Diario de zzravizz

I was looking up some facts about Dogfennel and these are interesting:

• When crushed, they have an unpleasant smell
• Thrives on roadsides
• Native to South and East USA (Massachusetts south to Florida, West to Missouri) and also Cuba and the Bahamas
• Wind-pollinated unlike flowering plants
• Known to be planted by Johnny Appleseed
• Eaten by Florida's scarlet-bodied wasp moth (Cosmosoma myrodora)
• Contains liver-damaging pyrrolizidine alkaloids
• Can be extracted into essential oils and has anti-fungal properties

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/131154-Eupatorium-capillifolium#cite_note-Weeds-4

• The species name capillifolium is derived from the Latin capill meaning “hair” and folium meaning “leaf,” referring to the thin segments of the leaves.
• The common name refers to the fennel-like odor, which dogs appear to enjoy

https://vnps.org/johnclayton/2015/10/22/dog-fennel-september-wildflower-of-the-month/#:~:text=The%20common%20name%20refers%20to,bites%20of%20reptiles%20and%20insects.

• Johnny planted the seeds of Dog Fennel in the barnyards and hedgerows of Mohican Country from about 1810-1830 because he honestly believed its medicinal and curative properties were earnestly needed on the wild frontier.
• By the 1880s & 90s the term Dog Fennel Party was applied to any politician who was worthless and smelled bad. Any little crossroad in America where folks were too lazy to keep the weeds from growing wild in their streets was called a Dog Fennel Town.

https://richlandcountyhistory.com/2019/07/06/richland-invasives-a-tale-of-hope/#:~:text=Johnny%20Appleseed's%20other%20Botanical%20Legacy&text=It%20was%20called%20Dog%20Fennel,needed%20on%20the%20wild%20frontier.

I think its important to celebrate little milestones and I think this journal is a perfect place to do that. Yesterday I attended my first Mushroom Club of Georgia (zoom) meeting. It was exciting to hear about so many different types of mushrooms and meet others that are excited about learning about them too. I also was nervous to touch the mushrooms before, but I've been taking a few out of the ground now. Here are some pictures of some more I found that I actually took out of the ground to identify.

One of the cool things I have been getting interested in because of iNaturalist has been Fungi. I didn't realize how they're so unique and I guess I didn't really see a lot of them when I went on walks, because I didn't look for them. Since I've actually been keeping an eye out I have been seeing more and more. That also sparked me to watch Fantastic Fungi which was an amazing documentary and I listened to a few podcasts about them too. I know I have learned a lot about fungi in the past, but seeing them in this light really put things into perspective. Without Fungi there would be no forests or cheese or a way to decompose dead matter!

It is kind of cool to know that nature is everywhere, even outlet malls or indoor shopping malls. One of the questions I pondered today as I walked around an outlet mall is whether the trees were captive or not. I was thinking definitely yes to the ones closer to the stores, but I found some trees in the back that it was hard to tell.

It also felt awesome to learn about the captive flowers that they had and see the outlet mall in a different light.

It was exciting today going to a park I don't really go to and making all these new discoveries. I can't tell if my pictures are great quality or not compared to others. I wanted to post more, but I tried not to over-do it! I posted my first bird sound, goose, and duck too.