Humble Pie

If I were a hummingbird migrating South for winter, say wanting to go South from Florida, I would totally check out Puerto Rico this time of year. Last weekend as I was walking up the road collecting plants in my press I noticed many flowers were tubular in form and red in color. Whilst merrily strolling and collecting, two small birds swooped to a nearby, overhead branch. The playful birds jumped back and forth through the varying strata of the hibiscus tree's crown, chirping happily as I watched. I stepped lightly towards the tree overhanging the road, as to not alarm, in attempt to glimpse these darting little buggers. Unexpectedly, one bird perched on a branch only 20 feet away at which time I was able to make out an emerald green body, red throat, and long beak. Now I am no ornithologist, but those characters match nicely with hummingbirds I've seen.

Hummingbird? (center of picture)

Hummingbirds? Tubular, red flowers? Duh! It fits so nicely. Hummingbirds are migrating south for the winter and they arrive in PR just in time for the tubular red flowers blooming. 

Neorudolphia volubilis

After leaving the blithe birds to their affairs and continuing on my own blissful botanical promenade, I savored my astuteness for taking two observations, random pieces of the ecological puzzle, and fitting them together so soundly. 'Over the course of millennia, hummingbirds have selected for those flowers blooming in fall,' I thought.  'How marvelous! I'm a scientist!' I reassured, myself. 

Ipomoea sp.

Continuing to appreciate my surroundings, I climbed to the top of a Buchenavia tetraphylla, a separate topic of discovery, before returning the way I came. I passed some blooming Impoea sitting in a Callophyllum calaba: Supporting evidence that the abundance of red flowers, surely correlates to presence of the hummingbirds.  The hummingbirds were long gone by the time I reached the hibiscus they were perched in. Further down the road collected some hibiscus flowers to replace the previous collection destroyed by mold. Close by I spotted a large Clusea rosea flowering and decided to scramble up the steep uphill road embankment in sandals immediately after a downpour. Needless to say, it was a muddy blunder. The ferns covering the embankment had prickles, too. During the brief ascent, I was thankful for Puerto Rico's lack of poisonous snakes and insects, otherwise my body would have likely been found in an embarrassingly conspicuous lump next to the road. As it happens, I retrieved a Clusia specimen and uneventfully arrived back at the field station.

Hoping to impress one of my fellow volunteers with a picture of the hummingbird mentioned earlier, I hastily uploaded the digital images of my excursion.

Ravenia urbanii

"Hey Gordon, the image is sort of poor quality, but check out this picture of a hummingbird I saw on my walk. Do you know what kind it is?"

I began to turn my computer around so he could view the photo, identify the species of hummingbird, whereupon I would divulge my splendid observation and conclusion.

"That's not a hummingbird. It's a tody," said Gordon with all the tact of a teacher to their kindergarten student.

Hirtella rugosa (I've witnessed hummingbirds visit these flowers)

Like I said, I'm no ornithologist. Of course, the tody had been mentioned by everyone I work with at least once, yet I assumed it to be something completely different. Based on this assumption, I synthesized an explanation out relatively little information and my ignorance got the better of me. My idea was completely drained of merit after Seth, a recent masters student, mentioned he was pretty sure migrating hummingbirds don’t really stop at Puerto Rico.

Clusia rosea

After checking in a couple bird books, I was comforted to know the emerald-throated hummingbird does migrate to the northern Bahamas and Puerto Rico, albeit rarely. If mid October does have significantly higher number of plants with red tubular blooms, it is not likely connected to the southern migration of hummingbirds. If it weren’t for a healthy helping of humble pie now and then, the Sun could still be orbiting a 7,000 year old Earth that never hosted dinosaurs. 

more pictures here

El Verde field Station and Immediate Environs

From top to Bottom:

• Uphill from the field station (El Verde), a creek crosses beneath the road. This is the view from the uphill side of the bridge. A waterfall is just upstream from the road that replenishes a sizable swimming hole. When the water is high, you can jump off the rocks. Downstream from the bridge water tumbles and falls down rocks and boulders to a series of more pools, the deepest and largest is the lowest. A species of Clusia grows among the rocks and I was happy to discover a passion-vine with fruits alongside the forest edge. The passion-fruits were not ripe, but I had to sample them. Very Sour. Yes, that is the ocean in the distance.
• This picture was taken from the field station's driveway on my return from collecting plants along Rt 186. I made it back just in time before a down pour.
• This picture are the living quarters. The building is shaped like an "S" in block letters. There are two kitchens, one of which with tables to comfortably fit 12 people sitting on benches. There are Gentlemen and Lady quarters that can sleep 10-12 people each, colloquially called "the Man Cave" and "Lady-Lair," respectively.
• The last picture shows the "science" portion of the field station housing offices, conference room, herbarium/insectarium, drying rooms and supply rooms. The van is named Giselle (sp?). She takes us to town for shopping and more importantly, to our field sites to measure trees.

