Growing With Science Blog

Month: October 2012 (Page 1 of 5)

Bug of the Week: Manduca rustica Larva

October 31, 2012 / / 0 Comments

One reason to keep a photo journal of insects like this is so you can record what you find the insects feeding on.

In the past we had found the caterpillars of the rustic sphinx moth, Manduca rustica, eating leaves high in our desert willow tree.

This week, however, we found a caterpillar munching on our cats-claw vine.

My son suggested that because both plants have tubular flowers, long seed pods and winged seeds, that perhaps the plants are related. I looked it up, and it turns out that both desert willow and cats-claw vine belong to the family Bignoniaceae. They are related!

From now on we’ll keep an eye out for rustic sphinx caterpillars on both plants.

Mystery Seed of the Week 134

October 30, 2012 / / 0 Comments

For the next few weeks I will be featuring some plants that are not necessarily found in Arizona.

These plants are commonly used in landscapes.

You might never have looked at the seeds, which is why I included the opened fruit. Any ideas?

Edit:  The answer is now posted.

Seed of the Week: Queen Anne’s Lace

October 30, 2012 / / 0 Comments

As Katherine surmised, our mystery seeds from last week were from a member of the carrot family. In fact they were from wild carrot, also known as Queen Anne’s lace, Daucus carota.

You can see where the flower does look lacy. The petals range from pure white to pinkish purple in color.

In thisreproduction of a painting by the Swedish botanist C. A. M. Lindman, you can see the leaves of the plant a similar to the leaves of cultivated carrots (from a previous seed of the week post). In fact, the cultivated carrot is thought to have been derived from the wild carrot.

I have never seen a Queen Anne’s lace root as robust and as orange as the one depicted here. Generally they are smaller and pale in color. They do have a strong carrot scent.

The flower heads dry and turn brown in the fall, producing the spiky seeds.

Do Queen Anne’s lace grow where you live?

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