Indian Pipes: Ghost Plants

Indian Pipes, Ghost Plants, in bloom.

     Few plants are as eerie or strange as Monotropa uniflora, a native plant with numerous names describing its unusual features. The scientific name translates as "once turning single flower." But they're probably best known as Indian Pipes due to the shape of the flowers, which look like the Native American Indian calumet, or "peace pipe." More names and their sources will become apparent as I describe the plant in more detail.

     These perennial plants are members of the Ericaceae or Heath family, but many people think them to be fungi when they first encounter them. They have a waxy appearance (sometimes the are called Wax Plants), very few scaly leaves, and are white or pale due to their lack of chlorophyll. They have no need for chlorophyll because they do not produce their own food through photosynthesis, being some of the 3,000 or so plants that lack this trait.

     But Ghost Plants, as they are sometimes called due to their eerie appearance and tendency to grow in the deep shade, are in an even more unusual group of flora, considered epiparasites and referred to as mycoheterotrophs. 

     These types of plants were once believed to be parasites feeding off the roots of certain trees, but life for them is much more complicated. They actually depend on certain mycorrhizal associations. Many people are not aware that a great many of our native plants have a positive symbiotic relationship with certain mycorrhizal fungi, some cannot even exist without them. These fungi provide certain services and nutrients to plants in exchange for others, a mutually beneficial arrangement for both.

     Mycoheterotrophs like Monotropa insert themselves into this arrangement. They steal some of the nutrients the plant was sharing with the fungi. They are mycorrhizal cheaters who steal what they need to survive in a strange menage a trois. They cannot survive without either the plant (certain tree species such as beech) and mycorrhizal fungi, mostly in the Russula and Lactarius genus. They intermingle their roots with the fungi in a tangled mess giving the plants the alternate name of Bird Nests.

   Though this solves the problem of obtaining nutrients, it does not solve the problem of pollination. So once a year they need to send flowers up above the soil surface for pollinators to visit (mostly bumblebees). That is when we notice the Ghost Flowers or Fairy Smoke as they are sometimes called. 

     The blooms straighten and point upwards once they are pollinated, ready to produce seeds. The seeds however need to land somewhere where the specific mycorrhizal fungi and trees are bound together or they will not survive. This makes these plants extremely difficult to propagate and almost impossible to transplant as you break the necessary connections should you attempt to do so.

Corpse Plants straightening out after pollination.

     The flowers do not last very long if they are picked or even bruised. They appear to decompose rapidly upon being disturbed, melting away and darkening in a gelatinous mess that gives them the alternate names of Ice Plants, Corpse Plants, or Death Plants.
     These plants have been used in various fashions by people. The Cherokee sometimes used the pulverized roots to treat convulsions, epilepsy, and fits. Colonists later on used them in similar fashion resulting in their being called Fit Plants or Convulsion Weeds. Colonists also learned to use the plant juice for eye problems as the Cherokee did, giving them the other name of Eyebright. The crushed plant also was applied to warts and bunions.
     Other tribes such as the Mohegan believed that this plant could treat colds and fevers. The Cree chewed it for toothaches, the Thompson would treat sores and saw it as a sign that where they were found would be good for foraging mushrooms. Indian Pipes contain glycosides and are considered toxic these days.
     Here's a short video on Ghost Pipes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raRzgA7bVRc

     These are indeed strange but wonderful plants. Their haunting appearance in dark woods may seem eerie, but just goes to show you the complexity of the natural world.

Bunny Boom

Eastern Cottontail Rabbit

     People may have noticed quite an increase in the number of rabbits they are seeing in certain places this year. This is due to a couple of factors. First of all, many of our native Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagnus floridanus) rabbits have just completed weaning and are heading off on their own to find new places to live. Many of these rookie rabbits do not make it very far, ending up hit by cars, picking poor locations to live, or eaten by predators, but many at least temporarily do.
     I also suspect that there may be more rabbits about because of a decline in one of their main predators. Red foxes suffered from an outbreak of sarcoptic mange over the last year. This caused numerous fatalities and thus less predatory pressure on cottontails, allowing their numbers to expand. Rabbits can make up to 50% of the diet of foxes and they are their most important predator. For more on the red fox, who weren't originally part of our landscape, check out this previous Blog entry on them:             http://capitalnaturalist.blogspot.com/2013/12/red-fox_26.html