See more pictures here.

Filling the Void

I realize I haven't been posting anything in a while, which surely devastates those four of you who sparingly visit this page. I deleted my facebook account because it is evil: It is my hope that transitioning to flickr and this blog will fill the resulting void. The format in which pictures are posted on this blog displeases me. Until I get around to formatting the html, this flickr account will have to suffice. The picture quality is probably better there anyhow...I'm doing you a favor.

This doesn't necessarily have to do with plants, but there are pictures of plants on the flickr site. I will probably make a set; the equivalent of an album on facebook for you facebook drones. That's right I'm not capitalizing facebook, and yes, I'm calling you a drone. It'll catch on.

Anywho, more plant stuff to come. In the meantime, enjoy pictures from my strange life.

a fly on the watch

Earlier this week, I found myself in the field surrounded by sagebrush with more galls than I’ve ever previously seen. It seemed every plant had at least 50 to 100 small grape-sized galls. Their reddish and green color scheme had been bleached by the sun, turning them a sallow gray, their texture noticeably drier and almost papery compared to a month earlier. While going about my work, I was unconsciously brushing numerous flies away from my clip-board, arm and face, and each time, getting progressively agitated. One fly, haughty enough to land on my arm, met his demise right before I pieced together the blatant reason for abundance: Lots of galls! Those flies sure had some gall(s)…sorry I couldn’t resist. It would seem the onset of summer initiates the emergence of the flies, ending any exogenous chemical contribution from insect to plant maintaining the gall structure, which would explain their physical change. Of course, that’s just my guess. Sounds convincing enough…but why was that location overrun with so many galls?

 (one of the pestering flies)

(this is a really tall sagebrush. the pole in the picture is 1M long)

Sagebrush Galls

The image of a solemn cowboy silhouetted against a setting sun with sagebrush as a stalwart companion dominates our conception of the West. The landscape is dominated by sagebrush, or Artemisia spp. A member of the sunflower family, this genus has astonishing adaptations that allow it to thrive in torrid summers and frigid winters. Initial encounters with this genus reveal its conspicuous, rather intense, fragrance. Physiological attributes aside, Artemisia is a vital player in range ecology: it is a main component of the desert climax communities, is a food source and protective cover for wildlife, contributes to the structural diversity of the vegetative landscape, and has the potential to provide microhabitat to support invertebrate life.

Abnormal growths along branches and leaves became apparent to me as I struggled to comprehend the numerous species and subspecies of this shrub. Some galls looked like an earthen red and green versions of a cheerleader’s pom-pom. Others had similar coloration, but were tumorous in shape with a smooth epidermis, their interior the color of brown sugar and cottony-fibrous texture. The center of these galls revealed a small larva and confirmed my assumption that they were insect-induced.

Although Fronk et al. (1964) identified four different dipterous species in Wyoming that produce Artemisia galls, there are seven in total. These galls are magnets for of other insects including beetles, Hemiptera species (not true insects) and Lepidoptera species; all were observed over-wintering in the galls. Of course, there are also parasitic wasps drawn to the galls deposit their eggs in the galling larvae.

In 2000, Sanver and Bradford compiled information from published journals on inquiline (organism that derives benefit from gall tissue and not necessarily the larva it contains) communities: Unlike the concepts of diversity or abundance that tend to positively correlate with proximity to the equator, the highest gall frequencies occur in temperature regions with harsh climates. Southern Idaho matches that description perfectly. In Arizona, Ferdinand and Price (1988), observed increased galling occurring in hot dry areas compared to riparian areas of the same latitude and altitude

None of the information I perused mentioned Artemisia species and sub-species hosting specific insects or galls that would make identification easier, but Floate et al (1996) did show three Chrysothamnus nauseosus sub-species were able to be identified with gall characters more effectively than by plant morphology. If only sagebrush species had such a diagnostic tool, seasonal range/bio. techs like myself, would have a much easier time collecting data in the field. The host specificity of insects on Chrysothamnus nauseosus (recently renamed Ericameria nauseosa) may be evidence of a diverging population right  before our eyes. Possible reproductive and physiological changes in the host plant caused by these galls and their insects could act as a selection pressure resulting in further speciation.

That is cool to think about. So, with all the sagebrush species and their sub-species, it makes me wonder if they are converging or diverging. My boss is confident they are diverging. However, could climate change cause previously diverging groups to overlap in range, hybridize, outbreed and reconnect gene pools? Sounds like a nice research project.

