A heavenly plant, but this one can also make you heaven
Corry Schins sent me a photo of a plant that had suddenly started growing in her garden last summer. A friend thought the name of this plant is dune apple. That friend is close by, because the plant is called thorn apple. Incidentally, you also come across the names dolappel or devil’s herb. Officially, these thorn apples do not belong in our country. Originally they were found in North America. The plant probably came to Europe in the fifteenth century, because the thorn apple can be seen in a painting by Hieronymus Bosch. This plant contains substances that have a hallucinatory effect and were widely used by the indigenous people of North America. Using too much of these substances is deadly. Napoleon Bonaparte knew about this effect and on the night of 12 and 13 April 1814 tried to kill himself by adding these substances from the thorn apple to a glass of wine. Thorn apple is therefore a beautiful plant, but do not eat it, because you will either end up in heavenly spheres or really in heaven.
Star shot on the lawn
Leny ten Napel sent me a photo showing a jelly-like substance with black dots in it. She wonders if this is witch’s nut. Witchesnot is a word that has been used in recent years, but used to be said star shot and prefer that use in personal too. This word dates back to the seventeenth century, because people really thought that these were residues from stars. In reality, star shot is vomit from herons and polecats and so on. Those animals have then eaten female frogs or toads. The amphibians’ abdomens contained eggs that were encased in jelly. In the bellies of those frogs and toads, this jelly was compact, but in the bellies of the predators, it expanded enormously and then they regurgitated those big clumps. In this case with eggs, because those are those black dots. Such a thing only lasts for a short time, because it decays very quickly in the open air.
What are the bees doing at this insect hotel?
Frans Bos saw bees sitting at his insect hotel and it seemed as if they were feeding or attacking each other. I think Frans has seen the hatching of the horned mason bee, because as soon as it gets warmer in March, they come out. The horned mason bee has a high cold tolerance and is thus one of the first bee species to be seen in the spring. I have already observed these bees myself. In addition, Frans probably saw the males first, because they emerge from the nest corridors earlier than females. Males wait for the females to hatch. The ‘attack’ that Frans saw is therefore not an attack but a mating. Males then disappear and the females then begin to lay eggs in the nest corridors with food. They brick between the eggs between the partitions and close the whole with sealing lids of sand, loam or clay.
Is this a common squirrel?
Simone Dooren sent me a photo showing a squirrel with a white tail. The animal has a dark brown abdomen. The rest of the body is light brown with areas of white. We are dealing here with a European red squirrel, our ‘own’ squirrel, but with leucism. Last week I also put a photo in Dustmail of a squirrel with leucism, but that squirrel was completely white. This squirrel from Simone Dooren therefore still has some brown. Animals with leucism lack pigment in, for example, the hair or feathers and do not have an increased sensitivity to sunlight, which is the case with albino animals. Of course, this partial white squirrel is also very noticeable and is therefore also an easy prey.
Dried blade of grass turns out to be an insect
Mrs. Snip thought she saw a dried blade of grass on one of her lawn chairs. But when touched it flew away and landed on the window. At that moment she took a picture and sent it to me asking which insect this is. We are dealing here with one of the feather moths, namely the wind feather moth. Feather moths are moths that take on such a T-shape when resting. This T arises because these insects have deep incisions in the fore and hind wings. These wings are often curled up and stand away from the body. Windfeather moths can be encountered almost all year round. They also hibernate as adults.
What are these soft transparent balls in the flower pots?
Anny Meijer went to provide her flower pots with new sand this week, but to her surprise saw white balls in them. She thought it might be eggs. This is absolutely correct, I think these are snail eggs. Snail eggs look like glassy, slightly white translucent balls, which are very soft and therefore malleable. In principle, snails lay eggs underground from the beginning of March to April, depending on the temperature. This can therefore also be in flower pots or flower boxes, but in principle not visible. After three weeks the eggs hatch and then it takes another two months before they are adult snails. The adult snails from the previous year hibernate and hide in crevices, under wood or in the soil.
Waiting for privacy settings…
Squirrel family
Alex Molin made the above images of a squirrel he encountered in 2017. “Soon three more emerged. It turned out to be a mother squirrel with three cubs.”
On a dead piece of wood sits a beautiful organism
Mandy van der Harst encountered something strange during a walk. She wondered if this would be something for this column. Well Mandy, it sure is. You have come across something beautiful with the very beautiful name silver tree cushion. Despite the silver tree pillow being a fairly common myxomycete, it is a special thing. It is a slime mold, but the word fungus is actually wrong. Previously, this group of organisms was classified in the order of fungi, based on morphological characteristics. However, using DNA it has been shown that slime molds are not fungi or fungi. Rather, they are animals because they move. That is why slime molds form a separate kingdom today, just like the animal and vegetable kingdoms. The silver tree pillow therefore belongs to the realm of slime molds or mycetozoa. This slime mold is pillow-shaped, has a silver sheen (fleece) and can grow up to ten centimeters long. The content of the silver tree cushion is white at first, but later chocolate brown. The outside of this slime mold is silvery white in the beginning, but also turns chocolate brown.
Nature tip
On Saturday 26 March an excursion will be organized by the wet natural pearl Kampina. It lasts from ten in the morning to twelve in the afternoon. The Kampina is Brabant as it once was! You will still find wet heath with fens, fragrant gale thickets, meadows, deciduous forests and blue grasslands. The forester takes you into this unique piece of nature where the water flows again as it did before thanks to the nature restoration project ‘Wet natural pearl’ by Natuurmonumenten in collaboration with Brabant landscape.
This excursion is aimed at adults, but older children are also welcome when accompanied by an adult.
More information†
• The starting point is the parking lot at the Logtsebaan in Oirschot.
• Registration required and possible through this link†
• There are costs associated with participating in this excursion, see this link.
• Wear sturdy walking shoes.
• Wear clothes that suit the weather.
• Always check yourself for ticks afterwards.
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