#zizia

[faguscarolinensis]

Zizia aurea / Golden Alexanders

[vandaliatraveler]

Ohiopyle State Park in Western Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands is one of my go-to destinations, in part because it’s close to home, in part because it protects a deep, biologically-diverse mountain river gorge with seemingly endless water features, and in part because it’s one the first wild places I remember visiting with my parents. This morning, I hiked Jonathan Run Trail to the Great Allegheny Passage along the Youghiogheny River, a circuit featuring a half dozen or so significant waterfalls (a few requiring a bit of bushwhacking to reach). Some of the wildflowers currently in bloom in the gorge: wild geranium (Geranium maculatum), golden alexanders (Zizia aurea), downy phlox (Phlox pilosa), dwarf ginseng (Panax trifolius), and Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum). The next wave of wildflowers on the way: white clintonia lily (Clintonia umbellulata); and Indian Cucumber (Medeola virginiana).

[pokemon-next-generation-quotes]

Cilan: I’ve learned that you have to pick your battles.

Cilan: One of the battles that I picked was to stop my daughters from running plastic tubes all over the house and putting their vivillon inside.

Zizia: We were gonna call it Tube City!

[cedar-glade]

Zizia aptera

Heart leaf golden alexanders,

much more stout species and one that prefers barrens, glades, and open woodland since it can be shaded out. Here we have hoary paccoon in the back ground as a contrasting orange/yellow to the light yellow of this species. 

[usgsbiml]

Study Opp.  Here is an appropriately named bee.  Andrena ziziae.  It is a specialist on...Zizia (Golden Alexanders or its 2 sisters (presumably)).  Now Zizia is widely planted, but is Andrena ziziae benefiting?  Does it leave its wildish landscapes to move into the mulch puddles of its pollen plant that now dot suburbia?   [Side bar.  Like in the old days where marks and signs were used to identify safe houses for repressed groups who were on the lam, the presence of a Zizia planting in your yard identifies you (at least to me) as a gentle progressive and makes me smile]  So, back to the original point.  It would be interesting to check out all these plantings to see if any of them are fraternizing with this bee.  Just so you know, this is a small bee, about 1/2 the size of the honey bee.  Wimpy sting too, can't even penetrate a baby's skin.  This bee was collected by Ai Wen in Iowa and the photo taken by Cole Cheng.  

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

Zizia trifoliata - Meadow Alexanders

[faguscarolinensis]

Zizia aurea / Golden Alexanders at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[faguscarolinensis]

Papilio polyxenes on Zizia aurea / Black Swallowtail on Golden Alexanders