By Andrew Scott, Horticulturist for The Gardens on Spring Creek This is the second installment of a two-part feature on plant defenses. Read Part I online at North Forty News . Caffeine, nicotine, morphine, cocaine ... sounds like the ingredients label on an old-timey cold medicine, right? These molecules are actually all alkaloids, some of the most common chemical deterrents deployed by plants. As the adage goes, the dose makes the poison. While people can (and do) ingest these alkaloids for their psychoactive effects, they prove to be much more deadly to a small insect that weighs all but a few tenths of a milligram. The sap of opium poppies ( Papaver somniferum ) contains morphine, a potent sedative (via Daniel Prudek , Hodder Education Magazines) Still, alkaloids have a strongly bitter taste, which animals have learned to associate with the toxic effects they can have. Eating green potatoes isn’t likely to kill you, but solanine, the alkaloid that triggers this change...
Blooming Blurbs: Silly Lilies By Finn Beckman If I ask you to think of a lily , w hat do you think of? Maybe daylilies and their short- lived but vibrant flowers, or maybe your mind wanders into the water to think of water lilies and frogs hopping from pad to pad. There are many plants that use the name lily but taxonomically speaking , t he lily family is smaller than you might assume. In fact, it doesn't even include the two plants mentioned above. But do not fret! In this week’s blooming blurb, we are going to take a trip around The Gardens to clarify what is and what isn’t truly a lily. Our first stop is the Daylily Garden, located on the west side of the visitor center building on our grounds . Hemerocallis cvs . , or daylilies , are native to China and Japan . Growing up to 2.5' tall and across , most prefer full sun to part shade. Although they may resemble true lilies , Hemerocallis have several differences that set them in the Asph...