Wolf Spiders--

Lycosidae

Wolf spiders are particularly large spiders, as with the legs outstretched, they can be up to 4" long. Although, they range in size, with body lengths ranging from 1/4" to 1". They do not usually build webs, as they stalk their prey rather than wait for the meal to come to them. In fact, they got the name because of that habit, stalking their prey, because wolves do that as well. They hardly ever go into houses, and they most likely do that because a door was left open. Because of their rather big size, they can't slide in through cracks under the door. Wolf spider bites are very rare, and as harmful as a bee sting. In fact, bee stings are more common than wolf spider bites, because bees have to protect their hive, whereas wolf spiders are quick enough (most of the time) to evade capture. Wolf spiders only bite when handled or picked up, so if you find one, gently guide into a big enough container with a stick or pencil. They can be black and brown, and hairy. They resemble tarantulas in appearance, but are not. They have very good eyesight, and the females usually attach the egg sac onto her spinnerets until the babies hatch, as seen above. The wolf spider has eight eyes, four on the bottom, two extra big ones in the middle, and two medium sized eyes at the top. In total, there are more than 2000 wolf spider species. Wolf spider bites are usually emitted by the larger species, as the smaller ones do not have the ability to penetrate skin. It may swell, turn red, itch, but usually it goes away within a few hours. Because the bite may get infected, wash it frequently so this will not happen.

Loxosceles reclusa-The Brown Recluse

The brown recluse spider is venomous, as venomous as a black widow. It is about the size of a quarter, and is noted for the violin shaped marking on its head, with the "neck" of the violin pointed at towards the spider's back. The prefer to build their webs in dark, dry places. This makes them different from the black widow, because the black widow prefers dark, moist places to live.
The brown recluse' bite is a large, red, swelling blotch, followed by nausea, vomiting, restlessness, fever, and shock. After the bite turn red, it turns into an ulcer. If left untreated, it can--but not always--cause the victim to die, as the black widow's can too. The ones most likely to be the most affected by the venom are children under the age of sixteen, and the elderly. The red mark on your skin can both: be 1-2 and 3/4 inches long; and once it heals, it can leave ugly scars.
The brown recluse is mostly found in the mid-south, including Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Though it can live almost anywhere. The most common ways for a brown recluse to change its home is to move with you in old boxes that haven't been opened in a long time. Some of the most common times that a brown recluse with bite is if you are getting dressed, and the spider was hiding in your apparel, and if putting on shoes that the recluse was nesting in. The brown recluse hardly ever bites you in your sleep, as it usually only bites when in danger, and your weight would most likely squash the recluse before it could bite. They will only nest in places where they can find food, so if you keep all pests out of your house, the recluse will have to leave as well. The same is true for all spiders, and bugs that eat other bugs, such as ants. Yes, I have seen ants carrying a granddaddy long legs to their hill. I actually thought it was a large crumb at first, but then I saw the legs, and I thought: "Wow, I've never seen that before!" I was surprised. Well, that is what I know! And stay tuned, because holly bushes and trees are starting to get berries! So I will be editing my post to include those as well. Bye-bye, and I hope to have more readers next week!

Black Widows-

Southern Black widow, or Lactrodectus mactans

I have never seen a black widow for more than ten seconds before, so I don't have any pictures to show you. But, I can tell you some things about them. Females are most recognizable by a distinct hourglass marking on their under-abdomen. Females are always black, with a glossy tint. Males can be black, but are usually red or brown. The black widow in general, whether it be male or female, has a cephalothorax that is much, much smaller than the abdomen. The abdomen is shaped somewhat like a sphere, very round, and large. The venom of the female black widow is rarely fatal, if given immediate medical attention. The usual signs of a black widow bite are nausea, vomiting, sweating, cramps, faintness, headache, itching, and increased blood pressure, to name a few. If bitten by a black widow, or, now that I think about it, any spider at all, instantly seek medical attention. Black widows, despite their notorious reputation, are not as aggressive as you might think. Even if disturbed in it's own web, a black widow will most likely try to run away rather than bite. To prevent spider bites, wear heavy gloves when working outside, especially when reaching into unseen places, such as in a log, under a log, under a house, etc. Black widows prefer to have their webs close to the ground, or a solid surface, such as a large shelf. Don't worry about juveniles, whether male or female, because they are harmless to humans. Try to keep your smaller pets (such as small dogs and cats) away from places where a black widow might be, because us humans are big, so there are only small traces of venom in our blood, where as cats, for example, have less blood, so there will be larger amounts of the venom in Mr. Whisker's blood, which may be deadly. Black widows will eat most anything that is smaller than it, such as flies, scorpions, even other spiders! I wish I could give you more information, but this is all I know. Bye-bye!

