Fennel Flower

Foeniculum vulgare

Last summer was my first time trying to grow Fennel. It wasn’t a huge success as I had to transplant it and it was in a part of my yard that was hot, red clay. But, she did well enough to get a couple good late season flower photos.

Cultivating Fennel
Fennel is an umbelliferous (aromatic/hollow stem) perennial herb that was said to originate from the Mediterranean but it has been naturalized and shows up roadside all across the world. The name comes from Latin/Old English and the etymology essentially means “hay”. The flowers are umbels (like the Cilantro flower). Umbel has its roots in “umbrella”, which is pretty descriptive of their flat, splayed bloom pattern.

Eat More Fennel!
Fennel tastes a little like Anise, but a bit more mild. It is often mistaken for anise in farmer’s markets or at grocers. The root grows in a bulb structure and the leaves and seeds are also flavorful and edible. Fennel pollen is the most potent part of the plant, but is also the most expensive. It is a delicious little plant with lots of uses. It flavors toothpaste, eggs, meat, soups, desserts and more. It is commonly used in Mediterranean, Chinese, German, Greek and Persian food. A quick search on Google yields some delicious results like this Fennel Blossom Soup (lovely photos too!).

Other Fennel Uses
Fennel is one of the original ingredients in Absinthe, originating in Switzerland as a medicinal elixir and is known as a stimulate. It’s also been used to control chronic coughs and even given to cattle as the fleas don’t like the taste of it. Ha!
Medicinally, Fennel contains Anethole which has some great herbal properties and is 13 times sweeter than sugar. It is the Anethole that gives the Absinthe its cloudy look. Fennel has been sited in use from everything to glaucoma, constipation, increase of breastmilk production, hypertension, colic, and to aid flatulence, etc.

Wolf Spider & Egg Sac

Hitching a Ride

Ready to Run!

Steppin' on Momma's Face

Carolina Wolf Spider
Hogna carolinensis

The Carolina Wolf Spider is one of the largest species of wolf spiders in North America. But enough about this lady herself, this post is all about the miracle of motherhood and wolf spiders do it somethin’ special.

So, first off – wolf spiders don’t create a nice cozy web home. They are nomadic. They wander your yards actively hunting to survive. So when it is time for a brood, they weave up a tidy little egg sac and carry it around with them. The egg sac starts out shiny and white, but as time goes on it starts getting dark and dingy. That means it’s almost time for the babies to make their first appearance (9-27 days later)!

After the babies hatch, they climb on momma’s back and hang out for some time. They aren’t quite ready to go it on their own yet. So they’ll hitch a ride for a couple weeks until they are big and strong enough to hunt on their own.

Then, finally, when they are ready to go it alone – they start scattering! Momma is ever so patient and lets the kids crawl all around on her and then finally run amok off.

So these definitely aren’t all the same spider. I didn’t keep one with me and get to watch all this happens. I found the top spider in spring time at the front of the yard. I was hollering at J to run and grab me something to catch her in! Last summer I actually saw quite a few mommas carrying egg sacs. The one with the babies hatched was found in the backyard when I was pulling weeds in the grass. Again, I was hollering and yelling for J to run and grab me something while I kept an eye on her (oh, patient husband). We took a few quick shots and released.

Finally, the mom with babies ready to leave was an amazing stroke of luck. I was coming home late from my meetup and the porch was dark. I saw something huge move as I walked up. There she was – and the babies had just started to scatter. I brought her in and carefully took a few photos. When most the kids started getting rambunctious I took her back outside and let them go in the grass. Eek! How fun!

So, three different spiders over the course of the summer and I have at least a few pics of this awesome process. Maybe next summer I’ll be able to get better photos.

Millipede Mouth

Milli End

Apheloria virginiensis

So, I’ve been neglecting this blog for a bit. Here’s the thing, when it’s warm I’m outside finding neat critters. I’ll do more to post all my summer photos during the colder months when I’m stuck inside. So, with winter around the corner I thought I’d get back into posting-mode.

North American Millipede

And she was quite flashy. She was attempting to come and hang out in our garage, but generally we gently encourage bugs to rule the yard, and not hang out where we spend out time. So she was promptly release in the shrubs next to the porch.

So, in general – millis eat dead leaves and plant matter (known as detritivores). They juice the decaying matter with secretions and then scrape it up with their jaws. They don’t often go after live plants, so they aren’t too much of a garden nuisance; however they can strip little seedlings down on occasion.

Millipedes v. Centipedes
I’ve always had trouble figuring out which is which, and remembering how to tell. But generally, millipedes are slow and centipedes can move pretty quickly. Centipedes also have only a single pair of legs for each body segment and are skilled predators.  In summary – want a pet with lots of legs? Millipedes make the better companion. And remember: ‘Millipedes meander like molasses, Centipedes are swift little creepies!’. Now perfect alliteration but now you’ll never mix them up!

