Time for the birds, the bees, the insects and the wind. These catkins graced one of the trees (don't know the name: I'm not good on trees other than maples) in the lane this week. No insects seemed nearby, so I'm assuming that they will be fertilized by wind-blown pollen.I'm reminded of the strategy that Linnaeus used when he did his landmark work on plant classification in the 17th century. He divided the classes of flowering plants into orders on the basis of their female organs, their stigmas and styles, describin each class in terms that some of his contemporaries called "salacious" and "loathsome harlotry". For example, the class Polyandria (from the Greek words meaning many "poly" and male "andros"), which includes the poppy and the linden tree, he described as "twenty males or more in the same bed with the female." (For more see the chapter on the Hortus Botanicus of the University of Leiden in my Recreating Eden: A Natural History of Botanical Gardens. And, yes, that's where the title of this blog comes from.)
This year could have meant a lot of lovelorn plants, I'm afraid, since many plants prepared themselves for blooming before pollinizing insects are out and about. The pear trees in back were just about to bloom two weeks ago during our Easter heat wave, but didn't, thank goodness. Had they, we would have no pears come August, I suspect, as the bees or whatever other insects pollinate them were still in hiding. The cooler weather has stalled the blossoming, however, and slowly the insects are appearing. Next week probably all will be well, and the trees can finally break out in bloom. A happy love story!
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