Archive for the ‘Natural history tidbits’ Category
Make Birch Tea from the Bubble Gum Tree
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010At ECOS, our environmental school, I barely get to tantalize the 4th graders with the highlight to their trip in my introduction to the day. Some kid always brings it up first. “Can we go to the bubble gum tree?”
I wasn’t ready for this question when I first started teaching in the program. I didn’t know what tree they were talking about. My first thought was the spruce. Woodsmen used to pinch off nubs of sap from the bark and chew it like gum. But how could this be it? The stuff tastes awful. The kids can’t possibly be all hyped up about such nasty tasting tree gum.
My only other thought was the black birch, Betula lenta. Now that smells great and was used to flavor candies, gelatin and of course, bubble gum. Kids could get psyched about that. My colleagues later confirmed that this is the tree they touted as the “Bubble Gum Tree”.
Kids don’t seem to be disappointed that they can’t pluck off pieces of bubble gum like they envisioned. The flavor can be detected in the twigs. Just under the bark one can smell oil of wintergreen. They light up when they find their own bubble gum tree using the scratch and sniff method. Scratched twigs smell so deliciously cool, fresh and minty. I let them collect a 6-inch section and then share how I make birch bark tea. Here’s how:
Black Birch
1. Collect
It’s the twigs that you’ll need, so tall adult trees with branches out of reach will not do. Saplings or seedlings will need to supply twigs within reach. My backyard is full of B. lenta trees, so I frugally trim a few branches here, a few there, or when I have to get rid of a wayward seedling, I at least use it for tea.
stripping birch twigs
preparing birch twigs
2. Twig Prep
Strip the leaves off. Break up the twigs to be 2-4 inches long, or however short they need to be to fit into a pan. In doing so, expose the cambium, where the oil of wintergreen can be detected in the sap. I strip the bark on a couple sides of the twig. Fat twigs don’t contribute much, so stick to flexible twigs less than 1/8 inch thick I’d say. Just keep sniffing as you go to stick with those end twigs that have the most odor.
simmer twigs until brown
Infusion of birch twigs smells great
3. Heat it up
Cover your collection of twigs with water. Simmer – don’t boil. You want to extract the oil of wintergreen flavoring from the twigs but you don’t want to boil the flavoring away or make it taste harsh. Your kitchen will smell great during this process!
On this hot summer day, I’m thinking about making birch tea using the sun tea method. I imagine, putting the twigs in a clear container out in the sun for a while might extract the flavor as well. I haven’t tried it yet, but maybe you can give it a go and let me know.
filter out floaters
4. Filter
Once the water is nicely brownish, I call it finished. You want to separate the water from the twigs and other stuff you don’t want to swallow. I often use cheesecloth, but a paper towel serves the same purpose as a filter. I just put it in the mouth of my container and pour my tea right through it.
Refreshing black birch tea
5. Enjoy
At this time of year, I stick my tea in the fridge to drink cold. In the winter, I prefer it warm. I have a sweet tooth and sugar usually goes in other teas, but black birch tea tastes just fine as-is.
At the end of our day, among the many frameworks-oriented lessons they’ve learned, my kids go home with lots of super skills. They’ve gained some plant identification skills, learned to look closely at nature and used their senses. Lastly, they realize there is specialness in plants. Well, at least one plant in particular. That’s my particular passion that I hope they pick up on – the unique world of plants.
Day Lilies – Eat Them
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
Yesterday a bud, tomorrow a wilted has-been, but today a glorious beauty.
Garden fare is not just limited to your vegetable garden. Do you have day lilies blooming in your yard now? They are quite edibly delicious. If you are familiar with Asian cuisine, you may be familiar with eating lilies. Blossoms are sometimes stuffed. I like to eat the buds. Here’s how:
Day lily cluster
1. Collect:
It is called “day lily” because each day, one flower in the cluster blooms. They take turns. Tomorrow’s is fine, but the next day’s bud and the following day is the best. Any further than that, and they are kind of small.
Day lily buds to pick
Here are buds of just the right size.
Day lily buds
Just the right amount for a nice side dish for two.
Be conservative in your picking so that the beautiful orange blossoms can continue to decorate your landscape.
2. Cook:
Day lily buds ready to steam
Prepare the buds just like you would green beans. I like to steam my green beans. They won’t take as long to cook though. They’re just tender little things.
