So here are a few gems from a student exam in Plant Morphology class (Anonymity is entirely respected since this is not mine anyway).  I acknowledge that this is a rather ‘private’  post since many (lay) readers may not spot the issue  or the joke in these answers to the test. I tried to add the basic background information needed to decipher the joker within. Let’s keep in mind that students are supposed to learn  and understand their lesson and a lower treshold in the basics is expected. It is, I think, legitimate to have a good laugh when the mistake is abysmal. Most of these gems are entertaining or cute, to a teacher (though they might drive them to despair). Anyway, some students do have a clear preference (not to say a strong bias already) towards animals but must take the class (it is not optional). It certainly doesn’t reflect their biological level but most likely their (lack of) interest in plant biology.

Warning: some jokes may be lost in translation…

Name the following pollination modes below and give an example for each.

WIND (hint: anemophilous pollination, caracterized by a reduction or a lack in floral pieces such as petals, allowing to free stamens and ease pollen dispersion by the wind; very often stigma also evolved an increased size shape  to ease pollen receipt) :

• a lot of pollen is ready to be spend after a micro-jolt and the pollen is located at top of the flower
• light flowers
  

These are fairly creative answers, and the students are right in trying to link pollination mode with the constraints born on a wind dispersal of pollen. Unfortunately,  finding solutions to a problem doesn’t mean nature came up with these answers…

• plants with stamen in contact with the air allowing for pollen dispersal
  

Hmm… Does it mean other species have suffocating pollen?

• flowers that are wind pollinated have pollen

Of course! So have all flowering plants species.

• ferns are pollinated by the wind
  

No, ferns disperse spores thanks to the wind, but they do not produce pollen grains and certainly aren’t pollinated.

• caracteristics of extrorse flowers whose anthers are  turned outward
  

Having extrorse stamens does not prevent flowers to have petals. Outward is actually the way the stamen opens, not necessarily that it is located outside.

• With regard to the anemophilous pollination, flowers have  air-bearing baglets, sometimes seeds may be winged

Wait… I’m trying to imagine a flower with airbags. Okay, this question is about pollination, you really don’t have to tell us about seeds dispersal, that’s beside the point and just tell us you might be confused.

• e.g.  garlic grain
  

WTF? The relation with pollination?

• anemophibia

I like it when student try a vague guess and think it may work (striking example below)…

INSECTS (hint: entomophilous pollination, caracterized by gorgeous and colourfull petals and/or sepals (i.e. tepals) , often along with a sweet scent –hey, you have to bring pollinators in!) :

• zoophyte, insects when they eat a fruit

You have to be fairly self-confident when you rely on luck to give the right answer. Aren’t insects these creepy flying things around us in summer when we eat fruits?

• zoophilia

Hmm… There you go. Of course, this is not completely wrong, but don’t expect the teacher won’t give you a laugh… (This is probably less fun in English in which the word zoophily does actually exist and the gap with a correct answer is reduced).

• an attractive scent (e.g. honey for bees)

Okay for the scent. You are at an age and at a level in your studies where you should know bees are attracted by rewards such as nectar and pollen, not honey (flowers don’t produce honey, bees do).

• stem, petals and pollen anchored in the middle of the flower, unable to pollinate without bees
  

Wow, I need a scheme for this flower… And what’s this obcession with bees? Aren’t butterflies, flies and beetles possible pollinators too?

Yes, but so do flowers pollinated by the wind…

Hmm… Introrse &t extrorse refer to the way mature stamens open and release their pollen grains. It has little to do whatsoever with protecting pollen, more with dispersal (to the extent to which it changes the odds of selfing).

• e.g. the Hyacinth leaf

Sure! Leaf, stem, flower… This is all far too complicated.