Spiders-

Spiders, one of nature's most helpful bugs. Why? Because they eat unwanted and/or excess bugs. Without spiders, the Earth would be overrun with insects and other bugs. Without birds and lizards and such, the world would be overrun with spiders. Everything falls perfectly in its place in the world. But I'm here to tell you about spiders in general. I have decided to give you Twenty Fun Facts about spiders instead of my boring old post that goes like: "Hi! This is this plant and it is part of this family and it can be used to cure this disease, etc, etc." So here goes:
1) Spiders have two parts to their body; the cephalothorax, where their face is, and the abdomen, where they keep their buttocks.
2) Spiders' legs grow entirely out of their cephalothorax, no where else. If their legs grow out of their abdomen, it is not a spider.
3) There are over 40,000 different species of spider!
4) There are true spiders, called ananeomorphs,[such as black widows and brown recluses] and false spiders, also known as myglamorphs. Myglamorphs include tarantulas, and grand-daddy long legs.
5) Females are usually larger than the males.
6) All species (except the Uloboridae) are poisonous, although with most the venom is hardly strong enough to make it hurt a little.
7) Spider silk is the strongest material of them all, being able to hold up to a ton!
8) Although spider silk is so strong, it is easy to pull from its hold on a tree, wall etc. That is why often new webs are made every day!
9) Old webs are usually rolled up and eaten!
10) Not all spiders spin webs, whether they be ananeomorphs or myglamorphs.
11) Spiders have 48 knees! Meaning they have 8 legs, each leg with six joints.
12) Theoretically, spiders cannot die of natural causes. If kept safe, well fed, and well watered, they can live forever.
13) Spiders hardly ever bite for no reason. They usually bite out of self-defense, or if provoked.
14) Spiders can spin a web in a vacuum (the kind you use at home, or the one with absolutely nothing in it) perfectly.
15) Some mother spiders will sacrifice herself as food for her babies.
16) There is no relation from the size of a spider to the degree of venom potency.
17) Scientists are researching to see if soon, spider venom may, hopefully, cure Parkinson's Disease.
18) Spider silk may eventually be a replacement for Kevlar, the material used in bullet-proof clothing.
19) Female spiders do not usually eat the male after mating. If she is hungry enough, though, she will.
20) A difference between ananeomorphs and myglomorphs is the placement of the chelicera, the body part where the poison comes out. With true spiders, the chelicera point toward each other, while with myglomorphs, the chelicera are parallel, curving back towards then head.
And that is all for now! Next week I will be focusing on black widows! TTFN!

American Holly

Ilex opaca

The American Holly is a tree, bush, or shrub--some sources may call them either--that can can be as little as the ones in my photo, or be as large as sixty ft. (18.3 meters) tall, though that is rare. The leaves are a bright green, and in the wild, I am pretty sure that the leaves are not shiny. The leaves have 6-15 sharp "points" that CAN CUT! It does hurt, for the record...
The larger bushes, I have seen, grow in a pyramidal shape. The berries, if more than three are eaten, can cause severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some drowsiness. There aren't any berries on the particular plant in my backyard yet, but when that happens I will edit the post to include the pictures of the bush with berries. I would also refrain from letting your pets eat the berries without further research, for the sake of Mr. and Ms. Fido. The small flowers are a whitish-greenish and bloom in the late-spring early-summer period of the year, with four to six petals. The bark is light grey, and there is an average trunk diameter of fifty centimeters. The leaves are around 2-3 in (5-7.5 cm). Ta-ta for now, fellow folks!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilex_opaca
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/ilex/opaca.htm
http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=51
http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4h/american_holly/amerholl.htm
http://www.arborday.org/treeguide/treeImages.cfm?ID=49

American Beech

Today I decided to go funky,
And be poetic with this week's post.
I'm sorry if it is a bit chunky.
Although I love doing it most!

