Category Archives: Plantae

Plants

Friday Flower – Orquídea bambu

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

I arrived at our facility in Campinas, Brazil just before lunchtime.  I had spent the previous 20 hours on planes, trains, and automobiles (well, not trains), so when my colleague suggested that we take a short walk outside to the campus … Continue reading →

Posted in Orchidaceae, Plantae | Tagged , , , , , | 16 Comments

Rush skeletonplant pea gall wasp

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

The Loess Hills landform along the western edge of Iowa and extreme northwestern Missouri is home to a unique assemblage of plants and animals.  The majority of these are associated with loess hilltop prairies – grassland remnants that have their origins in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asteraceae, Cynipidae, Hymenoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

BitB Top 10 of 2010

Posted on January 2, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

Welcome to the 3rd Annual BitB Top 10, where I pick my 10 (more or less) favorite photographs of the year.  My goal for 2010 was to continue the progress that I began the previous year in my quest to become a bona … Continue reading →

Posted in Arachnida, Araneae, Buprestidae, Cerambycidae, Chilopoda, Cicindelidae, Cleridae, Coleoptera, Hamamelidaceae, Lepidoptera, Plantae, Reptilia, Scolopendromorpha, Sesiidae, Vertebrata | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 38 Comments

Promiscuous Plants

Posted on September 28, 2010 by jtrager

Naturalists have long been aware of the greater tendency for plants than for animals to create viable interspecies hybrids. This is attributable not only (as some might expect) to a higher likelihood of passive plants whose mating is mediated by pollen-hungry … Continue reading →

Posted in Apidae, Gentianaceae, Hymenoptera | 22 Comments

Friday Flower – green fringed orchid

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

I may have been the “Beetle Group” leader for last May’s BioBlitz at Penn-Sylvania Prairie, a 160-acre tract of native tallgrass prairie in southwestern Missouri owned by the Missouri Prairie Foundation.  However, it was a plant – specifically the green fringed orchid  (Platanthera lacera) – that … Continue reading →

Posted in Orchidaceae | Tagged , , , , , , | 17 Comments

The joys of ecological restoration

Posted on July 19, 2010 by jtrager

The daily rewards of restoration, to the practicing ecological restorationist and to those who visit his or her work, are many. Continue reading →

Posted in Formicidae, Gentianaceae, Hymenoptera, Liliaceae, Orchidaceae, Orthoptera, Plantae, Primulaceae, Tettigoniidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Guest Blogger: Dogbane for Dinner

Posted on July 15, 2010 by annemccormack

Our guest blogger for today is Anne McCormack. I have known Anne (or known of her) for more than 25 years now, first as a long-time editor of Nature Notes, the journal of the Webster Groves Nature Study Society, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Apocynaceae, Chrysomelidae, Coleoptera, Hesperiidae, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Plantae, Vespidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Friday Flower – Cleft Phlox

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

In a recent edition of my Friday Flower series I featured Tradescantia longipes (dwarf spiderwort or wild crocus), an exquisite Ozark endemic found scattered in dry igneous woodlands of the Missouri’s St. Francois Mountains and Arkansas’ Ouachita Mountains and that I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Plantae, Polemoniaceae | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments