|
A Walk in Fern Bluff Park (17 Mar. 2007) pg 6 Throughout the park can be seen small bunches of common bedstraw(Galium aparine), so named because, since the stems and leaves are covered by barbed (but blunt, and therefore, not prickly) hairs that catch on one another when they touch, the dried straw once made an excellent mattress filler. The straw mats in an immovable mass inside the cover, and won't migrate to one end or the other, like ordinary straw. Today, of course, we have all kinds of mattresses, made of exotic, man-made materials, which I suppose is a step upward (still, one can't help but wonder...) Wondering about mattress choices aside, common bedstraw is an interesting plant to some, and a noxious weed to others. Fortunately, if it invades your garden you can remove it with ease by pulling it out with your bare hands. Or, if you are like me, you might leave just a few stalks so the tiny white flowers can be enjoyed later. The stems have a square cross-section, and each whorl of leaves is in 6-8 leaflets around the stem. Each leaflet is tipped by a needle-point that is an extension of the leaflet's central vein.
Another type of plant found throughout the park is a variety of low, vine-like plants with pinnate leaves, most of whom are members of the Pea Family (Leguminosae). At first, you may think they are all the same, but they aren't. At least five or six, maybe more, kinds of plants grow here with these features. One, shown below, has alternating pinnate leaves with pinnate, alternating leaflets. All the others are pinnate opposite. The alternating leaflets, and the presence of terminal tendrils, identify this as the pale [or Carolina] vetch (Vicia caroliniana Walter). Pale vetch is native to the U.S., and is common throughout central, east, and north Texas. It has been used in native (Indian) medicine for a wide variety of purposes, and is considered by some, even today, an important medicinal herb.
After finishing up at Fern Bluff Park, I visited all the other parks in the Fern Bluff MUD to check up on fire ants. I've vowed to be particularly proactive on fire ants this year, as last year's less aggressive--and less expensive--program was not as successful as intended. In Brightwater Park a young man approached me to inquire about what I was putting down. I told him, and we discussed the various approaches to fire ant control. He has been using Amdro at his home with less than spectacular results, but was placing the bait directly on the mound. I suggested broadcasting small quantities of the bait around his yard, late in the day to avoid UV issues, on dry days with no rain forecast for the next day. Fire ants tend to have less respect for bait placed directly on their mounds than for widely scattered product found away from the mound, but Amdro, like many other baits, is easily deactivated by bright sunlight and by rainfall. We also discussed natural methods, such as spreading corn meal around the yard. I told Keith about university studies that showed corn meal wasn't effective for that purpose, but added that anecdotal reports of at least some measure of control from corn meal are probably correct. We know, for example, that corn meal supplementation in the yard improves populations of certain micro-fauna, particularly the microbes that combat fungal diseases. It is likely that when fire ants carry corn meal grits into their nests a secondary effect is to inhibit fungi, in the nest, that are beneficial to the fire ant colony. In the process, the vigor of the colony drops. Lowering vigor isn't the same as control, however, so relying on corn meal, alone, is not a good idea (though spreading corn meal on the lawn several times a year is an excellent idea). It is not true--as one urban legend has it--that corn meal is swallowed by adult ants, and swells in the ant's stomach until it bursts the ant's body and kills it. Adult ants cannot swallow solid food, so their diet consists of liquids alone. Consequently, the ants rely on their brood chambers, back at the nests, to pre-digest their solid food for them. They carry solid foods back to the nest and feed them to the larvae (whose large gullets can accommodate the grits). The ant larvae break down the solids and regurgitate a liquid that adults can swallow. Since the partially digested, liquified corn meal has already swelled to its full volume, it cannot harm the adult. As we talked about other things, the amenities of the Fern Bluff and Oak Brook area came up. We agreed that such features as the hike-and-bike trails, and our outstanding parks, help explain why we love this place so much--that plus, of course, the wonderful people who live, play, and raise their kids here. I asked where he worked, and learned he was a firefighter, a Lieutenant with Austin Fire Department, stationed at Station 7, at 201 Chicon. Since I had served as a volunteer firefighter in the past, we had a good time discussing the fire service. Keith V., his son (at far left) and a friend of his son (in the middle, on the cell phone) are pictured below. I have omitted Keith's full last name, and the names of the minor children, in keeping with our most recent privacy policies.
Thanks to all for an excellent Walk in the Park. See you next Saturday... Archives of previous walks in the park: 12 May 2007, 05 May 2007; 28 April 2007, 21 April 2007, 14 April 2007, 1 April 2007 Easter Egg Hunt; 24 March 2007, 17 March 2007; Nov. 03, 2001; April 04, 2001; March 25, 15, 10-11, 04, 2001; February 24, 18, 10, 2001 * TERMITE ENCOUNTERS * SNAKE ENCOUNTERS * SNAKE BITE FIRST AID * SNAKE EXCLUSION * SPIDER ENCOUNTERS FOR 2008 * SPIDER ENCOUNTERS FOR 2007 * SPIDER BITE FIRST AID * SPIDER EXTERMINATION * PUSS CATERPILLAR ENCOUNTERS * PUSS CATERPILLAR FIRST AID * PUSS CATERPILLAR EXTERMINATION * Assembled & Edited by Jerry Cates. Questions? Corrections? Comments? BUG ME RIGHT NOW! ---- Ph: 512-331-1111 ---- E-Mail ---- Privacy ----BugsInTheNews * --0a0s-- |
||
