Ray Charles Live Oak: A garden to smell and touch.

Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove at MOSI, Tampa

The Historic Tree Grove at MOSI offers a unique timeline of America's history as it was viewed by silent witnesses, trees. Our 17 trees planted in the grove in 1996 are all seedlings of trees that witnessed amazing historic events or were associated with famous historical people. Imagine the sycamore that grew from seeds that went to the moon, a pine that watched a battle of the American Civil War, the sweet gum that saw the flight of the first airplane. What wonders those trees witnessed and those same trees still live long after the events of history have passed. We can still lay our hands on their bark, sit beneath their boughs and take a few minutes out to learn and converse about great deeds and fantastic people which shaped our world.

Ray Charles

Blind since the age of six from glaucoma, Ray Charles studied composition and learned many instruments at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. His parents had died by his early teens, and he worked as a musician in Florida for a while before using his savings to move to Seattle in 1947.

He got his first Top Ten R&B hit with "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand" in 1951. Charles is best known as the father of soul music, and his career is regarded as a significant landmark in the world of modern music. Ray Charles died June 10, 2004.

The Ray Charles Live Oak grows in St. Augustine, Florida , at the school where the renowned musician received his education. Our Ray Charles Live Oak is a seedling from that tree.

A garden to touch and smell:


In honor of Ray Charles, the plan for this garden was to create a planting that would appeal to senses other than sight. We collected plants with interesting aromas or flowers and foliage that would feel neat to the touch.

• White Fountain Grass (Pennisetum villosum) was planted for its soft, feathery tops and cats tongue rough blades of grass.
• Fragrant Olive (Osmanthus fragrans) was picked for the gorgeous sweet aroma of its blooms. These tiny blossoms emit such a fragrant scent that it can easily be smelled dozens of feet away.
• Sweet Almond Bush (Aloysia virgata) was chosen for the sweet almond-like scent of its white flowers.
• Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) was selected for the licorice scent given off by its foliage when touched. Even by gently brushing against the foliage of this plant, the scent of licorice is strong in the air.
• Chocolate Mint (Mentha piperita) was planted for the minty, chocolately smell given off by its foliage when handled. These leaves when crushed smell delightful.
• Peppermint (Mentha piperita) was chosen for its minty aroma.
• Lambs Tails (Ptilotus exaltatus) was selected for its feathered purple flower tops that have a dried flower stiffness.
• Dusty Miller (Senecio cineraria) was planted for its powdery foliage that is so very interesting to handle. After being wet the Dusty Miller appears more green but dries to silvery white.
• Chenille plant (Acalypha hispida) was picked for its mounding foliage covered in interesting, soft red blooms that feel more like an odd yarn than a plant.
• Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) was chosen for the honey sweet scent of its white blossoms. In the early spring, the scent of this plant drifts far on warm mornings and draws people over to discover how all that scent could come from such tiny white flowers.

Thanks again to Fiskars Project Orange Thumb that has made these wonderful dreams of gardens into a reality of leaves and blooms.

Ovipositing

Ovipositing is defined as the laying of eggs, used especially when in reference to insects laying eggs. Butterflies are true specialists, with the larvae usually able to consume only a small number of plants or sometimes even just one or two plant species.

After mating, a gravid (filled with eggs) female butterfly must go in search of host plants that her young will be able to consume. Butterflies in part visually recognize these plants with their amazing eyes. After spotting a likely suspect, the female butterfly will land on each plant and taste it using sensors called chemoreceptors or "taste hairs" that are much like taste buds on her feet. The taste hairs are actually 200 times more sensitive than human taste buds and help the female butterfly determine if she is on the right plant to lay eggs.

Depending upon the species, the female butterfly will either land upon the host plant, or in some large species will just grasp the host plant with her feet while hovering in place next to the host plant. She will carefully curve her body under and deposit an egg on the host plant, gluing it to the plant with a sticky gum-like substance that her body secretes.

Some butterfly eggs are laid in groups (like the eggs of the Pipevine and Polydamas Swallowtails) and those larvae grow up together feeding gregariously. Other species lay their eggs one at a time and the larvae may never bump into one of their many siblings.

Female butterflies, depending upon species, can lay anywhere from a few to a few hundred eggs. Journey North, a website that tracks the northward progress of the monarch migration each year, captured a single female butterfly named "Ms. Monarch" and recorded her egg-laying progress for the rest of her life. Ms. Monarch laid 326 eggs in just two weeks!

By laying so many eggs, butterflies assure that no matter how many predators or diseases may effect their species, it is likely that at least a few of those eggs will survive to be adult butterflies and complete the cycle with their own eggs!