     The Eastern Cottontail is quite common throughout our region, and indeed throughout the East. Having 3-4 (up to 7) litters a year of 3-6 bunnies each (after about a month's gestation), they can reproduce quite quickly. But since they're a favorite meal for many hawks, owls, foxes, cats, bobcats, dogs, large snakes, coyotes, possums, mink, skunks, weasels, and even crows, mortality rate is close to 80% of the adults a year. Even fewer rabbits even make it to adulthood. Fifteen months is a good average old age in the wild, while in captivity they can live to 5 years. Injured rabbits give quite an eerie scream. This often attracts predators, a trick learned by hunters using artificial game calls to lure them in.
     Young are born in a depression usually hidden in the brush or grass. This is sometimes called a "form" and is lined with leaves and fur. Baby rabbits are born naked and with eyes closed (unlike Hares which are born haired and with their eyes open, and who also have longer ears). Two to four weeks later, they're hopping off on their own, often themselves ready to mate at 2-3 months of age. Males rabbits are called "bucks" while females are called "does."
     Rabbits (along with hares and pikas) are called "lagomorphs," differing from rodents by having long back legs, often large ears, short tails, and most especially an unusual tooth arrangement. Lagomorphs have a double set of upper incisors, one set right in front of the other. Cottontails are herbivores and are coprophagous (eating their own green fecal pellets the first time it goes through their system to get the most of what they've eaten).

Two rabbit skulls, with the double incisors visible on the left one.

     Many people think that all rabbits live in holes (called "warrens" in Europe where their rabbits do live in burrows), but our native cottontails do not do so. They may "hole up" in a groundhog hole if being chased or in extreme weather, but they actually live above ground. Most maintain a home range that's about 100 yards or so, though this varies, with males especially having larger ranges. They do not like to venture out of this small territory, running in zig zags, flashing their tails, but usually circling around at some point rather than leave their familiar territory.
     Cottontails have actually increased their distribution, living now in New England and some parts of Canada where they did not do so before. They've also been introduced to several islands and have bred, well, like rabbits, now being numerous in those places.
   So enjoy the cottontails while they're around. Though they may eat some of our garden plants, they will not be around for long. Something will end their lives shortly, be it cars, diseases like tularemia, or predators. Bunny booms are short lived.
   

Beetle Pollinators

Long-horned Locust Borer Beetle (a yellowjacket mimic) on Goldenrod

     To continue with National Pollinator Week, let's look at one of the least known, but vital, pollinators: beetles. Due to their sheer numbers (there are more beetle species than any other group of animals studied, making up 40% of known insects), they are responsible for a considerable amount of plant pollination. They are also one of the most primitive pollinators, among the first group of animals to start visiting flowers. Beetles are still the primary movers of pollen for numerous plant families, especially primitive ones like magnolias. As some claim that 88% of flowering plants have been found to be visited by beetles, they may be minor pollinators of numerous other plant species as well.

Chafer Beetles on Maple-leaf Viburnum

     Although many beetles can see color, they often depend on detecting the aromas of the blooms instead. These are not always pleasant smells (or the brightest colors) either, since they are attracted to numerous kinds of odors, including those of rotting meat for instance. That's why many beetle pollinated plants are brown or dark and not the most pleasant to us. being somewhat clumsy fliers, beetle pollinated flowers tend to be large and easily accessible. Beetles often are also not going after the nectar like other pollinators like bees and butterflies, but looking to eat the pollen that they also then transfer.

     Beetles also pollinate in a different manner than most other pollinators. Many of them actually eat the petals and some pollen, and in so doing, transfer it to other flowers. They often defecate in the flowers while eating there and so are sometimes referred to as "mess and soil" pollinators.


Margined Leatherwing Soldier Beetles mating while pollinating Dogbane

     Some flowers, often from ancient lineages such as magnolias depend on beetles as their primary pollinators. Such flowers are referred to as cantharophilous flowers and beetle pollination is referred to as cantharophily. Some flowers that have beetles as their primary pollinators include some magnolias, lizard's tail, sassafras some palms, cycads, and I believe sessile trillium.

     Beetles also often have more reasons that just a meal to visit flowers. Since they are grouping there already and are attracted to the flower due to smell and/or color, they make a great place to meet other beetles. Beetles often use the blooms as places to mate, sometimes having orgies in the flowers themselves. They are masters of multitasking.

