Browsing: Qu’est Que C’est

Everyone has a favorite green space to enjoy. A local park, nature trail, or even our own backyards are places where many of us find peace in just seeing what is going on. What is always interesting to me are the seasonal changes in these places, like which plants are blooming, or which sweet fruit treats I may be able to snack on. And just so you all know, I do not share locations of dewberry patches with anyone!!!

Even casual bird watchers are acquainted with our larger wading birds that are easily seen stalking prey along ditches, beaches, and other wet places. Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, and even Little Blue Herons are out in the open, sticking out like statues. But one of the smallest of our wading birds lurks in the shadows, if you know where to look.

As a child, I was intrigued when I found perfectly round balls under the trees in the woods that I wandered through. Sometimes they were smooth and red-speckled. Other times they were brown and wrinkled. They looked like what I imagined a brain might appear to be without a skull, so brain balls they became. I had no clue how they came to be. But these galls are only part of a larger story about the insects that cause them to form on oaks.

Apparently, human teenagers are not the only critters that like to beg and whine to their parents. Young fledgling birds are adept whiners, especially after leaving the nest. Of course, this is a bit of anthropomorphism on my part, but if the “shoe fits”.

Yellow Passionflower may not have as large and obvious a blossom as its purple flowered relative, but it has its own way of standing out in our landscape. For me, the smaller flowers and leaves of this common vine are far less overwhelming than many other vines, adding a bit of elegance.

Galls that form on plants often stick out and draw our attention. For Red Bay, the bright green galls stand out against the dark green leaves and are part of a natural relationship between a tiny insect and its host plant. Rarely seen, the galls are the only obvious evidence that these insects exist. Here is their story.

As a child of the sixties, I listened intently as Smoky the Bear shared the message that “only you can prevent forest fires”. It made perfect sense. But not all fires are bad as we have learned over the past half century, especially in the fire-adapted, pine forests of the southeastern U.S. It turns out that small, periodic fires help keep the forest healthy and safe from destruction that we often see in western forests. Here is the story.

Southern Magnolias help define the deep south landscape. Their large, prominent white flowers are hard to miss and are a favorite subject for artists and photographers. Southern Magnolia is the state tree and flower for Mississippi, the Magnolia State, and the state flower of Louisiana. And although the flowers are the main attraction, the plant offers other equally prominent features.

I am not a fan of mowing grass. I cut more than my share of lawns in my youth. Mary and I live on a wooded lot, so I have been liberated, at least at home. But, for those of you that still maintain a lawn, there is hope for your liberation as well. Bear with me as I proposed reducing lawn care through “no mow” and “less mow” options. 

This time of year, I almost always get asked the same question: where have all the pelicans gone? For many of us that frequent beaches and coastal bayous, we enjoy watching pelicans and the many other coastal birds that live there. It wouldn’t be the coast without the sounds and sights of Brown Pelicans and Laughing Gulls that are hard to miss most of the time.  

Spring brings a flush of new green leaves to our landscape, in every shade and hue. But these young leaves do not keep their pristine shapes for long, because an army of hungry caterpillars race to eat them as fast as they can. The timing is no accident. It is an ongoing tit for tat between plants and insects that has driven evolution of both groups for millennia. 

Easter egg hunts are lots of fun for children during this spring holiday. And if you do it right, those eggs are scattered in the thick grass of an un-mowed lawn that inevitably has a variety of spring wildflowers. The flowers are as much a treat as the eggs and can be part of an Easter nature hunt for adults and kids alike. 

We all learned about the food chain in grade school and have even seen the drama unfold in a nature documentary. But witnessing a critter eating another critter up close is another level of experience – it makes it real.  

Late winter in the deep south doesn’t last long, but it does try our patience. We long for the coming spring when it is safe to plant our gardens and replace the brown colors of winter with colors of spring. But it always seems to take forever until the spring greening happens, in what seems like an instant. One day the world is dreary, the next it is covered in every shade of green and other colors of the rainbow. 

Some plants add a certain kind of pizazz or elegance to our world. Such is the case for Green Dragons, Arisaema dracontium. Although not commonly seen, unless you frequent moist woodlands in early spring, this forest floor plant has a wide distribution across the eastern U.S. and Canada. As for the name, well, the person that described it apparently saw a long, flickering lizard’s tongue under a multi-lobed dragon’s mane.

Sometimes the tiniest of organisms in our world evoke memories we hold dear. Such was the case when I recently shared a few photos of one of the smallest of our regional flowering plants, a Tiny Bluet, Houstonia pusilla. As many of you know, I share tidbits about nature daily, through my Cajun Daily Dose of Nature post on Instagram and Facebook. The post about the Tiny Bluet reminded me that many of my friends also share my passion for nature, big and small.