Looking back 150 million years ago through a fossil plant, the Equisetum or Horsetail

 Once the understorey vegetation of Paleolithic forests where dinosaurs roamed during the Jurassic Period, the Equisetum has virtually remained unchanged, defying the forces of evolution that led to the extinction of countless unknown species and radical change into new forms of those that survived.  Not to the persistent Equisetum. It fact it is the only living fossil said to be of cosmopolitan in distribution today in all continents, except Antarctica. 
Dr Abe V Rotor

Equisetum is a "living fossil" as it is the only living genus in Equisetaceae,  a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds, and the only living member of the entire class Equisetopsida. It is also called horsetail, snake grass, puzzle grass, scouring-rush, candock, and other local names.  

What makes a living fossil is a puzzle. But extreme adaptability is the general concept of survival through time and space. For the natural gene to be preserved is not only a matter of strict isolation from other genes. In fact the mechanism of gene exchange is the key, only that it is narrowed down - in the case of the horsetails -  within the only surviving genus, belonging to a single family, and a single class.  The proliferation of horsetails did not go stray and lose their genetic identity as to have evolved into indistinguishable species even if there are sub-genera, sub-family and hybrids.  

All horsetails today are distinctly and unmistakably the same morphologically and genetically. (A superficially similar but entirely unrelated flowering plant genus, mare's tail (Hippuris), is occasionally misidentified as "horsetail", and adding to confusion, the name mare's tail is sometimes applied to Equisetum.)

While horsetails grow in swampy places and considered wild, horticulturists have learned to plant them as ornamental purposes, admiring their unique characteristics displaying variations according to sub-types and hybrids. In Japan and Germany, the stems are bundled and used for scouring utensils and metals.  They are used in the final process in woodwork to produce a smoother finish than any sandpaper. 

Horsetails are a nuisance weed, unaffected by many herbicides designed to kill seed plants.  They have the ability to regrow from the rhizome after being pulled out. And because they prefer acidic soil, lime may be used to assist in eradication efforts. They have been declared noxious weeds in Australia, New Zealand, Oregon in the US, and other countries, although they are considered useful as food plant largely as alternative source, and likely influenced by ethnic background.  

Here is a report on horsetail as food. 

"The young plants are eaten cooked or raw. The fertile stems bearing strobili (spore casing) of some species are cooked and eaten like asparagus (a dish called tsukushi) in Japan. The people of ancient Rome would eat meadow horsetail in a similar manner, and they also used it to make tea as well as a thickening powder. Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest eat the young shoots of this plant raw. The plants are used as a dye and give a soft green colour. An extract is often used to provide silica for supplementation. Horsetail was often used by Indians to polish wooden tools. Equisetum species are often used to analyze gold concentrations in an area due to their ability to take up the metal when it is in a solution." (Wikipedia, citations and more data needed)

For its medicinal uses the same source reports.

"Extracts and other preparations of E. arvense have served as herbal remedies, with records dating to ancient Greek and Roman medical sources; its reported uses include treatments to stop bleeding, treat tuberculosis, to heal wounds and ulcerations, and to treat kidney ailments. In modern times, it is typically used as an infusion. Reliable modern alternative medicine sources include cautions with regard to its use. In 2009 the European Food Safety Authority issued a report assessing some specific health claims for E. arvense—e.g., for invigoration, weight control, and skin, hair, and bone health—concluding that none could be substantiated.

There is insufficient evidence to draw conclusions regarding its effectiveness as a medicine for all human conditions described. Even so, E. giganteum preparations are widely used in South America as an orally administered diuretic to reduce swelling caused by excess fluid retention and for urinary infections, bladder and kidney disorders. Horsetail preparations contain silicon, so they are sometimes suggested as a treatment for osteoporosis (brittle bone disorders)

Some Equisetum preparations are reported to have a high content of thiaminase, which may induce edema and cause lack of motor control (e.g., limb coordination), putting a person at risk of injury from falling; bradycardia (slowed heart-rate) and cardiac dysrhythmia are further negative side effects. Since horsetail contains nicotine, it is not recommended for young children." (Wikipedia, with citations and more data needed.)

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Caution: If eaten over a long enough period of time, some species of horsetail can be poisonous to grazing animals, including horses. The toxicity appears to be due to thiaminase enzymes, which can cause thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency. 

