Botany – Page 4 – a curious nature

The Gall! A Curiosity of Oak Galls, Revisited …… Part III

August 27, 2024

Webster’s had it “right on” when describing the Ubiquitous Plant Gall!

gall /ga:l/ 1. something irritating; rude. 2. not able to understand a behavior is unacceptable.

—-the boldness of these guys; the sheer gall and effrontery; the chutzpah; the unmitigated gall; What gall!

“Yeah ….. What Gall is This?!”

That was the question uppermost on my mind when a slight breeze wafting down the trail lifted a fresh oak leaf revealing four slightly wonky vase-shaped growths. One was squatty and pale; three were colored with alternating bands of cadmium yellow and deep vermillion. All four galls were attached to the underside of the leaf, hanging upside down, so whatever might’ve been inside is out.

After 5 minutes of inspection ….. poking and prodding, and peering inside the tiny vases ….. I took some photos to post on iNaturalist to figure out this little mystery. It didn’t take long before my discovery was identified! These are galls of the parasitic cynipid wasp called Feron caepula, formed this Spring on a new leaf of Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella).

Originally identified in a 1926 field report as a new species, Diplolepis undulata, this species’ name was reestablished as Feron caepula in a report published in 2023. Ordinarily I choose to only cite a field report, but decided to make an exception in this case for several reasons…… the description of this new species was helpful in better understanding my specimens, and……. one of the paratypes used to describe the new species came from Tijeras, NM (which happens to be my home!). So the entire 1926 field report* (surprisingly short) by LH Weld is added below.

Supplement to the Nature Journal Pages

A Curiosity of Oak Galls, Revisited …… Part III

Curious about plant galls for decades, I finally began reading and experimenting to learn a bit about the inner world of oak galls. Throughout the winter of 2020-2021, I enlisted Roy’s help to collect about 100 nickel diameter, reddish-brown galls hanging on oak leaves like holiday decorations. Not knowing what to expect, I cut into a bunch of these galls and found tiny squirming grubs (larvae) – one/gall. The grubs seemed to be suspended by a complex network of stringy plant tissue radiating from each larva at the center to the inner gall shell. It reminded me of a snow globe frozen in time! Of course I had to know what these guys would become. So I placed about half of the galls into glass jars, and the other half went into jars without their protective gall home. In a few weeks the jars were full of the smallest wasps ever! Wasps! Little parasitic cynipid gall wasps active and ready to be released back into the wild to do what these wasps do! (Rest assured, they were releases in the same area where the galls were collected.)

A few years later, I was once again smitten by these tiny wasps and their galls, and learned more about their life cycle and other facts about galls in general. You can read all about my earlier experiences (and my efforts with experiments) in 2021 and 2023 at this post “No Small Galls this Fall! Oak galls, then and now, the sequel”.

Back to the Present

Here it is 2024, and while hiking the Albuquerque foothills, a new (to me) and colorful gall form appeared hanging beneath an oak leaf. My curiosity piqued. It was high time I gained some insight about the life cycle of cynipid gall wasps. Paraphrasing numerous expert sources, my attempt to interpret and understand what has been described the one of the most complicated life cycles known in the animal kingdom, still seems confusing. Maybe it’s been hard to wrap my mind around Parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction)***….. a key component of a cynipid gall wasp’s life cycle. By taking my time (over a month), and after many written and diagrammatic iterations, I stitched together a description that works. If you’re curious, read on!

One of the oak galls collected late 2020 …. On Shrub Live Oak (aka Sonoran Live Oak)

Where do Oak Galls Come From, and Why?

Every year in late-Spring and through early Summer our shrub live oaks (Quercus turbinella) are a-buzz with a cloud of nearly microscopic cynipid gall wasps that have emerged from a hundreds and hundreds of leaf galls. These often weird looking abnormalities begin forming during an oaks’ accelerated growth period in the Spring. “But where do galls come from and why?”

