Last week during my daily walk, I happened to stand next to some Senna (Senna covesii) plants waiting for my walking partner to catch up.
Senna is a low shrub native to the Southwest.
This particular plant was noisy. I heard a low-pitched ‘buzz”, then a higher pitched, “bizzz.”
I knew right away what caused it, but I was more familiar with the sound on potato bush plants (see earlier post).
It was a female carpenter bee buzz pollinating. She grabbed the anthers in the center of the flower and vibrated her wings, making the sound.
The vibrations loosen the pollen, allowing her to gather it.
On a windy day, this plant also rattles. That doesn’t have anything to do with insects. Instead the mature seeds bang around inside the seedpods before they are released, giving the plant its common name “rattlebox.”
Have you heard any unusual sounding plants lately?