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Invisible Wall

Dr Abe V Rotor


Fish to butterfly danger in the open
     harmless between a wall; 
Humans behave like friend to friend 
     between an invisible wall.  

Cranefly or daddy-long-legs

If you can detect a cranefly, you must have a third eye.

Dr Abe V Rotor 

 

 Crane Fly (Tipula sp), Family Tipulidae, Order Diptera 

 This is a rare specimen I caught at home. It is a very curious one, although it is quite familiar; it is a relative of the mosquito. It is also rare because its size is much bigger than the ordinary cranefly we often called daddy-long-legs.*

Compound eye of cranefly, typical of insects which have a pair of multi-facet eyes in addition to a simple eye or two.  Right, closeup of a similar specimen of Tipula sourced from the Internet 

The cranefly undergoes four stages - egg, larva called maggot, pupa and adult. The maggot feeds on crops and pasture grass but it inflicts little damage. The adults emerge and swarm in the evening. They have queer body structure and movement. 

Craneflies are clumsy fliers, mainly because they have only one pair of wings for flying. That is why they are classified Diptera - two wings. The pair of hindwings are reduced into halteres or balancers which look like stubs or knobs.

When at rest, craneflies shake continuously in all directions that they become virtually invisible to their enemies. This unique mechanism has not been fully studied.

Among the Arachnids, members of the Pholcidae family are also called daddy-long-legs spiders. Their presence is known to be worldwide. Here are two species of harvestman spiders. The one at the right appears hazy and blurred as seen when it is in continuous shaking motion. (Acknowledgement: Internet, Wikipedia)  

  

Would you kill a firefly?

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog [avrotor.blogspot.com]

 Closeup of the firefly  (Internet photo)

 Entomology team from UST Graduate School headed by the author.

Man is the insect buster; self proclaimed, strong and bold; he conquers his greatest enemy, wasting no time. He has read enough books, and turned away from the old. He’s Pied Piper now in new adventure in his prime.

To the rescue, he rid the world of aliens and all their kin; "I am Gulliver," he said to the imagined Lilliputians. With gloves and boots, armed with tools of the modern kind, he saw himself riding to the West against the Indians.

Make way for this nemesis, the bugs run for your lives; they dropped dead, crushed, unbearable was the pain. Their shelter stormed, their nests torn, so with their hives. It’s reminiscent of Pompeii where the ruins reign. 

The air is stilled, there’s no more music in the night; the pond is clear, but where have the fishes gone? Plants still bloom, but their flowers are no longer bright. Where are the bees and butterflies that meet the sun?
 
Frogs no longer croak, silent are the fields and the trees; Where’s the cicada shrilling with joy, the cricket at night, the melodious songs and calls of birds that never cease, the mayfly’s visit, or the moth’s over a candlelight?

Suddenly the world became still. Didn't Rachel Carson tell in Silent Spring the birds didn't arrive one spring? Or in biblical times, didn't a cloud of death over a zone killed creatures one by one, the survivors migrating?

Where have all the sweetest sugar and flowing silk gone? Their makers, the busy bee and the the naive worms? They too, have been stilled forever by the same poison that killed the evil ones and their ugly forms. 

Didn't Alexander the Great die on the Euphrates of malaria? Or the Pharaoh Menes of bee venom? Thousands died building the Panama Canal and Suez Canal, and more death blamed to insects still unknown. 

Who would like the fly around? But without it the dead would litter the ground, more so without the Scarabid beetle. Who would eat remnants of an enemy, diseases they spread? For certain man doesn't like to die first? God forbid.

His joy to conquer lies in his genes, even against his kind, much less the lowly crawlers, for revenge or just game. Yes, man is insect buster, self righteous, self-proclaimed - but would he dare to kill a firefly just the same? ~

Living with Nature - the Lighter Side in 30 Ways (Article in Progress)

Dr Abe V Rotor

Young artists turned environmentalists;

Give them a wall unkempt and empty,

paint brush, splash of sun and breeze; 

how the world rejoices but what a pity.  

Break away from old tradition the classroom;

Yonder free school the mind and spirit roam.

Frolic rough bane freedom best

the coy bold ugly all to the test

A balikbayan wonders at a fruiting tree,

once a sapling the world young and free.

a story forgotten in the land of the free

at sunset in fading sight and memory.,  

Where dreams come from shade and sky
the mind roams boundless and free;
over the stonewall onto the country, 
learning best in the shade of a tree. 

