#fuller's teasel

[arborius]

[rabbitcruiser]

Flight 93 National Memorial, PA (No. 3)

The common wood-nymph (Cercyonis pegala) is a North American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is also known as the wood-nymph, grayling, blue-eyed grayling, and the goggle eye.

The common wood-nymph can vary greatly. All individuals are brown with two eyespots on each forewing – the lower one often being larger than the upper one. Some may have many, few, or no eyespots on the ventral surface of the hindwing. In the southeastern part of its range, it has a large yellow patch on both surfaces of the forewing. In the western part of its range, it may have a pale yellow patch or may be lacking one. Individuals in the Northeast also lack the yellow patch, i.e., C. p. nephele. In individuals with no yellow patch, there are two pale yellow eye rings that encircle both the forewing eyespots. The wingspan measures 5.3 to 7.3 cm (2.1 to 2.9 in).

Source: Wikipedia hist

[superbnature]

Fuller's Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) by rolandkunz http://bit.ly/2HE7at1

[fatchance]

Fuller’s teasel (Dipsacus fullonum), Fossil, Oregon. 

Please click photo for an enlarged view. 

[eda11y]

Fuller's Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) by rolandkunz

[regnum-plantae]

Dipsacus fullonum, Caprifoliaceae

Known as Wild teasel, I’ve found three of these plants growing along the river Clyde walkway in Glasgow. It’s hard to miss due to the large size and the peculiar inflorescence, although I believed they flowered in rings around the central axis of the head, but the photo I took shows something quite different!

Its appearance is not the only interesting feature though, as what can happen within the ‘cups’ formed by the opposite sessile leaves is far more interesting, at least in my opinion.

A study conducted in London in 2010 has provided evidence that this plant benefits from the invertebrates which die and decompose in the above mentioned cups. This basically means that it is partially carnivorous, or protocarnivorous, as it doesn’t produce its own digestive enzymes. Although it might be a bit surprising, hundreds of plants that we wouldn’t suspect actually show the same characteristics of partial carnivory, and I find it so interesting, maybe because it looks like there’s still a lot to learn about these mechanisms. 

D. fullonum Sativus, a cultivar of the wild teasel, has also been historically important and widely used in the processing of wool, as the name suggests. This is reflected in the Italian name of the plant, Cardo dei lanaioli,  which translates as ‘Woolman’s thistle’, although it isn’t a true thistle like the species within the Asteraceae.

[oregonianwisconsinite-blog]

Wild Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)

[elevenacres]

Fuller's teasel