by Erik Lovestrand | Jul 3, 2020
Most people have heard about bug-trapping plants that sustain themselves by digesting and absorbing nutrients from bugs that they catch. This gives them the ability to grow in soils of low fertility that most other plants cannot tolerate. Good examples of this in our Florida Panhandle area include several species of pitcher plants, Venus flytraps (non-native), bladderworts, sundews and butterworts. Some trap their unsuspecting prey by “trickery” with the temptation of sweet but sticky droplets. Others draw prey by the allure of various scents and as the bugs crawl down a narrow passage for the “treat”, one-way hairs prevent them from crawling back out; the “trick.”
One-way hairs is the strategy employed by the Dutchman’s Pipe (Aristolochia littoralis), surely one of the oddest looking flowers on the planet. Also called the “calico flower,” this non-native species of Aristolochia, superficially resembles the Dutchman’s pipe that the famed Sherlock Holmes smoked.
A side-view of the still-closed petals and bulbous reproductive chamber.
The plant is listed as a category II invasive on the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council’s 2017 List of Invasive Plant Species. Florida also has three native species of Aristolochia, some of which are important larval foods for the pipevine swallowtail. However, there are several non-natives that are actually toxic to butterfly larvae. All of the plants contain a chemical compound called Aristolochic acid, which is considered a strong carcinogen and has been linked to cancer in people who have used this plant as an herbal remedy. The plant has also been found to be a potent kidney toxin and many people have required renal transplants or dialysis as a result of using herbal remedies containing aristolochic acids.
Aristolochia is not alone in the world of bug attracting plants or fungi when it uses a fragrance resembling rotting meat as bait. The unique feature of this plant comes in the trapping strategy that is employed. When a fly is lured down the one-way, hairy tube into the bulbous chamber that serves to hold it’s captor, the flowers reproductive structures are encountered. During the fly’s exploration of the chamber, with no way out, pollen granules adhere to the fly’s body. Amazingly, within a day or so, the stiff hairs blocking the tubular entrance to the prison gradually relax or breakdown, allowing the fly to escape. Scientists who study these flowers all concur that a fly must have a very short memory because it isn’t long before the recent captor ventures into another Aristolochia trap to complete the flower’s pollination process.
Tiny hairs lining the tube leading to the chamber prevent escape, for a time.
The flower itself is an amazing structure of graceful lines, purplish-brown calico patterns and a bulbous reproductive chamber. However, the story behind the marvelous reproductive strategy of the plant is the hidden gem. Be aware though, that this is not a plant that would be recommended for our Panhandle flower gardens due to its habit of invading wildlands. Oh, now that you’ve struggled through this entire article trying to pronounce Aristolochia in your head, here is how you say it: uh-wrist-oh-low-kee-uh. Good luck with that.
by Erik Lovestrand | Jun 4, 2020
WOW… is all I can say, when I step outside at night of late and become immersed in the spectacular chorus of calls from breeding frogs and toads near my Wakulla County residence. The sound reverberates to the level where it sometimes feels like it is echoing inside one’s head. Recent heavy rains have awakened local species to the notion that there is no time like the present for pro-creation; given the fact that many of the shallow, depressional wetlands in our region will only contain water for a short window of time.
This may seem like a drawback to the life style of frogs and toads that depend on these wetlands but nature has a way of surprising us with incredible adaptations for survival. For instance, the eastern spadefoot toad (Scaphiopus holbrookii) can actually survive through several years with no water available for raising their young. They do this by remaining buried in the ground, only emerging after heavy rains that collect in depressions. Tadpoles metamorphose into small toads within 28 days so by the time the pool goes dry they are likely long-gone. Female spadefoots will lay over 2,000 eggs at a time so the number of progeny that can emerge from a small depressional wetland is phenomenal. I recall seeing black stains across roadways all over the County about a month after one of our tropical storms. Baby spadefoot toads were dispersing by the millions from hundreds of shallow pools across the region and local roadways were one of the hazards they faced on their journey.
Another advantage to amphibians breeding in ephemeral (temporary) wetlands has to do with the fact that there are no fish to prey on the tadpoles. This is not a requirement for all species, as some have chemical defenses (bad taste) that limit predation, but others could not successfully breed in permanent bodies of water.
Some of the species I have heard calling lately include squirrel treefrogs, green treefrogs, Cope’s gray treefrogs, southern toads, cricket frogs, and a few others I have not identified yet. If you have never made an effort to identify the night calls of frogs and toads, you don’t know what you are missing in your local environment. Some are quite difficult to separate but many of very distinct and once you put the call with a name you won’t ever forget it. Take a moment to listen to one of my favorites, the southern toad; the origin of a beautiful, high-pitched trill that you most likely have never paid much attention to. This website (The Frog Blog) is a great resource to learn more calls. Be sure to listen also to the southern cricket frog call that sounds like two marbles clacked together, and Copes’ gray treefrog, which many might mistake for a bird as they call from high in the tree canopy.