 

 

Fernanded, G. Wilson, and Price, Peter W. 1988. Biogeographical Gradients in Galling Species Richness. Tests of Hypotheses Oecologia, Vol. 76, No. 2 (1988), pp. 161-167Published

Floate, K.D., Fernandes, Wilson G., Nilsson, Jan A.. 1996. Distinguishing Intrapopulational Categories of Plants by Their Insect Faunas: Galls on Rabbitbrush Oecologia, Vol. 105, No. 2 (1996), pp. 221-229

Fronk, W.D., Beete, A.A., and Fullerton, D.G. 1964. Dipterous galls on Artemisia tridentate complex and Insects associated with them. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 57: 575-577.

Sanver, Dilek and Hawkins, Bradford A. 2000. Galls as habitats: the inquiline communities of insect galls. Basic Appl. Ecol. 1, 3–11.

I realize my last post was a while ago. My excuse is preparation for a road trip to Idaho. I’m in Idaho now and trying to get into a routine of posting on a basis as regular as I can manage. Before my trip, I was also in the process of helping my parents, primarily my mother, design and implement changes to their backyard. The yard’s dimensions are about 50 by 65 feet with a garage that takes up about a fifth of that space. Throughout my memory of the backyard only a few of aspects are constant: the sidewalk leading to the garage, three dwarf Canadian hemlocks, and the red bench next to the west fence.

My mother was keen on having something that she called an “outdoor room” that involved a pergola. Other than that stipulation I was free to design (I use that word very loosely) a new backyard and garden as I pleased. I think a garden should be, in order of importance, environmentally sound, nutritive, and aesthetically pleasing.

By environmentally sound, I mean using native plants suited for your climate as to reduce anthropogenic watering and fertilizing, while providing habitat and/or forage for wildlife. The more structural and biotic heterogeneity in your garden, the more hospitable it becomes for certain wildlife. Well, in this case, more layers of vegetation are best suited for providing shelter for avian critters. Obviously, some birds prefer open fields and fewer vertically oriented vegetative impediments. Given the location of this backyard and its urban setting more canopy layers suit the birds of the area, but any plant assemblage can be created to attract the desired wildlife. Specifically, for this backyard garden, I wanted the changes to increase carbon sequestration.

Creating a garden to be “environmentally sound” doesn’t exclude its ability to grow food. Perhaps some sacrifice on the side of environmental integrity must be made in the name of food production, but too often are humans removed from the notion of being natural. Humans are natural and the fact we are conscious of it makes us a very special part of nature. Plus, we are not the only living thing to modify their environment to suit survival requirements. At least in temperate areas, berries and nut trees can provide healthy, native sources of food for humans and wildlife. Of course, traditional garden veggies can also be grown more sustainably by using organic gardening practices and planting heirloom vegetables bred for your climate. Enough can’t be said for compost.

Different folks have different ideas about what is aesthetically pleasing and that will ultimately dictate what a garden will look like. Lawns have been popular for far too long. They are like parasites that have lodged themselves in the brain of homeowners across North America and instruct their hosts to feed them. The low functionality of lawns is probably the reason why I’m vehemently against them. Sure, you can have barbeques on a lawn and run without the worry of tripping over anything, but not terribly useful otherwise. Besides, most places have parks and other public places where such needs can be met without sacrificing the potential of your own property. We fertilize lawns to grow, but we don’t want them to grow too much so we cut them. After patches of grass die, instead of letting them produce their own seed to fill in bare spots for free, we go out to the store to buy seed. We then spend money on water for growing the seed and the grass. Michael Pollen’s words are more eloquent than mine when it comes to the inanity of grass and lawns. My point is, don’t fall into the trap of conformity. By a gardening magazine, Google images of garden styles you fancy. Develop a garden that suits your tastes and your lifestyle.

Consider how much maintenance you want to invest in a garden. For most, the less work the better. Nearly all gardens, including those consisting of natives will require regular care until establishment, weeding, the occasional trim, staking, etc. In most cases, less lawn equals less work. One option for maintenance is absolutely nothing, which rewards the onlooker with the phenomenon of succession.

Unfortunately, this is not a popular idea and doesn’t always appease my garden criteria. So I set to work looking for a nursery that sold native plants and to my surprise, there was only one within a reasonable distance. In fact it was a small native plant nursery called Fiddlehead Creek Nursery that has a very informative website and a fair amount of stock to choose from. Using the plants the nursery had in stock that fit the site conditions, the backyard renovation plan started to gain momentum.

To increase sunlight It was agreed upon by my family that one of the Canadian Hemlocks would be cut down along with the two invasive Norway maples. The two maples being cut down had grown rapidly to a height of over three stories after a mature hemlock overshadowing them was removed for fear of falling on our garage. Because of their proximity and apparent preference to fall near power lines, I nimbly ascended to the canopy to limb the maples. After my aerobatic arborescent maneuvering the trees were truncated to a size safe enough to avoid electrical damage. The Canadian hemlock slated to be cut acted as a cushion for the falling maples. When the maple branches were cleared, it was time to cut the dwarf hemlock. It was a little sad because the tree had been there throughout my childhood and my mothers. I wound up counting approximately 76 rings! Good ol’ tree. The maple was a third that age. With the trees gone and stumps removed an image of the garden to be emerged. Sunlight was introduced to a part of the yard that hasn’t had it in years.

