Part 2: Plant Nomenclature - The Botanical Names of Species

The common names of plants quite often describe their unique structures, such as the inflorescence of Heliconia rostata which appears like Lobster's Claw for which it is popularly known.   

 Heliconia rostata a tropical ornamental plant which appears like  the claws of a lobster's Claw, for which it is commonly called Lobster's Claw.
By convention, botanical names of species are binomials, that is they are composed of two words in Latin form. The first word is a singular noun and is the name of the genus or the generic name to which the plant is assigned. The second word is an adjective modifying the generic name and must agree in gender with the latter. This word is the specific epihet. It is a noun in apposition, or a possessive noun.

Examples of the combination are Coffea arabica, Cyperus papyrus, and Dendrobium densiflorum. This  binary nomenclature  is the scientific way of referring to a specimen so everyone knows what one is talking about. It was so convenient that very soon it was universally adopted. It is from Carolus Linnaeus’ Species Plantarum, 1753, that we derive our modern system of naming plants. Linnaeus named thousands of species of plants and animals based on specimens that were sent to him from collectors all over the world.

A genus (referred to in the plural as genera) may comprise a single species or several hundred species. A species (always in the singular form) is distinguishable from other species in the same genus by species – specific characteristics. As an example, the white mulberry is known as Morus alba and the black mulberry as Morus nigra, respectively. They are thus, in the Morus genus and are known by the species names alba and nigra, respectively. The genus Morus is in the family Moraceae (fig family), along with such common plants as Ficus, Artocarpus, and Streblus. The family name, however, is not included in the binomial.

The Genus/Generic name

      Often genus names such as the liver-like leaves of Hepatica, gave generic names to still others which maybe real persons of distinction (e.g., Allamanda, Begonia, Bougainvillea, Guzmania, Cattleya, and Nicotiana) or mythical persons (e.g., Amaryllis, Artemisia, Dianthus, Iris, Liriope, and Narcissus. Sometimes they are Latin names (Asparagus, Ficus, Raphanus, Rosa, Vitis), or names directly from Greek (Caryota, Cassia, Cestrum, Nerium, Pistia).

     Information about a plant is sometimes expressed in a generic name because it indicates in a general way the kind of plant under consideration. With familiar genera we can recognize the plants by their generic names, for example, Rosa, as rose and Pinus as a pine, both of which are ancient colloquial names. Latin inflectional endings are used for both generic and specific epithets.

      After a generic name has been spelled out at least once, it may be abbreviated by using the initial capital letter, for example, C. for Capsicum. Generic names may not consist of two words unless they are joined with a hyphen.

      The genus refers to a group of plants, which share a certain structural characteristics that are permanent, and largely confined to that group. Hibiscus, for example, is a Greek name for mallow. Some 220 species of annuals, perennials, sub-shrubs, shrubs, and trees belong to this genus that occurs in warm temperate and tropical regions. Of these, about 10 species are occurring in the Philippines. Most of them are cultivated for their big, showy and distinctive flowers having five petals that are united at the base and a projecting column of stamens and style. A genus is therefore a group of plants, which have been given the same first name.

The Species Name/Specific Epithet

      The specific epithet sets one species apart from another within the genus. A species has been defined as a group of interbreeding natural populations, which are genetically isolated from other such groups or populations, that is, it cannot create fertile hybrids. This species concept, which is biological one, is the basis of naming species.

    

     Any specific epithet is given, as long as it uses the Latin rules of grammar. The names are chosen by the first scientist to identify a new plant species. Sometimes, the epithet is merely descriptive, indicating a distinguishing characteristic of structure or flower color in the species. For example, the epithet serrata is an adjective, meaning saw-toothed; the epithet hirtifolia means hairy leaved, and barbiflora, bearded flower. The term alba or albus is the Latin for white and is a common species name in many genera.

     But some species names are much more fanciful than mere description. They may refer to a place where the species is native or where the species was first discovered. The species name samarensis means “from Samar” and littoralis indicates that the species is “of the shore”.  It may honor a person, santosii, for example, may refer to Mr. Santos, the person credited with the collection or discovery of the species.

     There are thousands of specific epithets. Some are used only once, but a number of them have been applied to other plants such as  chinensis, sativa, esclentum, officinalis, vulgaris, and hirsuta. Some have prefixes, suffices, and different endings depending upon other criteria. A knowledge of the meaning of specific epithets aids in remembering botanical names.