Click Beetles inside a Sessile Trillium flower

     So beetles may not be the most obvious pollinators, or even the prettiest or best, but they are vital for the pollination of many of our plants. They may even have ulterior motives for visiting flowers, to eat the pollen or sex, but they are important, if under appreciated none the less.

Two different beetles on a Swamp Rose.

Bees

Metallic Sweat Bees feeding on a Greenheaded Coneflower

     In honor of National Pollinator Week, it makes sense to honor the best of all the animal pollinators: bees. Most people are aware of how important bees are for pollination of plants, including some 72% of our crops and about 1/3 of all our food is thanks to pollinators. Worldwide, 75% of the world's plants rely on an animal pollinator , whether a crop or not, and none are more important than bees. What they do not often realize however is that we have some 450 or so native bee species in our region, most of which are not at all like the introduced European Honeybee. Honeybees were brought to the USA in to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1627. They are of course extremely valuable for the way we conduct our agriculture and to give us honey, but we need to realize that wild plants were doing fine (maybe even better) before these generalist bees arrived. Our native plants likely would do fine whether honeybees were here or not today. While most people think that all bees are like the social European honeybees (living in hives with a queen, making honey, and only capable of stinging once), they really are the exception and different from the other 4,000 or so other species we have in North America. There are also about 40 species of non native bees in the US, including the European Honeybee.

     The vast majority of our native bees, for example, are actually solitary, with a single female bee taking care of her young, collecting nectar and pollen for them all by herself. She is extremely non-aggressive and many are incapable of even having their stingers pierce our skin. Should that unlikely event happen however, multiple defensive stings are possible. The reason solitary bees do not sting is that they would prefer to fly away and not defend their nest, for if the solitary mother dies, her nest and eggs are dead anyways. Better to fly away and start over. Honeybees on the other hand live for the hive, the workers themselves really not even reproducing, so all they care about is defending their nest, even if they lose their lives stinging in the process.
     Male solitary bees also fend for themselves and are efficient pollinators by the way, unlike male (drone) honeybees. They have no one to feed them other than themselves and so visit flowers and pollinate plants much like the females. No male bees of any species (or wasps for that matter) can sting either, since stingers are modified ovipositors (egg layers) and males cannot lay eggs of course. Only female bees sting.

Ground nesting bees and their holes

     70% of all bees live underground, while the other 30% often rely on cavities in trees, plants, walls, and many other locations. They usually use burrows they dig and then provision with nectar and pollen for their developing young. While each solitary bee lives by herself and takes on all the work alone, if the habitat is right, many female bees may nest near each other. Good real estate in a nice neighborhood can be hard to find (especially since agricultural practices like plowing can be so detrimental to them). After collecting enough food and laying eggs, the mother bee dies and the bee larvae develop on their own until they emerge, often the next year. 

     Another thing many people do not realize is that although bees can visit many different types of flowers to feed on for themselves, almost half of our native species are specialists in the type of pollen they need to feed their young. These specialist bees, often needing the pollen of a single family, genus, or even a single species of flower, are called oligolectic bees. If the specific (normally native) flowers are not available, the bees cannot reproduce. This is another reason to include a great diversity of native flowers in our yards and preserve them in our parks. Bees need the flowers they evolved with or they simply cannot survive.

Hibiscus Bee Ptilothrix bombiformis, digging her burrow

     The one shown above is usually called the Hibiscus Bee, Ptilothrix bombiformis, which needs pollen from plants in the Mallow family (including hibiscus) to reproduce. I noticed these digging their burrows in one of our Natural Resource Conservation Areas, Arlington Forest Park. They do indeed look like a bumble bee (thus the scientific epithet bombiformis meaning "in the form of a bumblebee"), but unlike them, they dig solitary burrows in the ground. Thanks to friend and colleague Sam Droege, one of the best bee guys in the country, for the help in identification.

     These bees are remarkable in that they not only dig burrows, but carry water over on their fuzzy bodies to wet the ground enough to help them in their excavation. The dirt they pull out is often formed into little turrets that surround the entrance to their hole. They are living in this park because they have the bare, well-drained ground they need, a water source nearby, and of course the plants in the Mallow family that they require.
     This is just one of our 450+ bee species. So this National Pollinator Week, honor all pollinators, but realize that none are better than our native bees and planting the native plants they evolved with is one of the best ways to help them.

