Flora The Coontie (Zamia integrifolia) is a very cool plant that’s been around for millions of years in a similar form to how it looks today in Florida yards and medians. Part of an ancient group of cycads that reached their peak during the Mesozoic period, their seed cones could have once been munched by herbivore dinosaurs, but now their leaves are nibbled by Atala butterfly (Eumaeus atala) larvae.
Cycads are found mostly in the pantropical areas, but there are also some found in temperate zones. And North America only has one that’s native. Wanna guess which one?
Now, there is another cycad that is popular in South Florida lawns. It’s commonly called the cardboard palm (Zamia furfuracea) even though it’s not a palm. That one’s native to Mexico, but it does grow well in parts of Florida.
Unlike the cardboard palm/plant, which is extremely toxic, the toxic Coontie was once processed into a flour by indigenous people and was even processed into a flour by early settlers—to the point that the plant nearly went extinct.
Fauna Let’s go back to that butterfly, though. Since its host plant nearly went extinct or at least extinct in Florida, the butterfly also nearly disappeared. Most of the time this story ends with the last lone butterfly being eaten by a dog or something, and it might still in the future, but people actually came together and started planting coonties everywhere. What was once a relative niche plant in a few lawns, it’s now at the edges of shopping center parking lots and next to interstates. And it’s been pretty successful. There were a few years in the past decade that those of us who pay attention to such things noticed a marked decrease in Atala larvae and butterflies, especially after counties sprayed for mosquitoes. This year, several coworkers have found larvae on plants near grocery stores along with botanical gardens.
Blurry recent picture of an atala. Books I’ve been reading and listening to a lot of essays recently. I was just listening to one of Bassey Ikpi’s essays yesterday and had the realization that she and I both misremember when and where we witnessed the Challenger disaster. I ended up having a whole chat about it with Ben LeRoy over on BlueSky about it. Feel free to pop over and share your thoughts if you remember or misremember that event.
I’ve been working my way through Zadie Smith’s Dead and Alive collection. So far, I’m enjoying it a lot. I honestly keep mixing them up with the Danticat book because they’re both so well read and traveled.
Last but not least, I just finished listening to Samantha Irby’s Quietly Hostile. She’s very entertaining and quite funny, but I’m not sure if she and I could get along in person. For one thing, despite listening to the whole “Superfan!!!!!!!” I could not possibly tell you what she was talking about other than Sex and the City? I also aways wonder whenever I read an essay about how not outdoorsy someone is who these people are who’ve made them feel that’s not okay. It’s been my general experience right up to (and sometimes including) working for a botanical garden that most people are pretty indoorsy. I do have a friend I can convince to go out into the wild as long as A) She can pee indoors (I think this is to keep trails to a half mile loop or less) and B) She can sleep in a 3-star hotel or better if her own bed isn’t close enough.
Art This week’s artist is Natalie V. Mason, who I discovered in Gainesville at the best little boutique/food truck/cafe sort of thing. Her vibe is very whimsical Florida with pink alligators and grinning otters. So, you know, totally my thing. If you’re a stationery fan, she has a few cute washi tape rolls as well as adorable greeting cards. You can also get some of her designs on fabric and wallpaper.
Wild Card I’m very familiar with the Cat Distribution System. Over the years, I’ve often joked that there’s a communication network in the neighborhood whereby all the stray cats find out about our place and end up coming over for food. This has always been a joke because while we’ve ended up with more than our fair share of cats through this network, it’s not like we have a colony of dozens of cats standing outside our door.
I did not realize the cats were literally talking until Charlie, who showed up too skinny last year, started bringing around a suspiciously-similar gray cat with a puffy tail. This went on for a months or so with his puffy friend keeping his distance from the humans.
Dorian and Charlie What changed was when the big orange boy, Nova, who the other cats have kind of let believe he’s in charge brings this puffy gray fellow in the house. He leads him around like he’s showing a new hire the ropes. “Coffee pot’s over there. Restroom’s that way. Buffet here twice a day. That guy always has treats.”
So, I guess there’s another cat here.
I have a signed copy of the Zadie Smith book that I picked up in my favorite Edinburgh bookshop, Typewronger Books!
I'll read that next so we can chat about it.
Lovely butterflies and congrats on being the coolest cat house on the block.
"You get to look at ducks all day. It's pretty rad." - Dorian, probably