 

Adda Kadi Pay Bambanti? (Are there still scarecrows?)

Dr Abe V Rotor

Translated into Ilocano by Ariel Tabag

 

Scarecrow in a cornfield.  Acknowledgement Internet photo. 

Maysa nga arte ti away ti bambanti. Nakamattider iti tengnga ti kataltalonan a mangbutbuteng kadagiti billit babaen dagiti nakadeppa nga imana ken ti datdatlag a rupana a nalingdan iti payabyab. Bantayanna dagiti nakadawan a pagay tapno awan ti agkaan a billit-tuleng (Lonchura malacca jagori ken L. m. formosana) wenno maya iti Tagalog.

Adda dagiti billit-tuleng iti agarup sibubukel nga Asia ken iti Pasipiko. Ad-adda a dawa ti pagay ti pagbiagda, ken bukbukel dagiti ruot. Makadanonda pay kadagiti mandala wenno sarusar a pagtuktokan iti irik. Maris-daga wenno kayumanggi dagitoy a billit ken nagsinan-trianggulo ti sippitda nga umisu unay iti panagsippit ken panagukisda iti bukbukel wenno dawa. Sangapangen no agdissoda iti kapagayan.

Isu nga adda dagitoy bambanti nga agbantay. Iramanda pay nga abogen dagiti billit-tsina, ken dadduma pay a billit nga agkaan iti dawa. Nareppet a garami a nangsinan-T daytoy bambanti. Sa mabaduan iti daan a kamiseta wenno bado nga atiddog ti mangngasna ken payabyab. Daytay aglanglanga a kasla mannalon tapno kabuteng dagiti billit.

Adda ketdi parikutna daytoy. Kas iti nasursuruan nga aso ni Pavlov (ti prinsipio ti nakondision a pannakasursuro), maamiris met dagiti billit-tuleng a saan met gayam a pudpudno a mannalon dagitoy bambanti. Ket sakbay a maammuan ni mannalon daytoy, nagum-uman dagiti billit-tuleng kadagiti dandanin maani a pagayna. Amangan ta adda pay dagiti agbatay a billit-tuleng iti mismo nga abaga wenno ulo ti bambanti.

Kadagitoy a tiempo, matmatayen nga arte ti bambanti. Kas sukatna, mangibanteng dagiti mannalon iti tali iti kapagayan a pakaisab-itan dagiti namamaris a plastik bag. Adda met dagiti mangibanteng iti “tali” ti daan a cassette tape wenno video tape— no agangin, aguni dagitoy a mangabog kadagiti billit. Adda payen dagiti agusar iti ‘pellet gun’.

Naminsan, nakakitakami iti maymaysa a bambanti iti tengnga ti kataltalonan. Idi maasitganmi, naduktalanmi a maysa gayam a manekin ken nabaduan a kunam la no adda iti maysa a mall. Nalagipmi la ket ngarud ti ubing a nakaduktal iti estatua ni Venus de Milo iti maysa a pasto iti Gresia.

Iti sabali pay a gundaway, nakakitakami kadagiti lobo (balloon) ken styropore balls a nakabitin kadagiti pinagayan a namarkaan kadagiti rupa da Jollibee, Power Puff Girls, Batman, Popeye, Mr. Bean, ken sumagmamano a karakter iti pelikula ken cartoon. Ket nadlawmi nga awan a pulos ti billit iti aglawlaw!

Idi nadakamatmi iti maysa a gayyemi a maysa nga entomologist, nga epektibo daytoy baro a bersion ti bambanti, kinunana nga aglinglingaling: “Mabalin nga awanen dagiti billit.”

Nalagipmi la ket ngaruden ti Silent Spring, ti premiado a libro ni Rachel Carson. Dagiti billit iti dayta a panagrurusing (spring), natayda gapu iti pannakasamalda iti pestisidio.—O

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The scarecrow is found in many parts of the world in different versions according to culture of the place. It has one universal design though - a T-frame dressed like a human.