While cutting down the Norway maple and Canadian hemlock created a new space for the desired outdoor room, it also destroyed two significant carbon sinks. To mitigate this loss, I would obviously need to plant woody species. The outdoor room would increase the privacy of my parents’ backyard and woody species were ideal. A couple other strategically placed small trees would, in a few years, enclose the backyard nicely. An American Hazelnut and a chokeberry met the size and soil requirements as well as my three garden ideals. Although they are not native, I proposed planting two cherry trees (Prunus cerasus) and a Honey Crisp Apple tree (my favorite kind of apple). They are moderate growers that will be really fun to have around, especially after about five years when they can start producing fruit.

Purple flowering raspberries and elderberries (both native) were also selected to quickly fill in lower vegetative layers, while the woody species became established. The raspberry can be staked to aid in giving it shape, which will hopefully blend effectively with the elderberries. The rest of the garden is self-explanatory from the diagram. The area of grass was decreased significantly by rototilling then mulching. Raised beds were to be put in one of the sunniest locations of the yard. Eventually, a butterfly garden will be put. I estimate it will take 10 years for garden to grow into what I and my mother envision. In the interim, elderberries, raspberries, the raised beds and an established grape vine will keep my parents occupied with making jellies, jams, tasty salads, and hopefully wine!

See attached drawing of the new layout here!

Fossils at Mine Kill State Park.

Tuesday I decided to take a trip down to Gilboa, NY with an old friend. Driving up the Schoharie Creek is very pretty. The valley becomes more dramatic as you head south and towards the Catskills. Shale cliffs emerge on the mountainsides and thoughts of fossils strike your imagination. The drive also exhibits debris from high waters and destruction from tropical storm Irene.

We eventually stopped at Mine Kill State Park to explore. The park itself is not that interesting and sits across the river from the hydroelectric plant and HUGE electrical wires. Not picturesque. Although, there were some huge tulip trees and the biggest shag-bark hickory I've ever seen. After making our way down towards the river, we started our search. Nothing in the river bed, but the cliffs made for some interesting finds.

Who invited tomatoes to the salad party?

I’m a little embarrassed to be working at a local restaurant, but human life is unfortunately motivated and lubricated with money. Regrettably, I am no exception to the laws of economics and need some capital for advancement of my botanical pursuits. Although restaurants may not be the most interesting place for the aspiring naturalist, they can inspire some questions.

Before I go further, let me define my use of the word “vegetable.” In horticulture a vegetable is typically a plant that is used in salads or snacks and a fruit is a plant that is consumed for a snack or desert (and is typically considered sweet, sugary). You may be interested to know that Congress passed a law calling tomatoes a vegetable so a tax can be applied to them, but that’s a different topic. Opposed to horticultural terms, a fruit in botanical terms is more or less the structure resulting from sexual reproduction. In my experience with botany, the term vegetable doesn’t really exist; rather vegetative refers to somatic cells and organs not pertaining to reproduction. The definitions are pretty close, but I just wanted to distinguish them. I’ll be referring to vegetables in the horticultural sense and despite tomatoes’ vegetable status, deep down refuse to think they are anything but fruits.

My restaurant duties include making salads. 80% of the salads I make require romaine lettuce and 90% require tomato. Tomatoes are New World (aka the Americas) plants that have somehow insinuated their way into traditional Italian cuisine. I’ve always been amazed with that. Someplace I remember reading that the first colonists refused to eat tomatoes because they were red and thought they were poisonous; a prejudice that still exists in somefolks. Red fruits and vegetables…a whole other can of worms I may open at a later date.

As I am ruminating the adoption of tomatoes by Italian culture and slicing tomatoes for salads in the restaurant, it hits me: How did tomatoes get into salads? Is romaine lettuce a New World plant? What about other common salad characters like radishes, arugula, cucumber, onion, carrots?

It’s not hard to understand why salads exist. Humans are omnivores, we eat an array of vegetables matter, some have more or different nutrients than others, eating these different types separately is kind of silly, so throw them together in the right proportions to get the right amount of nutrients in one location, and badda-bing-badda-boom. Salad.

Humans have always been keen on travelling and in so doing have allowed the introduction and exchange of lots of cultivated vegetables. It is not hard to fathom that cucumbers originating in India, radishes from Eastern Europe, arugula from southwest Asia, carrots- Europe/Asia, romaine lettuce from the Mediterranean, all made in into the same bowl. Onions, interestingly enough, have wild species native to New and Old Worlds, so it is no wonder they are one of the usual salad-suspects. Who invited the tomato?!Was it placed in salad before it was thrown into the pot for sauce? Or did someone want their vitamin C without going through the trouble of cooking vegetable and simply added it "raw" to their leafy greens? It is likely globalization has simply expanded the variety of vegetables we can put in our salads.