Then, I season with butter and a a bit of salt, but do whatever you like.
I’ve tried the buds raw and don’t care for them as they leave a nose-scrunching aftertaste.
Enjoy your new found flower garden side dish.
Who’s That Singing? Easily Recognized Bird Song
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
Eastern Phoebe; photo by Bruce Dayton
I stopped my cadre of 5th graders right under the tree where a songster was loud and distinct. “Listen to this fantastic bird, my friends,” I urged excitedly, and the group of 23 inner-city kids fell silent. After listening a few seconds I whispered, “This awesome bird sings his name. He’s called a Phoebe. Do you hear him sing “Phoebe” over and over?” Again, we all listen intently, and I see smiles creep across faces.
“Yea, I hear it.”
“That’s what he says.”
Other murmured phrases and nods of recognition ripple through my rapt audience.
I can’t really memorize bird song very well. I’m relieved to say I’m not the only one. The best way to distinguish and remember specific bird song is to translate it into English. It is not only easier to describe to kids (and adults) but recognizable in our brains.
There are a number of mnemonics that are commonly associated with certain birds. Here is a list of some birds you may hear this month, and the mnemonic of what their song sounds like:
American Robin – “cheery-up, cheery-o, cheery-up, cheerily”
Yellow warbler – “Sweet Sweet, Sweet I am so sweet”
Yellow warbler
Eastern towhee – “Drink your teeeeeea”
Black throated green warbler – Zee Zee Zee zoo Zeee”
Barred owl – “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?”
Whip-poor-will – “WHIP-poor-WILL, WHIP-poor-WILL WHIP-poorWILL…“
Eastern Wood-Pewee – “Pee-ah-wee Pee-ah-wee”
Eastern Phoebe – “Fee-bbbbbe Fee-bbbbbe”
Black-capped Chickadee –
Call: “Chick-a-dee-dee-dee”
Song: “Hey-sweetie”
Warbling Vireo – “If I SEES you, I will SEIZE you, and I’ll SQUEEZE you till you SQUIRT”
Red-eyed Vireo – “Here I am. Where are you? Over here. Look up now. Do you see?“
Tufted Titmouse – “Peter-peter-peter. Peter-peter-peter.”
Carolina Wren – “tea kettle tea kettle tea kettle tea kettle tea kettle.” (loud and fast)
Brown Thrasher – “Spring’s here, spring’s here, plant it plant it, in the ground, in the ground, cover it up, cover it up…” (doublet after doublet; each doublet seldom repeated)
Chestnut-sided Warbler – “very very very very pleased-to-meet-you” (quite fast)
Ovenbird – “teacher teacher teacher teacher” (with each “teacher” progressively louder)
Common Yellowthroat – “Which-i-ty which-i-ty, which-i-ty, which-i-ty
White-throated sparrow – “Poor Sam Peabody Peabody Peabody” or “Oh Sweet Canada Canada Canada” (depending on your nationality of course)
Red-winged Blackbird – “Honk-a-reeeeee”
Eastern Meadowlark – “spring of the year”
American Goldfinch – “per-chick-a-ree”
Here are some resources to further your study of birdsong:
The Backyard Birdsong Guide, by Donald Kroodsma – an audio field guide. Lets you listen to the birdsong with a push of the button.
Lang Elliott’s Naturesound Studio
The Cornell University Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library of Bird Song
Exploring the Language of Nature with Jon Young
May the sound of a familiar songster bring a smile to your face too.
All in a days work for Bloodroot
Saturday, April 24th, 2010
Sanguinaria canadensis (Bloodroot)
Can you find a more apt name for this plant whose roots ooze red or
Bloodroot root
orange sap? I think not. This early bloomer is already in seed in my area, but in the last few weeks, the brilliant white blossoms dotted woodland slopes and stream sides. The single protective leaf that wraps around the blossom continues to grow even after pollination duties are fulfilled.
American Indians used Red Pucoon, as it is also called, for medicinal and practical uses. Here are a few:
*Paint skin and dye cloth and baskets
Bloodroot root cross section
*Repel insects and treat rattlesnake bites
*Treat cramps, induce an abortion, and induce bleeding
Early settlers used it for the same purposes, plus a few more:
*A few drops of the sap on a sugar cube was used as a cough drop
*Treat skin ailments
*Treat sick mules
The efficacy of these medicinal purposes has not proved out. Taking this plant internally is a bad idea as the roots are poisonous. Just as well. It is too fantastic a wildflower to go digging up its roots all the time.
