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                         a   S T A M M E R  project              

2009 May 1 to 3, Friday to Sunday

For the first time this year temperatures are getting well over 20º C and this, together with the previous abundant rainfall, is causing an explosion in the development of some species.

The light purple haze is caused by innumerable flowers of the tiny grass Poa bulbosa which has never been so prolific before.
Higher terrace, looking north-west.
Sunday 17:10

Iris germanica is also flowering exceptionally well on the terrain border. At the back the garden house in construction.
Friday 17:26

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Another orchid! Number nine on the terrain. It is the Fly orchid (Ophrys insectifera), a fragile and gracious species whose flowers stand out conspicuously and effectively resemble a big fly. Also its scent is similar to that of the pheromone that female flies use to attract the males. Getting extremely rare in the Netherlands, in Aragon it is practically limited to the pre-Pyrenees.

This is one of two plants of  Ophrys insectifera growing in the half-shade on the central terrace.
Sunday 16:51
 

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Another surprise was the detection of the third fern on the terrain:  the Common Polypody (Polypodium vulgare). To the family of this species belong many epiphytes (for example the popular houseplant Staghorn fern (Platycerium bifurcatum) and plants that grow on rocks and so is this one. It grows on the vertical side of a rock in the shade of some Portuguese oaks.

This reddish  Broomrape (on the right) was never properly identified and I will still have to examine the future flowers (and scent) but it is probably Clove-scented broomrape (Orobanche caryophyllacea) because of the neighbouring Galium fruticescens on which it parasitizes.

Polypodium vulgare on the highest terrace bordering the wood.
Friday 16:28

Orobanche caryophyllacea among some plants of Galium fruticescens and Taraxacum officinale.
Friday 16:53

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The scent of this flower is also noteworthy. It is the Poet's Daffodil (or Findern Flower, Narcissus poeticus), whose flowers are now accompanying Ornithogallum umbellatum in the bulbs area.  It has been cultivated since ancient times and at present in Holland and southern France for its essential oil, producing one of the most popular fragrances used in perfumes.





In Aragon it is only native in the eastern Pyrenees of Huesca where it grows above 800m on relatively humid grassland.

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All weekend the ponds were the scene of an endless chasing of two male Broad-bodied Chasers (Libellula depressa), defending and attacking the territory. These dragonflies are typical for recent ponds and feel only at home if the water isn't  covered much with plants. Their larvae can survive long periods in the mud of dried up ponds.

This case of a casemaker (larva of the caddice fly, Order Trichoptera) has been abandoned some time ago by the fly.

Blanca and two younger friends chasing tadpoles.
Sunday 9:58

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One of the most abundant plants on the terrain, Salad Burnet (Sanguisorba minor) is flowering now. The upper flowers of the inflorescence are female and show some conspicuous red stigma hairs. Below are the male flowers with long filaments when flowering. Curiously sometimes the female flowers bloom first and other times (or other places?) the male ones. 

introduction
floristic catalogue
faunistic catalogue
contact
index
gallery 1: 2006-2012
gallery 2: 2012-
map
>> 2009 May  9
<< 2009 Apr 23