Georgia Dwarf Trillium Trillium georgianum
Rue Anemone Thalictrum thalictroides (synonym: Anemonella thalictroides)
Golden Ragwort Packera aurea
White Avens Geum canadense
White Florida Anise Illicium floridanum 'Alba'
Walter's Violet Viola walteri
Amber Jelly Fungus Exidia recisa
Wrinkled Crust Fungus Phlebia radiata
Perforated Ruffle Lichen Parmotrema perforatum
Old Man's Beard Usnea strigosa
Green-and-Gold Chrysogonum virginianum
Mayapple Podophyllum peltatum
Bloodroot Sanguinaria canadensis
Pawpaw Asimina triloba
Creeping Fig Ficus pumila
Eastern Redbud Cercis canadensis
Western Honey Bee Apis mellifera
Rabbit-eye Blueberry Vaccinium ashei
Hyacinth Hyacinthus orientalis
Viburnum Viburnum sp.
Tuft-legged Orbweaver Mangora placida
Carolina Anole Anolis carolinensis
American Toad Anaxyris americanus
Oriental Paper Bush Edgeworthia chrysantha
Georgia Rock Cress Arabis georgiana
Chattahoochee Trillium Trillium decipiens
Yaupon Holly Ilex vomitoria 'Anna's Choice'
Sticky Catchfly/Wild Pink Silene caroliniana
Virginia Bluebells Mertensia virginica
Pansies Viola x wittrockiana
Oconee Azalea Rhododendron flammeum
Tea Camellia Camellia sinensis
'Leonard Messel' Magnolia Magnolia x loebneri
Creeping Mazus Mazus reptans
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus
Alabama Snow Wreath Neviusia alabamensis
Georgia Dwarf Trillium Trillium georgianum
Rue Anemone Thalictrum thalictroides (synonym: Anemonella thalictroides)
Golden Ragwort Packera aurea
White Avens Geum canadense
White Florida Anise Illicium floridanum 'Alba'
Walter's Violet Viola walteri
Amber Jelly Fungus Exidia recisa
Wrinkled Crust Fungus Phlebia radiata
Perforated Ruffle Lichen Parmotrema perforatum
Old Man's Beard Usnea strigosa
Green-and-Gold Chrysogonum virginianum
Mayapple Podophyllum peltatum
Bloodroot Sanguinaria canadensis
Pawpaw Asimina triloba
Creeping Fig Ficus pumila
Eastern Redbud Cercis canadensis
Western Honey Bee Apis mellifera
Rabbit-eye Blueberry Vaccinium ashei
Hyacinth Hyacinthus orientalis
Viburnum Viburnum sp.
Tuft-legged Orbweaver Mangora placida
Carolina Anole Anolis carolinensis