Cricket frogs are one of the smallest vertebrates on the planet.
The cacophony of sounds on a warm summer’s night can seem chaotic and random but if you spend a little time sorting out the musicians, you are sure to develop a deeper appreciation of the symphony, along with a better understanding of the well-orchestrated cycles of nature in your Panhandle backyard.
by Erik Lovestrand | Aug 16, 2019
If you like summer fireworks events, there is a great show ongoing during our warm summer months that you shouldn’t miss. Find an unlit dock along our coastal environs and take the time to pause, get down on your knees, and gaze into the starry… water. Our night skies are quite impressive in their own right, but our night waters will also put on an amazing show of glowing critters and flashing lights if you take the time to notice. Thousands of different marine organisms have the ability to produce light and the purposes served by this trait are many. Some animals use this tactic as camouflage and others to stand out for one reason or another. Being seen by others can assist with predation (luring), defense (startling or warning), or even reproduction (attracting a mate).
Thousands of marine creatures create their own light, including many jelllyfish
Bioluminescence is the most accurate term for light emitted by living organisms; although sometimes you will hear it referred to as fluorescence or phosphorescence. Fluorescence however, is the term describing something that absorbs light energy from an external source and then almost immediately re-emits it. When the external source goes away, so does the fluorescence; i.e. it doesn’t keep going in the dark. Phosphorescence describes when something absorbs light energy from an external source and then slowly re-emits it over a longer timeframe, i.e. glowing stickers. In contrast to these other terms, bioluminescence results from a chemical reaction within the body of an organism. The trigger mechanisms can be quite varied in nature and some are even directly controlled by linkages with an animal’s brain and nervous system. Other times the light is triggered simply by a physical disturbance. This is the most common phenomenon observed by people as the water seems to sparkle from a boat’s wake at night or waves breaking in the surf. One of my earliest memories of this was as a teenager in the Keys while wading along the shore at night. Each splash would trigger a shower of sparks.
So, what is taking place to create this chemical reaction that gives off light? Well, scientists have learned a lot about it but still don’t have all of the answers regarding the incredible variety of ingredients and processes involved in the bioluminescent realm. In general, a molecule called luciferin is involved and when exposed to oxygen, it gives off light. An enzyme named luciferase acts as a catalyst to help speed up the reaction. There are apparently many types of luciferins utilized by different animals; and I’m guessing, many variations on the actual luciferases involved too.
During summertime the warm waters of the Gulf and our coastal estuaries are rich with planktonic life. If you look close at a dock post beneath the water you will see continual, tiny flashes being triggered as water moves around the stationary post. When you walk down the dock (very carefully, without a flashlight), you can also see streaks of light from startled fish swimming away. This light is emitted by single-celled dinoflagellates that are triggered by a disturbance near them. One fascinating account I’ve read, told the story of Jim Lovell (Apollo 13 astronaut), who used bioluminescence to find his way safely home. When the navigation equipment failed at night in the navy plane he was flying, he was able to turn off his cockpit lights and see the glowing wake from his carrier and follow it. I’m sure he was forever grateful to the tiny marine creatures that made this possible! If you can get to a coastal dock near you this summer, be sure to turn out the lights, and look down in the water for a spectacular, miniature fireworks show. No earplugs required.
by Erik Lovestrand | Jun 21, 2019
Mississippi kites are smaller but impressive aerialists as well. Photo by Andy Reago, Flickr Creative Commons.
Dime store kites were never very expensive, but it still seemed like a luxury when I was growing up and it was a rare thing for us kids to see a store-bought kite flying over our neighborhood. An old paper grocery bag (remember those), some cotton string for the corner loops, and two dog fennel sticks cut from the back field provided the basic ingredients for us to make our own. With a little creative cutting and gluing, and the attachment of a tail made from torn strips from a worn-out shirt, it was a thing of grace and beauty and was soon aloft on the wind. On a good day, with the right breeze (not too light, not too gusty), we could run out two full rolls of kite string until the kite was just a speck in the distance. The real challenge was winding all of that string back in after the kite came down across houses, powerlines and fields.
Please forgive the digression but thinking about the topic for this article sent me on a little trip down memory lane. We are fortunate to have two very interesting avian species of kites that grace our summer skies over North Florida. Both are exceptional aerialists but one of them in particular will leave a visual image that is hard to shake. The swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus) is one of the most impressive birds on the planet with its stark white belly and under-wing coverts, outlined in bold black trim. Its deeply forked tail gives rise to several descriptive names such as split-tailed hawk and fork-tailed hawk, among others. Each spring, swallow-tailed kites migrate in small groups back to their breeding range that extends into the Florida Peninsula and sections of the Panhandle, including several North Florida counties. I’ve seen up to 21 kites flying over the Apalachicola River floodplain during this time of year. Forested swamp habitats along river corridors are particularly valuable for foraging and nesting areas but these graceful flyers are also observed over agricultural fields and pastures where they catch dragonflies and other bugs on the wing; usually dining in the air. Nesting takes place in treetops and young are fed a mixed bag of insects, tree frogs, lizards and small snakes, most snatched from the treetops in flight. Occasionally, the young of other birds are taken from their nests and added to the menu. After the young have fledged from the nest, it isn’t long before our kites head back to their wintering grounds in South America. Young birds can be identified by their less-deeply forked tail, due to the short outer tail feathers.