Author Citation

One or more authorities often follow the specific epithet. This refers to the name (or names) of person (or persons) who first described the species. The author’s names are abbreviated unless they are very short. The botanical name, including authority (Linnaeus) for the Arabian coffee plant is Coffea arabica L (PHOTO). Other examples include Adiantum tenerum Swartz, (maidenhair fern), Dracaena marginata Lam. (red-margined dracaena) and Agathis philippinensis Warb. (almaciga).

Coffea arabica, also known as the Arabian coffee, "coffee shrub of Arabia", "mountain coffee", or "arabica coffee", is a species of Coffea. It is believed to be the first species of coffee to be cultivated, and is the dominant cultivar, representing some 60% of global production. 

Sometimes authority names are separated by the prepositions ex or in.  Names separated by ex means that the second author published a name proposed , but never published by the first, while the word in means that the first author published the species in a book or article edited or written in part by the second author. Examples include Gossypium tomentosum Nutt. ex Seem., which may be shortened to G. tomentosum Seem., and Viburnum ternatum Rehder in Sargent, which should be shortened to V. ternatum Rehder.

Why do botanical names get changed?

From time to time, botanical names are changed. Increased knowledge concerning a species’ phylogenetic relationship often leads to the transfer of one species to another genus to which the plant is found to belong correctly. As a result, a new name combination is made. According to the International Rule of Priority the earliest specific epithet, published in accordance with the rules, must be retained, unless by so doing the author is duplicating an existing name under the new genus. Geranium zonale L. (1753), upon being transferred to the genus Pelargonium, becomes Pelargonium zonale (L.) Ait. (1789). The original author’s name is retained in brackets before that of the author of the new combination.  The abbreviations - L. and  Ait. - stand for the names of Linnaeus and Aiton, respectively, authors of the above  botanical names.

    

If it turns out that a botanical name was mistakenly given to more than one plant, a correction must be made. One cannot give the same name for one plant species. The first name published is the accepted one (Rule of Priority), and any other names that may have been used incorrectly are now called synonyms. These are “unavailable” names that cannot be used. We often list botanical synonyms because not everyone knows when a plant has been corrected.

Botanical Names below the Species

Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné, was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist who formalized binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy".

A plant species may be further classified according to the subspecies or variety. Geographic races are often treated at the sub-specific or varietal level, and in these cases sub-specific or varietal epithets are provided. Formal subspecies and variety names are chosen according to the same rules as species names and are also italicized. Often they are preceded by an abbreviation such as ‘subsp.” or “var.” to include their relationship to the species.

Examples are Philodendron scandens C. Koch  & H. Sello subsp. oxycardum (Schott.) Bunt.; Pterocarpus indicus Willd.  subsp. indicus (Willd.) Rojo; Aglaonema commutatum Schott. var. elegans (Engl.) Nichols; Phoenix hanceana Naud. var. philippinensis Becc. The epithet of the variety or subspecies that contains the type specimen of the species repeats that of the species, this variety is often called nominate or “typical”.

Horticultural Names
 Plants, which have usually arisen as the result of deliberate crossing and selection, are properly termed “cultivars” to distinguish them from natural or wild varieties. They comprise an assemblage of cultivated plants that is clearly distinguished by any characters (morphological, physiological, cytological, chemical or others), and that following reproduction (sexual or asexual) retains its distinguishing character. If a new type of tomato were developed by cross pollination in a breeding program, it would be a cultivar.

Cultivar is derived from the terms cultivated variety. A cultivar name is not Latinized; it is written with a capital initial letter. It is either preceded by the abbreviation “cv” (cultivar) or often set out in single quotes. Cultivar names may be used after generic, specific or common names. Examples of some cultivars are Hosta Decorata; Citrullus cv. Crimson Sweet; Allamanda cathartica L. Hendersonii and Aglaonema simplex Bl. Angustifolium.

     

Cultivars should not be confused with botanical varieties, which usually represent naturally occurring geographic races or morphologically distinct populations that are well adapted to particular ecological conditions.

Names of Hybrids

Hybrids, which result from the interbreeding of separate species and occasionally, species from separate genera, or were created by humans through cross-pollination of separate species, have special designations. A multiplication sign (x) is used in the botanical name to indicate that the genus or species is the result of a hybrid cross. In Rhododendron (repens x didymum) Carmen, the cultivar’s named Carmen is shown to have been raised from a cross between two species of Rhododendron; R. repens and R. didymium

.

