I paid a visit to the Arnold Arboretum on Sunday, the first day after the end of our long heat wave. Insect life was abundant.
I found five species of butterflies, three of them skippers. A least skipper (Ancyloxypha numitor) was roaming near the meadow. This skipper is mostly orange with thick black borders on its hindwings.
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On Sunday, Jef led a small group of us on an urban nature walk. We started at the Bussey Brook Meadow and moved on to the Arnold Arboretum, ending at the Forest Hills gate. Mosquitoes hounded us, especially in the Meadow.
Jef called the meadow a European wildflower garden. We saw some periwinkle-colored chicory flowers (Cichorium intybus) and bird’s-foot trefoil flowers (Lotus corniculatus) with orange streaks on bright yellow. These were among the many wildflowers native to Europe.
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I took photos of a wealth of natural life at the Arnold Arboretum yesterday. Among the birds, dragonflies, frogs, and plants, only one of the subjects was accessioned: Wilson’s spiraea (Spiraea wilsonii).
I returned to the Arboretum last Thursday to see if I could pick out a few migrating warblers. I was happy to see four species.
First, the American redstart. These birds spend the winter in the region from southern Mexico and the Caribbean to northeastern South America.
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For populations to evolve, mutations are necessary. These changes in the genetic code often go unnoticed but, when they do affect the plant’s development, horticulturists select for the ones that make plants more productive or pleasing to people. In Tuesday’s tree mob, the Director of the Arnold Arboretum Ned Friedman spoke to us about a clearly visible mutation in an eastern redbud tree close to the katsura collection (accession #10-68*B).
Friedman first introduced the botanical term “cauliflory,” a reference to plants that flower from old growth. Redbud is one of these plants. See the photo below for flower buds on the trunk of the tree.
Friedman then pointed out that one branch of the redbud tree had white flowers, in contrast to the reddish-purple flowers on the rest of the tree. Because eastern redbud flowers on old growth, he was able to pinpoint the location on the branch where the mutation knocking out the anthocyanin pigment in the flowers must have occurred. He guessed that the mutation occurred between ten and twelve years ago.
Friedman said that the mutation exists in every cell from that point on the branch onward and, as long as the flowers don’t cross-pollinate with reddish-purple flowers, will be seen in any plants grown from the seeds that develop on the branch.
This tree mob was the first in a series of three tree mobs that Friedman will lead on mutations in plants.
Update: “Mutants in Our Midst” article (pdf) on Arnoldia
The birds in the Arnold Arboretum are now in the thick of spring. On a cool, sunny morning, I watched them build nests, sing to attract mates, and defend their territory.
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We met at the sand pear tree (Pyrus pyrifolia) on Bussey Hill near the Explorer’s Garden on a cool, sunny day.
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Yesterday started off as a sunny, warm, summer-like day but quickly turned cloudy, cold, and windy. Maybe it was this sudden turn of weather that kept many birds from showing themselves. Still, the robins and grackles and sparrows were out.
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It is easy to miss maple flowers, especially on large trees. From a distance, the branches appear to blush and that is all. Look closely and you’ll see a profusion of anthers leaping out of short, red petals.
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With snow on the ground and a chill in the air, Saturday did not feel like spring. But the birds at the Arnold Arboretum were singing their spring songs. We found large concentrations of birds near the Visitor Center and around Faxon Pond.
The red-winged blackbirds, all males as far as we could tell, were singing loudly. Common grackles, another sign of spring, checked us out with those freakishly white eyes of theirs.
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