It’s Complicated!

In the case of cynipid gall wasps, the majority of more than 1400 known species* parasitize oaks, while a much smaller number favor rose and chestnut as host plants. Where and how a gall forms on a host plant, along with the gall’s size, shape and coloring is vector-specific. This gall uniqueness makes it possible to identify what species of insect, such as a cynipid gall wasp (or other external vector like a mite or virus or nematode or fungus or virus or bacteria) was responsible for each gall.

The life cycle of cynipid gall wasps alternate between asexual and sexual generations. This process, called Cyclical Parthenogenesis, is both fascinating and baffling. Typically, the gall formed by the females of the sexual generation (sexgen) shows itself in late winter/early spring, and is on a different part of the oak (such as a twig or stem) than the later asexual (or agamic) generation (agamic galls usually appear on actively growing plant tissues). The following is what appears to happen during the ………………

Photo of Cynipid gall wasp (courtesy Pixabay)

Lifecycle of a Cynipid Gall Wasp

The Asexual (Agamic) Generation

When the weather warms in late winter, an all-female generation of cynipid gall wasps emerge from galls which developed and became dormant the previous year, well before the cold and snow set in. This asexual generation of wasps initiates late Spring/early Summer gall development by inserting (with its ovipositor) an egg along with a maternal secretion from the venom gland, into a swollen leaf bud of the host oak. Egg laying takes place as the growing (meristematic) tissues inside the bud rapidly develop. The egg quickly hatches, and the larva begins feeding, all the while exuding specialized growth hormones that stimulate exaggerated tissue growth resulting in structures (the galls) that are visibly different from normal plant tissues. It’s during the Spring/Summer that developing galls are readily seen, often on the undersides of new leaves.

The safely hidden larva continues to eat the nutrient-rich plant tissues forming inside the gall and grows quickly until it develops into a pupa. After a few weeks in this pupal stage, an adult cynipid gall wasp has formed. Still tucked away, the adult (which is either a male or female) chews a small hole in the gall and emerges to mate.

The Sexual Generation (aka “Sexgen”)

With the business of mating taken care of, and with no mouth parts to eat, the males quickly die, followed soon by the females. However, before the females die, they deposit one or more eggs on a leaf or within a twig or stem of the host plant. Before the plant’s growing season concludes, the eggs have hatched, larvae have eaten and grown within their individual galls, and have pupated in preparation for over-wintering. Depending on the length and/or severity of winter where these cynipid gall wasps live (and they can live nearly anywhere worldwide), the dormancy period may last from three-five months.

And now …. back to the emergence of the Asexual or agamic generation (the females), in an on-going cyclic loop that is the life cycle of the cynipid gall wasp.

A Supplement to the Supplement!

Types of Galls

Leaf galls

Form on leaf blades or petioles (leaf stems)
Most common galls appear on the upper or lower leaf surface, on or between leaf veins.
Galls may look like leaf curls, blisters, nipples or hairy, felt-like growths.

Stem and Twig Galls

Deformed growth on stems and twigs.
Range from slight swelling to large knot-like growth.
When seen, may be peppered with many tiny holes where the adult gall wasps have emerged.

Bud or Flower Galls

Deformed size and shape of buds or flowers.

Fun Facts

Galls are growing plant parts and require nutrients just like other plant parts.
A gall keeps growing as the gall former feeds and grows inside the gall.
Once galls start to form, they continue to grow even if larvae die.
Most galls remain on plants for more than one season.
Galls are usually not numerous enough to harm the plant and control is not warranted.
Gall numbers vary from season to season.
Typically, plant galls become noticeable only after they are fully formed.
The asexual generation (agamic) galls are reported more often because they are larger and persist longer than the sexual generation (sexgen) galls.
Mature plant tissues are usually not affected by gall-inducing organisms.
Iron gall ink, which was the most common ink used from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, was used in line drawings by DaVinci, Van Gogh, and Rembrandt, and in the writing of many historical documents like the US Declaration of Independence.