What we need to be concerned with is the actual nutrition of these salads. Salads probably resulted because they provided a balanced nutrients and diet. With the addition and subtraction of certain vegies, we should make sure these exchanges maintain nutritional content. A salad should not be considered healthy only because it is vegetables. Without proper components a salad may have the nutritional equivalent to rice cakes; it may be tasty, but lacking in other key dietetic elements. I'm not really sure this is a problem. This paragraph is mostly me thinking out loud. I’m not a nutritionist, but it seems like a valid concern, and easily remedied problem (if it even is a problem).

What is a problem is the amount of food wasted by restaurants. What I would consider fit for consumption, for example the proximal ends of romaine lettuce, is thrown out at the restaurant I work at. This is just one example, but if you were to sort the garbage at any given restaurant, you'd notice what I'm talking about. I will stop here before it this paragraph turns into a ramble.

This website was cited on some of the Wikipedia articles I read. I’ve used it before for some research projects. You can compare countries’ agricultural products by downloading spreadsheets and graphs among other things. You’re smart, you’ll figure it out. http://faostat.fao.org/site/567/default.aspx#ancor

This is a strange website I stumbled upon. I don’t like they way these folks are looking at me: http://www.dole.com/#/superkids/

Wikipedia provided me with a lot of the information on the origins of the vegies mentioned above FYI.

Plants, Rock.

Oh boy, I’ve been slacking off a lot lately. To compensate for my inactivity on this blog I’m going to try and post a lot over this next week.

A couple years ago I was at my parent’s house for a couple days during the summer. In their kitchen sat a light colored rock. After closer inspection, I determined it was obviously a fossil. It looked like a ridged cylindrical limestone. Remembering back to my morphology and evolution of vascular plants class, I thought this fossil closely resembled an extinct genus Calamites, essentially a giant horsetail. The end of the fossil was broken and showed what looked like a cross-section of radial vascular tissue. A couple months later I took the fossil, which turned out to be my cousin’s, to college to confirm or deny my suspicion. I was so excited about the potential of this rock being Calamites because it was found near my cousin’s house on the Helderberg Plateau of NY, whose rock dates back to before the known fossil record for Calamites.

Despite a botany professor agreeing with my identification, a geology professor promptly dismissed the fossil as the fairly common rugose coral…not even a plant. Oh well, no reevaluation of plant evolutionary time-scale for me. I knew the Helderberg Plateau was a sea floor at one time, but was hoping it was also adjacent to a terrestrial environment, which would increase the probability of Calamites fossilization.

Since then my interest in fossils has remained peripheral, probably because of their scarcity. Luckily, there is a fossil forest south of the Helderbergs. In fact, it was featured in a recent article of Nature. Gilboa, NY is home to a quarry where loads of plant fossils have been found. In the study, Stein et al (2012) identified three types of arborescent trees within their 1,200m2 study site. The pseudosporochnalean genus Eospermatopteris is the predominate fossil of the study site and is characterized by a bulbous root mounds short-lived leaves. The aneurophytalean Tetraxylopteris was identified through analysis of vascular tissue and “orthostichous knobs.” Additional aneurophytalean rhizomes where found terminating at the base of Eospermatopteris possibly indicating using a climbing habit. The third tree-like plant that was found at the site was identified as an ancient club moss, which extended the known range of these plants.

Archaeopteridalean plants found close by, but not in the research plot, indicate a fourth type of ancient tree. These plants are the first to show bifacial cambium growth and were thought to have marked a new type of forest distinct from Eospermatopteris. However, this study refutes that notion because of the proximity and lithologies of both types of fossils. These ancient forests also have implications for understanding ancient atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide levels and temperatures.

I think I may try to find of these fossils. Don’t worry, I’m leaving my dynamite and rock hammers at home...

…I don’t actually have dynamite…yet.

Stein, W.E., Berry, C.M., Hernick, L.V., and Mannolini, F. 2012. Surprisingly complex community discovered in the mid-Devonian fossil forest at Gilboa. Nature, 7387: 78-81.

what I wanted to know more about at the dentist's...

I apologize for not posting last week. I would make an excuse about being busy, but what’s the point? As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago I was interested in curare. Of all the phytochemicals useful to humankind, curare is, perhaps, most important to modern surgery. I vaguely remember going under or waking up from anesthesia as before or after getting my wisdom teeth out. I don't know what gave gave me to knock me out...I think I asked them (before I may have made a joke about breast implants?) but I think they told me I wouldn't remember anyways... I'm hoping it was something similar to curare.

