I have completed collecting Teasel seed heads for the 2015
season and am happy about the progress being made in reducing the number of
Teasel growing in the fields. Gathering
the seed heads prevents the ripe seed from being scattered about the field and
producing a new generation of this non-native invasive plant.
This is the third consecutive year that I have gathered
Teasel tops from the seven acres of Teasel infested young prairie at Blue Jay
Barrens. This area, formerly the site of
a moderate Teasel infestation, was practically Teasel free this year.
Most of the Teasel was scattered across the field as
individual plants or small groups of two or three. Areas of concentrated Teasel were generally less
than 20 feet in diameter.
Unusual this year were the random plants that appeared to
have lost their tops to browsing deer.
These topped plants managed to send up new shoots that
flowered and produced seed heads. The
deer are going to have to do better than this if they wish to be heralded as a
new weapon against Teasel.
My entire 2015 collection fit into three feed sacks, none of
which was filled. Total weight collected
this year was 36 pounds, a 63 percent reduction over last year’s 97.5 pounds. Teasel has a two year life cycle. Year one is spent as a basal rosette of
leaves. During its second year, the
plant sends up a tall stalk and produces flowers. The plant then dies and the seeds are dropped
as the plant dries. The reduction in
population size this year is a result of the 2013 seed crop being removed from
the field. The Teasel population size
should continue to shrink, but the seeds previously dropped in the field can
wait several years before germinating, so it will be a while before the
population is reduced to a negligible amount.
I’ve had a lot going on the past couple of weeks, so the
only time I could put to collecting Teasel was early in the morning. Awaiting me each morning were a few Teasel
heads, dew laden Indian Grass and a large collection of spider webs.
The webs were the product of the Banded Garden Spider, a
common resident of this field.
Each orb web was accompanied by a structure of random webs
to one side. The spider was sandwiched
between these two creations. I assume
the intent of the random webbing is to give the spider notice of the approach
of a possible predator, such as a spider hunting wasp.
I left one late flowering Teasel head in place for a couple
of days to give this Red-Banded Crab Spider a chance to finish its meal of
Robber Fly. That big fly should be more
than enough to fill up the spider.
The buzz of Robber Flies was common throughout the
field. Diogmites species like this were
especially abundant.
A first for me at Blue Jay Barrens was the sighting of this
Citrine Forktail. This tiny damselfly
would be nearly impossible to find if you were searching for it. I saw it only because the low angle of the
sun made the insect appear as a bright fleck of gold among the sea of Indian
Grass. I don’t know what it was doing
out in the middle of a dry prairie so far from water, but I’m glad it was
there.
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