It’s been so helpful to study the life cycle of these tiny parasitic cynipid wasps, if for no other reason than to admit my understanding remains basically rudimentary, and I must keep my Curiosity alive!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

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*Field report from 1926 by LH Weld

Diplolepis caepula, new species

Host. — Quercus undulata [Wavyleaf oak, Quercus x undulata]

Gall. — Shaped like a small onion, tan-colored, single or scattered in small numbers on under side of leaf in the fall, persisting on the leaf through the winter. The basal third of the sessile gall is beset with long straight single-celled hairs which are mostly reflexed toward the leaf surface. The conical apex is often lop sided and an opening at the end leads into a thin-walled cavity in which are a few scattered hairs and in the base of which is the transversely placed thin-walled larval cell in the very base of the gall. Inside the larval cell at the pedicel is a thin white disk.

Habitat. — The type is selected from a series from galls collected November 14, 1921, near Hillsboro, N. Mex., the flies emerging April 5-25, 1922. Paratypes are from Tijeras, N. Mex., and of the adults cut out of the galls on November 1 some lived in a pill box until December 28. Other paratypes are from Blue Canyon west of Socorro, adults being cut out of the galls on January 2. ….. Similar galls were seen on Q. grisea at Magdalena, N. Mex.

LH Weld: (1926) Field notes on gall-inhabiting cynipid wasps with descriptions of new species”

Reference: https://gallformers.org

**The 1400 known species of cynipid gall wasps have been identified worldwide, with an estimated total of more than 6,000 species. In the U.S. there are over 2,000 known species of gall-inducing insects, including 750+ cynipid wasps (500 of which are found in just the West). Worldwide, entomologists have estimated that there are over 210,000 gall-inducing insects yet to be identified!

*** Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction where an egg develops into a complete individual without being fertilized. The resulting offspring can be either haploid or diploid, depending on the process and the species. Parthenogenesis occurs in invertebrates such as water fleas, rotifers, aphids, stick insects, some ants, wasps, and bees. Bees use parthenogenesis to produce haploid males (drones) and diploid females (workers).

Some vertebrate animals, such as certain reptiles, amphibians, and fish, also reproduce through parthenogenesis. Although more common in plants, parthenogenesis has been observed in animal species that were segregated by sex in terrestrial or marine zoos. Two Komodo dragons, a bonnethead shark, and a blacktip shark have produced parthenogenic young when the females have been isolated from males.

Exploring the Familiar

July 23, 2024

Hiking and rehiking familiar areas always turns up new discoveries. This may be because my eyes skim over the most commonly seen phenomena, allowing me to actively search for anything new or anything out of place. Rarely am I disappointed.

A few days ago, we explored one of our favorite hiking areas. Because birds tend to be more secretive this time of year, the best surprise was to hear a black-throated sparrow sweetly singing from his perch atop a cholla skeleton.

Because it’s monsoon season, many plants that bloomed late spring are making a comeback, and are happily spreading throughout the area. So to keep track of how ranges are expanding, I made note of their locations and transferred this information to a simple trail map. I also noted that the most commonly seen flowers were from the composite family …. the sunflowers.

Oh! Couldn’t resist capturing the silhouette of Wile E. Coyote glued to the back end of a dented vehicle in the parking area. That’s was a perfect discovery for the resident roadrunners!

Do you enjoy exploring familiar areas? What surprises have you discovered?

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Surprise! A vine-y, twine-y desert milkweed discovery ……

July 9, 2024

Just when I was feeling confident about the morphology of the milkweed family of plants, a new twist on the familiar leaps out shoutin’ “ Hey, lookie here!” Expecting to see a common vine gracefully twirling its way up a desert shrub, I paused ……. searching for the crimson red trumpet-shaped flowers of Ipomoea cristulata (Trans-Pecos morning glory). But instead there was an umbrella of 5 flowers, each with 5 widely spreading greenish-brownish-mauve colored petals crowned in the center of an unmistakable floral corona, a sure fire characteristic of a milkweed! Could it be?

