It has to be done...

   There is something to be said about old things and old people.  We both have a lot to teach others if they would only listen before it is too late.  Time is of the essence.  There are only so many days that we can teach those who are to follow after us and, to be honest, most do not wish to learn what is offered.  Sadly, with time growing short, the knowledge will die without ever being  passed along.  Not that I have much to offer and it does seem to be moot point to be blathering on about it, but one can only wish that the wisdom that comes with age is not wasted.  

  I was pondering that point as I meandered about the pathways behind the canebrake.  Time is of the essence...why am I so adamant about passing along what I have learned from the critters and about the plants of the Bayou?  Who cares?  Not many.  Then, I came across a sprawling tree that for years when identified by the wrong name.  Once I learned of the correct name, I was elated.  I was also elated to find that the blooms are sought after by honeybees.  From that point forward, I was bound and determined to leave every Swamp Cyrilla that I find.  They shall grow wild and free and be a draw for the bees,  In this day and time with folks dousing everything with chemicals, the bees are suffering.  If the Swamp Cyrilla can help, then I am happy to have the trees.  Today, the tree was loaded with long strands of seeds.  These seeds told me that the bees had, indeed, visited.  Now, perhaps the seeds will sprout to make more trees and that circle of life can continue for the bees.

  It is small things like this that need to be taught to those who will take over our spots on this old earth.  It is not for those "ancient ones" like me who have limited time but for those yet to come.  These are tidbits of information that should get passed along before it is too late.  It has to be done.  Yet, the "teacher" has no "students">

Good old college try!

  It is easy to be misled by those who think they are authorities on just about everything.  A few years back, a tree bloomed in the swamp behind the house.  A new pathway had just been cleared when the blooms were discovered so the tree was left intact.  Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered that there was a so-called botanist that was a family member.  Aha!  A botanist should definitely be able to identify a tree by photos of the leaves, bark and bloom.  Throw in the location, the soil conditions and time of blooming and it should be an easy task.  My "botanist" friend eagerly gave me an identity and I accepted it as fact.  Big mistake!  Apparently botanists are not always correct but, for years, I firmly believed the answer given.  The tree sat with the misnomer of "Virginia Sweetspire".  

  Now just through browsing the Internet for the identity of yet another tree, I stumbled across my "fake" sweetspire!  It is not sweetspire at all!  The tree in question now has an accurate name strictly due to the Mississippi State University website.  I suppose I should have known from the get-go that a Mississippi university would know far better about the trees in the state than some out-of-state botanist.  (In all fairness here, perhaps my friend just glanced at the photos and took a wild guess as he did not wish to delve into a tree not native to his area.  Understandable, I guess...maybe.  But I sure wish he would have just said that he did not know instead of giving me false information.)

  The true identity of my tree is Swamp Cyrilla!  I am just about as happy as a honeybee in a daisy garden with that news!  Swamp Cyrilla is an attractive tree sort of on the smallish side but it drapes beautifully over the path.  It has the long, dangling racemes that are creamy white and are obviously highly addictive for bees!  Thousands of honeybees were buzzing the blooms today and according to the MSU website, the honey made from nectar of the Swamp Cyrilla is exceptional.  I guess I need to find that beehive!  Still, it confuses me how a botanist can be oh, so wrong about a tree when they have access to the material needed to make an identity.  I do believe I shall stick with the university's information if I need another tree's name.