The Feetsies!
So… how many feet does a millipede have? It varies. Commonly they have between 36 – 400, according to Wikipedia. Some species can have as many as 750, which although impressive is a bit deceptive as milli+pede means ‘thousand foot’. For those of you that find it a tad frustrating when descriptive naming conventions are not actually descriptive: me too friend, me too.

Millipede Sex
Oh yea, I went there. First things first, how do you tell who is the boy and who is the girl? These millipedes are not sexually dimorphic so you have to look closely. Boys have one or two pairs of modified legs. Modified into what, you ask? Into gonopods that are used to romantically transfer sperm packets to the female during that magic moment. The sexual areas/openings are located generally on the 3rd segment. Fun fact – males may have one, or two penises. The girl’s sexual opening is a little less exciting – revealing a small vulva and cover with which they use to store the sperm. But, after this whole process the lady will lay her eggs (anywhere from 10 – 300) and then fertilize them herself with the sperm she had stored. Some even make cozy little nests lined with dried poo. And while this traditional family arrangement I’m sure is pulling at your heartchords, some millipede species are nearly all asexual females as they are parthenogenetic meaning they can reproduce asexually.

Are Millipedes Dangerous?
Some are, some aren’t. A lot of them can secret or emit poison out of little pores on the side of their bodies. Generally these are caustic and help to ward off predators like ants or even larger ones by affecting the skin and eyes. One of the gasses they can secrete is hydrogen cyanide. But, it’s not as deathly as it sounds. For us big hulking humans, their particular secretions aren’t that bad. They can make your skin itch and burn and maybe cause blisters, but if you try not to handle them and wash immediately afterward you are generally ok. However, what stings the hand always stings the eyes – so don’t wipe your eyes after playing with these! Be smart. Insects have pretty savvy defenses, even against us giants.

Flower of Goatsbeard

Tragopogon pratensis

Hooray for weeds! This little yellow one was growing around Pilot Mountain in North Carolina where we go to rock climb. This flower is known as the Flower of Goatsbeard or Meadow Salsify.

The Goatsbeard is native to Europe but is now well established across North America. After the flower blooms it results in a puffy cotton ball similar to the dandelion but a bit more robust.  Though it is a weed – it is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental flower. The plant is sometimes called John-Go-To-Bed-At-Noon because the flowers often close during the heat of midday.

Eat More Weeds!
The root of the Goatsbeard can be eaten raw or cooked and have a sweet flavor due to inulin. Generally the roots are eaten raw when they are young but when they get older are often cooked similar to parsnips. The plants young leaves and stems can also be eaten and if young and tender are often tossed into salads.

Weeds for Health!
The Goatsbeard has a stimulating and detoxifying effect that can also stimulate appetite. It is thought to help the liver and the gallbladder. The root can actually act as an expectorant and also contract tissue, purify the blood and induce urination. With its ability to stimulate appetite and purify it is thought to help those who use it gain weight and strength. It can be used to create a syrup that helps with a particularly stubborn cough, and as a treatment of heartburn. For diabetics, the plant is ideal because it has a high inulin content which is a nutrient made of fructose, not glucose, so it doesn’t mess with your blood sugar levels.

Stink Bug Nymphs

nymphal stink bugs (family Pentatomidae)

These lovelies are from last spring. They’ve been sitting in my box and for the life of me I cannot identify the exact species of nymph bugs they are. None of the nymph identification guides I have found have matched the markings perfectly. So – they are unidentified stink bug nymphs, with one (the red one) being at a more advanced instar stage. $1 to anyone who can figure out the species!

Two White Bells

White Bell Flowers

Pieris japonica of the Ericacaea family

These flowers live at the Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, NC in the partial shade garden. They weren’t overly showy, but incredibly pleasant shrubs that bloom so thick with tiny little white bells that smell just slightly sweet.

A Picky Plant Indeed
These flowers require fairly specific growing conditions like well-drained moist soil, acidic soul, full or partial shade, etc. They don’t perform well otherwise (with soil pH being a big factor for failure resulting in iron/nitrogen deficiencies). Beyond their pickiness for their home, they are also susceptible to several pests (lacewings suck the juice out of them but they are also often bothered by scale, mites or nematodes). Other diseases often cause spotting and sometimes death. They have a general slow growth rate but are still often used as decorative plants because they are an attractive evergreen shrub.

