Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens)

Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) is a desert plant that is found in the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Deserts of North America. Although there are other ocotillo species that are found further south. The plant is made up of long thin individual stacks and when it is in bloom those stacks are tipped with a cone of bright red flowers. In fact, they are named for these flowers as ocotillo is Spanish for little torch. This flowering actually is timed to happen when the hummingbirds are migrating through the desert.


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Forest eco-systems of Belize

The following has been modified from my field notes from when I took tropical ecology and did a field session in Belize.

In the rainforest ecosystem, the number of symbiotic relationships between organisms is astounding. For example, the relationship between leafcutter ants and the fungus is highly observable in Belize. There is such a great number of these ants that paths are created by them. Leafcutter ant is a generic term for one of 47 species, in the orders  Atta and Acromyrmex. They take leafs from plants and chew them up, this plant material is then fed to a fungus, which they eat. In a sense they are farmers. Since the fungus receives a habitat and the ant receive food, this symbiotic relationship is mutualism. There is a dark side to this relationship though. If a plant is highly desirable by ants they will highly predate on said plant. Because of this, they are seen as pests by farmers, whose crops they can destroy.

Leafcutter Ants. Captured by Lauren Schramm, Belize City, Belize

We saw a wide variety of epiphytes growing on a wide range of trees. Epiphytes are plants that live on the bark and the branches of other trees. This feature allows the plant to gain access to light with a limited energy investment. Most plant growth is limited by sunlight, water availability, and temperature. They are not parasitic but their weight can damage trees. This is an example of commensal as the trees are not harmed but the epiphyte benefits from the relationship. At the Mayan ruins, we saw one plant that has adapted to solve this issue by shedding its bark, so the epiphytes fall off with the bark. This worked fairly well for the tree but in one area a plant had managed to survive on the tree. The most commonly recognized epiphytes are pitcher plants, “air plants”, and mistletoe (Santalales).

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Stone Mountain- natural wonder of Georgia

Stone Mountain is metro Atlanta’s most popular hiking spots. It also happens to be one of the 7 natural wonders of Georgia joining the ranks of; Amicalola Falls, Warm Springs, Okefenokee Swamp, Providence Canyon, Radium Springs and Tallulah Gorge. Stone Mountain is a giant igneous monolith that has a circumference of 5 miles at the base above ground but extends further underground. While it is very large it is not the largest piece of granite in the world, and some of the mountains is not composed entirely of granite, composition ranges from quartz monzonite to granite and granodiorite according to the Georgia Geological Survey Bullet. It is unclear what the largest piece of granite in the world is; I’ve heard the same claim from the Polar Caves in New Hampshire and from a rock in Yellowstone. It was formed from an upwelling of magma, about the same time that the Blue Ridge Mountains were formed.

There are many interesting species to observe at Stone Mountain as well. During the rainy season in the pools clam shrimp (Laevicaudata) and fairy shrimp (Anostraca) can be observed. Both of these are orders of small bivalves and crustaceans. The fairy shrimp is most commonly known as the sea monkey. Clam shrimps are very similar but they have a protective shell around the shrimp. They are both able to enter a state called diapause, in this state the eggs basically dry out and remain that way until it rains again. The eggs can even survive being out in space! Centuries later the eggs are still able to hatch. The species are not mobile unless they are aided by wind, bird’s feet, or currents. Fairy shrimp can well found on every single continent, including Antarctica.


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IDing woody plants in winter

This past Sunday I had the joy of joining a group at a local park in Dunwoody, GA for an information session on how to identify woody plants in the winter time. Leafs typically are the easiest way to determine what plant you are observing but in the winter you have to rely on other clues. Clues you can use include leaf arrangement, overall plant shape, the bark if the plant has leafs or not, and items that are surrounding the plant on the ground. Some species of plants are inclined to hold onto their leafs while others will not. It is theorized that plants act like this to discourage deer grazing.


    • all Ashs, Maples, and Buckeyes have opposite leaf arrangement
  • alternate leaf arrangement: the plant has twigs that are staggered
    • helpful to have a macro lense to observe this


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