Superbum

Tags

Banana Peels, elk horn, Elk Horn Fern, epiphyte, Fern, fertile fronds, Flora and Fauna, Frond, garden, home grown, nature, organic, ornamental plant, plants, Platycerium, Platycerium superbum, stag horn, worm castings

This is my “MOTHER” superbum ( Platycerium superbum ). She arrived in my family of plants in 1988, which makes her the ripe old age of  25. Obviously then she was only a pup, looking like the pup pictured below.As she is an epiphyte, a container like the one above was created for her years ago. It was filled with a mixture of potting soil and worm castings. She was then attached using soft string and hung underneath a tree. The leaf drop replenishes the container with humus. She loves a twice weekly spray of water. Chopped Banana  peels and mashed banana are added twice a year.

These ferns develop a humus collecting “nest” of non-fertile fronds and in doing so can grown up to 1 metre wide. The ferns also develop hanging fertile fronds that can reach up to 2 metres long.^]

Both fertile and non-fertile fronds are broad and branching and grown to resemble the horns of a stag or elk, thus the common names stag horn or elk horn.

O B

Tags

Animalia, Biology, birds, Erica, Flora and Fauna, fynbos, Orange breasted Sunbird, South Africa, Species

Every early Summer these little Orange Breasted Sunbirds come down from the Mountain to find easier foraging in suburban gardens.

Obviously due to its restricted range within fynbos this sunbird is associated with Ericas, from which it takes nectar, insects (often taken in flight) and spiders. It breeds when the heath flowers, typically in May. The male defends its territory aggressively, attacking and chasing intruders.

This tame species is a common breeder across its limited range, and is an altitudinal migrant, moving to higher altitudes during the southern summer in search of flowers. It is gregarious when not breeding, forming flocks of up to 100 birds.

Related articles

• White-bellied Sunbird (Cinnyris talatala) (sonelcorner.wordpress.com)
• Fynbos: Natural Vegetation in the Western Cape (deeproets.wordpress.com)
• Home made bird water feeder 

Spring

Tags

Babiana, Baboon, bulbs, Corm, environment, Euphorbia, Flora and Fauna, flower, Flowers, garden, nature, organic, plants, South African endemic plant, spring flowers, succulent

A little madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King.
~Emily Dickinson

Babiana sambucina – the Baboon flower

Baboons love to eat the corms.

Mesembryanthemum (meaning “midday flowering”)  or Icicle plant

a mixed display of Spring flowers in Namaqualand

Gold Spurge or Geel melkbos (Euphorbia mauritanica)

The naked earth is warm with Spring,
And with green grass and bursting trees
Leans to the sun’s kiss glorying,
And quivers in the sunny breeze.
~Julian Grenfell

The Ultimate ambush

Tags

Ambush predator, Animalia, art gifts, Arthropoda, Biology, colour changes, Crab, Crab spider, crab spiders, deviantart, environment, Flora and Fauna, flower spiders, golden crab, insects spiders, nature, photography, print art, spider

 

The “GOLDEN” Crab spider is a master in the art of ambush. They are often known as flower spiders  because they ambush predators that feed on insects visiting flowers. The flower crab spiders are the species for which the popular name was coined, because of their crab-like motion and their way of holding their front legs in an attitude reminiscent of a crab spreading its claws as a threat.  It is able to undergo white to yellow or pink colour changes depending on the flower it is sitting on.

 

Buy this print (Free download)

• Photo
• Art Print
• Art gifts

 

 

 

The “Huntsman”

Tags

Animalia, Biology, Cape rain Spider, Cape Town, egg hatches, egg sac, endemic, environment, fearsome appearance, Flora and Fauna, garden creatures, Huntsman spider, Kosi Bay, leg span, longer legs, nest, spider, Spider wasp, tarantula spiders, The Huntsman, wasp

This spider is not for the faint hearted. It is the Huntsman or Cape Rain Spider. “They are among the biggest non-tarantula spiders in the world,”

They can have a leg-span of up to 7 cm and a head to abdomen measurement of about 3 cm. They are spread from Cape Town in the south to Kosi Bay in the north and appear to like bushed areas with grass and gardens. They like to live among leaves and take two to three years to grow to adults, with the female fatter than the male, who is brighter with longer legs.The size of these spiders, combined with the yellow and black banding on the underside of the legs exposed when the spider is in threat pose, give them a fearsome appearance.