Aristolochias @ MOSI Outside

In the MOSI BioWorks Butterfly Gardens we have 4 varieties of Pipevines (Aristolochias) that we keep as caterpillar host plants for the Polydamas and Pipevine Swallowtails

• First, the quick-growing Dutchman's Pipevine (Aristolochia gigantea) has a smooth heart shaped leaf and grows a gigantic oval pipevine flower that is about the size of your face!

The A. gigantea is a favorite of the Polydamas Swallowtail whose caterpillars rapidly attempt to defoliate this gorgeous plant that grows on the tank overlook boardwalk in front of BioWorks

Pipevine Swallowtails will deposit eggs on this pipevine, but the larvae are unable to consume this plant. Red Pipevine Swallowtail eggs are removed from this plant with all due haste and are transferred to one of the aristolochias that they can safely consume.

• Next is the diminuative Virginia Snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria) that is most often found on the dappled sunlight floors of forests. We have a small group of snakeroots growing in the square planting beds near our shade structure. This tiny and slow growing plant is the native host for the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly.

Because of the slow growing nature of this plant we mostly rear our Pipevine Swallowtails on an exotic pipevine that they can consume so we can keep up with their healthy appetites. In the wild, the Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar will completely defoliate one snakeroot and then start wandering across the forest floor in search of more food. Snakeroots bloom with a tiny flower that is located near the base of the plant just above the soil. Look for these tiny blooms in late summer/fall.

• Trilobed Pipevine (Aristolochia trilobata) is native to Belize and other neighboring areas of South America and is also known as Calico Vine or Bejuco de Santiago. This shiny leaf has three long lobes and can be found growing on a trellis in our 'Milkweed Patch' and on a trellis against the back of our potting shed.

This non-native pipevine is somewhat slow-growing, but it sure beats waiting for Virginia Snakeroot. Trilobed Pipevine can be safely eaten by Pipevine and Polydamas Swallowtails. As our Pipevine Swallowtails are much more specialist in their dietary choices, we tend to remove Polydamas Swallowtail eggs to other types of pipevines and save this species just for the Pipevine Swallotails.

• Lastly is the Giant Pipevine or Pelican Flower (Aristolochia grandiflora) which is clambering over a large wooden trellis and adjacent garden arch in our gardens.

The massive species resembles the Dutchman's Pipevine in its heart-shaped leaf but it has a flower that remains closed and looks the the head, pouch and beak of a pelican.

This species of pipevine can only be consumed by the Polydamas Swallowtail. Pipevine Swallowtails tend to stay away from this species and not mistakenly lay eggs on the woody stems or coarse leaves.

Checkered Whites in plenty

Checkered White (Pontia protodice) butterflies are in abundance throughout the summer in Tampa, mostly because they feed upon plants in the mustard (Brassicaceae) and caper (Capparidaceae) families.

Many plants in these families thrive in the dry and often cut medians of city roads and highways. Also, adults like to feed upon the small flowers of hedge mustards, composites, and alfalfa that grow in the same disturbed areas.

In a recent butterfly count in Tampa, a count volunteer told me that he had observed 103 checkered whites in just a few hours and that they were the most populous butterfly that he had observed the entire day. This is one case where a butterfly thrives from the interference of humans creating endless miles of habitat by accident. Next time you take a long summer drive, watch the flowers and grass along the roadways for these little white beauties.

About time!

The Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) eggs collected on May 15th have finally reached maturity and have begun going into chrysalis.

Thankfully they were worth the wait. Look at these little gems. Unfortunately the camera just could not truly capture the iridescence of these tiny chrysalis. They are smooth along their backs and bumpy along the undersides.

The small point on the undersides of the chrysalis are reflective gold much like the chrysalis of the Common Crow butterfly which I discussed in this post.

Beside these little beauties we currently have a wealth of Polydamas swallowtails and Monarch butterflies that have gone to chrysalis in the last few days. Additionally we have a group of about 25 Giant Swallowtail caterpillars that are quite large and should going to chrysalis any day now. Summer is exciting in the butterfly garden.

The slowest-pillars

I found a few dozen Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) eggs on may 15th. The caterpillars are possibly the slowest growing larvae I have ever witnessed. Two and a half weeks have gone past and this one is probably the largest of the brood.

Photographed on the pad of my finger, this caterpillar is still pretty small. I really hope these guys are worth the wait.

Along their sides they have long rows of tiny white dots that are quite pretty. Unlike Gulf Fritillaries, the Variegated Fritillaries have a long pair of antenna at the front and shorter branching spines along the length of their bodies. Except for the dots and antenna-like appendages, they could be pretty difficult to tell the species apart in the larval form. I'm looking forward to finding out how these characteristics will look on a more mature caterpillar.