Valid and Effective Publication of Botanical Names

Under the Code of Botanical Nomenclature, a botanical name will have no standing unless validly published with a technical description of the plant including scientific illustrations, Latin diagnosis and indication of type specimens and where they are deposited. It should be published in a recognized scientific journal and made available to scientific libraries. Botanical names are standardized and agreed upon throughout the world. 

Botanical names sound strangely formal and scientific. But, a valuable product of the formality of botanical naming science is that, when you identify a plant by its botanical name, you can be sure that there is one and only one plant by that name.

Botanical Names Pronunciation

There is no universal system for pronouncing botanic names. Unlike the use of botanical names, their pronunciation is not governed by rules. The majority of people, therefore, pronounce them in any way they like or treat them as if they are in their own language. Most English-speaking botanists and horticulturists use the traditional English pronunciation. Most letters of the alphabet are pronounced in the same as in English. Every vowel or diphthong is pronounced, and there are no silent letters at the end of a word. However, when a word begins with cn, gn, or pt, the first letter is silent. British scientists, however, would have different pronunciation of names from most Americans. Most European way of pronouncing Latin names approximate those of the educated Romans. The Latin American scientists have also their own, quite different from those of the traditional English method. ~

Mothers' Day (May 12, 2019): Saint Mother Teresa Leads the Way

"We have been created to love and be loved."
Saint Mother Teresa's Nobel Lecture on Peace

"Lord, make a channel of Thy peace that, where there is hatred, I may bring love; that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness; that, where there is discord, I may bring harmony; that, where there is error, I may bring truth; that, where there is doubt, I may bring faith; that, where there is despair, I may bring hope; that, where there are shadows, I may bring light; that, where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted, to understand than to be understood; to love than to be loved; for it is by forgetting self that one finds; it is forgiving that one is forgiven; it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life." 
                                                                                 Selected parts of Mother Teresa's lecture on peace

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog [avrotor.blogspot.com]

 Nobel Lecture by Mother Teresa

Oslo, Norway - December 11th 1979

"We have been created in Christ image. We have been created to love and be loved, and then he has become man to make it possible for us to love as he loved us. He makes himself the hungry one- the naked one - the homeless one- the sick one- the one in prison- the lonely one - the unwanted one- and he says: You did it to me. Hungry for our love, and this is the hunger of our poor people. This is the hunger that you and I must find, it may be in our own home.

I never forget an opportunity I had in visiting a home where they had all these old parents of sons and daughters who had just put them in an institution and forgotten maybe. And I went there, and I saw in that home they had everything, beautiful things, but everybody was looking towards the door. And I did not see a single one with their smile on their face. And I turned to the Sister and I asked: How is that? How is it that the people they have everything here, why are they all looking towards the door, why are they not smiling? I am so used to see the smile on our people, even the dying one smile, and she said: This is nearly every day, they are expecting, they are hoping that a son or daughter will come to visit them. They are hurt because they are forgotten, and see- this is where love comes. That poverty comes right there in our own home, even neglect of love. Maybe in our own family we have somebody who is feeling lonely, who is feeling sick, who is feeling worried, and these are difficult days for everybody. Are we there, are we there to receive them, is the mother there to receive the child?

I was surprised in the West to see so many young boys and girls given into drugs, and I tried to find out why- why it is like that, and the answer was: Because there is no one in the family to receive them. Father and mother are so busy they have no time. Young parents are in some institution and the child takes back to the street and gets involved in something. 

We are talking of peace. These are things that break peace, but I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a direct killing- direct murder by the mother herself. And we read in the Scripture, for God says very clearly: Even if a mother could forget her child- I will not forget you - I have carved you in the palm of my hand. We are carved in the palm of His hand, so close to Him that unborn child has been carved in the hand of God. And that is what strikes me most, the beginning of that sentence, that even if a mother could forget something impossible - but even if she could forget - I will not forget you. 

And today the greatest means - the greatest destroyer of peace is abortion. And we who are standing here - our parents wanted us. We would not be here if our parents would do that to us. Our children, we want them, we love them, but what of the millions. Many people are very, very concerned with the children in India, with the children in Africa where quite a number die, maybe of malnutrition, of hunger and so on, but millions are dying deliberately by the will of the mother. And this is what is the greatest destroyer of peace today. Because if a mother can kill her own child- what is left for me to kill you and you kill me- there is nothing between. 

