Naturenotes With Rudy Mancke

A black racer looses its meal...

Stewartia malacodendron, the silky camellia, silky stewartia or Virginia stewartia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Theaceae. It grows slowly into a large deciduous shrub or small tree, typically 3–4.5 m (10–15 ft) tall, but sometimes as tall as 9 m (30 ft). It is native to the southeastern United States.

A relative of our beloved mountain laurel is Kalmia angustifolia, called white wicky or sheep-kill. Like all members of the genus, every part of this plant is extremely toxic to humans and animals, as are imported and native rhododendrons and azaleas.

Erythrina herbacea, commonly known as the coral bean, Cherokee bean, Mamou plant in South Louisiana, red cardinal or cardinal spear, is a flowering shrub or small tree found throughout the southeastern United States and northeastern Mexico; it has also been reported from parts of Central America and, as an introduced species, from Pakistan.

"How do you know all this stuff?"

The rose-breasted grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus), colloquially called "cut-throat" due to its coloration, is a large, seed-eating grosbeak in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae).

With some advice from Rudy, a listener has preserved the skin of a copperhead snake.

Ladybird beetles and aphids have a predator/prey relationship.

Rudy shares some words from poet Sam Walter Foss.

The ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) is a species of hummingbird that generally spends the winter in Central America, Mexico, and Florida, and migrates to Canada and other parts of Eastern North America for the summer to breed. It is the most common hummingbird in eastern North America.

North American azaleas are commonly confused with azaleas of Asian origin, the evergreen azaleas.

Callirhytis seminator, the wool sower, is a species of gall wasp in the family Cynipidae. The adult wasps are about 1/8" in length and dark brown in color. They lay the egg in a gall, a round, white structure resembling a cotton ball. It starts out white and later changes color.

The eastern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), also known as the copperhead, is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper, endemic to eastern North America; it is a member of the subfamily Crotalinae in the family Viperidae.

There are two types of sturgeons that live off the coast of South Carolina and spawn in its fresh waters.

Zebra swallowtail, Eastern swallowtail, spice bush swallowtail, black swallowtail, palomides swallowtail - all of each of these species of butterfly has its primary, of not sole, larval food plant.

The forest tent caterpillar moth (Malacosoma disstria) is a moth found throughout North America, especially in the eastern regions. Unlike related tent caterpillar species, the larvae of forest tent caterpillars do not make tents, but rather, weave a silky sheet where they lie together during molting.

Melia azedarach, commonly known as the chinaberry tree, pride of India, bead-tree, Cape lilac, syringa berrytree, Persian lilac, Indian lilac, or white cedar, is a species of deciduous tree in the mahogany family, Meliaceae, that is native to Indomalaya and Australasia.

Aseroe rubra, commonly known as the anemone stinkhorn, sea anemone fungus and starfish fungus, is a common and widespread basidiomycete fungus recognizable for its foul odour of carrion and its sea anemone shape when mature. Found in gardens on mulch and in grassy areas, it resembles a red star-shaped structure covered in brownish slime on a white stalk. It attracts flies, which spread its spores.

Today is the anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear plant's meltdown.

Two of Rudy's favorite plants are now flowering in South Carolina.