The Beetle did it on the Bayou with a Fungus!

  Yep!  The beetle did it in the swamp with a fungus!  This sounds a lot like a line from one of the games my kids played years ago only it was more like "Mrs. Peacock did it in the library with the candlestick!"   The whole game of "Clue" was centered around an unsolved murder and a number of possible suspects.  Here on the Bayou, my murder victims are the Swamp Bay Trees and the possible suspects are evil doers who are rarely seen.

  I was out meandering about the hillside in search for the freshly hatching Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers.  It is April which means these pests are hatching from egg sacs that have laid dormant under the sand since last fall.  The warm sunshine is incubating the eggs just enough to let the nasty critters hatch and crawl out in masses.  Left to mature to adulthood, these critters will devour anything edible in the yard.  They strip the garden, shrubs and even new growth on trees to fill their voracious appetites.  Since the newly hatched grasshoppers are relatively slow moving, it is far easier to smash the mounds at this stage rather than try to kill several million adults that can be pretty fast movers.  But...the grasshoppers were not my only disturbing find during my hike.  My Swamp Bay Trees are dying.  This makes me sad!  Not only will I not have a ready supply of fresh bay leaves for the kitchen pantry, the marsh line will seem quite bare without the pretty trees.

  After finding the second of dead trees, I knew something was amiss. Then a third and fourth meant big trouble.  After doing a bit of research, I have found that a small, inconspicuous beetle is to blame.  Not that the beetle is doing anything more than being a nuisance of a bug but it uses a weapon to carry out its foul deed. The thing carries a fungus that can and does infect the Bay Trees.  The Redbay Ambrosia Beetle is the murderer and the fungus, Laurel Wilt Fungus, is the weapon.  The beetle bores into the tree and transports the fungus to the inner portion under the bark.  Here, the fungus thrives and quickly kills the tree making it a hospitable dwelling for the beetle to reproduce.  The beetle knows what it is doing, does it well and gains by its nefarious act.  Bay trees of all sorts are under attack by this beetle and now my trees have fallen victim to the murderers.  My only hope is to search for a tiny sapling and see if I can raise it in the greenhouse where I can protect it from the beetles' attacks.  The story gets worse as this same beetle and its deadly fungus also attack Sassafras Trees. Acck!  No bay leaves nor any gumbo file`? This is no longer fun and games.  This serious business.

  The Bayou is seemingly a safe haven where I can live in peace but, here lately, I am finding numerous intruders that have crossed over into the area.  With these invaders, nothing is safe.  My Bayou is about to change and not in a good way.  Sad.....so very sad.  

Sweet (Spicy!) Smell of Success!

I was out rambling today with nothing better to do than enjoy the weather! It was cool and clear, birds were singing and bees were buzzing, a perfect day for doing whatever was decided at the moment. And this moment, the decision was to ramble! When I neared the edge of the Bayou, I immediately noticed a sweet aroma. Something had to be blooming! I scanned the trees and under brush...nothing that I could see. Hmmm? Still, I could smell a subtle hint of a sweet spice. I had to find what was blooming. The scent was quite familiar but I just could not remember where I had come in contact with it before. I peered some more..fully expecting to find some nice large flower or at least some clusters of small flowers. There was the Mimosa..but this was not that smell..to flowery. There was a slight north wind so I headed in that direction. Surely, I would find my flower!

After wandering the edge of the marsh, I stopped to watch a box turtle as it watched me. I suppose it was wondering just what in the world I was doing meandering around in its territory! I eyed it a bit as it poked its head in and out of the Sawtooth Palmetto. The turtle would catch a bug, eat it and then stare at me for a while. This particular turtle had a large healed-over scar on its shell suggesting that when it was smaller it had almost been prey for something a bit larger than itself. When these tortoises are tiny they are in danger of being eaten by most anything. Once they are mature, their shell is much harder and can pretty much protect them from even the most aggressive predators. They merely close up inside and wait it out until the threatening critter had tired of the game. As interesting as this turtle was, it was not helping me find the source of the aroma!

Off again! I wandered a bit further! The scent was stronger now but still not obtrusive. It was definitely spicy! I peered long and hard..perhaps I should not be looking for a flowering tree. Ok..so I saw..Red Maple..nope, Live Oak..nope, Wild Persimmon.. nope.. hmmm..this was getting me nowhere fast! My goodness just how difficult could this quest be??? I had found the area where the scent was most prevalent..if I stepped in any direction it waned..so my spice plant was here somewhere! Then....aha! Swamp Bay!!!! No wonder I could not spy a flower..the Swamp Bay bloom is a very inconspicuous little thing. They are more like little knots than showy flowers but oh, my goodness!..that delicious aroma! I picked off a small branch. There were galls on the leaves that are caused by tiny insects but these do not harm the plant. I pulled off the deformed leaves and tossed them. I breathed in the aroma..ahhh! The crushed leaves were even more aromatic..filling the air with a spicy deliciousness! These are the same leaves that are used to flavor many dishes such as soups and gumbos and I have my very own tree! Now that I knew what I was searching for, I made a mental note of its whereabouts..I would definitely use parts of this tree! I did a quick survey and found at least five more of the Swamp Bay trees.

As an added note...Bay Leaves (even those bought from the grocery store) can be used to repel moths, roaches and some flies! This comes in quite handy when you live on a Bayou!!! Just scatter a few in the pantry, kitchen drawers and even in closets where the winter clothing is stored. I remember a few years ago, my sweet sister-in-law was in my kitchen and looked at me with the most confused look on her face. She thought I was most wacky for putting "Oak leaves" in the kitchen cabinets. I reassured her that these were not Oak leaves but Bay leaves..and they were there for a reason! She promptly went out and bought some Bay leaves for her cabinets..she absolutely abhors roaches!