• entrophobia

The feeling of the examiner when (s)he’s grading exams…

• flowers have a special taste, in order to attract insects (that’s starch)

You were so hungry! Don’t confuse taste and scent. Pollinators may have food in mind as they forage through flowers, but they are attracted by scent, not because they are on lunch and tasted the flower…

• pollen is located on stems and moves out thanks to pollinators and winds; flowers are dioid, i.e. they are either female or male, so that we have a germination whenever gametes get in touch
  

Dioid yourself! Pollen is quite indirectly located on stems (and that’s just because the stem bears flowers occasionnally). Pollen grain germinate, but that’s somewhat prior to fertilization (or when gametes are ‘in touch’). And this has nothing to do with having separate sexes…

What are the main characteristics of these pollination modes?

• when pollen falls onto the ground, or when it flies in the air, then pollination happens

OMG! It’s  1. vague, 2. inaccurate, 3. meaningless, & 4. completely beside the point… When the exam falls onto the table, or flies in the air, then one realizes (s)he should have been working a bit more seriously…

In which plants do we find wood? Cite the other name of this tissue and explain its function.

• wood also allows for stocking reserves

Do you find meat in cemeteries? Wood cells are plain dead. No reserves!

• not in monocotyledon gymnospermes, which allows to ease pollination

Huh? That’s not easy to pollinate with pollen of wood, and flowers from the same metal… A plant cannot be both a gymnosperm and a monocot. Plus gymnosperms (e.g. Pines) do have wood. Plus being woody doesn’t impede the least pollination: how would trees make seeds if it were?

• in corn, the wood helps the plant to not be drown

The best answer will stand the flows!

So, logically…, If… she… weighs the same as a duck, she’s made of wood.
And therefore…  A witch!

• in higher plants, like pine cones, this tissue allows for dating

Hmm, I’d really like to see you date the age of a tree from a cone…

• its functions are to sustain the plant and it also has a role of conductance
  

You’ve found the light! …

Define cryptogamy. Give an example.

(Cryptogamy, a vestige from older plant systematics still in use for commodity, is defined as not having apparent sexual organes, i.e. the opposite of flowers. It includes plants such as mosses and ferns.)

• a fertilization mode by which a male – and a female gamete from the same plant fuse
  
• the fact that pollen is not freed, but fused. Fertilization is internal, and the two gametes are inside and thus produce a seed

You confuse cryptogamy and selfing. Were you neighbours during the exam?

• when the fruit has two lives, a normal life and a dormant one

When the student has two lives. A life outside university, and a life outside… university.

• fertilisation between two spores to produce the gametophyte. Oat is a cryptogam.

Spores germinate and give birth to the gametophyte. Spores do not undergo fertilisation, gametes do! Oat is a flowering plant. Its flowers are not showy, but that’s because it is anemophilous…

• when a plant isn’t female nor male

• a family of flowers where reproductive organs are hidden

Yep, except cryptogams do not produce flowers.

• transformation into flowering plants
  

Fast evolution!

• not being able to photosynthesize
  

!?! You confuse cryptogamy & heterotrophy.

• property of some plants to hide their genitals

There we go! Proof an answer can be right and cute…

Based upon your sample, make a floral analysis (…)

• the sample plant bears female flowers. We see the lack of a presence of a pistil, and the presence of stamens

Can the flower possibly be female if you see stamens?

• Bear Garlic (Allium ursinum) is a wind pollinated species, because neither flower colours nor their smell are attractive
  

Almost. But pollinators may not agree with you. First, white can be quite flashy in understorey (and thus well distinct from vegetation) and second a scent associated with flowering time is another sign that, indeed, pollinators are called to a visit.

• the flower belongs to monocots because the nerves in the leaves are parallel

Right. Except that leaves have veins, not nerves. (Note: the two words are phonetically much closer in French so some cuteness is lost in translation here).

Okay. Not too bad, and some are really funny. Unfortunately it’s a somewhat specialist joke level, but I hope some are able to make you smile at least.

