Heterotheca Pollinators

Day 301: Whatever they are, they would appear to be a primary pollinator for Heterotheca oregona. These little beetles are roughly 1-1.5 mm long, and they were abundantly present on every open flower when Joe and I examined the Heterotheca patch on Tuesday. Our actual mission was not to find beetles, but to explore for other occurrences of Mount Rainier National Park's "newest" Damn Yellow Daisy by wading the river and searching the gravel bars on the opposite side. We were successful, but the results were not as revelatory as we would have liked. We found only two more specimens, both located directly across from the east-side patch, although while we were searching, we turned up another "non-Biek" location for Sibbaldia procumbens with a single specimen. As for the beetles pollinating Heterotheca, we're still trying to identify them.

DYD Of Distinction - Heterotheca Oregona

Day 291: If not for David Giblin, collections manager and research botanist at the UW's Burke Herbarium, this plant might not have been recorded as a new species for Mount Rainier National Park. David alerted me to his discovery, supplied an astonishingly accurate map without having had the benefit of a GPS, and sent me off on a merry chase to document its occurrence. He had only found one in the short time he had to spend at the location, so I left early Tuesday morning intending to scour the area for other examples. Over the next two and a half hours, I found at least fifty plants ranging in size and shape from a single stem 1" high to a mature specimen 20" tall and two feet wide. Heterotheca oregona (Oregon Golden Aster) has no ray flowers, despite what you might suppose from the photos. What appear to be ray flowers on this DYD ("Damn Yellow Daisy," a term popular with botanists) are in fact specialized disk flowers which elongate as the blossom reaches maturity. As part of my duties for the Natural Resources Division, I obtained two specimens for the Park's herbarium, one of which will be shared with the Burke after it is catalogued. And yes, for those of you following along, Arnie was thrilled when I shared the news with him.