The plant, coming from the Ericacaea family is related to the better-known blueberry or the rhododendron. However, do not eat this plant! It is known to be toxic to most livestock and likely humans as well. The flowers that you see in the photos above usually develop in the late winter or early spring. In the summer there are sometimes pinkish or greenish blooms that can be seen. The fruit of the shrub is usually a 4-5 partitioned little round dried fruit which isn’t particularly noticeable. The new growth usually starts out yellow or red, then goes through chartreuse before maturing to its dark green color making it an attractive plant year round and throughout its growth cycle.

Neat side note(s): The name Pieris comes from Pierides which is often used as an alternate name for  Muses of mythological fame, the goddess of the arts. The specimen does originate from Japan and the smallest varieties have been used in bonsai.

Honey Bee Side

Honey Bee Booty

Apis mellifera

The name, from Latin, means “honey carrying” and refers to the ball of pollen they carry on their legs (seen in the top photo). This one was buzzing about a plum tree bloom at the Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, NC.

The Social Life of Honey Bees
Honey bees are incredibly cooperative in a large colony structure, unlike the Carpenter Bee which tends to be fairly solitary. Honey bees are known for creating their nests out of wax and storing honey. Though other bee species also create honey, there is only one true type of honey bee (genus Apis). Their social behavior and high level of cooperation isn’t unique to bees as bumble bees and stingless bees also share a degree of their gregarious impulses. Their eusocial organization defines their hive segments with worker bees (usually sterile females), drone bees (fertile males) and one queen bee.

The Queen Bee gets to make loads of babies (8 years of up to 1,500 a day). She is larger than the other bees, has a chewing mouthpiece and her stinger is not barbed so she can use it deliver venom multiple times.

The Drones (boys) have one job – to mate with the Queen. They have bigger eyes (to spot the lucky lady). Not many Drones hang around the hive and aren’t essential beyond mating – which is why when the magic is over they are evicted from the hive and left to die (generally living only 8 weeks). Since the bee stinger is a modified ovipositor with a gland to deliver venom, the boys can’t sting. They are totally harmless.

The Workers (sterile females) do just about everything to keep the hive running and they are very adept at doing so. The young workers actually work in the hive – making combs, royal jelly, temperature regulation and helping with all the babies. When they get old they go out to collect nectar. They have special pollen baskets on their legs (seen in the photos above, called a corbiculum) and an extra stomach for storing and transporting nectar. They also have 4 glands near their belly to produce beeswax. They have a straight stinger with barbs that they can only use once. When a honey bee stings you the barbs ensures the stinger gets stuck in your skin, releasing venom but also ripping out the abdomen of the bee spelling certain death. Worker bees can live anywhere from 6 weeks to several months depending on when they were born in the season.

The Sweet Stuff
We’ve been fascinated with bees for quite some time – likely because they make such tasty things. By harvesting and refining nectar they make honey as a food stock. Bees need the honey over winter because they do not hibernate but rather stay active and need to keep metabolizing honey for energy. Bees also make beeswax (to build the nest), propolis (a bee glue made from plant resin to seal cracks), and royal jelly (a super food secreted from the head of young worker bees given to babies or queens).

For more fun, my favorite show Nova did an awesome segment on Honey Bees. Check out Nova’s Bee Special!

Oh, and hi Rob! Thanks for hanging in there. I promise this blog with get more love soon!

White Candytuft

Candytuft Close-Up

Iberis sempervirens

Hooray for bilateral symmetry! Makes for super lovely flowers. This one is from the Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh, NC.

I didn’t have much to say about this nice little flower. It’s an evergreen shrub and does well with not too much water when established, making it especially appropriate for rock gardens. The flowers bloom in the spring in big white mounds. The plant also attracts bees and butterflies – yay for pollinators, too!

Blue Flossflower

Ageratum houstonianum or Ageratum mexicanum

This flower is also commonly known as Bluemink. 

This one was found on the fringes of an out building at the Raulston Arboretum. Looked like a lovely weed at the time. The corymb that is in focus in the picture above shows the flower cluster with florets that once blooming will have thin, threadlike petals (hence flossflower). 

The flossflower is an annual plant that likes cooler temperatures and is often used in garden as a good flower for rocky or border areas or even in pots (as most retain a shorter stature). The plant is thought to originate in Mexico and Central America but has naturalized itself nicely in other areas – including the coastal Eastern US (where it found me). The flowers are most commonly blue – but they can also be lilac, white or pink.

Flossflower Defense
Plants are neat – sure, but plants are also really incredibly smart and sneaky. Because plants can’t run/hide from predators, they have to be much more clever about defending themselves.  They usually do this with irritants or thorns, chemicals that attack the nervous system, bad taste, bad smells, mimicry, etc. The flossflower, via pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) defend themselves in a very interesting way. The PAs, when eaten by insects, can affect the insects’ sex hormones rendering their larvae sterile. Protection by reproductive sabotage!

P.S. Happy first day of Spring!