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.