I finished off a recent jaunt with these little treasures, not full population anthesis; but, here we have a gorgeous plant regardless and a representation of a hillside population of the Great Larkspur enjoying the soil chemistry of the underlying calcareous substrate of Glenwood Gardens.

Delphinium exaltatum

This species seems to be pollinated by a large slew of species, from hummingbirds and hawkmoths to skippers and solitary bees, it produces a fair amount of seed and does well in any calcareous glade or hillside prairie shading out isn’t relevant yet, major disjunction events occur. Ohio is known for it’s well preserved decent examples of calcareous glade systems that exist in the Edge of Appalachia prairie system (Lynx, Cedar Barrens, Falling Prairie ect.) and a few populations in the Darby Plaines Cedar Glade and Hill Prairie systems of Clark and Greene co. Besides those populations in Ohio the next few populations occur in Pennsylvania down to Louisiana. The other super disjunct populations occurs in a calcareous cedar glade in Missouri in the Ozarks Mountain Range as well as a few populations in Tennessee.  There were probably pocket populations occurring at some points during history during the prairie peninsula expansion but it still doesn’t explain why we haven’t seen any examples in WI, IN, IL, or KY which have well known examples of calcareous glades. 

Asclepia asperula flowers or spider milkweed in my favorite family of flowering plants, Apocynaceae. 

Asclepia is the milkweed genus, host plants to monarch butterflies. Monarch larva ingest the foliage of Asclepias, including the toxic milky latex the plants produce as a defense against herbivory. The monarchs store the toxic cardenolides they consume in their bodies, despite showing signs of distress if they eat plants with very high levels of cardenolides. The toxic diet appears to be worth it, as the butterflies are a noxious meal for birds & other vertebrates who learn to steer clear of their bright colors and bold patterns. 

It was not often that Nikolay Kovalev found those that were tolerant of his presence—as so few were of Mordesh—and more importantly they they shared his passions, such as they were.  It was a pleasant surprise when Cyrene had come into his temporary office in Malenkov’s clinic and caught him meticulously pruning a branch of bonsai and had not only politely waited until he set his tools down, but also began to inquire about the plants themselves.

The quarters she sometimes roomed in on the upper floor was rather bare, and upon repotting an excess of flora, the Mordesh loped his way slowly through the dark halls of the clinic and up toward her—as of the moment—empty loft.  Upon knocking to insure she was not present, and careful not to touch anything but the stairs, Nikolay slipped on feet eerily silent for his size and weight, and gently placed the plant at bedside.