Native Amazonians, presumably through trial and error, found a poison that renders its victim dead after it enters the bloodstream. Although they were likely using this poison for thousands of years, western culture became fascinated with it and took centuries to isolate the causal chemical. During the course of the chemical’s elucidation, people like Condamine, Humbolt, Waterton, Sir Walter Raleigh, were among the naturalists and explorers who documented or collected plants used in the preparation of the arrow poison. Slews of scientists experimented, but Sir Henry Dale followed by Otto Loewl determined it must be similar to acetyl-choline. In fact, the chemical inhibits the neurotransmitter acetyl-choline by binding to its target site. The result is relaxation of motor neurons and the diaphragm, which can result in death (1).

Obviously, the chemical is called curare, but it warrants a little disambiguation. The arrow poison developed by Amazonian Indians was/is made with several adjuvants. The entire concoction has come to be known as curare, but only one chemical (or one of its derivatives) are responsible for inducing a paralyzed state. The alkaloid d-tubocurarine, which causes paralysis is produced by species Strychnos (Loganaceae) and Chondrodendron (Menispermaceae). d-tubocurarine is commonly called curare (2).

Okay. So that was brief, brief explanation of what curare is and where it comes from. Clinical experiments with pure forms of d-tubocurarine were eventually shown to have no negative effects on patients and went on to be the standard for anesthetics (1). This excerpt from Griffiths and Johnson’s 1942 description of clinical curare use perfectly describes the wonder-drug potential: “Under cyclopropane anesthesia, relaxation of the anal sphincter was unsatisfactory. Immediately after the administration of 5c.c. Intocostrin [d-tubocurarine], complete relaxation was obtained, and the operation was easily performed (4).”

As I mentioned, curare, the arrow-poison, was from the Amazon. However, ethnobotanists have also found arrow poisons used by African and Southeast Asian tribes containing similar chemical constituents (3). Strychnos species take on a few different habits like lianas, climbing shrubs or even small trees. Depending where you are in the tropical world, the bark or roots may be used to extract poison. In the Amazon, after a little processing, the poison would be applied to darts for hunting. The meat of an animal contaminated with poison can ingested because the poison is not absorbed through the digestive tract! So cool!

Stuff Cited:

(1)Lee, M.R. 2005. Curare: the South American arrow poison. J R Coll Physicians Edinburgh 35:83-92

(2)Philippe, G., Angenot, L., Tits, M., & Frederich, M. 2004. About the toxicity of some Strychnos species and their alkaloids. Toxicon 44: 405-416.

(3) Philippe, G., & Angenot, L. 2005. Recent developments in the field of arrow and dart poisons. J. Ethnopharmacology 100: 85-91.

(4)Griffith, H.R. & Johnson, G.E. 1945. The use of curare in general anesthesia.

219 Species

So I finally mounted a ton of the plant's I've collected. They are listed below in alphabetical order by family. Mounted are 219 species. The notebook I record my collections in lists 242 collections. The reason for the discrepancy in numbers is a lost notebook. My first 151 collections were recorded with date, location, ecological settings and plant characters that might disappear with drying. Unfortunately, the second notebook I lost also contained all of this information. Many the labels on my collections are missing at least a date. I can pretty accurately remember where I collected and general ecological conditions, which I think is common.

I just felt like posting this because I'm relieved to have gotten this task out of my hair. From now on, after collecting a plant, I'm going to I.D. it as quickly as possible and write up labels. I'm also going to take care to hold on to those precious notebooks-they contain too much valuable information too loose.

If you find any spelling errors please let me know.