Voici une série de perles issues de copies d’étudiants pour un examen de biologie végétale. Il est presque impossible que ces perles fassent rire les lecteurs généralistes qui n’ont pas de formation en biologie des plantes, les perles sont donc suivies d’un commentaire aidant le non-spécialiste à comprendre les erreurs grossières ou subtilement amusantes de ces copies. Gardons à l’esprit que les étudiants sont supposés travailler un minimum leurs cours, et qu’en conséquence il est parfaitement acceptable d’être moqueur à leur égard. Finalement, ce cours n’est pas optionnel, et la majorité des étudiants ont déjà un biais affirmé envers la biologie végétale. Ces perles ne reflètent probablement pas le niveau des étudiants mais plutôt leur absence d’intérêt pour la gente photosynthétique…

Nommer les modes de pollinisation ci-dessous et citer un exemple pour chacun.

VENT (réponse: pollinisation anémophile, caractérisée notamment par une réduction ou une absence des pièces florales de type pétale, permettant de libérer les étamines et de faciliter la dispersion du pollen; souvent les stigmates ont une surface accrue, voire plumeuse, pour faciliter la réception du pollen) :

• multitude de pollen prêt a être libérer avec une micro secousse et pollen au sommet de la fleur
• fleurs légères
  

Ces suggestions sont créatives, les étudiants font bien un lien entre les contraintes du mode de pollinisation et les caractères qui y seraient associés. Malheureusement, il ne faut pas prendre ses désirs pour des réalités, et ces caractéristiques, quand elles existent, ne sont pas dues à la pollinisation anémophile mais à d’autres contraintes morphologiques.

• plantes avec les étamines au contact de l’air permettant la dispersion du pollen

Hmm… Toutes les étamines sont au contact de l’air!

• les fleurs qui se pollinisent par le vent ont du pollen

Hmm… Bien évidemment, celles qui sont pollinisées par des insectes en ont aussi!

• la fougère est pollinisée par le vent

Non, la fougère disperse des spores grâce au vent, mais elle ne produit pas de pollen et n’est certainement pas pollinisée!

• caractéristiques des fleurs extrorses qui ont les anthères dirigées vers l’extérieur

Encore un créatif! Bien essayé, mais avoir des étamines extrorses n’empêche pas d’avoir des pétales. Vers l’extérieur indique ici une direction pour l’ouverture du sac qui contient le pollen, pas que l’organe soit effectivement au dehors (et prêt à prendre froid!).

• pour la pollinisation anémophile, les fleurs possèdent des coussinets aérifères, parfois les graines peuvent être ailées

Hmm… J’imagine bien des fleurs avec airbag intégré. Ah oui, et la pollinisation n’a rien à voir avec la dispersion des graines, ce sont deux processus déconnectés (même s’il est bon de supposer des contraintes similaires).

• ex. grain d’ail

Aïe! La gousse d’ail est un organe de réserve souterrain. Le rapport avec la pollinisation?

• anémophibie

Dans la série j’essaie au pipot, ça peut marcher des fois…

INSECTES (réponse: pollinisation entomophile, caractérisée notamment par des pièces florales exubérantes et colorées (pétales, voire tépales), et souvent une grande fragrance –il s’agit d’attirer des pollinisateurs) :

• zoophyte, insectes lorsqu’ils mangent un fruit

On dit que le hasard fait bien les choses, alors écrivons ce qui nous passe par la tête! Les insectes? C’est pas les trucs qui sont attirés par les fruits en été?

• zoophilie

Hmm… Chacun ses fantasmes. Bien sûr, cette réponse n’est pas formellement fausse, mais ne vous étonnez pas si le prof éclate de rire au cours d’une audition. Allez savoir pourquoi!

• odeur qui attire (ex. le miel pour les abeilles)

Bien vu pour l’odeur. Cependant, à votre âge, il est grand temps que vous sachiez que les abeilles cherchent nectar et pollen chez les fleurs, et que ce sont elles qui produisent le miel, pas les plantes!

• tige, pétale et pollen encré au milieu de la fleur, incapable de polliniser sans abeille

Faites moi donc un schéma, j’ai du mal à imaginer votre fleur… (surtout avec la tige, je sais bien que ça peut être un superbe symbole phallique, mais le lien avec les petites abeilles? Ah… Les petites abeilles, les petites graines, etc. Je sais…). Et les papillons, les bourdons, les mouches? Ils ne peuvent pas se substituer aux abeilles et polliniser les fleurs?

