Fragments From Floyd

Can you see it--the single, garnet-red flower in the very center of this galaxy of white florets that make up the flat-topped inflorescence of a Queen Anne's Lace from the pasture? And it isn't present on every plant. I had always thought this one dark flower part was curious, and one day, I had a chance to ask an expert why it was there.

Both Ann and I were considering going back to school in the early 80's, and UNC-Chapel Hill had programs for both of us--hers in Pharmacology and mine in Systematic Botany. I arranged a brief meeting with a professor of great stature, one of the authors of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas--a text I had both learned from as a student and taught from as a teacher. He seemed the ultimate source of botanical wisdom.

While we were making small-talk in our meeting before he farmed me off to tour the department with some servile graduate students, I thought "Now's my chance to ask him about that little dark floret on Queen Anne's Lace." And I did. And much to my surprise, his answer was "Hell if I know."

And so now, I can tell this little story and project this flower image in class as an example of the fact that 1) not every visible trait has adaptive significance and 2) not even the experts have all the answers.

Yep, this impending role as teacher makes me look at our Goose Creek ordinary through new eyes. How could I use this or that image that is not particularly stunning on its own as an example to illustrate a point? And so, in the way of a warning, I'd imagine Fragments may show a bit of a pedagogical twist in the coming months, since from the beginning, the blog reflects "real life" here.

Hopefully, from time to time between now and end of semester in December, there will be some nice shots that will find their way to the galleries; and every so often a brief visit by the muse (now wearing pith helmet and snake boots) so that I might be briefly in touch with that source from which impassioned writing comes. Or not. Day at a time, we'll see.