Collection Number	Plant Name	Family
199	Dicliptera sexangularis	Acanthaceae
175	Sesuvium maritimum	Aizoaceae
51	Alisma subcordatum	Alismataceae
132	Alteranthera flavescens	Amaranthaceae
189	Schinus terebinthifolius	Anacardiaceae
155	Toxicodendron radicans	Anacardiaceae
1	Angelica lucida	Apiaceae
45	Angelica lucida	Apiaceae
41	Daucus carota	Apiaceae
138	Catharanthus roseus	Apocynaceae
213	Sarcostemma clausum	Apocynaceae
73	Vinca minor	Apocynaceae
80	Arisaema triphyllum	Araceae
118	Achillea millefolium ssp. Lanulosa	Asteraceae
118	Achillea millefolium ssp. lanulosa	Asteraceae
11	Antennaria howellii	Asteraceae
105	Balsamorhiza sagittata	Asteraceae
176	Borrichia frutescens	Asteraceae
131	Chrysothamnus nauseosus var. albicaulis	Asteraceae
129	Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus var. viscidiflorus	Asteraceae
30	Cichorium intybus	Asteraceae
209	Cirsium horridum	Asteraceae
126	Crepis acuminata	Asteraceae
153	Emilia fosbergii	Asteraceae
3	Erigeron philladelphicus	Asteraceae
98	Erigeron pumilus var. gracilior	Asteraceae
91	Erigeron spp.	Asteraceae
198	Erigeron spp.	Asteraceae
170	Eupatorium serotinum	Asteraceae
122	Iva axillaris	Asteraceae
204	Mikania scandens	Asteraceae
204	Mikania scandens	Asteraceae
204	Mikania scandens	Asteraceae
181	Pluchea carolinensis	Asteraceae
208	Pluchea carolinensis	Asteraceae
208	Pluchea carolinensis	Asteraceae
202	Pluchea foetida	Asteraceae
214	Sphagneticola trilobata	Asteraceae
178	Sesuvium portulacastrum	Azioaceae
43	Impatiens capensis	Balsaminaceae
102	Hackelia micrantha	Boraginaceae
140	Heliotropium angiospermum	Boraginaceae
177	Heliotropium curassavicum	Boraginaceae
169	Heliotropium polyphyllum	Boraginaceae
107	Lithospermum ruderale	Boraginaceae
235	Mertensia maritima var. maritima	Boraginaceae
100	Mertensia spp.	Boraginaceae
100	Mertensia spp.	Boraginaceae
13	Myosotis laxa	Boraginaceae
92	Allysum desertorum	Brassicaceae
37	Berteroa incana	Brassicaceae
37	Berteroa incana	Brassicaceae
237	Cakile edentula	Brassicaceae
104	Erysimum spp.	Brassicaceae
139	Lepidium virginicum	Brassicaceae
152	Tillandsia usneoides	Bromelliaceae
195	Opuntia humifusa	Cactaceae
21	Campanula rotundifolia	Campanulaceae
154	Lobelia feayana	Campanulaceae
27	Lonicera canadensis	Caprifoliaceae
16	Cerastium spp.	Caryophyllaceae
127	Silene douglasii var. douglasii	Caryophyllaceae
15	Stellaria graminea	Caryophyllaceae
39	Hypericum perforatum	Clusiaceae
33	Commelina communis	Commelinaceae
57	Clintonia borealis	Convallariaceae
26	Maianthemum canadense	Convallariaceae
219	Maianthemum canadense	Convallariaceae
225	Medeola virginiana	Convallariaceae
10	Calystegia sepium	Convolvulaceae
188	Ipomoea alba	Convolvulaceae
161	Ipomoea indica	Convolvulaceae
183	Ipomoea indica	Convolvulaceae
212	Ipomoea wrightii	Convolvulaceae
185	Momordica charantia	Cucurbitaceae
186	Momordica charantia	Cucurbitaceae
226	Eriophorum vaginatum var. spissum	Cyperaceae
171	Rhynchospora colorata	Cyperaceae
238	Drosera rotundifolia	Droseraceae
63	Dryopteris intermedia	Dryopteridaceae
63	Dryopteris intermedia	Dryopteridaceae
79	Polystichum braunii	Dryopteridaceae
120	Equisetum hyemale	Equisetaceae
228	Chamaedaphne calyulata var. angustifolia	Ericaceae
231	Kalmia angustifolia	Ericaceae
220	Unidentified	Ericaceae
229	Vaccinium macrocarpum	Ericaceae
230	Vaccinium macrocarpum	Ericaceae
172	Chamaesyce hyssopifolia	Euphorbiaceae
150	Poinsettia cyathophora	Euphorbiaceae
192	Erythrina herbacea	Fabaceae
234	Lathyrus japonicus	Fabaceae
234	Lathyrus japonicus	Fabaceae
234	Lathyrus japonicus	Fabaceae
179	Rynchosia michauxii	Fabaceae
147	Rynchosia minima	Fabaceae
7	Viccia cracca	Fabaceae
148	Vicia acutifolia	Fabaceae
222	Corydalis sempervirens	Fumariaceae
174	Sabatia grandiflora	Gentianaceae
180	Sabatia stellaris	Gentianaceae
117	Geranium richardsonii	Geraniaceae
18	Geranium robertanium	Geraniaceae
159	Scaevola plumieri	Goodeniaceae
207	Scaevola teccada var. taccada	Goodeniaceae
52	Hemerocallis fulva	Hemerocallidaceae