Let a Sleeping Bear Lie
Friday, January 29th, 2010
Black Bear Mom and cub in den
As I sit here on this blustery, bone-chilling January day, I cannot help but think about how black bears are faring. Snoozing away in their dens, I hope their fat, fur and den location helps fend off the negative-degree wind chill.
Pregnant females are more picky than males in selecting a den. If large trees with cavities are available, that’s high-rent district right there. If not, then under a windfall, brush pile, or a rock crevice will do. A suitable den provides safety from predation and protection from the elements. It should not be much bigger than the size of a curled up bear. Don’t expect to see a bear huddled up in a cave – too much space and not enough security.
Females are in dens by mid December and males by mid January in the southeastern US. In more northern latitudes, make this a month or so earlier.
Black bears are too big to hibernate. If you want to be accurate, call a bear’s winter sleep “carnivorean lethargy”. If a bear’s body temperature were to drop to the extent a true hibernator’s does – a few degrees above freezing – it would require too much energy to bring all that bulk up to normal again. Heart rate decreases only slightly, as does breathing, so a bear is quite capable of responding if disturbed. I would not advise poking a groggy bear in its den. He’s likely to poke you back.
Although a bear’s gastrointestinal tract shuts down completely, a bear still consumes between 3,000 and 4,000 calories a day during their winter inactivity. This comes from their store of fat. If only I too could sleep my fat away and wake up slim and trim. Another enviable ability is their lack of deterioration of muscle and bone during months of inactivity. You and I would experience extensive bone loss and muscle weakness should we lie still for that long. In the spring, bears give a stretch and a yawn and off they go to find something to eat.
So, you go bear. You’re adapted to this merciless weather. I’ll just continue to sit inside my heated home on this January day, exercise, breathe normally and eat all winter long.
How Animals Sleep – Fun Facts from the Animal Kingdom.
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Sleeping Sea lion
Been getting enough sleep lately? Chances are, those 8 recommended hours are elusive at times, if not frequently unobtainable. The other night while I lay awake, unable to stop those chugging brain cogs, I wondered about the sleep requirements for other members of the animal kingdom. Do other animals require so much sleep? How do they sleep? Do they dream?
The next day I perused a book called, “Sleep and Rest in Animals” by Corine Lacrampe. It is not an in-depth comprehensive approach to the subject, but rather gleans some scientific results and lays it out for recreational reading. It has a beautiful collection of sleeping animal photos too. From it I gleaned some curious tidbits you may find interesting to contemplate the next time the sandman eludes you:
Birds
* Perching birds have a mechanical locking system to stabilize them when asleep. Tendons cinch toes closed and the femur connects with the pelvis to lock legs in place so they don’t fall off their perch.
* Birds, like humans, experience REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, indicating dreaming is going on. No REM sleep has been observed yet in reptiles or amphibians.
* Some birds can rest one of their two brain hemispheres at a time. Half the brain gets deep sleep and the corresponding eye is closed (the eye on the opposite side of the head), while the other half of the brain is alert to danger with an open eye.
* Of the birds studied for sleep, very short REM cycles are recorded, mostly 10-20 seconds; but many throughout the day – as much as 200 in a 24 hour period.
* Swifts are one of a few birds that can catch a few winks while on the wing. Getting 3,000-6,000 feet above a pocket of warm air, a swift flaps roughly every 4 seconds, then glides for 3 seconds as it snoozes. Penguins also have been found to sleep in brief stints while they swim during long migrations. They wake regularly to breathe at the surface.
Reptiles/Amphibians/Fish/Insects
* Crocodiles sometimes rest with open mouths for heat regulation. Vessels there are nearer the surface. Letting the sun shine in makes for faster warming if it is cool and sunny. If the croc is too hot, it allows heat to dissipate quicker.
* Sea turtles sleep, eyes closed, head rested for brief periods of time on the seabed. It must wake to come up for air.
* Outside of brumation (reptilian hibernation) it is hard to say if snakes sleep. But they sure can sit perfectly still for many hours at a time.
* Sharks sleep. Contrary to popular belief, they can lie motionless on the ocean floor for a time. Divers have even reported gently touching them without waking them.
* Tree frogs sleep. The green treefrog turns a tan color when napping.