A male Perplexing Bumblebee (Bombus perplexus) pollinating a flower. Bumblebees are one of the few native social bees, though their nests only last one season.

Milkweed Traps

A skipper butterfly sips nectar while its moth cousin has gotten stuck and cannot get loose.

Another moth that was too weak to remove the pollen sacs and died.

While a hairstreak butterfly feeds, an unlucky moth dangles dead when it could not free itself.

     Something many people are not aware of what goes on unseen on the milkweeds in bloom right about now. Most people are aware of how attractive these flowers are to insects. Not only are they covered in many pollinators during the day, but are very active at night as well, especially with moths and beetles. Some milkweeds, like Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), are specially fragrant and attract numerous insects both day and night with their rich nectar supply. But many of these pollinators who are attracted are not designed to remove the pollinia (pollen sacs) that milkweed have and are not the proper pollinators.

     Pollinia (singular pollinium) are pollen grains that are grouped and stuck together, designed to be moved as a unit, like a single structure. They almost look like small saddlebags in milkweeds. It takes large specialized pollinators to move them properly. Those that are too weak are sometimes trapped and may lose legs trying to escape, or even die. Here are a few photos from a single milkweed patch on one day showing a collection of small moths who were unable to get away and died. Most have stuck legs, but a few had their proboscis stuck as well. Others are scavenged by the many insects that patrol the flowers and so they are not around for long. That means that this is but a small number of the insects who got themselves trapped. It can be dangerous being a pollinator.
     Here's a European Honeybee who likewise got itself trapped. Note the pollinia stuck to its legs.

A European Honeybee trapped on a Swamp Milkweed. Note the pollinia stuck to its legs. 

     Here is a short video from the Capital Naturalist YouTube Channel that shows the struggle a honeybee goes through after getting trapped by the pollinia:
                              https://youtu.be/DsBRSB0ScGY

      It's amazing the drama that goes on on a miniature scale in nature, even on something as beautiful and harmless looking as a flower...

A Banded Tussock Moth trapped on Common Milkweed.

A Green Bottle Fly hangs dead after trying to steal nectar.

 

The Tuliptree

The Tuliptree grows to have one of the widest trunks and be one of the tallest trees in the East. 

     Tuliptrees (Liriodendron tulipifera) have numerous common names and are among the most common trees in our region. These names include Tulip Poplar, Yellow Poplar, White Poplar, Whitewood, Canoewood, Fiddle-tree, and Saddle-leaf Tree. Although the leaves do tremble and shake like true poplars and they have light colored wood, they are actually in the more primitive magnolia family, and the term "poplar" is often frowned upon by botanists. Their scientific name translates to "lily tree bearing tulips" and refers to the flower shape and to the leaves which look like a tulip in profile. 

     Tuliptrees are extremely fast growing and are often considered to be the tallest deciduous trees in the East, potentially getting over 180' tall. They also have very wide trunks (30' +), perhaps the 3rd widest in the East after Bald Cypress and American Sycamores. I have a (fairly poor quality) picture of my family standing in front of a particularly large Tuliptree in the Smokies with room to spare on the sides. 

Tuliptree flowers are not easily seen because they are so high in the canopy until they start dropping.

     The flowers are large and fairly showy, but are rarely seen until they have fallen from their lofty perches. They are a mix of yellow, orange, and and green. Some people float them decoratively in water bowls. Although mostly scentless, the bloom are extremely rich in nectar. This makes them a favorite of several pollinators such as bees. Tuliptree honey is considered a favorite (at least for baking) and, in some areas, 30% of the forage for honeybees is made up of this tree. 

Tuliptree flowers are very rich in nectar and favorite of several animals with sweet tooths. 

     Indeed, the nectar is so plentiful that other creatures such as hummingbirds and orioles visit them. I've seen raccoons feasting on the blooms. Even people can taste them if they find one growing low enough. It takes about 10 years before they are old enough to bloom, and I know a few places that I can reach them in season. You just have to be careful to beat the critters and ants to them...

I enjoy a sweet sip of nectar from one of the few low growing flowers I could reach. 

