In a previous post Anatomy of a Flower, I explained what the basic structure of a flower is. In this post, I introduce a variation on this basic plan, the daisy. The typical shape of a daisy is that of a wheel, where the spokes are represented by the petals. The…
Summer is now in full gear here in Delaware County. Most trees and shrubs such as crabapples, lilacs, cherries and mock-oranges are done with flowering. Many roses have finished their first flush. A notable exception are the hydrangeas, which are now beginning to bloom. Many perennials are in full flower…
I was walking through a garden this week and noticed that the meadow-rue (Thalictrum) was stripped of leaves, pictured below. The culprits were still at the scene, very striking caterpillars, pictured above. These are caterpillars of the Canadian Owlet (Calyptra canadensis), which, as an adult, is a very plain brown moth.…
I was walking through my garden and saw this poppy flower. The petals had fallen off and the underlying structure of the flower was quite visible. Flowers are the sex organs of plants, and the variations in their form are myriad and wonderful. Some flowers have male parts, some have…
The Red-Spotted Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) is a salamander which is very common in Delaware County. It hatches from eggs laid in the water in the spring and lives its first life stage as a tadpole-like aquatic form breathing through gills. In late summer, this tadpole-like stage develops into an eft,…
Temperatures have risen in Delaware County, and, now that the nights are warmer, many more insects are active. Two newcomers came to my back porch light this week. The first newcomer is a large fly, Tipula caloptera, pictured above. This one was almost 2 inches long! Like a housefly, and…
In a previous post, I asked the question why there are no magnolias in Europe. Magnolias are found here in eastern North America and fossils tell us that they were once part of the forests of Europe, but now they are found only in North America; the European magnolias are extinct.…
With the recent warm weather, the insects of Delaware County are beginning to fly about. Among the many bugs attracted to my back porch light last night, one of the most common and conspicuous was the orange-brown wasp pictured left. This critter may look dangerous because it is a wasp,…
The recent freezes have done damage to some plants, but many survive with no more than cosmetic damage! Why? How? During the winter, many plant tissues dry out to the bare minimum; if their cells retained the water, the cells would explode when the water in the cells freezes and…
The recent freezes have done damage to some plants, but many survive with no more than cosmetic damage! Why? How? During the winter, many plant tissues dry out to the bare minimum; if their cells retained the water, the cells would explode when the water in the cells freezes and…
