Mary's Picks!New items in the APIRS database that particularly piqued the interest of reader/cataloger, Mary Langeland;
elaborated by Vic Ramey.
Water lilies and scarabs: faithful partners for 100 million years? by F. Ervik and J.T. Knudsen. 2003. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 80:539-543.
The authors believe scarab beetles have been pollinating night-flowering water lilies since the late Early Cretaceous - “the first unambiguous evidence of a plant-pollinator relationship of this age.”
California butterflies: at home with aliens, by P.D. Thacker. 2004. BioScience 54(3):182-187.
Faced with the loss of its favorite food, stinging nettles, local populations of the red admiral butterfly came across a plant with a similar chemistry, baby’s tears, a non-native ground cover used in California. The red admiral switched from its native host to the alien plant. In Davis, California, apparently that is not so strange; other butterflies have switched to alien plants too.
Species inventory and the local users of the plants and fishes of the Lower Sondu Miriu wetland of Lake Victoria, Kenya, by J. Gichuki, F. Dahdouh Guebas, J. Mugo, C.O. Rabuor, L. Triest and F. Dehairs. 2001. Hydrobiologia 458:99-106.
Among other plant uses discussed, the claim is that "a house that uses Cyperus papyrus for its roof is cooler, and also cheaper to make and maintain than a comparable corrugated roofed house."
Viscoelasticity of the giant reed material Arundo donax, by A.E. Lord. 2003. Wood Science and Technology 37(3-4):177-188.
Using highly advanced measurements and modelling, the authors show why giant reed "is almost exclusively the material of choice to manufacture woodwind musical instruemtn reeds."
Evidence for seed dispersal by the catfish Auchenipterichthys longimanus in an Amazonian lake, by S. Mannheimer, G. Bevilacqua, E.P. Caramaschi and F.R. Scarano. 2003. Journal of Tropical Ecology 19:215-218.
The stomachs of 40% of the Amazonian catfish studied contained fruits, infructescenses or whole seeds of various plants, including Alchornea schomburgkiana, Licania, Psychotria, Bredemeiera, Malonetia, Ludwigia, Oryza and Paspalum. "This result indicates dispersal potential and similar findings have been reported previously for other catfishes."
Zero water flows in the carnivorous genus Genlisea, by L. Adamec. 2003. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 32:46-48.
Utricularia carnivorous plants have bladders that suck in their prey, but how is prey captured in plants of the carnivorous plant genus Genlisea? This is especially mysterious considering that in Genlisea traps there is no water flow, no pumping to create a vacuum.
Hemlock water dropwort (Oenanthe crocata), dead man's fingers. 2001. IACR-Center for Aquatic Plant Management, England, CAPM Information Sheet 34.
This aquatic plant is "the most toxic plant in Britain to both humans and animals" - the leaves are celery-like and smell like celery or parsley - horses, cows and humans mistake it for lunch.
On the uses of Zostera marina, mainly in Norway, by T. Alm. 2003. Economic Botany 57(4):640-645.
This ethnobotanical review found that in Norway in the 1700s to the 1800s this abundant marine grass was used variously as manure; stuffing for mattresses; for filling between the logs of wooden houses; as fodder for cows; to prepare fish; and as ground cover for sheep.
Linking Ecology and Horticulture to Prevent Plant Invasions, http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/invasives/ Who's helping stem the spread of invasive plants? Here you can read the separate "codes of conduct" against using invasive plants by government, nursery professionals, the gardening public, landscape architects and arboreta and botanic gardens.
Species targeted habitat restoration: a mitigation option within identified historical habitat and critical habitat area, by C. Carpenter. 2003. In: Proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference on Ecosystems Restoration and Creation, Hillsborough Community College, Tampa. Pp: 63-69.
Within the city limits of West Palm Beach, Florida, rather than build houses on 600 acres in endangered Everglades snail kite habitat, and to settle a suit brought by the National Audubon Society and The Sierra Club, 300 acres were given to human house-building and 300 acres were given to the snail kite. After extensive work to remove invasive plants and to re-establish cypress heads and marshes, and otherwise to restore the area to pre-1942 conditions, the snail kite has returned to the area.
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