Apr 2020
Spring Flowers
April 14. The willow trees have flowers. This is a collection of female flowers. The flowers do not need to be showy because there are nectar glands and get pollinated by insects thru sent. At the end of each female flower is a place for the pollen. When the right kind of pollen is placed of the fiber a cell inside the pollen extends a foot that travels down the fiber, into the female flower and fertalizes the seed cell. This willow tree only contains female flowers.
On a different willow tree all of the flowers are male. Each flower sends up a fiber with pollen at the end. Nectar glands make the flower smell good so insects will come and get covered with pollen. What intrigued me in this photo was the fuzz that covered the flowers.
Male enlargement.
Female enlargement.
Buttercups are unusually shiny. This is creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens), a non-native and invasive species, is happily growing in the marshy areas of our wetlands. This species generally has 5 petals but this flower got carried away. Buttercups often do. In the very center we see the female parts which will form a globe of seeds. The male parts make rays leading away from the center of the flower.
This is a different type of buttercup called cursed buttercup (Ranunculus sceleratus). This plant is native. The flowers are small and we see them at different stages. The flower on the right is developing seeds and the petals are withering and will soon fall off. In this photo we can see flower buds and one flower that has lost its petals.
This is red osier dogwood. No signs of leaves, yet. The red bark makes identification easy.
This very small willow tree was planted in the wetlands two months ago. At that time it was just a stick that was shoved into the ground. This willow is likely to become beaver food.
Although this looks like an iris, it is a cattail. Right now it is knee high but when fully grown they tower over my head.
April 14 -- Male flowers on an Oregon ash tree (Fraxinus latifolia). Oregon ash trees are either all male or all female. This smallish tree is near a female tree that was loaded with seeds last year. The female flowers on the female tree have not yet appeared.
April 20 -- Female flowers on an Oregon ash tree. Each female flower has a green bulge where the seed will form. Above this bulge is a yellow pollen catcher. The catcher will help guide the foot from the pollen right down to where the seed will form. My friend suggested that the neighboring male and female trees might flower a slightly different times to allow seed to be pollinated by different trees in different years, increasing the genetic diversity of the seeds.
A day-time coyote looking for lunch. This photo was taken from our second floor window.
Usually I only hear the frogs as they jump into the water before I see them. This frog was ignoring me. (I didn't get very close.) Only after I took this photo did the frog shriek while plunging into the creek.
Moss. Note spore-carrying capsule at top and bottom of photo.
My! What long legs you have. Observe just two wings. Many flying insects have four. Look carefully at where a second set might attach and you will see short stubs. The wings connect to the middle compartment which is where the motors are that power the wings. Look carefully at the head. The head is mostly bug-eyes. But also notice the feather-like antennae, used for smell.
This is American vetch (Vicia americana), a native plant that grows in the grass in the wetland. The small pea flowers hide the sexual parts of the flower making insects work for their food.
This is one of the twigs that was planted a couple months ago. It is called twinberry honeysuckle (Lonicera involucrata). The flowers come in pairs (although some of the flowers have already fallen) and result in pairs of black colored berries.
When it is dry moss will quickly shut down. Here the leaves have bunched up to reduce dehydration. The white tips of the leaves are sticking out.
This maple is another recent addition to the wetlands.
This dandelion was growing next to the flowering currant shown to the right. One of the seeds has been captured by the sticky glands on the currant.
In our world if we trip and fall we crash onto the floor. In the world of the very small, such as this dandelion seed, gravity does almost nothing. The wind is everything.
Crabapple blossoms. I suspected that this tree was an Oregon crabapple but these flowers look pinker and bigger than the photos that I find of Oregon crabapple.