Growing With Science Blog

More bee photos from the archives today.

These  are two digger bees in a flower called a prickly poppy.

Someone mentioned lately that you rarely see more than one bee per flower. I guess this flower has enough nectar and pollen to share.

Did you recognize the bee last week was a bumble bee?

How do you tell a carpenter bee from a bumble bee? Actually it is difficult to tell in the species that are yellow and black, but one clue is that a carpenter bee has a bare, shiny abdomen and the bumble bee has a fuzzy abdomen.

These mystery seeds will possibly grace your table during the holidays.

Well, not the seeds so much as the fruit they come in.

Any idea what kind of fruit contains these bundles of seeds?

Edit:  The answer is now posted.

The mystery seeds last week were from calendula or pot marigold, Calendula officinalis.

Grown as a summer annual in most areas, calendulas are grown in the winter here in the low desert.

Aren’t the lovely orange flowers much more attractive than the bumpy seeds?

Image from Wikimedia

Did you ever wonder why so many plants have the species name officinalis, like Lavendula officinalis
(lavender) or Borago officinalis (borage)? That species name was used early on to designate herbs with medicinal properties. Cool!