As the most important tree for insect diversity in the spring – goat willow / selje (Salix caprea) – emerges into flower, two more moths that feed on the catkins turned up in the garden this morning, yellow horned (vårhalvspinner) and clouded drab (variabelt seljefly). Just waiting now for the influx of birds (chiffchaff, dunnock, thrushes) that feed on this insect feast!
Yellow horned / vårhalvspinner (Achlya flavicornis); Overwinters as a pupa in a coccoon among leaves on the ground. Feeds on Salix catkins. Larval food plants: Birch (Betula spp.)
Clouded drab / variabelt seljefly (Orthosia incerta); Overwinters in an underground coccoon with adult perfectly formed inside. Feeds on Salix catkins and blackthorn flowers (both in the garden). Larval food plants: Many broadleaved trees including oaks and Salix.
There are records of arctic peoples chewing the flowers of various Salix species for the sweet taste and, from Alaska “Indigenous children strip the catkins of this shrub and chew them. They are commonly referred to as “Indigenous bubble-gum” and are eaten before seeds ripen in June and July”. The catkins of Salix caprea taste good to me, but I don’t know of any use of this species historically.
Tonight’s dinner was a Hablitzia-Ramsons-Nettle quiche with oregano, poppy and celery seeds on top with cowslip-violet-Allium zebdanense-Arctic bramble flowers….wholegrain barley-oat-rye pastry…. not at all bad :) Anyone else have this tonight? …no, I didn’t think so somehow ;)
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
…no, I didn’t think so somehow ;)