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Love that scarecrow (banbanti Ilk.). It is folk art on the farm. In the middle of the field it feigns scary to birds, what with those outstretched arms and that mysterious face hidden beneath a wide brim hat. There it stands tall amid maturing grains, keeping finches or maya birds - Lonchura Malacca jagori and L. m. formosana (PHOTO) at bay. Finches are widely distributed in Asia and the Pacific feeding on rice grains, and alternately on weed seeds, but now and then they also steal from the haystack (mandala) and poultry houses. They are recognized for their chestnut colored compact bodies, and sturdy triangular beak designed for grain picking and husking. The scarecrow also guards against the house sparrow, mayan costa (billit China Ilk.), including the lovable turtle dove or bato-bato (Streptopelia bitorquata dursummieri), all grain feeders.

A scarecrow is usually made of rice hay shaped like a human body wrapped around a T-frame. It is simply dressed up with old shirt and hat. The idea is to make it look like the farmer that the birds fear. There is one problem though. Birds, like the experimental dog of Pavlov (principle of conditional learning), soon discover the hoax and before the farmer knows it a whole flock of maya is feasting on his ready-to-harvest ricefield. It is not uncommon to see maya birds bantering around – and even roasting on the scarecrow itself!

Today the scarecrow is an endangered art. In its place farmers hang plastic bags, or tie old cassette and video tape along dikes and across the fields. These create rustling or hissing sound as the wind blows, scaring the birds. Others use firecrackers and pellet guns.

At one time I saw a lone scarecrow in the middle of a field. On examining it closely, I found out that it was made of a mannequin dressed the way the fashion world does. It reminded me of the boy who discovered the statue of Venus de Milo in a remote pasture in Greece. On another occasion I saw balloons and styropore balls hanging in poultry and piggery houses, bearing the faces of Jollibee, Power Puff Girls, Batman, Popeye, Mr. Bean and a host of movie and cartoon characters. Interestingly I noticed that the birds were nowhere to be found.

When I told my friend, an entomologist, that these new versions of the scarecrow seem to be effective, he wryly replied, “Maybe there are no more birds left.” Suddenly I remembered Silent Spring, a prize winning book by Rachel Carson. The birds that herald spring had died of pesticide poisoning. ~

Softly the breeze came blowing...

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Trees by a stream in acrylic by the author

Softly the breeze came blowing, cool and free, 

picking leaf after leaf from every tree; 

each an event of the woods' history, 

and the youth in me, in sweet memory.

Note: Try this verse as lyrics of a ballad with guitar accompaniment. 

Or into Acapella for the violin or piano.

The Fine Edge of Awareness

The Fine Edge of Awareness
Dr Abe V Rotor

Consciousness is biological and instinct, then the fine edge of awareness follows, and the young is introduced into the world of grownups. What lies ahead is a long journey through which life is lived, distinctly yet collectively, linking generations, and intertwined as one beautiful tapestry of humanity.
 
Taking time out on a holiday or vacation invigorates the body, tempers the mind and heart, nourishes the soul. Bonding keeps the family closely knit, yet it opens opportunities to grow with the community and the institutions.    

Nature and nurture are like horse-and-carriage in child development.  They are the  greatest teachers that make the difference as children become adults.  

A bangkal tree serves as extension of a nearby church where the faithful participate in the holy mass.  

Awareness is like the light of dawn, emerging from the darkness of night, and little by little opens the curtain for the day's drama, revealing the characters who are none other but us. 

Awareness comes early and ends with the last breath, a womb-to-tomb phenomenon of life, taking no exception, unless by circumstance consciousness takes the wrong turn.

Awareness to a child is innocence imbibing the stimuli that the five senses perceive, whether these be desirable or not, for which reason the role of guardians is most vital.

Awareness builds knowledge, hones sensitivity and creates a sense of awe and wonder at creation, in order to know more about the world, and to accept those that cannot be explained. 

Awareness builds love in its countless expressions, from self to neighbor, family to community, ultimately to humanity and God - love that brings peace and unity in the world. 

Awareness is building lines of communication of understanding among people, and among creatures, the environment, the universe, through the power of the mind and sincerity of intention. 

Awareness is knowing the limits of man in his pursuit of happiness, power and glory, through his technology, more so in recognizing the impact - good or evil - of his pursuits.

Awareness is keeping the environment clean and orderly, preserving its pristine and balance state, by following the laws and rules of nature in whatever human activity.

Awareness is giving and share equitably, for "having too much means others have so little", greed the greatest sin, the root cause of war, the biggest denial to fellowmen and to God.          

Awareness is lending a hand unconditionally, taking the road less trodden and being a  Samaritan in one's own way, reaching out for the hungry, thirsty, naked, imprisoned, and lonely. ~