Cardinals and Medicine Men

A couple of days ago I posted about the trash we find in the woods.  The very same day we came across the old tire, we also came across this beautiful Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis).  It was growing near a slough where the water stands throughout the year.

The Cardinal Flower requires Hummingbirds for propagation due to the depth of the flowers.  It is poisonous and teas were made of the roots and the leaves by various Indian tribes for use as cures.  Gardeners often plant it to attract Hummingbirds and because of the showy blooms.

I just like to see the bright splash of color against the green and brown backdrop. 

Cardinal Flowers are an indicator species for wetlands and are usually found in the wild near water.  The piperidine alkaloids found in the plants are similar to nicotine.  A close relative of the Cardinal Flower is Lobelia inflata or, Indian Tobacco. 

I have often thought that if I had been an American Indian back before European settlement, I would likely have been the Medicine Man of the tribe.  It is intriguing to me how they were able to identify and utilize the naturally occurring substances in plants and animals to effect cures or, at least treatments, for various diseases.  Many researchers today find that those cures have scientific validity and likely were at least somewhat effective beyond the placebo effect.

The one part of being a "Medicine Man" that would bother me is the association with Shamanism.  I believe man has a spiritual aspect, but I also believe attempts to enter into communion with that world through the use of mind-altering drugs is dangerous.  Simply making that statement sends shivers through me because mankind has a history of believing they can handle any danger and even mentioning the possibility of the reality of entering that world through drugs is like a dare to some.  I don't want someone to read this and attempt it.

Hmmm...I'm not sure what to think about those last couple of paragraphs.  It is thought that the Cardinal Flower received its name because of the similarity to the robes worn by Catholic Cardinals.  That's two different connections to the Spiritual World in one pretty flower....

"Oh, look at the pretty flowers!"

Texas is a land of wildflowers.  They are pleasing to view while traveling across the open spaces of the Lone Star State.  They have their place and are useful to wildlife, but some are toxic to many species.  In the photo you see what I believe to be Bitter Sneezeweed (Helenium amarum).  It is an invasive plant that likes to colonize overgrazed pastures.

This one was growing on our place -- not at our invitation.  When a plant is not where it is supposed to be it is considered a weed and we treat them as such.

One of our neighbors has a pasture that is almost completely covered with these weeds.  They grow right up to our fence and then stop.  His pasture was overgrazed a number of times and the weed has colonized.  We see only an occasional plant pop up in our pastures.

In the photo you also see seed heads of Bahia grass and you see a lot of organic material covering the ground.  It is important to let the grasses go to seed regularly in order to maintain plant populations.  The organic material covering the ground helps to conserve moisture, return plant nutrients to the soil, provide strata for bacteria and fungi which break down that material and also to prevent the colonization by invasive species.

Monitoring pastures is something we do constantly.  Every time we cross a piece of ground we are looking at the plants, the condition of the grasses, the moisture levels, invasive plants such as trees and weeds, the shape of manure piles from the cattle as well as their coloration.  We watch for insect species, for other wildlife signs, the height of remaining forage, and many other things.  It is a habit of constantly monitoring and evaluating our operations.

I had a great conversation at breakfast yesterday morning in which we talked about how in every business there is a tendency to quickly "institutionalize" the things we do.  We lose the motivating factors to innovate -- to change -- and things become routine.  The problem is that the world changes around us and sometimes we get significantly "behind the curve" because we fail to change with it.  We stop monitoring the processes because they are "tried and true" and familiar.

Whatever your business, it is important to constantly monitor the processes that brought you success.  Subtle changes, like the appearance of that single invasive plant, could signal the need to make an adjustment, or they might just be an anomaly.  If we aren't paying attention, those anomalies can become part of the "accepted" background and creep in on a scale that is destructive.

Just Butterflies....

I've always been attracted to butterflies.  It probably says something about my nature.  When I was a kid I spent time chasing butterflies with a net one of my uncles had made for a high school insect collection.  I learned how to mount them on a board for display and at one time had quite a few.  I used to be able to identify a large number of the ones common to the area where I grew up.  The one in the photo is a Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae).  The photo was taken at our home in northeast Texas a few years ago.

At that age -- maybe 6 or 7 years old -- I wasn't aware of their role as pollinators; no one had given me the speech about the birds and the bees.