This tree's scientific name:
Fagus Grandifolia
Although this tree doesn't look like it,
It is NOT a magnolia.

I'm sorry. I couldn't keep doing that; I couldn't find any more rhymes. But, I can tell you more about it. It grows about 65-115 ft.(20-35 meters) tall, and the bark, as you can see in my photograph, is smooth all throughout its lifetime. The base of the tree is, interestingly, rough, and much like that of the oaks. The leaves are small, only growing from the more common 2.4(6 centimeters) inches, to the rarer 5.9 inches(15 centimeters). The fruit is a small, angled, nut that come in a four-spined shells. Until the invention of the chainsaw, beech trees were usually left uncut, making it possible for large groves of beech trees to not be uncommon in some one's backyard. The wood is mostly used for hardwood flooring, furniture, handles of cabinets and/or kitchenware. Sometimes it is used as an ornamental tree, but nowadays people are dumping American beech for the European Beech, because everything European is better than America. No, but the European Beech grows faster, and is more adaptable in the urban areas of the world. The leaves were used by Native Americans to help heal burns and scouling, and the bark was used to help with poison ivy rashes. There are many diseases that can only affect beeches, such as cankers, and in hot, dry weather, beeches can scorch.

That's all I have to say for this week. TTFN!

Sweetgum-

Liquidambar styraciflua

This tree was a rather young tree, so the picture that is supposed to be of the bark is not extremely accurate, although you can see fine marks in the tree if you look closely. As you can see, The leaves are a vibrant green with five lobes. It is also known as the red gum, star-leaved gum, alligator wood and the gumtree. It grows best in moist and acidic soil, and it often is found near swamps and marshes; hence the name alligator wood. Full-grown, it can reach from 80-150 ft in height. The bark is light grey and deeply furrowed. It the second most used hardwood tree after oaks. The fruit are wood-like spike balls, and, to me, somewhat similar to a green sea urchin. It is native to the south eastern United States, though they are sometimes found in central Mexico and the countries of Central America.

The crushed leaves produce and aromatic pine-like scent, and apparently the wood chips can be used for mushroom gardening. It can be used as an antiseptic,although my source did not say how. The sap is the most medicinally commonly used part of this particular type of tree. When made a certain way, it is called liquid amber. Liquid amber can treat frostbite, hemorrhoids, rashes, and ringworm scabies, when taken externally as a salve or balsam. When taken internally, liquid amber can help with sore throats, coughing, colds, asthma, cystitis, bronchitis, even strokes, and is found to be able to help some kinds of cancer that I do not know of.

Sources:

http://medicinalherbinfo.org/herbs/SweetGum.html
http://www.ehow.com/info_8685593_medicinal-uses-sweet-gum-trees.html
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/liquidambar/styraciflua.htm
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/sweetgum.htm

Wild Blackberry

Rubus Fruticosus

Basic Information:
Although I do not like these berries, they are a beautiful species of plant. They are sour when they are dry, but the best time to pick and eat is right after a rain when the berries are sweet. The leaves are ridged around the edges, and the stem(s) are very thorny. The bushes that produce a lot of berries are usually low-hanging, or close to the ground, and widespread, such as the plant above. I'm not sure if you can see how many berries that the bush has, but to explain slightly, I have been able to pick about 3 ripe berries off this plant every single day since the beginning of June, and still there are new berries growing! The chances are, if the plant is growing straight up, the aren't any berries on it. This plant is very vulnerable to a type of fungus called the honey fungus. I believe you can see a little bit of the fungi on the right side of the right berry in the picture.

Medicinal Uses:
If you make a tea from the leaves, it has a useful usage that helps sore throats and prolonged diarrhea. Chewing fresh leaves can help cure bleeding gums and other disorders of the mouth.

Good-bye!

Eastern Redcedar

Juniperus virginiana

Basic Information:
The eastern red cedar is actually a part of the juniper family. The genus for cedar is cedrus, and this tree is juniperus. They can grow 40-50 ft tall. The bark has a somewhat smooth feeling, and it is very peeling. This tree is often used for ornamental purposes. As shrubs they are not very tall at 10-20 ft tall. The trunks go straight up for about 20 ft and then branches turn away in a pyramidal shape. The berries are blue-ish grey and are often eaten by birds, so this is a very widespread tree. Grows in eastern to central North America and grows abundantly in zones 2-9.

