Tempted by a Tasty Treat

There is this magical, ephemeral time just as winter winds down when the ground is no longer frozen and the sun still reaches the ground; before the trees leaf out and gobble up all the sunlight. This is the time when wildflowers can catch some sun and do their thing! 

  

On the first days of spring, out in the forest, Trillium start to break ground in my neck of the woods. All winter long, a rhizome persists underground (think: a skinny potato lined with layers of tissue paper). When the ground warms enough, an extension of that rhizome breaks through the ground, pushes through the leaf litter, and sprouts one of our earliest spring wildflowers. 

Trillium cuneatum

This species of Trillium is Purple Toadshade or Trillium cuneatum. (Some call it Sweet Betsy, but I prefer Purple Toadshade since it never fails to conjure a picture of a little toad taking shelter under the leaves.) The genus name Trillium refers to the three leaves. The species epithet “cuneatum” refers to the leaf shape, which is wedge-shaped or ‘cuneate’. 

Trillium cuneatum leaves

Another Trillium that us southerners are treated to is Southern Nodding Trillium (Trillium rugelii). Each year I revisit the places I have seen it grow in past years, waiting, hoping. If I’m lucky enough to spot the leaves, I will watch it over time in hopes of getting to catch the flower. More often than not, the deer get to the flower before it can bloom, but sometimes - just sometimes, the flower wins and so do I. Fingers crossed for an opportunity for a better photo this year. 

  

Now here is the really cool part! These plants have found a way to get their seeds couriered away, without using any fancy wind dispersal methods. These plants have found a way to temp ants into carrying the seeds away. They give ants a little gift – a tasty treat - in exchange for some help  dispersing seeds. Who among us isn’t tempted by a tasty treat? Each seed has a tasty morsels (an elaiosome) attached to it. The elaiosome and seed together are called a diaspore. The ants carry the diaspores away and bring them underground. There they eat the tasty bit and toss the seed aside (or take it back above ground). Ant fed. Seed (likely) planted. Win-win.  This crazy friendship is called myrmecochory, for all you word nerds. (I am having a heck of a time trying to pronounce this one.

In 2001, researchers discovered that Yellow Jackets (Vespula spp.) also carry off Trillium diaspores. It’s thought that the Yellow Jackets carry the diaspores even farther from the parent plant than ants. 

While I have yet to witness any ants or Yellow Jackets making off with diaspore, I love seeing all of the Trillium breaking ground. GO OUTSIDE! Go in the forest! Look for wildflowers. If you’re lucky (and find yourself around some rich soils), you might just get to see some TRILLIUM!  

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Cotterman, L., Waitt, D., Weakley, A. (2019). Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast. Timber Press.

Spira, T.P. (2011). Wildflowers and Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont: A Naturalist’s Guide to the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia. University of North Carolina Press. 

Zettler, J. A., Spira, T.P., & Allen, C.R. (2001). Yellow jackets (Vesplua spp.) disperse Trillium (spp.) seeds in eastern North America. The American Midland Naturalist, 145(2), 444-446.

Boogie Woogie Aphid

These fuzzy little dancers congregate on American Beech trees. This slow motion video shows them move around when I blew on them. 

They are also called Beech Blight Aphids (Grylloprociphilus imbricator) - but, I don’t very much care for that name as the aphids to not really cause the tree too much grief. They may harm the branch, but the tree will be fine.

What first caught my eye was the large black and white area on the ground. I’ve learned that this is sooty mold (Scorias spongiosa) - it grows on the honeydew deposited by the aphids. I am surprised it is the first time I have noticed this. I’ll have to keep an eye out from now on this time of year.  

Borneo Bound

My graduate program, Project Dragonfly (through Miami University of Ohio) chooses to take students to various corners of the world to share conservation success stories. These all share one component, community involvement.

The sites I saw in Borneo was both inspiring and terrifying, as you would expect. The biodiversity is awe-inspiring.

