Why Flowers Have Lost Their Scent

Pollution is stifling the fragrance of plants and preventing bees from pollinating them – endangering one of the most essential cycles of nature, writes Environment Editor Geoffrey Lean
Researchers say that pollution is dramatically cutting the distance travelled by the scent of flowers
Sunday, 20 April 2008
Pollution is dulling the scent of flowers and impeding some of the most basic processes of nature, disrupting insect life and imperilling food supplies, a new study suggests.
The potentially hugely significant research – funded by the blue-chip US National Science Foundation – has found that gases mainly formed from the emissions of car exhausts prevent flowers from attracting bees and other insects in order to pollinate them. And the scientists who have conducted the study fear that insects' ability to repel enemies and attract mates may also be impeded.
The researchers – at the University of Virginia – say that pollution is dramatically cutting the distance travelled by the scent of flowers. Professor Jose Fuentes, who led the study, said: "Scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment could travel for roughly 1,000 to 1,200 metres. But today they may travel only 200 to 300 metres. This makes it increasingly difficult for bees and other insects to locate the flowers."
The researchers – who worked on the scent given off by snapdragons – found that the molecules are volatile, and quickly bond with pollutants such as ozone and nitrate radicals, mainly formed from vehicle emissions. This chemically alters the molecules so that they no longer smell like flowers. A vicious cycle is therefore set up where insects struggle to get enough food and the plants do not get pollinated enough to proliferate.
Already bees – which pollinate most of the world's crops – are in unprecedented decline in Britain and across much of the globe. At least a quarter of America's 2.5 million honey bee colonies have been mysteriously wiped out by colony collapse disorder (CCD), where hives are found suddenly deserted.
The crisis has now spread to Europe. Politicians insist that CCD has not yet been found in Britain, but the insects have been declining here too, and the agriculture minister Lord Rooker has warned that "the honey bee population could be wiped out in 10 years".
The researchers do not believe that they have found the cause of CCD, but say that pollution is making life more difficult for bees and other insects in many ways."

Join In The Great Bee Hunt.

Ion Exchange has been following the stories about the plight of the honeybees for over a year now. We came across this great site that is actually letting all of us take part and do something in our own back yard that will further the research to better understand the bees and their habits. This site is http://www.greatsunflower.org/. When you sign up they will send you a packet of sunflowers to plant in your own yard ( a species that is for your zone) and all the information you need to keep records on the bees that come to your sunflowers. This is a wonderful opportunity to get the whole family involved in a nature project and help to raise awareness of the natural world and how we can be a part of that natural world.