The other kite that graces our area during summertime is the Mississippi kite (Ictinia mississippiensis); not quite as flashy as its fork-tailed cousin but beautiful in its own right. Adult Mississippi kites are a pearly gray color with darker wings and tail. They are significantly smaller, with a wingspan of about 3 feet (swallow-tailed kites have a wingspan up to 4.5 feet). Wintering grounds are in South America also but the breeding range in the US includes several western states such as Texas, Oklahoma and even sparsely in New Mexico and Arizona. This species is known to vigorously defend its nest by dive-bombing trespassers who get too close.
I see both species flying around my house in Wakulla County and without fail, I pause to appreciate the grace, beauty and tremendous distances covered during annual flights by these long-distance migrants. Keep looking up during our summer months and you may well be rewarded by a glimpse of these two “kites over North Florida.”
by Erik Lovestrand | May 31, 2019
Yellow asters such as sneezeweed bloom profusely during summertime in the flatwoods.
Our coastal habitats are some of the most beautiful on the planet. Where else can you have the breathtaking, wide open vistas of our salt marshes, the incredible productivity of our nearshore bays, and the expansive pinelands in the adjacent uplands. Year-round opportunities abound to be outside and enjoy the natural resources we are blessed with. Just go prepared for the inevitable encounter with some of our bloodsucking flies and midges that are part of the package deal. A pair of binoculars, snacks, water and proper clothing provide the makings of a great day out, but I would also recommend a picture-taking device of some sort. I’ve basically given up on the heavier camera gear and the notion of getting long-distance close-ups. I now rely on my cell phone or a small digital camera; mainly for taking photos of flowers, bugs, and anything else that doesn’t require stealth and patience to shoot.
One of the best habitats to explore during this time of year for capturing memorable images is the upland pine flatwoods that is so abundant in the Florida Panhandle. There is no shortage of public lands that display some of the most well-managed pineland landscapes in the nation. Pineland ecosystems in the Southeast have been intimately linked with a natural fire regime, long before Europeans came on the scene. Successional cycles of increasing shrubby growth over time and the ability of the landscape to carry a fire after a lightning strike, have allowed these areas to develop with the “park-like” vista of a pine tree savanna in many cases. When fire is excluded by people, these ecosystems gradually convert to more hardwood species that tend to shade-out herbaceous growth on the ground and reduce the opportunity for new pine seedlings to become established. Professional land managers who work hard to mimic natural fire cycles on the lands they manage produce some astounding results. I can attest, as many of the areas where I hunt turkeys each spring are chosen more for the beauty of the landscape than the abundance of gobblers. Although fewer gobblers is not typically the ideal hunting scenario, the silver lining comes in the form of less competition with other hunters.
This spring I hunted in part of the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge and had a nice mix of fairly recently burned pinelands to explore. Some were burned this spring, and was just starting to green-up with newly emerging grasses and forbs. Other areas were burned a year or two ago and you would never know it except for the charred bark on tree trunks. These areas recover to full greenery in a very short time. The foot-high wild blueberry bushes were loaded with green berries for summer wildlife feasts to come, and the photo opportunities for wildflowers abounded. Fire is so important in retaining a high species diversity in these habitats. Opening up the canopy allows sunlight to filter through to the forest floor and the recycling of nutrients in the ash supports many unique plants. There are several terrestrial orchids that bloom in the wetter soils (grass pink, colic root, lady’s tresses, etc.), and yellow flowers are prolific right now (St. John’s wort, sneeze weed, candy root and many more). I even saw some parrot pitcher plants in one wet spot, noticeable mainly by their tall maroon flowers. Fetterbush and staggerbush are also blooming with small flowers that look similar to blueberry blooms. The difference in scent of these two Lyonia shrubs is an easy way to tell them apart with fetterbush having a strong musky (not totally unpleasant) smell, while staggerbush (rusty Lyonia) has one of the sweetest, most pleasant smells of spring in the flatwoods.
So, while I did have the opportunity to chase around a gobbler this spring (who easily out-maneuvered me), I truly enjoyed my week of annual leave spent reconnecting with something that we too often take for granted. Take time to locate the state parks, national wildlife refuges, state forests and other public lands in your region. Then go outside. I mean it; none of us should miss the chance of a lifetime to see what we really have here.
Crow poison, also know as Osceola’s plume shows up in wet flatwoods, most noticeably after a fire.
