The Sunflower Trees (Tithonia diversifolia) are in full bloom, attracting all sorts of insects. The trees have miraculously survived this hottest and driest October-to-November period on record. The plants are in tact if not a bit battered by the relentless heat and northeast breezes. Today, November 5, 2015, the temperature reached a sweltering 92° F (33⅓° C).
I followed this very large and young, female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) for an hour as it went though our thousands of sunflower tree blooms looking for the perfect bloom. This is why I'm always late for those appointments!
Below, a different, more natural view. The sunflower trees are nearly 20 feet tall (6 m tall) this year as it has been a very warm and tranquil summer with little wind or rain. The trees have mostly grown straight up. I used a 600 mm lens to make most of these images from a distance of about 50 feet (15 m). Looking straight up from underneath the canopy of sunflower trees the sunflowers and butterflies look something like the image below.
I looked around this specimen's mate, but never found him. The male of this species does not sport the colorful blue and orange spots found on the female (below).
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| Male, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, ©2007 Dwain Harrelson |
The butterflies are native to eastern North America and are one of the most recognizable butterflies in part due to their huge wingspan of 3 - 6" (8 to 15 cm). The male is yellow with four black "tiger stripes" on each fore wing. Females may be either yellow or black, making them dimorphic. The yellow morph is similar to the male, but with a conspicuous, colorful band of blue spots along the hindwing.
(and where can you obtain one)
Sunflower trees are tropical weeds, native to Mexico and Central America but naturalized in parts of Florida. They have been the subject of recent research as they have a unique ability to raise soil fertility in soils depleted of nutrients (like Florida's quartz sands). It is thought that these plants might benefit poor African farmers as they would provide an affordable alternative to expensive synthetic fertilizers. Tithonia diversifolia has been show to increase plant yields and soil nutrients of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. See Tithonia diversifolia as green manure for soil fertility improvement in western Kenya: A review, Agroforestry 49, 201-221.
You can obtain one by writing to me for a clipping. The trees grow very well by vegetative reproduction.
Looking high into the canopy of sunflower tree blooms the butterflies are lost (below), but on closer inspection one sees something different there (middle of this image).
The longer I watched her the more that 1993 Paul Harrison & Bob McDill (sung by Sammy Kershaw) song played in my head.
She don't know she's beautiful (never crossed her mind)
She don't know she's beautiful (no she's not that kind)
She don't know she's beautiful
Though time and time I've told her so
The caterpillar of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail has two green 'eyespots' on the top of its body that makes it look like a snake slithering between the leaves. When disturbed the insect larvae shoots out two bright orange structures that look like the forked tongue of a snake. See also Smelly Caterpillar Dresses as a Snake to Avoid Predators.
The Latin name for Sunflower Trees (Tithonia) is derived from Greek mythology, Tithonus, son of King Laomedon of Troy and consort (lover) of Eos, Titan of the dawn, who was known in mythology as Aurora. Tithonus was a Trojan by birth.
Eos kidnapped Ganymede and Tithonus, both from the royal house of Troy, to be her lovers. The central theme of the myth of the goddess's mortal lover is an archaic one; when a role for Zeus was inserted, a bitter new twist appeared; according to the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, when Eos asked Zeus to make Tithonus immortal, she forgot to ask for eternal youth. Tithonus indeed lived forever but was no longer the handsome consort she so desperately sought to preserve.
Perhaps all of this alludes to this plant's miraculous ability to survive, and thrive, where no others can, though at times it is not very pretty.
The Flora of North America rather unflatteringly refers to Tithonis diversifolia as "Sunflower Weed."
We've Watched and Read:
The tiger swallowtail caterpillar is protected by sa remarkable defense: It tricks birds into thinking its a snake.
Can Carrie Figure Out What's Going on With Allison?
General Youssef is dead, Quinn is shot, Jonas is reluctantly back in the picture, and Allison is becoming more and more mysterious. Is Allison romantically linked to her Russian interlocutor, who holds her hand from his car window, offering silent comfort in a va-et-vient of gray vapor?
What is startling is how a deliberate campaign of misinformation — now disavowed by even Exxon Mobil itself — has found its way into the minds of the leading Republican presidential candidates. Marco Rubio really should take a trip back to Florida sometime to see just how hot it really is.
Much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States was bathed in unusual autumn mildness at midday Thursday, November 5, 2015 with temperatures in the 70s and 80s from Texas to Michigan and east to New Hampshire. All-time highs for November were notched on Wednesday at several far-flung locations, including Flint, MI (80°F) and Tampa, FL (92°F).
Most of Florida has seen a solid week of record- or near-record heat. In Tallahassee, the first four days of November were a full 4°F warmer than any other four-day November stretch in the city's weather history. Perhaps the most impressive hot spot in Florida this week is Key West, where the last time the temperature dipped below 80°F was nearly a week ago—on Friday, October 30. Each night since Halloween has set a record-warm minimum for the date of either 80°F or 81°F. The 81°F readings on Sunday and Monday are the warmest November daily minima ever observed in Key West, where record keeping began in 1872. We can expect more daily and monthly records to tumble over the next couple of days before the mild weather over most of the eastern U.S. is pushed offshore by a seasonably strong cold front, accompanied in many areas by strong thunderstorms.
to Return Home (to Rugby Union)
The cross-code international, 26, has left Bath and rejoined NRL side South Sydney Rabbitohs on a three-year deal.
With the number of these unique mammals plummeting due to development, land reclamation and pollution, now is the time to see them before they go extinct.
The Virginia Zoo's two African elephants will move to a new home in Florida next year in response to new criteria from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums regarding social interaction of the endangered pachyderms.