Oui. Celles qui sont pollinisées par le vent aussi. En gros, les fleurs ont bien un organe sexuel femelle et un ovaire. Au moins tant que l’espèce reste sexuée, une partie des individus d’une population possèdera ces caractéristiques… Rien à voir avec le syndrome de pollinisation.

Introrse et extrorse indiquent le sens de l’ouverture des sacs polliniques, ce qui peut éventuellement avoir des conséquences sur le risque d’autofécondation, en fonction du degré de séparation des étamines par rapport au pistil et éventuellement de la différence de maturation entre organes mâles et femelles. Ces termes se rapportent au mode de dispersion du pollen, éventuellement chez certaines espèces cette caractéristique peut être liée au syndrome de pollinisation, mais ce n’est certainement pas pour permettre aux pétales de protéger le pollen…

• ex. la feuille de Jacinthe

Hum… La feuille, la tige, la fleur, que c’est compliqué tout ça!

• entrophobie

Ce qu’a dû ressentir la personne qui a corrigé votre copie…

• les fleurs ont un goût spécial qui permet d’attirer les insectes (c’est de l’amidon)

Vous deviez vraiment avoir faim! Ah, les goûts et les odeurs… 1. Il s’agit bien des odeurs, qui sont attractives, et 2. L’amidon est bien une substance de réserve qui a des propriétés culinaires certaines mais il ne sert pas à attirer les pollinisateurs!

• le pollen se trouve sur des tiges et il est déplacé grâce aux insectes et aux vents ; les fleurs sont dioïdes c’est-à-dire qu’elles sont soit femelle soit mâle ce qui fait que l’on a une germination si les gamètes entrent en contact

Rarement un esprit aura tenté cette synthèse audacieuse: soyons aussi général que possible et espérons avoir un peu juste quand même. Malheureusement pour l’étudiant concerné, c’est tout faux. Le pollen est dans les fleurs, elles mêmes le plus souvent sur des tiges. Un peu difficile de vendre le fait qu’il est indirectement sur les tiges quand même… Dioïde vous même! Quand les gamètes entrent en contact, on a une fécondation. La germination c’est pour les graines, ou le grain de pollen quand il arrive sur un pistil, mais dans ce cas c’est antérieur au “contact” en question.

Quelles sont les principales caractéristiques des fleurs pour chacun de ces modes de pollinisation ?

• quand le pollen tombe par terre, ou vole dans les airs, c’est à ce moment là qu’il y a pollinisation

Woaow! C’est 1. Imprécis, 2. Faux, 3. Sans aucun sens, et 4. Complètement hors sujet… Quand l’examen tombe sur la table, ou vole dans les airs, c’est à ce moment qu’on se rend compte qu’on aurait peut être dû réviser…

Chez quels végétaux trouve-t-on du bois ? Citer l’autre nom de ce tissu et détailler son rôle.

• le bois garde également les réserves

Dans un coffre en bois?

• pas chez les gymnospermes monocotylédones, ce qui permet à la plante un mode de pollinisation plus facile

Tu m’étonnes! Pas facile de polliniser avec du pollen en bois, avec un manche du même métal!

1. On peut difficilement être à la fois gymnospermes et monocotylédones. De plus, il est bien connu que les pins, ces sacrés gymnospermes, ne sont pas exploités pour leur bois.

• dans le maïs, le bois sert à ne pas noyer le végétal

C’est un reste de la pendaison de crémaillère chez la voisinne? (le maïs n’a pas de bois, et la production de bois n’a rien à voir avec la résistance aux inondations).

• chez les végétaux supérieurs comme les pommes de pins, ce tissu permet de dater

Bien, mais on date avec les troncs, pas avec les pommes de pin!

