Goodbye August! It was quite a whirlwind of a month here in Las Cruces. In the last two weeks of the month Eli and I have scurried around the state making seed collections as the plants start to drop everything after the July rains.\u00a0 Tridens, Erioneuron, Senna, Physaria, Fallugi and more! I absolutely love driving around to new places and walking through the endless grasses and flowers and seeing nothing but sky on the horizon.\u00a0 I think seed collecting is a serious form of meditation: thoughts are whirring through your head as you begin and you worry about all the things you need to do and suddenly your mind goes deliciously blank as you move from plant to plant.\u00a0 You are unaware of anything not directly surrounding you \u2013 the sun on your neck, the flies buzzing, and the sharpness of gravel on your knees.\u00a0 Suddenly- you\u2019re done! You didn\u2019t even know that you\u2019ve been stooping over the ground on all fours for the last two hours. (Until you notice the terrific sunburn you\u2019ve got on your back later that night).<\/p>\n
This month we also had the pleasure of hanging out with Krissa, Wes, and Sophia from the Chicago Botanic Garden.\u00a0 We made a day of collecting some cuttings of the rare Lepidospartum plant that the Garden had attempted to propagate about a month ago.\u00a0 Despite various GPS malfunctions and a significant lack of shade, it was a great afternoon full of story-swapping and great advice.\u00a0 As a recent college grad, I can definitely say that I\u2019m not exactly sure what I want to do with my life\/career so it\u2019s always great to hear from other professionals or friends in interesting fields.<\/p>\n
While the CBG team was in Las Cruces we also got to capture hawk moths! \u201cCapture\u201d meaning grabbing the docile beasts in our hands and unrolling their proboscis to swab them for pollen. It was ridiculous! First we settled near a Datura plant (a large, white flower perfect for the hawk moth\u2019s long proboscis). Krissa and Wes unrolled a large white sheet onto a frame and illuminated it with a UV light.\u00a0 Suddenly, little moths were flocking to the sheet.\u00a0 \u201cSurely one of these are a hawk moth!\u201d I surmised. Wrong. A hawkmoth finally did show up and it was as large as a small bird.\u00a0 I had no idea that a moth could get so large, it was quite an eye-opening experience.\u00a0 Then, someone grabbed the hawkmoth gently while Krissa unrolled its long, shiny \u201ctongue\u201d with a needle and rubbed it with a slice of agar.\u00a0 Later, she would burn off the agar and look at the pollen left on a slide.\u00a0 This would tell her what flowers the hawkmoths had recently pollinated.\u00a0 During all this I suddenly thought \u2013 if I think this is cool, everyone else would too! \u00a0Imagine how interested you could get kids in science and pollination if you showed them this!? (Or they would at least be excited by standing in the dark with a black light and probably freaking out passing motorists, like I was).<\/p>\n
We sadly bid adieu to Krissa, Wes, and Sophia and then embarked on our monumental collection spree.\u00a0 It\u2019s been quite the month and I\u2019m thoroughly tired and happy.\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s been over two months! I\u2019m excited for what\u2019s to come and also to shatter our mentor\u2019s goal of 25 seed collections.\u00a0 Onward!<\/p>\n
Peace out,<\/p>\n
Kate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Goodbye August! It was quite a whirlwind of a month here in Las Cruces. In the last two weeks of the month Eli and I have scurried around the state making seed collections as the plants start to drop everything … Continue reading