lit by November grey
clouds
pushed by wind
one brought inside on a shoe
Showing posts with label JCCC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JCCC. Show all posts
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Ginkgo
These are leaves from a Ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba) on my campus. This plant is sometimes thought of as a living fossil since they belong to a very ancient group of plants, the phylum(divsion) Ginkgophytes. These plants go back to about 270 million years ago in the fossil record.
In fact this species was thought to be extinct. This site http://kwanten.home.xs4all.nl/fossils.htm
has lots of good Ginkgo fossil pictures.
Ginkgo makes a great landscape tree especially in urban areas. But one thing I don't like about this tree is that it doesn't seem to get visited by many insects-makes sense since it is not native to this part of the world.
Consider though that I am an entomologist so I am always a bit disappointed when a plant doesn't have at least some insect visitors. Something is missing.
Why Ginkgo doesn't seem to get visited by insects isn't clear to me. Maybe the insects that had co-evolved with Ginkgo were wiped out when the species almost went extinct, or maybe it really does have some adaptation that deters insects. There are a few insects recorded in the United States as visitors, but the list is very short even when compared with other introduced species. See for example this list of tree pests from New York City where Ginkgos are commonly used: http://www.grownyc.org/files/citylot/Diseases_and_Insects.pdf.
Curiously insect resistance or maybe insect non interest seems to be characteristic of a related group of plants-the cycads which are also considered to be living fossils, though I have not looked at this issue closely.
In fact this species was thought to be extinct. This site http://kwanten.home.xs4all.nl/fossils.htm
has lots of good Ginkgo fossil pictures.
Ginkgo makes a great landscape tree especially in urban areas. But one thing I don't like about this tree is that it doesn't seem to get visited by many insects-makes sense since it is not native to this part of the world.
Consider though that I am an entomologist so I am always a bit disappointed when a plant doesn't have at least some insect visitors. Something is missing.
Why Ginkgo doesn't seem to get visited by insects isn't clear to me. Maybe the insects that had co-evolved with Ginkgo were wiped out when the species almost went extinct, or maybe it really does have some adaptation that deters insects. There are a few insects recorded in the United States as visitors, but the list is very short even when compared with other introduced species. See for example this list of tree pests from New York City where Ginkgos are commonly used: http://www.grownyc.org/files/citylot/Diseases_and_Insects.pdf.
Curiously insect resistance or maybe insect non interest seems to be characteristic of a related group of plants-the cycads which are also considered to be living fossils, though I have not looked at this issue closely.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Kansas City Japan Festival 2011 at JCCC
Kansas City Japan Festival 2011 at JCCC, a set on Flickr.
Shots from this year's Japan Festival at JCCC.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Death of a Colleague
Last week one of my colleagues died and yesterday there was a memorial celebration for her at the School. Her name was Betty Bullock and she was in our sociology department. Betty was a wonderful person and I had just started to get to know her when she took ill. We were planning a learning community between biology and sociology and we were working on how to frame the materials in a way that showed the connections between these fields. To us the connections were obvious, all about relationships and function and evolution at all levels whether we were talking about molecules, cells, the communities of sometimes distantly related cells, that make up multicellular organisms, or the communities of communities that make up the ecosphere.
I will miss Betty not only for the small connection we had built before she got sick but also for the lost chance to build our learning community, Betty and I. Nothing will be that community but I know what to do and what she would want too. Keep on going and make a community for biology and sociology and so yesterday I went to another friend, in sociology, who knew about what Betty and I were planning. Are you interested? Can we do this? Let's talk. It will not be the same learning community and we will have to start from scratch, but we both know Betty will be with us.
I will miss Betty not only for the small connection we had built before she got sick but also for the lost chance to build our learning community, Betty and I. Nothing will be that community but I know what to do and what she would want too. Keep on going and make a community for biology and sociology and so yesterday I went to another friend, in sociology, who knew about what Betty and I were planning. Are you interested? Can we do this? Let's talk. It will not be the same learning community and we will have to start from scratch, but we both know Betty will be with us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)