The Olustee Longleaf Pine: a native flatwoods garden

Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove at MOSI, Tampa
The Historic Tree Grove at MOSI offers a unique timeline of America's history as it was viewed by silent witnesses, trees. Our 17 trees planted in the grove in 1996 are all seedlings of trees that witnessed amazing historic events or were associated with famous historical people. Imagine the sycamore that grew from seeds that went to the moon, a pine that watched a battle of the American Civil War, the sweet gum that saw the flight of the first airplane. What wonders those trees witnessed and those same trees still live long after the events of history have passed. We can still lay our hands on their bark, sit beneath their boughs and take a few minutes out to learn and converse about great deeds and fantastic people which shaped our world.

The Civil War in Florida

One of the trees in the frontage of the tree grove is the Olustee Longleaf Pine. The Battle of Olustee, also known as the Battle of Ocean Pond, was the largest of the few battles of the American Civil War fought in Florida. On February 20, 1864 Union forces on an expedition into Florida to secure Union enclaves, sever Confederate supply routes, and recruit black soldiers met with a force of 5000 Confederate troops.

The battle was a rout for Union forces with nearly 2,000 casualties after the four hours of battle. Many combatants involved in the battle were veterans of larger battles of the Civil War but many of those soldiers reported this battle to be particularly fierce fighting and inhospitable terrain. Fleeing Union troops were mostly unpressed in their retreat and returned to Jacksonville which remained a Union stronghold in Florida until the end of the war.

The Battle of Olustee was fought upon an open pine barren with swampland as a border for the Union battle lines. Many stands of pine remain at the site of this battlefield which is now a Florida state park which hosts a battle reenactment each year in February.

For more information on events leading up to the battle, commands for both armies, the accounts of the battle and the aftermath of nearly 3,000 people left dead in North Florida after the battle please check out the award winning Battle of Olustee website. There is a great compilation of letters, wills and firsthand accounts on that site that speak to the state of Florida in that period of American History.

Olustee Lithograph pictured above: From Wikipedia- The lithograph ... was printed by the firm of Kurz and Allison in 1894. It depicts soldiers of the 8th U.S. Colored Troops advancing against Confederate entrenchments. While frequently used in media about the Battle of Olustee, it is inaccurate as the artist knew little about the battle. The Confederates troops during the battle were well in advance of their prepared positions, and neither side fought from behind fortifications as the battle took place in a pine forest (see map). Plus, there were very few large cleared areas (as also shown incorrectly in the lithograph). The annual reenactment begins in a pine forest so that re-enactors can experience fighting as the soldiers did in 1864. However, it then moves into a large cleared area so that spectators also can view the battle.

The Longleaf Pine

Our Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) is a seedling from the venerable old pines at the site of the Olustee Battlefield. With a lifespan up to 300 years, these pines take 100 to 150 years to fully mature. Longleaf pines are very fire tolerant and their habitats are regular home to brush fires that quickly burn up fallen pine needles and other crowding tree species.

Longleaf pines once covered some 30 to 60 million acres of the Coastal Southeast United States, several hundred years of heavy logging have taken their toll on a tree that was once a dominant species in Florida. The tall, straight trunks of these trees were often used as masts for sailing vessels. You can learn more about the longleaf pine at the Conifers.org Longleaf Pine page.

A Flatwoods Garden

The garden we chose to create for the Olustee Longleaf Pine is a garden of plants native to the flatwoods ecosystems of Florida. These are plants that occur in the same uplands habitats as longleaf pines and are likely some of the plants that would have been found in the flatwoods habitat where the Battle of Olustee was fought.

As a few of the volunteers for the planting were Civil War re-enactors, there was a special buzz about planting this particular thematic garden and volunteer Marjorie gave the rest of the volunteers a history lesson about the Battle of Olustee as the planting progressed.

First, our intrepid Fiskars Project Orange Thumb volunteers set about removing a great deal of non-native Fountain grasses and overgrown beach sunflower that had taken over the area under the longleaf pine. Afterwards we moved in a great deal of compost so that we would have awesome soil for our fine selection of native flatwoods plants.

Our orange-clad group planted a beautiful variety of species in the huge area under the longleaf pine. Here is what we put in the ground.

• Blanket Flower (Gallardia)
  
• Beach sunflower (Helianthus debilis)


• Sensitive plant (Mimosa strillagosa)
  
• Lantana (Lantana depressa)
  
• Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)
  
• Dwarf Blueberry (Vaccinium myrsinites)


• Sparkelberry (Vaccinium arborium)


• Climbing aster (Symphotrichum carolinianum)


• Tickseed (Coreopsis leavenworthii)


• Silver Lovegrass (Eragrostis elliotts)


• Purple Lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis)


• Muhley Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris)


• Rosinweed (Silphium compositum)


• Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)