     I mentioned how fast growing Tuliptrees are. This makes for relatively soft wood, but it does have some very appealing properties. For one, it does not absorb steam very well, making it a favorite for hat blocks. Because the Native American Indians in our region did not have metal tools, this tree was very valuable for making dugout canoes (and giving it one of its names of Canoewood). It could be worked with stone tools and strategic burning. Moreover, it grew very straight, tall and wide. Captain John Smith reported seeing some capable of carrying 40 warriors at a time. Lore has it that Daniel Boone led a group in a 60' dugout holding 35 people.

Canoewood trunks can be wide, tall, and very straight.

     The tree also tends to "self prune" dropping its lower branches in shady situations. This made for less branches to cut off. The wood also does not split very easily. All good traits for a dugout canoe, even if the wood was not especially durable against rot. 

Lower branches often "self-prune" in the shade leaving distinctive scars where they grew.

     Tuliptree has been used by people for many more applications however. The Cherokee used it to treat pinworm, dysentery, rheumatism, boils, fever, and coughing. During the Civil War, Dr. Francis Porcher was tasked with finding alternative uses for plants in the embargoed South. His treatise listed numerous uses for this particular tree. He considered it one of the best substitutes for "Peruvian bark" (Cinchona used for quinine) to treat malaria for instance. He suggested that its seeds could be used as a laxative and to treat dysentery. The leaves he reported could be applied to the forehead to relieve headaches. 

     Francis Porcher also recorded that a respected Doctor Young wrote in a letter about Tuliptree usefulness to Arkansas Governor Powell Clayton, claiming: "He has never known it to fail in a single case of worms." In Virginia, Tuliptree bark was mixed with Flowering Dogwood and Black Alder in horses troughs to treat them for bot flies.

Tuliptree seed cone.

     During Fall, the leaves turn a brilliant yellow color. In winter, the seed heads are quite distinctive and long lasting. They look like candelabras up high in the canopy. This along with their tall straight trunks, with noticeable branch scars for where they dropped their lower branches, make the trees fairly easy to recognize. 

A Tuliptree seed head consists of seeds (samaras) arranged around a central spike and shedding from the inside out.

     The seed heads consist of the seeds arranged around a central spike. They drop starting from the inside out, but can endure the whole winter. The seeds are a type of "samara" similar in function to the maple "helicopters" many people are familiar with. They can float for quite a distance with any breeze. This makes them particularly good pioneer tree species, sometimes dominating in forming wood lots, especially since they are not a favorite of too many animals as a food source, can remain viable for 4-7 years, and are produced in large numbers. 

A Tuliptree seed (samara) separated from the rest after helicoptering away from parent plant.

     Tuliptrees are not favored as deer browse, though they will eat them. Having broken off stems and smelled them, they do appear to have a fairly distinctive odor, though I wouldn't call it a bad smell. It seems like deer and other browsers don't care for them, at first anyways. This allows them a competitive edge over such forest staples as oaks in establishing themselves. Since they also can grow so quickly, they can dominate young woods, but are generally not tolerant of shade. They can live up to 500 years. 

Saplings grow very quickly as pioneer species after being spread by the wind, and are not a favorite browse of deer. 

     Although not a favorite for mammalian browsers, at least 21 caterpillar species use it as a host plant to feed on. This includes our largest Geometrid (inchworm) moth, the Tuliptree Beauty. 

The "candelabras" of seeds hang well into the winter

     The hanging candelabras of seed heads, tall straight trunks, and branch scars make the older trees rather easy to pick out in a winter woods, but the buds are also distinctive. They are said to look like duck bills. 

The "duck bill" end buds of Tuliptrees are distinctive.

     Though common, these are beautiful native trees with unique features, well deserving of being the state trees of Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. Regardless of season, they are fairly easy to distinguish from other trees. As one last thing to mention, the trees may be well known for their tulip-like shape, but they make nice cat masks during the Fall for kids. For those of you who work with kids, this is my favorite way to end a field trip during the Halloween season. I find a location at the end of the walk with lots of Tuliptree leaves (I often place a bunch of nice ones there to use). I tell the group that I would like to show them the costume I intend to wear. Choosing the large shade leaves (the lower and larger leaves that young trees sometimes produce to capture the diminished sunlight filtering through the canopy), fold one in half, poke holes, and you have a cat mask. Everyone thus can take a memoir of their visit (and of the Tuliptree) home. 

Although tulip-shaped, the shade leaves make great cat masks!

American Bullfrog

A large male American Bullfrog floats, calling in a pond. Note that the dorsolateral skin fold goes around the eardrum (tympanum) rather than going down the back.