In humans the bite is no more dangerous than a bee sting. It causes a burning sensation, and swelling which lasts for a few days. Recovery is spontaneous and complete.

The Huntsman  are also commonly seen paralysed, being dragged by a large wasp called a Pompilid wasp. Sometimes the wasp will not be present. Pompilid wasps only hunt spiders, which they paralyse by stinging them. They then drag the spider back to their nest where they lay an egg on the spider, then seal the spider and the egg in. When the egg hatches, the larva eats the paralysed spider, keeping the spider alive as long as possible by eating peripheral flesh first, and saving the vital organs till last. By doing this, the spider stays fresh long enough for the wasp larva to mature and pupate.

After mating in the early summer, the female constructs a round egg sac about 60–100 mm in size made of silk, with twigs and leaves woven into it. These egg sacs are commonly seen from about November to April. The female constructs the sac over 3–5 hours, then aggressively guards it until the spiderlings, who hatch inside the protective sac, chew their way out about three weeks later. Females will construct about three of these egg sacs over their two-year lives. Many gardeners are bitten by protective Palystes mothers during this period.

Related articles :

Pictures of the spiderlings hatching

The fastest flying insect

Tags

Dragonflies, Dragonfly, DragonflyMaturity, environment, Flora and Fauna, flying insects, garden, insect, nature, sign of happiness, symbolism

Dragonflies are among the fastest flying insects in the world. I came across these two mating while in Ariston Elemental Organic Garden last week. It was amazing to see that they also fly when they are mating.

Flight speed

Tillyard claimed to have recorded the Southern Giant Darner flying at nearly 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) in a rough field measurement. However, the greatest reliable flight speed records are for other types of insects. In general, large dragonflies like the hawkers have a maximum speed of 10–15 metre per second (22–34 mph) with average cruising speed of about 4.5 metre per second (10 mph).

Dragonflies are important predators that eat mosquitoes, and other small insects like flies, bees, ants, wasps, and very rarely butterflies.

Though dragonflies are predators, they themselves are subject to predation by birds, lizards, frogs, spiders, fish, water bugs, and even other large dragonflies.

While googling Dragonflies I came across these symbolisms :

Symbolisms of the Dragonfly

• Maturity and a Depth of character
• Power and Poise
• Defeat of Self Created Illusions
• Focus on living ‘IN’ the moment
• The opening of one’s eyes

To the Japanese, it symbolizes summer and autumn and am admired and respected all over, so much so that the Samurai use it as a symbol of power, agility and best of all, Victory.

In China, people associate the dragonfly with prosperity, harmony and as a good luck charm.
Amongst Native Americans, it is a sign of happiness, speed and purity. Purity because the dragonfly eats from the wind itself.

Related articles

• Dragonfly whisperer (michaelqpowell.wordpress.com)
• Dragonfly (speakinginsymbols.wordpress.com)

 

Superbum

Tags

Banana Peels, elk horn, Elk Horn Fern, epiphyte, Fern, fertile fronds, Flora and Fauna, Frond, garden, home grown, nature, organic, ornamental plant, plants, Platycerium, Platycerium superbum, stag horn, worm castings

This is my “MOTHER” superbum ( Platycerium superbum ). She arrived in my family of plants in 1988, which makes her the ripe old age of  25. Obviously then she was only a pup, looking like the pup pictured below.As she is an epiphyte, a container like the one above was created for her years ago. It was filled with a mixture of potting soil and worm castings. She was then attached using soft string and hung underneath a tree. The leaf drop replenishes the container with humus. She loves a twice weekly spray of water. Chopped Banana  peels and mashed banana are added twice a year.

These ferns develop a humus collecting “nest” of non-fertile fronds and in doing so can grown up to 1 metre wide. The ferns also develop hanging fertile fronds that can reach up to 2 metres long.^]

Both fertile and non-fertile fronds are broad and branching and grown to resemble the horns of a stag or elk, thus the common names stag horn or elk horn.