The “pencil lead bees” responded right away.

We call these tiny bees “pencil lead bees” because they are only the size of a pencil lead.

They are actually sweat or digger bees.

Do you think they are collecting nectar or pollen?

(Hint:  remember what the yellow structures are in the flower.)

The seeds of the mystery seed this week are found in little “baskets.”

Just watch out for those hairs, they itch.

Can you guess what plant these seeds are from?

The samaras are from an ash tree.

Several different species of ash trees grow in Arizona, all in the genus Fraxinus.

Ash trees are prized for their wood. In fact, ash wood is used for baseball bats.

Ash tree leaves are pinnate compound, which means they are made up of leaflets.

The leaves themselves are opposite each other, forming a V-shape with the main branch.

If you aren’t sure whether you have an ash tree, try this Ash Identification page.

The reason ash trees are in the news is because in certain regions they are being attacked by an insect. The emerald ash borer arrived in Michigan in 2002 and has been spreading and killing trees ever since.

(Photograph Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources – Forestry Archive, Bugwood.org found at Forestry Images)

Although the adult beetles are lovely, the larvae or grubs feeding on the trees under the bark is fatal to the tree. People are concerned that the ash trees will experience a similar devastation as occurred with the chestnut trees and elm trees in the past. In fact there is now a great effort being put into saving seeds of the remaining ash trees in the regions effected.

The emerald ash tree borer website has more information about the beetle and its spread. The main thing they are asking people to do is not to move ash tree firewood from place to place, as that moves the beetle larvae that live inside the wood.

We are going to plant some of the ash samaras we found. Sounds like ash trees could use all the help they can get.

What kind of ash trees grow where you live?

Designed with children in mind:

The Smithsonian National Zoo has “A Walk in the Forest” with six different animated walks. One allows you to take soil samples and measure soil pH. Another helps you learn how to identify trees using keys. Each is led by an animation of a real employee of the zoo. How cool is that!

University of Illinois Extension has a virtual walk in the woods and Secret life of trees. Both show photographs of actual forests. There’s a teacher’s guide with ideas, resources and many extras.

For children or adults:

Ever wanted to visit a redwood forest? Muir Woods has a virtual tour. There are 92 photographs, and you get to choose where you look next. The virtual tour always has good weather.

Florida Hikes has slide shows from various Florida parks.Check out the giant snails at Pine Land. Isn’t fun to see how different the landscape is at the different parks?

Finally, YouTube has a number of videos of walks. I like this one because the tour guide discusses, what else, science!

Hope you enjoy these virtual walks in the woods, and can talk your own walk soon.

Where’s your favorite place for a hike?

It is a tiny little spider, it’s body is less than 1/3 of an inch long. I have seen these spiders many times before with their long front legs stretched out in front, but they are so small, I never really looked at them carefully.

In a closer view you can see the front legs have a soft, feathery appearance, which led to the common name of feather-legged orb weaver. They are also called cribellate orb weavers.

It’s amazing when you look at a macro photograph how the color and details pop out.

I learned from Nature at Close Range that the cribellate orb weavers have no venom, but catch their prey in the hairy front legs.

Now that I have been formally introduced to my fuzzy little neighbor, I’ll be sure to pay more attention to it in the future.

If you or your children are interested in learning more about your spider neighbors, try:

I have more information about these books at baby spiders and some books.

These blew into our yard this week.

Any ideas what kind of plant they are from?

Edit: The answer is now up.

In fact they smell sweet and faintly reminiscent of chocolate.

These pods are from a carob tree, Ceratonia siliqua, which is grown as a landscape tree here in Phoenix.

The carob trees were originally from the eastern Mediterranean region. They grow well in areas with little rainfall.

Each leaf is made up of 6 to 8 rounded leaflets.

The tree retains its leaves and is green all year.

The pods start out green and then turn brown as they ripen. The hard seeds are inside.

To make carob powder, a chocolate substitute, separate the seeds from the pods. Roast and grind up the pods. Here in Phoenix, people harvest and mill both carob and mesquite pods. You can then use the carob powder to make brownies.

The carob seeds are used to make carob or locust bean gum, a thickener.

What an interesting plant!

Do you have a favorite carob recipe?

I am hosting the 50th edition of the Festival of the Trees carnival here at Growing With Science blog at the end of the month. The theme is Trees Through a Child’s Eyes.

Let me know if you have any child-friendly posts about trees that you would like to share. Ideas include bark rubbings, children’s drawings of trees and leaves, ideas for or photographs of tree houses, nature journals with tree themes, photos from a favorite walk through the woods, science experiment ideas, etc. Of course, we would welcome reviews of good children’s books about trees as well.

Please send your links to growingwithscience {at} gmail (dot) com with Festival of the Trees in the subject line by June July 29.

Looking forwarding to hearing from you,

-Roberta

P.S. To those of you who subscribe to more than one of my blogs, I apologize for the duplicate post. Just trying to get the word out to everyone…

Although it has antennae, it definitely has too many legs to be an insect larva.

In fact, you can see that it has two pairs of legs per body segment. That means it is a millipede.

Millipedes are often found in damp soil or rotting logs. Most feed on decomposing plant matter, so they are nature’s recyclers.

Millipedes do not bite or sting, and are relatively harmless. They do have the ability to emit various chemicals to defend themselves (depending on the kind), so it is best not to pick them up. Their main defense, however, is to roll up into a ball.

If you are interested in finding out more, Enchanted Learning has an information sheet with a nice drawing showing all the parts of a millipede.

I’ll give you a hint. These seed pods have a wonderful odor.

Any guesses?

Edit:  The answer is now up.