And this I appeal in India, I appeal everywhere: Let us bring the child back, and this year being the child's year: What have we done for the child? At the beginning of the year I told, I spoke everywhere and I said: Let us make this year that we make every single child born, and unborn, wanted. And today is the end of the year, have we really made the children wanted? I will give you something terrifying. We are fighting abortion by adoption, we have saved thousands of lives, we have sent words to all the clinics, to the hospitals, police stations - please don't destroy the child, we will take the child. So every hour of the day and night it is always somebody, we have quite a number of unwedded mothers- tell them come, we will take care of you, we will take the child from you, and we will get a home for the child. And we have a tremendous demand from families who have no children, that is the blessing of God for us. And also, we are doing another thing which is very beautiful- we are teaching our beggars, our leprosy patients, our slum dwellers, our people of the street, natural family planning.

And in Calcutta alone in six years- it is all in Calcutta- we have had 61,273 babies less from the families who would have had, but because they practice this natural way of abstaining, of self-control, out of love for each other. We teach them the temperature meter which is very beautiful, very simple, and our poor people understand. And you know what they have told me? Our family is healthy, our family is united, and we can have a baby whenever we want. So clear- those people in the street, those beggars- and I think that if our people can do like that how much more you and all the others who can know the ways and means without destroying the life that God has created in us.

The poor people are very great people. They can teach us so many beautiful things. The other day one of them came to thank and said: You people who have vowed chastity you are the best people to teach us family planning. Because it is nothing more than self-control out of love for each other. And I think they said a beautiful sentence. And these are people who maybe have nothing to eat, maybe they have not a home where to live, but they are great people. The poor are very wonderful people. One evening we went out and we picked up four people from the street. And one of them was in a most terrible condition- and I told the Sisters: You take care of the other three, I take of this one that looked worse. So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed, and there was such a beautiful smile on her face. She took hold of my hand, as she said one word only: Thank you - and she died.

I could not help but examine my conscience before her, and I asked what would I say if I was in her place. And my answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little attention to myself, I would have said I am hungry, that I am dying, I am cold, I am in pain, or something, but she gave me much more - she gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile on her face. As that man whom we picked up from the drain, half eaten with worms, and we brought him to the home. I have lived like an animal in the street, but I am going to die like an angel, loved and cared for. And it was so wonderful to see the greatness of that man who could speak like that, who could die like that without blaming anybody, without cursing anybody, without comparing anything. Like an angel- this is the greatness of our people. And that is why we believe what Jesus had said: I was hungry- I was naked - I was homeless - I was unwanted, unloved, uncared for - and you did it to me.

I believe that we are not real social workers. We may be doing social work in the eyes of the people, but we are really contemplatives in the heart of the world. For we are touching the Body Of Christ 24 hours. We have 24 hours in this presence, and so you and I. You too try to bring that presence of God in your family, for the family that prays together stays together. And I think that we in our family don't need bombs and guns, to destroy to bring peace - just get together, love one another, bring that peace, that joy, that strength of presence of each other in the home. And we will be able to overcome all the evil that is in the world.

There is so much suffering, so much hatred, so much misery, and we with our prayer, with our sacrifice are beginning at home.

Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the action that we do. 

It is to God Almighty- how much we do it does not matter, because He is infinite, but how much love we put in that action. How much we do to Him in the person that we are serving.

Some time ago in Calcutta we had great difficulty in getting sugar, and I don't know how the word got around to the children, and a little boy of four years old, Hindu boy, went home and told his parents: I will not eat sugar for three days, I will give my sugar to Mother Teresa for her children. After three days his father and mother brought him to our home. I had never met them before, and this little one could scarcely pronounce my name, but he knew exactly what he had come to do. He knew that he wanted to share his love. xxx

And so here I am talking with you-

I want you to find the poor here, right in your own home first. And begin love there. Be that good news to your own people. And find out about your next-door-neighbor - do you know who they are?

