Month: August 2023

muffler man

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I recently read this article about the quirky US roadside phenomena generically known as Muffler Men, though any individual giant might advertise something other than car parts. Apparently they are now very rare, but we have one in our town. Malibu’s version, erected in the late 1960s atop Frostie Freeze, originally held a massive burger. He was re-styled in 1988 to be La Salsa Man; you can read more about the conversion here. Now he’s missing his serape and tire sandals, and the store below remains empty because of septic tank issues. I wonder what his next iteration might be? Plumbing Man?

Epilobium canum

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This week in the PerpJo: Epilobium canum, also known as California fuchsia, hummingbird trumpet and firechalice, is a species of willowherb in the evening primrose family (Onagraceae). It’s a low-growing, spreading, perennial sub-shrub with grey-green leaves that are velvety to the touch. and a profusion of bright scarlet flowers in late summer and autumn. It is native to dry slopes and chaparral of western North America, especially California. It’s doing well at our place, and I’m happy to see that it‘s now flowering.

Mutillidae

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Mutillidae is a family of more than 7,000 species of wasps whose wingless females resemble large, hairy ants. Velvet ants can be found worldwide. Over 400 species occur in the North American Southwest, where this male specimen was collected.

Males fly in search of females; after mating, the female enters a host insect nest, typically a ground-nesting bee or wasp burrow, and deposits one egg near each larva or pupa. The mutillid larvae then develop as idiobiont ectoparasitoids, eventually killing their immobile larval/pupal hosts within a week or two.

The exoskeleton of the velvet ant is remarkably strong. It requires 11 times more force to crush than that of the honeybee.

Brachychiton populneus

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The Kurrajong bottle tree — native to the foothills and plains of eastern Australia — is adapted to semi-arid climates, warm temperatures and seasonal drought. It’s been introduced to South Africa, the United States and Mediterranean countries, where it is well suited for use as a street and park tree.

The kurrajong was used by many Australian Aboriginal clans and tribes. The seeds were removed, cleaned of the fine hairs within the seed pod, and roasted. Water could be obtained from the tree roots by boring a hole in the trunk and squeezing the wood. There are also records of the seed pods being turned into a children’s rattle or toy. The soft spongy wood was used for making shields, and the bark as a fibre. The leaves are also used as emergency fodder for drought-affected animal stock. There are records of European settlers using the seeds as a coffee substitute.