     The American Bull Frog (Lithobates (formerly Rana) catesbeianus) is the largest native frog in North America. It can grow to 8" (203mm) and has traits that make it quite different from our other frogs besides its size. It is quite variable in color, particularly when young. It is often confused with its smaller and much more common cousin, the Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans). The skin fold that begins behind its eye (the dorsolateral fold) however goes around the eye rather than down the back as in the Green Frog. More on the Green Frog from a previous post:  http://capitalnaturalist.blogspot.com/2014/08/green-frog.html

A male Green Frog floats on a pond. Note that the dorsolateral fold of skin goes part way down the back. 

     Unlike other North American frogs where the female, in order to be able to carry more eggs, is larger than the male, just the opposite is true of Bull Frogs. The males are bigger due to having territorial disputes where the larger males force or bully the smaller ones away. The larger males have thus been selected for and have greater mating success.
     Males are quite easy to tell from females once they are adults. Not only are they bigger and have a yellowish throat during the breeding season, but their tympanum (ear drum) is larger than their eye. Female have eyes that are about the same size as their tympanums. These are all sexual differences their smaller Green Frog cousins also have.

The larger male Bullfrog with its eardrum (tympanum) larger than its eye courts the smaller female who's tympanum is about the same size as the eye. 

     Males are now giving their now giving their "jug-o-rum" calls in our permanent ponds. You can hear and see them do this in this video clip from the Capital Naturalist YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9qbapiHF6E
     Also unusual in frogs, the females will sometimes also call, though this is normally the scream both sexes may give if they are caught by a predator. Some suspect that this release call attracts an even larger predator that might break up the attack and allow the frog to escape in the scuffle. Indeed, I've several times heard the screaming and gone to investigate, interrupting a feeding snake in the process. In most species of frog or toads, only the males vocalize.

A Bull Frog tadpole already developing its back legs.

     Once a female has chosen her suitor, she will lay a large floating mass of eggs numbering between 3,000-50,000 eggs. In less than 3 weeks, the tadpoles emerge. These tadpoles take 2 and sometimes 3 (up North) years to metamorphose into an adult. This again differs from most of our frogs which change over in a single growing season. The olive colored tadpoles can also grow to be our biggest. Some polliwogs can be up to 6" long. Although they typically eat algae or detritus just like other polliwogs, they are also unusual once again in occasionally scavenging meat and eating other tadpoles. They are distasteful to some fish as well which allows them to live in permanent ponds with them.

Bull Frog tadpoles are the largest in North America and take the longest to develop (2-3 years) of all our native tadpoles.

     Bull frogs are notorious for eating anything smaller than themselves, including each other. I've seen them eat small mice, frogs, and even small snakes. I once was leading a group of kids and watching a Red-winged Blackbird land next to the water, when a large Bull Frog grabbed it. They struggled for a while before the ruffled bird got away. This voracious trait has resulted in some local extinctions of animals. These are the most commercially available frog tadpoles because they take so long to change over and can be kept with small fish in aquarium pet stores. For this reason, they are the ones most bought for release into home ponds.
     Bull Frogs will eat any smaller species there however. They have been outlawed for sale in some countries like England where they have become an invasive predator of small ponds. They have even been implicated in the demise of California's Red-legged Frog. Bull Frogs from Maryland were taken to California for their edible legs and for frog jumping contests like that at the famous Calaveras Fair. Now they pose a threat to the smaller Red-legged Frogs who were already in trouble due to habitat destruction. It is important to realize that being native does not mean they belong everywhere, as that can upset the natural balance.
   

A female Bull Frog.

     Bull Frogs, if they survive being eaten by each other, snakes, humans, or the numerous other creatures who consume them, can live 15 or so years. It takes a male 1-2 years to reach sexual maturity (2-3 for a female). Their Latin name was given to them in honor of the great American naturalist Mark Catesby. 

     I truly appreciate these large frogs and their calls. Many times I've put aside my fishing rod or stopped what I was doing to try and sneak up on them and see what they were doing. I've been rewarded by many observations of them eating or being eaten. Luckily, these are tough amphibians who can survive in less than ideal conditions including farm ponds and park lakes. But they do not belong in every body of water because of their great size and appetites. Now that you know a bit more about them, you hopefully can appreciate them more as well.