Uses:
The red wood is sometimes used to make red dye. The powdered leaves can be used to treat warts. In different ways, the eastern red cedar can be used to treat arthritis, bronchitis, catarrh, debility, dropsy, rashes, rheumatism, and skin ailments. A mixture of the leaves and twigs can be boiled and inhaled as a treatment for bronchitis. A boiled concoction of the bark can be used to treat skin rashes. Infusing the berries and wild ginger can be a treatment for asthma.The leaves can be used for, believe it or not, helping the urination process. Burning the leaves and inhaling the smoke can aid against colds.

Good bye for now!

Sources:
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Juniperus_virginiana.html
http://www.gpnc.org/eastern.htm

Tulip Tree

Liriodendron tulipifera

Basic Information:
The tulip tree, also known as the tulip poplar, and American tulip tree, can grow higher than 165 ft. These pictures came from two different trees, but both of which I found in my backyard. The larger one sure could have been a hundred and sixty-five feet, but the younger was probably seventy-five. The wood is light yellow to brown, and this specimen grows rather quickly. It is actually a part of the magnolia family, and not a poplar at all. The flower is yellow and/or orange and tulip shaped with six petals.

How Is It Used?

Settlers earlier on called the tulip tree wood "canoe wood" because, as it says in the nickname, it was often used to make boats and ships. In Virginia, sometimes the tulip tree is still called the "canoe tree" because Native Americans would make dugout canoes out of this wood.

Native Americans used the leaves for a poultice for sores and to make an ointment for inflammation. They also made a tea from the bark to reduce fever and help indigestion. Early colonists adopted the uses for this tree, and made a tincture of the root and bark to treat rheumatic fever.
The tulip tree was a popular choice by early pioneers for log homes because it is water and termite resistant. Log cabins made from tulip tree have been known to last over a hundred years.

White Oak-6/14/11

Quercus Alba

Basic Info:
White oak, or quercus alba, is usually found in the wild in eastern North America. It is usually 80-100 feet tall, though the tallest is 144 feet. The average width is 3-4 feet. It is not unusual for this specimen to sometimes be as wide as it is tall. Usually that is when it is standing by itself, outside of the forest. If it is grown purposely, the limbs branch out, nearly parallel to the ground.If it is in the woods, the trunk goes straight up and then branches out at acute angles. The leaves, on average, are about 5-8.5 inches long, and 2.75-4.5 inches wide. The bark ranges from white(rarely) to dark grey, though it is usual light grey. It lives to be 600 years old. The wood is light brown, and often, and sadly, used often for furniture and flooring.

Oak Lore:
These deities thought that this oak tree was sacred: Zeus/Jupiter, Pan, The Dagda, Hera. Dryads, of Greek mythology, were especially associated with oak trees. They would wear crowns of oak leaves, and dance around the oak trees merrily. Druids thought that inside the oak trees the spirits of the dead lived, so they thought that if you chopped down an oak tree the spirits were released into the world to cause happiness, pain, grief, joy, etc. Druids would conduct secret rituals amidst an oak grove, and they thought that everything that grew on the sacred tree was sacred itself, such as mistletoe, moss, and so on and so forth. Oaks were the homes of faeries, and they absolutely worshipped the tree. They wore the acorn caps as hats, and used the leaves for autumn celebration. In Sherwood Forest--yes, that really exist, and it has since the end of the last ice age--the oldest oak tree lives at 800-1000 years old.
If you put 2 acorns in a bowl together, a couple can see what will happen in their future. This is just superstitious, so don't go telling other people that this is true! If the acorns float together, the couple will marry. If the acorns drift apart, the couple will do the same. If the acorns sink, then I don't know what to tell you.
This is all I have to say about White Oaks and oak trees. See you next time! (not really see, but...) Good Bye!

Sources:
http://witcombe.sbc.edu/sacredplaces/trees.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_oak
http://celticmythpodshow.com/blog/oak-tree-in-lore-and-myth/