A break from news

How about some bat pics? The other evening, while cottonmanifesto and I were walking the dogs, we encountered a bat flying in a figure 8 pattern that involved a large oak tree near the path. Part of its trajectory was so low, and so consistent, that we couldn't resist trying to photograph an animal that otherwise is nearly impossible to catch--at least with our meager equipment.



( the others )

365 Urban Species. #247: Cocklebur

Photos by urbpan. Location, along Leverett Pond, Olmsted Park, Boston.

Urban species #247: Cocklebur Xanthium strumarium

Cocklebur is similar in many ways to burdock. Most obviously are the seeds, borne in prickly burs that stick to mammal fur and clothes. They also both have histories of medicinal use, and modern reputations as noxious weeds. Cocklebur is considered by some authorities, including the USDA, to be native to North America, while others suspect an origin in the American tropics. It has since become an invasive in the Mediterranean, in India and east Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand. The seeds and seedlings are toxic, but native Americans used them (apparently in moderation) as food, the leaves for a medicinal tea. It has been known in China long enough to have a medicinal profile in that tradition.

Unlike burdock, with its attractive purple flowers, cocklebur does not require insects to pollenate it. Like ragweed, it is pollenated by the wind, and readily self-pollenates. It is a likely instigator of allergies. The seeds, in the sticky burs, are spread by the movements of mammals, or else are carried in water to new location. In the city it grows in areas that flood, such as river edges, roadside fields, and near urban ponds.