• il a un rôle de soutien et de conductance

Oui, vous avez aussi besoin de soutien. Le bois est un bon conducteur aussi, ainsi que vous l’avez vu en cours de physique…

Définir la cryptogamie. Donner un exemple de plante Cryptogame.

(La cryptogamie, c’est le fait de ne pas avoir d’organes reproducteurs apparents. C’est, d’une manière générale un groupe de plantes, terrestres, incluant les mousses et les fougères, et qui ne produisent pas de fleurs évidemment.)

• forme de fécondation, se fait par fécondation entre un gamète mâle et un gamète femelle d’une même fleur
• fait que le pollen ne soit pas libéré mais soudé, la fécondation est interne, les deux gamètes sont alors à l’intérieur et on a alors une graine

Vous confondez avec l’autofécondation. Vous étiez voisin de table durant l’examen?

• lorsque le fruit possède deux vie, une vie normale et une vie ralentie

Lorsque l’étudiant possède deux vies. Une vie en dehors des études, et une vie… en dehors des études.

• fécondation entre deux spores formant le gamétophyte ; l’avoine est cryptogame

Argh, attaque cardiaque. Les spores germent et donnent naissance au gamétophyte. Les spores ne se fécondent pas, c’est le rôle des gamètes! L’avoine est une plante à fleurs comme beaucoup d’autres. Elle est d’ailleurs anémophile.

• quand la plante n’est ni femelle ni mâle

Quand l’étudiant n’est ni réveillé, ni n’a suivi les cours…

• famille de fleurs où les organes reproducteurs sont cachés

Oui, sauf que les cryptogames ne produisent pas de fleurs.

• transformation en plante à fleur

Transmutation!

• fait de ne pas utiliser la photosynthèse

!?! Vous confondez cryptogamie et hétérotrophie.

• propriété qu’ont certains végétaux à cacher, masquer leurs organes génitaux

Ah ben voilà, la preuve qu’on peut avoir juste tout en proposant une réponse mignonne…

A partir de l’échantillon, faire une analyse florale incluant (…)

• la plante observée possède des fleurs du sexe femelle. Ceci est justifié par l’absence de la présence d’un pistil et la présence d’étamine et d’un ovaire

Waow. Déjà, une “absence de présence” rend d’emblée la réponse facile à aborder pour le correcteur. Ensuite, la présence d’étamines indique bien qu’on est en présence d’un organe mâle, donc la fleur ne peut être femelle…

• l’ail des ours est une fleur pollinisée par le vent parce que ni la couleur ni l’odeur ne sont attirantes

C’est presque ça. Les pollinisateurs peuvent très bien ne pas avoir les mêmes goûts que vous. L’Ail des Ours a des pétales bien marqués (en fait, des tépales puisqu’on ne distingue pas de prime abord les sépales des pétales) et plutôt colorés (d’accord, ils sont blancs, mais ce qui est important, c’est qu’ils se distinguent du reste de la végétation, c’est à dire qu’ils signalent la présence de la fleurs aux pollinisateurs). La présence d’une odeur caractéristique émise à la floraison est aussi le signe que la plante attire bien des pollinisateurs… Donc on ne compte pas les points ici. Mais la réponse est très mignonne au demeurant.

• la fleur appartient aux monocotylédones parce que les nerfs dans sa feuille sont parallèles

Bien vu, sauf que les feuilles ont des nervures, pas des nerfs!

Et voilà, la suite si quelqu’un reprend le flambeau…

The 21st edition of Berry Go Round can now be found at Beetles In The Bush. Go read for a good plant yield!

All tubs on the picture below are radishes, the big one isn’t a turnip but a true radish root, from a giant variety. I really enjoy neighbouring organic farms, and moreover that the farmers decided to fill their market gardens with many rare vegetables and roots. They offer a great diversity and of course, increase tentation of buying more vegs than actually needed in the kitchen (which is probably healthier ‘foraging’ for the family afterall). I like the darker twilight purple radishes too, but now there’s a new caracteristics to test for, in addition to age and size, whenever taste is differing. Hum, maybe I’ll go with Halloween radishes instead of pumpkins!