I had the most extraordinary experience with a Hindu family who had eight children. A gentleman came to our house and said: Mother Teresa, there is a family with eight children, they had not eaten for so long - do something. So I took some rice and I went there immediately. And I saw the children - their eyes shining with hunger - I don't know if you have ever seen hunger. But I have seen it very often. And she took the rice, she divided the rice, and she went out. When she came back I asked her - where did you go, what did you do? And she gave me a very simple answer: They are hungry also. What struck me most was that she knew - and who are they, a Muslim family - and she knew. I didn't bring more rice that evening because I wanted them to enjoy the joy of sharing. But there were those children, radiating joy, sharing the joy with their mother because she had the love to give. And you see this is where love begins - at home. And I want you- and I am very grateful for what I have received. It has been a tremendous experience and I go back to India- I will be back by next week, the 15th I hope - and I will be able to bring your love.

And I know well that you have not given from your abundance, but you have given until it has hurt you. Today the little children they have- I was so surprised - there is so much joy for the children that are hungry. That the children like themselves will need love and care and tenderness, like they get so much from their parents. So let us thank God that we have had this opportunity to come to know each other, and this knowledge of each other has brought us very close. And we will be able to help not only the children of India and Africa, but will be able to help the children of the whole world, because as you know our Sisters are all over the world. And with this prize that I have received as a prize of peace, I am going to try to make the home for many people that have no home. Because I believe that love begins at home, and if we can create a home for the poor- I think that more and more love will spread. And we will be able through this understanding love to bring peace, be good news to the poor. The poor in our own family first, in our country and in the world. 

Around the world, not only in the poor countries, but I found the poverty of the West so much more difficult to remove. When I pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give him a plate of rice, a piece of bread, I have satisfied. I have removed that hunger. But a person that is shut out, that feels unwanted, unloved, terrified, the person that has been thrown out from society - that poverty is so hurtable and so much, and I find that very difficult. 

Our Sisters are working amongst that kind of people in the West. So you must pray for us that we may be able to be that good news, but we cannot do that without you, you have to do that here in your country. You must come to know the poor, maybe our people here have material things, everything, but I think that if we all look into our own homes, how difficult we find it sometimes to smile at each other, and that the smile is the beginning of love.

And so let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love, and once we begin to love each other naturally we want to do something. So you pray for our Sisters and for me and for our Brothers, and for our Co-Workers that are around the world. That we may remain faithful to the gift of God, to love Him and serve Him in the poor together with you. What we have done we should not have been able to do if you did not share with your prayers, with your gifts, this continual giving. But I don't want you to give me from your abundance, I want that you give me until it hurts.

The other day I received 15 dollars from a man who has been on his back for twenty years, and the only part that he can move is his right hand. And the only companion that he enjoys is smoking. And he said to me: I do not smoke for one week, and I send you this money. It must have been a terrible sacrifice for him, but see how beautiful, how he shared, and with that money I bought bread and I gave to those who are hungry with a joy on both sides, he was giving and the poor were receiving. This is something that you and I - it is a gift of God to us to be able to share our love with others.

 And let it be as it was for Jesus. Let us love one another as he loved us. Let us love Him with undivided love. And the joy of loving Him and each other- let us give now - that Christmas is coming so close. Let us keep that joy of loving Jesus in our hearts. And share that joy with all that we come in touch with. And that radiating joy is real, for we have no reason not to be happy because we have no Christ with us. Christ in our hearts, Christ in the poor that we meet, Christ in the smile that we give and the smile that we receive. Let us make that one point: That no child will be unwanted, and also that we meet each other always with a smile, especially when it is difficult to smile.

I never forget some time ago about fourteen professors came from the United States from different universities. And they came to Calcutta to our house. Then we were talking about that they had been to the home for the dying. We have a home for the dying in Calcutta, where we have picked up more than 36,000 people only from the streets of Calcutta, and out of that big number more than 18,000 have died a beautiful death. They have just gone home to God; and they came to our house and we talked of love, of compassion, and then one of them asked me: Say, Mother, please tell us something that we will remember, and I said to them: Smile at each other, make time for each other in your family. Smile at each other. 

And then another one asked me: Are you married, and I said: Yes, and I find it sometimes very difficult to smile at Jesus because he can be very demanding sometimes. This is really something true, and there is where love comes - when it is demanding, and yet we can give it to Him with joy. Just as I have said today,

 Canonization of  Mother Teresa at the  Vatican September 6 2016   

I have said that if I don't go to Heaven for anything else I will be going to Heaven for all the 

publicity because it has purified me and sacrificed me and made me really ready to go to Heaven. I think that this is something, that we must live life beautifully, we have Jesus with us and He loves us. If we could only remember that God loves me, and I have an opportunity to love others as he loves me, not in big things, but in small things with great love, then Norway becomes a nest of love. xxx

Dialogue with the Butterfly

"I cannot reach for the rainbow,

neither can I make one,

but you, by your wings and wand,

build the biggest crown."