And the destruction is shocking. More than half of the island of Borneo (60%) is Oil Palm Plantation. This non-native mono-culture cannot sustain the native biodiversity. Oil Palm is impressively productive.

Unfortunately, the local people have worked to take full advantage of this crop, as people across the world often do; leaving very little natural habitats in-tact.

Fortunately, there are grass-roots armies scattered across the world, fighting to help natural environments sustain themselves.  My other blog posts on Borneo touches on some of these. I hope you enjoy them!

Borneo Bound - Danau Girang Field Centre

After Sandakan, we piled into vans before getting on boats again, headed for the remote field station, Danau Girang Field Centre.

One of the current research projects is studying Monitor Lizards. The pictures on the right show the traps and bait. The pictures on the bottom left show the landscape, much of which has been cleared. The pictures on the top right are a sampling of shots I took of an on-the-spot Palm Civet autopsy. Although the researches we were with are studying Monitor Lizards, there is another researcher who is studying Palm Civets. So, these researchers took time and used their supplies to gather data for a colleague. Teamwork!

Part of coursework included a self-guided study. My group chose to study butterfly diversity. Here is a sample of the species we saw. I will follow up with another post once I can confirm species names. One of the best parts of the study was watching Ben chase butterflies with the net.

We were offered the opportunity to climb a rather tall ladder at dawn to experience time in the treetops early in the morning. I jumped at the chance, of course. Oriental Pied-Hornbills crossed the river and flew out of sight. Squirrels ran busily around the branches. But, still it was calm.

This, of course, it just a sample of the things I saw and experienced here. I would be happy to regale you with stories in person. But, more than that, I recommend getting out there for your own adventures!

Borneo Bound - The Badass Women of HUTAN

HUTAN is an orangutan conservation group that has benefited from creating an army of locals scientists and all around devoted, inspired individuals dead set on protecting the natural environments of Borneo.

There are researchers who monitor orangutan populations, educators who teach local school children about the native wildlife and a small group of women who are amazingly replanting the rainforest, tree by tree.

It's hot. Really, really hot. And humid. So, humid. They have families; children to care for. They are covered head to toe as they are Muslim women, most wearing hijabs. But, none of that stops them. They set out, weed-whackers in hand and prepare the land before planting one tree at a time. They let us give it a try.

Their goal: Plant 3,000 trees each month; each and every month! Not only do they meet that goal, they often exceed it.

Next time you are feeling small or the fight seems too big; remember this small group of women who are replaning the rain forest in Borneo one tree at a time.

Borneo Bound - Sandakan School Days

While in Sandakan, each day of class had us meeting at a dock and setting off in boats in various directions. The daily commute was not terrible.

Not only did the Host Families support our coursework, the community introduced us to their customs and practices. We made fishing nets and weaved birds from palm fronds.

And, they taught us spin tops!

When not deliberately learning about the culture, it seeped in during our day to day activities. There are caves where multiple species of swiftlets nest. These are the nests that are harvested for Bird's Nest Soup, an expensive delicacy. The nests are harvested by climbing ladders that are held in place with a series of ropes. (The bird pictured below is a swallow, a relative of the swifts.)

There are both small and large caves. Pictured below is one of the larger caves that is home to swiftlets, bats, and all sorts of insects.

There are long term orangutan studies underway here, as well. Not surprising, it is difficult to see orangutans in the wild. They can hear us stomping along and slip away without us ever noticing. However, there is one mom and baby pair that has become accustomed to the researchers and let us observe them quietly.

Even though I was blown away by each of these sites, nothing effected me quite like the women of HUTAN. You will have to see the post on the "Badass Women of HUTAN" for more on that.

Borneo Bound - Sandakan Home Stay

This is where we met our new families! We would be spending our time here with Muslim host families; who took amazingly good care of us.  Momma Saloma made us feel right at home with tasty meals and rides to and from school each day.  She even left us notes in our lunch.

On our last night with our Sandakan family, they dressed us up for a farewell celebration. Thanks for all the love and support, Momma Saloma!