Slippery Elm: An Old-Time Survival Food and Medicine

By the Mother Earth News editors
We seldom think of it now as food. But foremost among the survival rations recommended to early white settlers by the native North Americans those pioneers found here . . . was the inner bark of the slippery elm tree (Ulmus fulva or rubra).
When dried and ground into a coarse meal, the sweetly fragrant and creamy white or pinkish inner bark of the slippery elm can be boiled into a porridge that looks and tastes very much like oatmeal. And, surprisingly enough, modern nutritionists have discovered that, when so prepared, the bark does indeed possess a food value about equal to that of oatmeal.
This almost forgotten fact actually helped to change the course of our nation's history on at least one occasion. It is recorded that, during their bitter winter at Valley Forge, George Washington's ragtag Revolutionary War soldiers lived through one 12-day period on little more than slippery elm porridge. And no one, of course, knows how many starving pioneer families scraped through their first winters on this continent thanks to the same survival rations.
Slippery elm's inner bark, on the other hand, does have its other uses too. When ground to a fine powder, it makes a good extender for ordinary flour and can be included that way in a wide variety of recipes. And back before today's sugar-laden treats were so widely available, small boys were fond of stripping off pieces of this cambium bark and chewing it. Such a "chaw" makes a sweet-flavored, long-lasting chewing gum that both satisfies thirst and supplies a certain amount of nourishment.
Almost every back-country homestead up until a generation or two ago knew that slippery elm had yet other values . . . medicinal values. The late Euell Gibbons recommended pouring a pint of boiling water over an ounce of the coarsely ground inner bark, allowing the mixture to cool, and then adding the juice of one-half lemon and enough honey to sweeten the brew to taste. Our pioneer forebears treated colds with such a "lemonade" and it was especially recommended for feverish patients. "Allow them to drink all they will take," said Gibbons in his book, Stalking the Healthful Herbs, "for this drink will quench their thirst and help relieve their illness by giving them strengthening, easily digested food at the same time."
A somewhat similar formulation (one heaping teaspoon of finely powdered bark mixed into enough cold water to make a paste and then quickly stirred into a pint of boiling water and flavored with cinnamon) popped up again and again in early American almanacs, herbals, and medical guides. According to such old manuals, it's good for almost anything that ails you: catarrh, colitis, coughs, colds, dysentery, painful urination, pleurisy, quinsy, influenza, bleeding from the lungs, and consumption . . . to name just a few of the illnesses that were treated by this beverage. And, for folks who weren't suffering any of these ailments, the same drink—taken lukewarm just before bedtime—was prescribed as a sleep inducement.
And if that doesn't sell you on the virtues of slippery elm, bear in mind that seasoned wood from the tree is especially hard and tough and wears well. For this reason, back when our nation lived much closer to the land, it was widely sought out for the construction of door sills, wagon wheel hubs, and other such "high stress" items.
Botanists sometimes make quite a distinction between Ulmus fulva and Ulmus rubra. . . but most farmers and outdoorsmen treat the two as variants of the same tree. (All slippery elms—both the lighter brown and the red varieties—are very similar and are frequently called "red elm" by native woodsmen. It takes a good eye to note the differences between cross sections of fulva and rubra bark and hard support wood.)
Individual specimens of slippery elm may grow to a height of seventy or eighty feet on moist, deep, alluvial soil . . . but they never have the noble, vaulting vase shape of the taller American elm. And when standing out in the open by themselves, Ulmus fulva and Ulmus rubra generally take an even lower and many-branched form.
Slippery elm grows in lowlands and along water from Quebec west to North Dakota and south to Florida and Texas. Its leaves are larger than the leaves of the American elm, sometimes reach a length of six inches, are a dull and dark green in color, and are rather coarse and rough on both sides. The buds of the leaves are covered with a yellow-tinted wool in the spring, and the winter buds are brown, dark, and hairy. The tree's seeds are round, flattened, and surrounded by a thin wing about half an inch in diameter. The seeds ripen and fall when the slippery elm's leaves are about half grown.
The outer bark of the slippery elm is reddish brown, deeply furrowed, and quite rough. It can be harvested any time of the year but peels from the tree most easily in the spring (when the sap is running). The juicy inner bark may then be pulled from the outer with little difficulty. Spread the cambium bark out on newspapers in a warm, dry room. Once it has dried, it may be stored (I like to keep mine in sealed glass jars) and ground for use as desired.

Celebrate Earth Day April 22nd

This is the 37th anniversary of Earth Day a world wide event that reminds people to conserve resources and preserve natural habitats. People around the world will celebrate Earth Day in many ways with festivals and community projects. All sorts of environmental ventures will be undertaken. If you are wondering what you can do, why not create a habitat for birds and other wildlife in your own back yard. The average back yard might see 15 or so different bird species. However with a little planning you can easily double that number or even triple it. To attract the greatest number of bird species, a habitat must provide at least one of each of these elements: food, water, shelter and a place to raise their young. Now is the perfect time to start to attract birds because many of the birds are returning from their fall and winter homes. They will be looking for food, water and shelter.
Offering food can be as simple as hanging a bird feeder in a tree or as ambitious as planting native wildflowers and shrubs. Providing a fresh supply of water with a birdbath will also increase the variety of bird visitors. Birds use water for more than just drinking; they also use it for bathing and preening their feathers. Clean feathers are important for birds’ health and optimum flying ability.
Landscaping for the ideal wildlife habitat should include plants ranging in size and density from small evergreen shrubs to tall, full-grown trees. The same plants that provide food and shelter can also provide safe areas for many species of wildlife to build nests and raise their families.
Visit your local library for books on birds in your area and their habits. Bird watching is something the entire family can enjoy and start the youngsters on the road to thinking about protecting their natural world.
For books on The Natural World visit Natural World Books for Native Plants and Seeds visit Ion Exchange