squirrely stuff

The local squirrels are all in an uproar and I have no idea what is going on. There are a dozen or so of them in the oak and hickory trees just outside our porch and they make all sorts of noises. At times they form a conga line and I can see eight or ten of them in a row sprinting through the trees and even jumping from one branch to another one after the other. Maybe they are actually Squirrel Monkeys; they are certainly behaving more like monkeys than like rodents!

Some more flower notes. Spanish Bayonet a.k.a. Yucca is coming into bloom with its bulbous dangling white blossoms. Yuccas are an 'almost native' and, like the Prickly Pear Cactus (which is native), they represent the desert element in our flora. Yuccas have what is known as "symbiotic pollination mutualism" with the Yucca Moth. What does that mean? It means that Yuccas cannot fruit and set seed without the Yucca Moth; they can only be pollinated when Yucca Moths are present (they actually go into the flower and pollinate it) and the larvae of the Yucca Moth only feed on the leaves and fruit of the Yucca plant! Having read about all this, I went out at night to examine a flowering Yucca and, sure enough, found one of these white moths nestled inside the flower; it would have been easy to mistake it for part of the flower itself.

Sambucus or Elderberry is also in bloom right now. Our local version of this widespread and famous plant grows in wet areas. The flower heads are umbels (like Queen Anne's Lace) and can be eaten the form of fritters. Both the flowers and the black berries that follow are used to make various kinds of potions and beverages, alcholic and medicinal. Elderberry wine is the most famous but strangely enough, the popular Italian aperatif called 'sambuca' is not made from Elderberry as its name suggests. Perhaps it once was in an earlier day.

Eric Salzman