Oh Yes!

This unexpected, undeniable discovery had me puzzled though. It’s been two years since I created a detailed post about the Asclepias genus of milkweed (see Summer Botany: Meet the Milkweeds). At that time and throughout the decades prior, my knowledge of milkweeds was limited to Asclepias, and the specific characteristics of that genus.

But here was something new-to-me; so worthy of whatever time it might take to learn all about this find in the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), aka the Milkweeds. I quickly confirmed this vine does not belong with the Asclepias species of milkweeds, but is of the genus Funastrum, which is Latin for rope (funis) with twining stems (astrum), commonly referred to as the “twinevines.” And the full name of this plant is Funastrum crispum, commonly called Wavyleaf Twinevine.

Most of what I uncovered about Wavyleaf Twinevine is included on my 2 journal pages, along with some confusing taxonomy involving family and subfamily names, tribe and subtribe names, and how until 2012, this plant was known as Sarcostemma crispum. Curiosity about the taxonomic history will undoubtedly tempt me to sort through the confusion ……. maybe someday soon!

Have you discovered anything new-to-you in nature lately? What was it, and did it lease to more discoveries?

Thanks for stopping by!

Mysterious Parking Lot Encounters

May 25, 2024

Accidentally Seeking Landscaping Curiosities

Oops! I was caught without my sketchbook ….. but that didn’t prevent me from making a few interesting collections while waiting for a ride.

My curiosity unleashed, I began by wondering what voracious insect(s) tried to eat 1000x their weight in fresh cottonwood leaves. Then I noticed a very lovely leafy tree growing next to a stately pine, both of which were mysteries to me.

So I spent this afternoon sketching, painting, and looking over ID and reference materials, as much fun as collecting my three parking lot treasures!

If you find yourself “waiting,” how do you pass the time?

Thanks for stopping by!

Crazy for Locoweeds! Meet the White Point-Vetch

May 24, 2024

After a longer than planned for blog break, I’m glad to be back and sharing a few pages from my nature journal. Beginning in April, the riot of wildflowers popping up everywhere has, and still keeps me scurrying about my backyard, the “back 40,” and local hiking trails just to refresh my memory about familiar plant species while searching for new discoveries. I’ve been sketching daily, learning about new-to-me plants, and growing my knowledge about favorites.

Recording first seasonal sightings, it’s interesting to compare previous years’ emergence and abundance, and wonder why timings vary. For example, last year the white-stemmed evening primrose (Oenothera albicaulis) blanketed the hillsides with white; this year those beautiful white blooms have been scarce. Last year the tall crowded flower stems of White Point-Vetch (Oxytropis sericea) were few and far between. This year an explosion of these graceful plants that belong in the pea family (Fabaceae) began blooming in April and are still going strong!

White Point-Vetch, also called white locoweed, whitepoint crazyweed, and silky crazyweed, makes a striking bouquet that glows like a bright light as it blooms along tall flower stalks 15+ inches above bare brown ground. New stems push up through multiple dried stems packed with last year’s empty seedpods. But it’s obvious this species is an aggressive re-seeder; there are so many new plants this year where last year there were none!

It’s been a spectacular show!

Enjoying researching this species, dissecting a few fresh flowers, and searching for remnant seeds in the dried pods, kept me delving deep into the bits and pieces of what defines this group of plants. This large family, which houses well over 10,000 species world-wide, includes peas, acacias, mimosas, and licorice (see the list below for more residents).

The dried stem was drawn and shaded in graphite.