Gosh, the very interesting things (or is it sting?) in comparative linguitics trying to learn languages, is that you eventually will find striking differences. Sometimes. English has many more words than my mother tongue (French — ca. 200,000 vs 90,000), and I often get confused by the fact a single word can translate differently (well, it happens more often from French > English but the reverse also sometimes occurs). Kind of slowing down conversation, because you have to make a distinction where you’re used to make none (which doesn’t mean you’re not able to strike it, e.g. French doesn’t have a specific name for ape but uses monkey, in a more general meaning, instead).

Sometimes you’re left wondering if all these differences do really have an importance or if they are just arbitrary or only of poetic origin. Here’s today lot. To my surprise, this is not about synonymy at all:

Thorns are modified branches or stems, spines are modified leaves, and prickles are needle-like extensions of the cortex and epidermis.

(From Wikipedia, more precisely here). That’s amazing to see that the use of these different words imply a sophisticated knowledge of botany, or at least good observational skills. How are you supposed to speak, when you don’t have a branch of the plant you’d like to talk about in front of you?

This is the fourth and last post on BBB09 here at Seeds Aside this year (you can reach #1, #2, #3, and even previous years following the links). Today we’ll sum up species met during a quick halt near the Couesnon river, next to Mézière sur Couesnon (satellite map).

Apple trees in a meadow invaded by Bracken ferns

This area is an underwood slope leading to the Couesnon riverbanks (actually, unused meadows slowing reverting to forest first). The trail begins with Apples (Malus domestica). The country is full of such trees (hedges are overcrowded sometimes), and these are mostly undetermined old population/varieties used to make hard cider (a regional specialty).

Most common local tree species are growing in there, so I count back Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur), Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa), and Common Hazel (Corylus avellana), to which I add bushes of the European Holly (Ilex aquifolium) — all Hollies had a very low reproductive success there, as I didn’t see any berry. Since the species is dioecious (males and females), this means either sex was short in the population, or that pollinators were not that interested. Actually, this is quite in contrast to a

Cliff that rocks (with Quercus robur)

recent population I’ve seen, where females bore thousands of fruits (another extreme for this species).

Of course, I consider many other plants to be already on the BBB list, i.e. Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum, maybe the first plant in French Brittany), Blackberry (Rubus fructicosus), Rumex species,  Common Ivy (Hedera helix, the plant protected against automn sunburn), and… hum, grasses.

So the meadows transforms into underwood with sloppy slopes until the river. At places, you get cliffs instead. Best to follow the trail where it wants you to go, to avoid falling short.

Finally, there is the small river (it is very curious for sa long as it flows through northern Brittany, this river never really turns into a big one, but stays of a quite reasonnable size all way long).

The Couesnon River (with Alders: Alnus sp; and Beeches: Fagus sylvatica)

Let’s enter a divide now, but an ecological, not a taxonomic one…

“The Plateau” (Things atop):

I made a stop to a flowering Common Ivy (Hedera helix, did I write it down already? Oops). This is a place to spot buzzing insects, and non-buzzing ones aside too. Contrary to previous year, I did not see any domestic bee. But I got wild ones instead. So here we go…

Colletes, probably succintus.

Eristalis similis, feeding

Red Amiral (Vanessa atalanta), gotcha!

There was Inachis io also, a pair of specimens. But I wasn’t able to get a picture.

Then, plants. I don’t know if this one was planted or was just spontaneous, but look at these purple berries. That’s from European Spindle (Euonymus europaeus).

European spindle berries

“The slope” (Things inbetween):

Okay, underwood species ‘n trees. Shaddy.