232	Iris versicolor	Iridaceae
173	Sisyrinchium angustifolium	Iridaceae
89	Sisyrinchium atlanticum	Iridaceae
90	Zigadenus venenosus	Liliaceae
141	Mentzelia floridana	Loasaceae
241	Lycopodium annotinum	Lycopodiaceae
242	Lycopodium obscurum	Lycopodiaceae
142	Ammannia latifolia	Lythraceae
48	Althaea offincinalis	Malvaceae
136	Gossypium hirsutum	Malvaceae
216	Malvaviscus penduliflorus	Malvaceae
149	Sida acuta	Malvaceae
135	Sida rhombifolia	Malvaceae
58	Monotropa uniflora	Monotropaceae
233	Monotropa uniflora	Monotropaceae
190	Ficus aurea	Moraceae
210	Callistemon viminale	Myrtaceae
128	Epilobium latifolium	Onagraceae
121	Epilobium paniculata var. jucundum	Onagraceae
151	Guara angustifolia	Onagraceae
160	Oenothera humifusa	Onagraceae
223	Cypridium acaule	Orchidaceae
163	Eulophia graminea	Orchidaceae
201	Oxalis debilis var. corymbosa	Oxalidaceae
25	Oxalis montana	Oxalidaceae
2	Chelideonium majus	Papaveraceae
164	Passiflora suberosa	Passifloriaceae
47	Plantago major	Plantaginaceae
236	Plantago maritima	Plantaginaceae
236	Plantago maritima	Plantaginaceae
115	Agropyron intermedium	Poaceae/Gramineae
112	Agropyron spicatum	Poaceae/Gramineae
191	Cenchrus gracillimus	Poaceae/Gramineae
114	Poa nevadensis	Poaceae/Gramineae
93	Sitaniona hystrix	Poaceae/Gramineae
93	Sitaniona hystrix	Poaceae/Gramineae
119	Gilia aggregata var. aggregata	Polemoniaceae
97	Phlox hoodii	Polemoniaceae
95	Phlox longifolia	Polemoniaceae
125	Phlox pulvinata	Polemoniaceae
184	Coccoloba uvifera	Polygonaceae
116	Eriogonum umbelatum var. umbelatum	Polygonaceae
62	Polypodium virginianum	Polypodiaceae
64	Polypodium virginianum	Polypodiaceae
65	Polypodium virginianum	Polypodiaceae
146	Portulaca oleracea	Portulacaceae
145	Portulaca pilosa	Portulacaceae
44	Lysimachia ciliata	Primulaceae
156	Samolus ebracteatus	Primulaceae
227	Trientalis borealis	Primulaceae
66	Pellaea atropurpurea	Pteridaceae
67	Pellaea atropurpurea	Pteridaceae
69	Pellaea atropurpurea	Pteridaceae
12	Anemone canadensis	Ranunculaceae
75	Anemone quinquefolia	Ranunculaceae
6	Aquilegia canadensis	Ranunculaceae
96	Delphinium depauperatum	Ranunculaceae
70	Hepatica nobilis	Ranunculaceae
72	Hepatica nobilis	Ranunculaceae
14	Argentina anserine	Rosaceae
111	Chamaebatiaraia millefolium	Rosaceae
5	Fragaria vesca	Rosaceae
86	Fragaria vesca	Rosaceae
224	Potentilla simplex	Rosaceae
107	Purshia tridentata	Rosaceae
28	Rubus hispidus	Rosaceae
42	Rubus odoratus	Rosaceae
166	Ernodea littoralis	Rubiaceae
8	Galium palustre	Rubiaceae
4	Houstonia caerulea	Rubiaceae
221	Houstonia caerulea	Rubiaceae
240	Houstonia caerulea	Rubiaceae
205	Pyschotria nervosa	Rubiaceae
215	Randia aculeata	Rubiaceae
197	Spermacoce spp.	Rubiaceae
167	Zanthoxylum fagara	Rutaceae
84	Salix rigida	Salicaceae
88	Salix rigida	Salicaceae
165	Dondonaea viscosa	Sapindaceae
193	Dondonaea viscosa	Sapindaceae
206	Dondonaea viscosa	Sapindaceae
109	Lithophragma parviflora	Saxifragaceae
87	Mitella diphylla	Saxifragaceae
87	Mitella diphylla	Saxifragaceae
130	Castileja spp.	Scrophulariaceae
61	Linaria vulgaris	Scrophulariaceae
110	Mimulus nanus	Scrophulariaceae
50	Mimulus ringens	Scrophulariaceae
123	Mimulus washingtonensis	Scrophulariaceae
162	Physalis walteri	Solanaceae
187	Solanum chenopodiodes	Solanaceae
32	Solanum dulcamara	Solanaceae
168	Suriana maritima	Surianaceae
192	Polypremum procumbems	Tetrachondraceae
31	Trillium erectum	Trilliaceae
81	Trillium erectum	Trilliaceae
88	Trillium undulatum	Trilliaceae
182	Typha domingensis	Typhaceae
49	Typha x gluaca	Typhaceae
124	Lomatium triternatum ssp. triternatum	Umbeliferae
200	Lantana camara	Verbenaceae
157	Phyla nodiflora	Verbenaceae
144	Bacopa monnieri	Veronicaceae
158	Bacopa monnieri	Veronicaceae
137	Capraria biflora	Veronicaceae
143	Capraria biflora	Veronicaceae
101	Viola nuttallii var. vallicola	Violaceae
74	Viola rotundifolia	Violaceae
77	Viola spp.	Violaceae
78	Viola spp.	Violaceae
29	Viola tricolor	Violaceae
217	Tribulus cistoides	Zygophyllaceae