But one species at a time, please! Actually the locoweeds, which fall into the genera Oxytropis (like the White Point-Vetch) and Astragalus, contain over 600 species world-wide, 21 of which grow in the U.S. Many plants in these two genera are toxic, particularly to domestic ungulates. More about the toxin and what happens when these animals ingest even small quantities, along with other interesting facts are described on my two journal pages. ……

There is so much more to learn about this important family of plants, but I’ll save that for another post.

Thanks for stopping by and have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!

Thanks for stopping by …… have a safe and happy Happy Memorial Day!

Perky Sue!

May 11, 2024

It’s Spring in my neighborhood, and not a day too soon!!
Along with gusty winds carrying clouds of yellow pollen come drifts of an outrageously bright yellow ‘sunflower’ named Perky Sue.

How Perky Sue got its common name is a mystery. My best guess is this herbaceous forb, native to New Mexico, has to be the Perky-est, Happiest Spring Flower, Ever!

What is your favorite native flower signaling the arrival of Spring in your world? Does its bloom cause you to smile; perhaps you break out in your happy dance?

Thanks for stopping by …… and Happy Mother’s Day to all!

Meet an “Extreme” Creative!

April 8, 2024

After years of on-line and email chats, I was delighted when my friend Robin Atkins decided it was finally time we met in person! Bravo!

Robin and her travel buddy Lunnette, drove over 1,800 miles to Tucson to teach a Spirit Doll class to a local beading group. Then after spending 5+ days exploring Tucson and before driving home to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, WA, they took a “short” scenic 450 mile detour …… to Tijeras, NM. This out-of-the way drive would bring them to our doorstep, and our first face-to-face meeting! While in Tijeras, we were able to spend an evening and full day getting to know each other and spent time hiking, nature sketching, and sharing each other’s art.

Robin snapped this photo of me sketching out at Golden Open Space. The beautiful wind sculpted juniper trees growing along the precipices of the windy observation areas are absolutely captivating (and tough). Luna thinks they’re tasty!

Meet Robin

Robin, whom I’ve always thought of as an “extreme creative,” is a fascinating, energetic, curious, passionate and bright-eyed adventurer in her early 80s. Her many interests and skills, in addition to creating uniquely designed, hand sewn and beaded Spirit Dolls, include: quilting (many with bead embellishments), thread embroidery, book making, watercolor painting, Zentangle art, nature journaling, making decorative papers, poetry, weaving, collage, crochet, felting and book author. And she shares her skills and techniques by teaching.

This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means! As someone who seems to thrive on learning and developing new skills, Robin never stops seeking artistic challenges to take on.

Check out Robin’s beautiful webpage and blog (http://robinatkins.com) where you can find photos and posts highlighting her current and past creative projects.

A Short-but-Sweet Visit

We had a wonderful time getting to know each other, and what a delight to have also met Robin’s long-time friend and travel buddy, Lunnette. A retired firefighter in her mid 70s, Lunnette is also a nature journaler, calligrapher, quilter, and according to Robin, “she’s a terrific navigator, who always uses her keen sense of direction and map reading skills to keep us on the “right road,” (in both the literal and figurative sense).”

This is my finished graphite drawing of the twisted juniper I spent 5 minutes sketching.

Parting company was hard, but Robin and Lunnette needed to return home. Along their route they visited both Mesa Verde National Park and Arches National Park, soaking in more of the desert southwest sun and culture before taking on the 1,200 mile journey for Friday Harbor.

Memories!

November Littles: Seeds, Pods, Silk, and Wings

December 14, 2023

As the Fall season rapidly came and went, and the first snows blanketed the landscape, I focused my hiking time (and some of my drawing hours) on collecting local native seeds. Always careful that plenty of seeds remained available for overwintering birds, I still managed to harvest hundreds from about 25 plant species. All sorted and packaged in separate pill containers, my collection is now stored in the refrigerator at 40 degrees, until growing conditions are optimal for planting. This treatment method is referred to as stratification.**

Why collect native seeds? All throughout the Spring, Summer and Fall, a diverse assortment of pollinators visited our locally blooming wildflowers and shrubs. Along with these butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, beetles and flies, were the insects, spiders, and birds that prey on unwary pollinators. Such an amazing show; a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes! The air was a buzz with activity. My goal is to mimic the native banquet in hopes of attracting these pollinators and predators.