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

Pale Tussock (Calliteara pudibunda) caterpillar (which you had guessed)

Common Elder (Sambucus nigra)

Navelwort (Umbilicus rupestris) in a (dry) Polytrichum tuft

Young Quercus robur infested with Oidium fungus

Notice with the previous picture that we can tell the parasiting fungus is carried through the plant with the sap, as we can clearly see a leaf infection pattern beginning with veins (and ending up with a whole white fungus coat). If it had been by air way, we would have had many circle spots (see Stachys below). Amazingly, we can also tell which of the three stem was first infected (the middle one), and which leaf on a stem is first contaminated (it seems like the top leaves in a stem get the fungus first, maybe because it is the main sap destination).

“Mean and lowly things” (The river spot):

Red Campion (Silene dioica)

Stachys, another one with fungi...

Adalia bipunctata (bad name but it is truly bipunctata)

Common Pondskaters (Gerris lacustris)

The banks were overcrowded by Common Nettle, Blackberry and Redshank, but we already counted them here and there. I also gave up trying to catch flies, of which many Musca domestica anyway.

Now it seems few people have indulged into the Blogger Bio Blitz. If I find links, I’ll let you know… And see you next spring!

—

Okay, I did not identify these spiders (and I doubt I could –Well maybe an Araneus diadematus at top of the first picture below), but let”s this be part of BBB09. I was walking down the trail when I saw a Crane fly (there were plenty of them this morning) that was dancing in a very strange way.

Indeed. It wasn”t dancing. It was trying to escape from a spider web. Do you notice anything special?

Trying to escape from the spider web

The Crane fly is doing well to flee from the web. Actually, it did remove itself from being completely caught up within.

Does it help? Not sure. And here”s why:

Riding a Crane Fly wild

Before escaping, a spider had jumped onto its back, and is poisoning the insect to death.

Spider catch...

The Crane fly didn’t make it. I was just left wondering if I wasn’t witnessing directly something called kleptoparasitism: the catching spider wasn’t really owning the web, but jumped as the occasion went by instead. Indeed, it doesn’t look like the two spider belong to the same species (even if most spider species have strong sexual dimorphism). What do you think?

Last dancing round

So here is a first shoot for BBB09. Literally, because this is the opening for the hunting season, and shots were echoing from everywhere in the landscape. Hmm, bioblitzing is a dangerous activity in Fall!

Feins Hedged Farmland (wet meadows)

So our first spot is a hedged farmland area in French Brittany near the town of Feins (in the heartland, not the coasts). I was hoping for swampy places, as my map (well, dating back from the early 80’s though) had swamp symbols on that place. Instead, I got wet meadows but that’s for a good start. Much less muddy.

Satellite map, if you’re curious.

Let’s go quickly for the trees. Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur), Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa), and Black Poplar (Populus nigra) were dominating the hedges (well, both in abundance and height, see picture above). There were many other shrubs and small trees nevertheless, most bearing fruits or nuts, such as Common Hazel (Corylus avellana), Midland Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata), Wild Rose (Rosa canina), and a few Wild Cherry trees (Prunus avium) here and there…

Hedges delineate the path

Other commonest include various field grasses that I didn’t even thought of determining, the common Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum) spreading in dense patches, Blackberry (Rubus, probably some fructicosus thingie) and since we are in Brittany, plenty of Common Gorse (Ulex europaeus) though none were flowering, along with undetermined species of Genista.

Now that’s spelled out, I guess we have at least 80% of individuals met during the walk… Let’s turn to the rarest now… But before that, let’s have a look at a local agricultural practice that has interesting consequences on the landscape.

We’re in a country with a dense hedge web, and even if field management evolved in the late decades with intensification of agriculture, many old trees still stand in between. During the middle ages, land was not owned by those who planted and cultivated it, and property rights included trees around the fields. On the other hand, people were in need of wood during winter. They thus obtained the right to cut branches on trees in hedges, so that trees were not killed and houses can stay warm during the bad times. It evolved into the generalization of shredding, resulting into typical (but unnatural) regional tree morphology. The practice is still in use today…

arbres d'émonde (shred trees)

Birds were particularly quiet, but I’ve seen classics like the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), the Winter Wren (Nannus troglodytes), Rook (Corvus frugilegus), and a few gulls (Larus fuscus) fleeing the shores to overwinter in fields. Let’s expel the other vertebrates quickly too:

Cows (Bos primigenius)

Dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

The latest was clearly looking after any beast that’s big enough to interest his master. I really was fitting into its search model, for it stopped its race and pointed at me. Fortunately for me, I wasn’t fitting into the model for the hunter…

Now the arthropods. Hum, not that many here. Dipters mostly… (in abundance decreasing ranking!):

Mosquito (Culex sp) & Mint (Mentha sp)

Crane Fly (Tipula paludosa)

Hover Fly (Episyrphus balteatus) on Hedge Bindweed (Calystegia sepium)

And also numbers of mating pairs of the Common Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria). If you wonder where, see the vertebrate section above.

While we’re still listing insect, I’ve seen (but not photographed here) Vanessa atalanta and Inachis io. But these butterflies and good at fly and flee as soon as something big is approaching. Model search is just like the dogs one, except that they often flee at sight, and the size treshold is much smaller.

Easier were caterpillars. At this place, I’ve seen this one, apparently feeding on Rumex sp. It seems like it belongs to Euproctis chrysorrhoea or some related Lymantriidae.

Brown-tail (Euproctis chrysorrhoea)

Finally, here are the flowering plant species that punctuated the trail… A lot, but Seeds Aside is a plant blog so I guess this was expected!

German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita)

Chamomile between Plantago major neighbours (attacked by a mildew fungus)

Fumaria officinalis (Common Fumitory or Earth smoke)

Redshank (Persicaria maculosa, formerly Polygonum persicaria)

Conium maculatum (Hemlock or Poison Hemlock) and stems of Zea mays

Unidentified Apiaceae infructescence (Rubus leaves at bottom)

Young Quercus robur (and Oidium fungus) & Urtica dioica

Sonchus oleraceus (Common sowthistle)

 And because I keep trying to find their IDs, here are two very nice flowers. I can’t wait too long though, and once again I’m not well equiped with identification guides, and even google can’t help this time (the Linaria just below might be L. repens, though there are some small morphological differences that might make the difference…). Here they are:

Linaria, unidentified species (my fault, for it is common)

Unidentified Ranunculaceae flower

Another Blogger Bio Blitz 2009 post is coming soon, at another place (about 30 kms East of these hedge edges & meadows, in the Couesnon valley). Keep in touch!

Just here. Got into the group selection multilevel selection posts, here and there… Guess why? :)

Where does your potato come from? Me? Meh! Organic farms, since a few weeks…

Charlotte (top) and Vitelotte Noire (bottom): average size difference.

Hum, why would the Blogger Bio Blitz be limited to wild species? So here are a few old (French) varieties of potatoes I got yesterday. This is the advantage of living in a rural place with a few organic farmers around: an excellent opportunity to meet old forgotten (and almost extinct for some) varieties. Something that would fulfill your curiosity for lost diversity. If you’re like me, you’ll get striked by marginal phenotypes and spend some time admiring this.

• Ruby: Like he said. Obviously ruby, not rubbish!

• Vitellote noire : an oldie which can apparently be traced back as far as before 1815 (as referred to in a few agricultural documents). Almost two centuries of cultivation! I can’t wait to see the deep blue inside (the outer epiderm is black).

Ratte cultivar (top), Ruby (bottom left) and Vitellote noire (bottom right)

• La corne de ratte: interesting small tubercule with red skin, often dividing and spreading from each other. I cannot confirm it right now but it is claimed to have one of the finest taste. It can be dated back as early as  1870 and probably originated near Lyon (South of France). Also, it was probably saved by itstaste, when greatest chefs decided to use it frantically in their recipes.

• Bec de caille (translates as quail beak): an interesting potato with a two coloured skin –mostly light brown all around, and redish in patches centered by an ‘eye’.

"Bec de Caille", a bicolour potato cultivar.

If you wish some more pictures of potato varieties (though not mine ;), you can check there. Some can be MOSTLY PURPLE! Or if you ever need to be confirmed how intimate we are with these tubs!