Andrena macoupinensis, f, left, Morgantown WV
what is your thinking on willows? Like most people, maybe not much. They make great wicker baskets. They also tolerate some pretty extreme conditions along rivers, streams, tundra, that other trees can handle. In the East they are the largest plant being that has "specialist" bees. That is bees that only use the pollen from one group of plants...in this case willow, and in Maryland...there are 8 species. Here is one. (Darn this is getting long...I better get to the point) Andrena macoupinensis, from a willow study in West Virginia by Sandy Simon. A new state record. Does that mean it is rare? Nope, probably thousands upon thousands of them in that state alone. Get some boots on the ground people. You aren't going to find anything watching Game of Thrones reruns when there is willow blooming. Picture by Brooke Goggins. Nice Lighting Brooke.
We Are Made One with What We Touch and See
We are resolved into the supreme air,
We are made one with what we touch and see,
With our heart's blood each crimson sun is fair,
With our young lives each spring impassioned tree
Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range
The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.
- Oscar Wilde. Original public domain image from Flickr