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Exquisite netted venation of a butterfly wing, representing nature's architecture universal in the insect world, flying foxes, leaves of most plants, and blood vessels in human and  other creatures.
 

 Life cycle of the butterfly -  from egg to caterpillar to pupa to adult - the butterfly.

Fly me to your world, oh butterfly,

where flows the Pierian Spring,

the fountain of youth eternal,

where Sylphids dance and sing.

I'd rather wish to be in your garden    

foe and friend yet we're one,

where the tree of knowledge blooms,

nurtured by rain and sun.

I cannot reach for the rainbow,

neither can I make one,

but you, by your wings and wand,

build the biggest crown.

Your sense of beauty’s not ours,

fleeting and elusive,

ephemeral to your senses all,

before it is perceived.

Just for once, oh butterfly, to leave  

the home of my ancestor,

I shall cease to ask another favor    

nor crave for more. 

        Then I shall fly no more in your garden; 

       the flowers will die with the fountain,

       and all that lives shall crave the same

       with nothing to hope and gain. ~

Writing hones the senses

Writing hones the senses into deeper thinking and analysis, catalyzes understanding and comprehension, and keeps memory longer.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Writing on the ground with stick – it’s blackboard of sort, 
and more.  Puerto Sunken Pier, San Ildefonso, Ilocos Sur

Without map and you are in the field, the best thing you can do is get a stick and draw on the ground.

That’s how village folks plan out irrigation schedules, show the location of a remote sitio (purok), design a makeshift hut – or simply to while away time in thoughts and ideas.

Christ did write on the ground, and on one occasion made two curves facing each other to look like fish - one end its tail, the other its head. It is the simplest yet most symbolic drawing I’ve ever seen. Before he uttered these famous words, “He who has no sin, casts the first stone,” He wrote something on the ground which we can only assume to be a mark of supreme meditation.
Writing hones the senses into deeper thinking and analysis, catalyzes understanding and comprehension, and keeps memory longer. Scientists say that we learn but a measly one-fourth of the lesson by just listening to it alone, but with the use of pen and paper, learning can be enhanced twice, if not thrice.
“Put it in writing,” goes a saying. Yes, even only on the ground as our old folks have always done.

By the way, who has not experienced “writing love letters on the sand?” Listen to balladeer, Pat Boone, sing the song of the same title, and you know what I mean.

Or write your problems where the sea rises and ebbs, and watch how the waves erase them away. This is therapeutic, try it. ~

On Writing
By Abe V Rotor

1. To Jose Rizal: (PHOTO)

Your enemies tried to silence you,

and curtailed your freedom;

the lamp flickers its last rays at dawn
to seal your martyrdom.

2. To Aesop:
Ah! Animals talk louder than men

though in screech, crow and bleat;

yet by moral and sanity, speak
not the language on the street.

3. To Ernest Hemingway:
You seemed as brave as the old man
in your great masterpiece;
the soldier, the hunter, the dreamer -
yet wanting a life of peace.

4. To Charles Darwin:
You did not give up to your critics,
who only prayed and preached;
Around the world you witnessed,
Change by random and fit.

5. To Lola Basiang (penname of Severino Reyes (PHOTO, right)
You touched a million-and-one lives,
around campfires in their prime;
like Grimm and Anderson and Homer,
storytellers of all time. 

6. To Boris Pasternak
Zhivago, to the end walked away alone,
from  love neither in winter nor fallow;
what romance away from the war zone  
wrapped him in doubt and sorrow.

7. To Mark Twain  (PHOTO) 

I am a boy forever, Tom or Huck,
down the Mississippi loafing;
and let the world go on sans care
what grownups are missing.  

8. To Robert Louis Stevenson 
"Kidnapped" made a boy into a man
too soon to faced a cruel world;
learning quickly the art of war 
deceit and conceit, gun and sword.

9. To Oscar Wilde (PHOTO)
You're a creator of characters and events,
in novels, stories, and plays 
children and adults alike on the armchair
live in those times and places. 

10. To Arthur Conan Doyle
"Sherlock Holmes" lives to this day,
idol of any detective;
"The Lost World" remains of the past,
is back in our midst to live.     