Sometimes I find myself distracted by a butterfly flitting across my vision.  On our small piece of the countrside we have a hay meadow bordered by woods.  Along the edge (a very important area for wildlife) there are wildflowers and flowering trees/shrubs that attract pollinators.  We also have allowed the milkweed to grow, relatively unchecked, as an attraction to the Monarchs which we find are using our meadow as a resource.  (I posted about them last year - link here.)  There have been many times I stopped my work and paused to watch a butterfly dancing among the flowers nearby.  Whatever noise I was making didn't seem to deter them from their task.

Photo of a Monarch cocoon I spotted in the meadow last year.

Did you know that some butterflies are attracted only to a single species of plant?  They have evolved a symbiotic relationship in which the chemicals in the flower of the plant create a scent that attracts the pollinator.  The butterfly absorbs those chemicals into its body and it may make them bitter tasting, or some other flavor that repels predators which might otherwise attack them.

Think about it; a bright, showy flower is just saying, "come to me" -- like a siren song -- so it will be pollinated.  The bright, showy butterfly pollinates the flower and floats off toward the next opportunity.  Why are they bright and attractive colors?  If I wanted to be unobtrusive to predators I would be wearing camouflage.  The secret to their sauce is that they taste bad and their bright colors quickly signal potential predators to leave them alone.  Being easily identifiable as tasting bad can have advantages.

The Monarch and the milkweed are complementary symbiotes (I'm not sure that's the correct scientific term used by wildlife biologists, but it conveys the thought).  What it means is that both species benefit from the relationship.

Obviously, I find all this stuff fascinating....

Some Texas Springtime

Springtime in Texas,

A place of contrasts

That stretches from mountain to sea,

Brings torrential rain

Or, dust storms on the plain

And days just as pretty as could be.

Some days are hot,

Sometimes it's cold,

The bluebonnets are bluest of blue.

Hail sometimes will fall

And the snakes start to crawl;

The thunderstorms often will brew.

If you don't like the day

Just wait a few hours

'Cause it will most definitely change.

It may be too hot

Or, may be too cold

Or, could be the perfect range.

It's a beautiful time

Unless the winds blow

And you'd better hang on to your hair.

If you've never been

To the Lone Star in Spring

You'd should hurry up and get there.

The Indian Blanket

The Indian Blanket or Firewheel, is probably my favorite wildflower. Its scientific name is Gaillardia pulchella and it is native to the central U.S.

The photo above was taken near the Canadian River in the eastern part of the Texas Panhandle. We are just coming to the end of its season. It is a great time to gather seeds in order to establish new colonies of them.

According to The Tulsa World, the following is the legend of the Indian Blanket.

"There once lived an old Indian blanket maker," he said, "whose talent for weaving gorgeous blankets was greatly admired among Great Plains Indians. Indians would travel many miles to trade for one of his colorful blankets richly woven in patterns of red and yellow.

"When the old blanket maker realized that his time was short, he began weaving his own burial blanket. When he died his family lovingly wrapped him in the blanket, which was his gift to the Great Spirit.

"The Great Spirit was pleased with the gift, but saddened that only those in the Happy Hunting Grounds would be able to appreciate the blanket maker's colorful creation. He decided, therefore, to give the beautiful gift back to those that the old Indian had left behind.

"The following spring gorgeous wildflowers bearing the same colors and design as the old Indian's blanket appeared in profusion over the blanket maker's grave.

The lovely flowers (Blanket Flowers) quickly spread across the plains for all to enjoy."

Wildflowers

It's springtime in the Texas Panhandle and the weather is gorgeous (contrary to what I usually tell people our weather is like). As I travelled north today toward Kansas, I took a few pictures of the wildflowers in the Canadian River breaks. I labelled the ones I knew and the rest are for you to guess. Of course, I probably won't know if you are correct or not. I think one of the reasons that I chose this post is in response to Patrick over at Born Again Redneck and his pictures of the beautiful Oregon flowers. I know I'm prejudiced, but I think ours are just as pretty -- well, sort of.

Nice view of a couple of mesas framed by Yucca flower stalks.

Prairie Daisy

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Yucca (we call it Bear Grass)

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A variety of milkweed

Winecup

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Indian Blanket (my favorite)

Buttercups.

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A variety of milkweed.

This image is looking toward the west from a spot just north of the Canadian River between Pampa and Perryton, Texas.