* Insects don’t experience the same type of sleep mammals and birds do. They do however rest in various ways. The jewel wasp naps, with head folded and antenna tucked. Moths wait out the day motionless on trees, to which they may be quite camouflaged.
Mammals
* Koalas are super sleepers. They snooze about 18-20 hours per day tucked up in the branches of a tree digesting eucalyptus leaves.
* In relation to some other primates, our requirement for sleep is small. But like us, our closest relations sleep in one long stretch at night. Baboons and chimpanzees average about 10 hours of sleep; gorillas about 12 hours and orangutans get about 14 hours of sleep each night.
* Many mammals don’t sleep in one long stretch like us. The elephants’ daily cumulative sleep is about 4 hours; Giraffe, 2 hours; Okapi only 5 minutes of sleep per day.
* The dolphin sleeps for 7 hours, but like birds, only one hemisphere at a time. In this way it can keep swimming and coming to the surface to breathe while it is sleeping. Unlike birds and most mammals, no REM sleep has been detected in the dolphin.
A Parasite in the Woods – Beechdrops
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Beechdrops
I went for a hike this morning along one of the Hilltown Land Trust’s beautiful trails in my area. The Steven’s Trail is fairly new. Some limb clearing had to be done, but the trail was well marked and easy to follow. It went from dark hemlock stands to lighter hardwood forests, winding around boulders of granite covered with moss, lichen and rock tripe. Great hike.
Where beeches were prevalent, beechdrops were growing at their feet. Beechdrops are an interesting plant. Totally parasitic, they contain no chlorophyll so have no green color. They obtain their nutrition from the roots of their host tree: American Beech. Their leaves are not readily noticeable; they are little scales along the branching stems. The curved trumpet-like flowers, which may be reddish/brownish/yellowish stick out all along the branches. Beech drops have only since August become large enough to be noticed and are blooming now. At any given time, only some of the many flowers along the branches are in bloom. Other flowers are in bud while others are finished blooming and working on their seeds if they’ve been pollinated.
Beech drops are a plant of eastern US, from as far north as the Gulf of St. Lawrence down to Florida, and west as far as Louisiana.
What makes Autumn Leaves Turn Crispy Red?
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Red maple leaf in the fall
The air is crisp. Apple crisp is baking in the oven. Leaves will soon be crispy underfoot in the deciduous forest. For now, the color show marching southward from Acadia National Park along the Appalachian chain, through Shenandoah National Park and on into the Smokies offers us an effective diversion from thinking about the impending crisp winter weather to come.
Some years here in New England, the show is simply acceptable, and others, absolutely spectacular. Those trees that turn yellow seem to do so fairly regularly with not much of a yearly alteration. Red trees on the other hand, seem to make all the difference. What causes trees to turn red at this time of year?
Without getting too technical it is fairly straightforward to explain. For those who like technical, the pigment compounds are termed as follows: anthocyanin for red and purple plant pigmenst; carotenes and xanthophylls for those pigments that are orange and yellow respectively; and chlorophyll for green pigment.
At this time of year green plant pigment is dying off faster than it is begin replaced. Heartier yellow and orange leaf pigments that were masked by the green are now being revealed. The effect is stunning on birch, hickory, maple, witch hazel, willow and many other trees that typically display yellow.
Red pigment, on the other hand, is produced at this time of year. Sugar maple, red maple, sumac, burning bush, red-osier dogwood, red oaks, pin oaks and others typically showcase red. The brightness and amount is dependent upon various environmental factors that change from year to year and one location to another.
As deciduous leaves stop photosynthesis in the fall in response to changing day length, sugars begin to accumulate. These sugars combine with a compound to make this red pigment. Several conditions, when combined together at this time of year can serve to make that pigment bright and showy.
*Acid sap: If the tree is located in acidic soil making its sap on the acid side, bright red leaves result. Alkaline sap tends to mute the pigment into more of a purple color.
*Dry weather: Lack of water getting through to the leaves tends to make the red even redder. Rainy falls find trees still turning red, but not quite as bright.
*Light: Our days are getting shorter at this time of year here in the northern hemisphere, but the earth is getting closer to the sun. Bright sunny days will produce bright red moreso than overcast days.
*Low temperatures: Nighttime temperatures that hover just above freezing kill off that chlorophyll at a faster rate and enhance the formation of the red pigment.
So keep an eye on the weather and the autumn colors and see what correlations you can make.