Swarming of winged termites marks the start of the monsoon season

Take heed of winged termites (gamu-gamu or simut-simut Ilk) swarming in early evening in lighted homes and streets. Swarming means new termite colonies are in the making! Your home may be vulnerable.  

    Dr Abe V Rotor 

Basin full of  gamu-gamu.trapped by lamp, a practical method of gathering gamu-gamu for animal feeds and also as human food. Photo taken at author's residence in San Vicente (IS) 2017. 

Termites are among the most enigmatic creatures.  They are also among the oldest, older than the dinosaurs, and virtually have not changed.  Thus they are considered living fossils.  

What is more amazing is their life cycle and behavior as social insects. To ordinary observers it is a case of "now you see, now you don't."  For in most part and time of their lives, they are ensconced in mounds, crevices and tunnels of wood and earth incognito to the busy world.  

Here they form colonies in thousands, governed by a royal couple, with the queen tremendously enlarged compared to the king and the castes, the workers and the soldiers.  And her task is to lay eggs daily to maintain the colony to as long as twenty years. 

Protect your home from termites.  

• Keep your home and surroundings clean, free of termite food such as pile of leaves, stock of firewood, old clothes, paper, unserviceable furniture, etc.    
• Check regularly the presence of termites in your home - floor, ceiling, bookshelves, rooms, even in unlikely places like apparador and piano. Repair, and trace source of invasion.  Early detection is crucial. 
• Treatment with chemicals may be necessary.  Consult an authorized pest controller. Keep in mind that pesticides pose danger to health and environment.  
• Dig out termite mound (punso) around the house, in the garden and field.  Be sure to destroy the queen, otherwise the mound will grow back.
• At the start of swarming, put off the lights in your home so that the swarm dissipates or moves away into the open. Coordinate with neighbors to do the same.
• Where swarming is heavy, place a basin of water around a lighted bulb or lamp. Gather trapped insects for feeds or simply discard properly.  
• Saw off stumps and limbs of trees.  Tree termites live in the hollow of trees, and standing dead trees. 
• Knock down abandoned buildings which are a source of invasion. Effective termite control is a community effort.   
• Observe Integrated Pest Management (IPM) where biological control and good farming practices work effectively. Examples: house lizard and toads feed on gamu-gamu, flood control and proper tillage reduce termite population. 
• Dismiss subtly superstitious beliefs and fairy tales of dwarfs living in anthill (punso) without taking away the quaintness of bedtime stories. Termites have no place in ouir dwellings.  They belong to the forest to keep the balance of nature, recycling dead trees and litters back into soil. 
• Avoid loud metallic music at home and vicinity. This stimulates termites to feed and make tunnels aggressively, according to recent research.         

Termite queen is surrounded by workers and soldiers, with the king on top.  The king is a bit larger than any member of the castes.  Right, winged termites swarm in early spring in temperate countries, or at the start of the rainy season in the tropics.

Closeup of the soldier, worker and immature members. Winged termite showing two pairs of wings of the same size and pattern (unlike most winged insects), from which its order Isoptera (same wings) is derived..

Left, dry termites live entirely on wood with very little moisture. Right, 

termitecomb, a complex maze of undigested and digested wood, earth 

and fruss (excreta) serves as a complex tunnel and abode of the colony. 

Its architectural design keeps the structure ventilated and light, but strong 

and firm in shape. In the case  of wood, the termitecomb keeps it to appear 

undamaged until it finally gives in to stress and gravity.  

 How high and massive can a termite mound (punso) get? This one in Africa.is for the Book of Guinness   Right, cross-section of a mound showing the queen's chamber, chimneys and ramifying tunnels.  A mound grows in size through time and as the colony increases. The queen may live up to 20 years, and is capable of rebuilding the mound. In certain societies the queen is dug out and made into a delicacy.  

Cu Chi Tunnel in Vietnam, a complex underground tunnel of the Vietnamese resistance against the French colonialists and Vietcong guerrillas during the Vietnam War extends several kilometers linking major strongholds. It houses underground command centers, dormitories, armories, and hospitals. The Cu Chi tunnel owes much of its design from that of the termites. Left, map of the Cu Chi Tunnel complex, author waves at well-wishers before exploring the man-made maze. Right, author points to ventilation system of the tunnel appearing as natural termite mound. Team finds great relief upon emerging from the hot, steamy tunnel.