Also, seeds are absolutely fascinating. I like to think of them as gift-wrapped, living plants-to-be. Tucked neatly inside of the seed coat are food stores enough to feed the makings of a complex root system; flowers, leaves, stems, branches and even a trunk. Seeds can be tiny, some microscopic and some as large as a softball. Seeds come in a variety of shapes, colors, textures and decor both inside and out. Some seeds have “wings” to fly; some have silky or puffy “feathers” to float; some are like “lead,” heavy enough to intentionally sink under water.

So I pulled out my 10x hand lens to investigate, drawing most of the seed species in my collection. It was very cool to compare seeds of different species that are in the same family (like the composites of the Aster family and the penstemons of the Plantain family). Until creating this journal page, I’d never held the seeds of 3 different species of yucca in one hand at the same time. Observing the similarities and differences, I finally confirmed in my mind that the genus Herperaloe and Yucca are indeed in the Agave family. And then I found examples of seeds from completely different families that evolved similar dispersal mechanisms (convergent evolution). This phenomenon was visually obvious in the delicate feathery, silky, and poofy hairs or bristles attached to grass, aster, and milkweed seeds, facilitating seed dispersal by wind.

Finally, I felt the need to draw the seeds in case they happened to spill into one big jumble while being planted! Yes, I would be clumsy enough to create chaos out of order. Should that happen, I’ll be able to sort the mess by species by referring to my field guide page.

** Seed-producing plants pass along to their seeds the specific requirements(s) necessary to break dormancy and germinate. These genetic codes determine if optimal conditions exist for seeds to sprout and hopefully grow to maturity. But key to successful germination depends on seed ripeness (in most cases). Knowing the plant species from which a seed is produced; whether the plant is an annual, biennial or perennial; habitat, moisture needs and the type of “treatment” method(s) are all important bits of information tied to successful germination.

I’ll have to create a future post describing the variety of treatment methods (germination patterns) inherent in the seeds.

Are you a seed collector? If so, share your why’s and how’s!

Nature Sleuthing Resumes ….. Sunflowers and Fibonacci; Natural Spirals

November 26, 2023

After a well deserved rest from Inktober and from my self-imposed pressure to create something every day from a list of random prompts, I’m happy to be out again nature sleuthing. Curiosities in nature sometimes stare us in the face. But more often than not making discoveries require keen observational skills, noticing something new to you, and an ability to look for clues to a mystery with wide open eyes.

Double page post with an extra add on; all art work done with Graphgear 1000 loaded with 0.3mm 2B lead and all inked lettering done with Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen Fineliner, 0.3mm.

It was during a hike on an unseasonably warm day that I paused to admire the dried flower heads from one of the late blooming sunflowers. Have you ever noticed how they look like another kind of sunflower? Papery textured “petals” circle a central disk where a few weeks ago it was crammed full of puffy parachute-topped seeds. After the seeds become airborne, all that’s usually left is a slicked off surface punctuated with dots arranged in spirals radiating out from the center.

Click the link below to read more ………

No Small Galls this Fall! Oak galls, then and now, the sequel…..

September 16, 2023

This is a little story about a fascinating discovery I made over 2-1/2 years ago, when in the second winter of the pandemic and in dire need of a belly laugh, our usually drab brown landscape appeared dotted with little reddish colored orbs. An insatiable curiosity sprinkled with a smidge of fantasy led me to some surprising answers to many questions, which continue to pop up to this day.

Open my full blog post and take a small detour with me into the recent past. Learn how observations, connections and similarities in nature ensure there’s always dots to connect and mysteries to solve, no matter how many times you travel the same path.