CHINQUAPIN The Newsletter of the Southern appalachian Botanical Society Volume 23 (4) Winter 2015 terfly to avoid egg Earl Core Student Report placement, or are there other benefits Passionflowers and a Clever Trick to possessing egg By Nichole Long-Aragon mimics? And, 4. How often have egg When most people observe butterflies in their garden, they mimics evolved in visualize a peaceful scene. Even when most botanists think of but- Passiflora? Have they terflies and their association with plants, they think of butterflies evolved in similar or sipping nectar and distributing pollen from one flower to another. different ways, and However, some of these beautiful butterflies do more than peaceful has their presence activities: they lay their eggs on plants. Once these eggs hatch, they influenced species diversification in develop into caterpillars which subsequently feed on the leaves. Authentic butterfly eggs of Heliconius hewitsoni on This causes defoliation, or sometimes even plant death. Several Passiflora pittieri. the groups that have them? species of a genus of plants well known to botanists of the eastern Thus far, my research has been able to address each of the pro- United States, the passionflowers (Passiflora), have developed a posed questions. Egg mimics may be located on the leaf, petiole, deceptive scheme to discourage this crime of passion. They trick stipule, or floral structures of the plant, and 25 species are known the butterflies with egg mimics. to have them. My study is ongoing, but they have evolved at least five times. Each mimic is unique with respect to shape, size, and location. Abundant druses are a common feature, but tissues differ in terms of cell shape, cell composition, and secretory function. Egg mimics display yellow or orange coloration. Interestingly, there seems to be a dual function associated with some egg mimics: not only do they prevent female butterflies from laying eggs, but they also secrete sugar to attract ants that then destroy butterfly eggs. Egg mimicry demonstrates how an intricate ecological associa- Egg mimics of Passiflora allantophylla. Left – color photograph showing bright tion can exist between several organisms and be mediated by under- yellow egg mimics. Right – scanning electron micrograph of abaxial leaf lying morphology and anatomy of structures. My research demon- surface. strates how understanding the structural details of the various types of egg mimics present in the passionflowers reveals connections Female butterflies of the genus Heliconius inspect exposed struc- necessary for understanding their diversification, development, and tures of passionflowers before committing to egg placement. Fe- evolution. males avoid a plant if it is already occupied by eggs and are believed to abstain from ovipositing on the plants because they do not want The Earl Core Student their offspring to compete with other caterpillars for a single food Award has allowed me source. Thus, some species of Passiflora have evolved egg mimics to to continue investigating deter gravid butterflies from laying their eggs on the leaves. While these interesting questions this is a famous example of co-evolution, relatively little is actually by enabling me to pur- known about the egg mimics themselves. chase additional anatomi- In my research I address four main questions: 1. Where are cal supplies. the mimics found on the plants? Are mimics in different places morphologically and anatomically similar? 2. What criteria need to Anna Nichole Long- be met in order to be considered an egg mimic? For example, does Aragon is a graduate the mimic need to be a specific color, such as yellow or orange, student at the University of Southern Mississippi. to successfully mislead the butterfly? 3. What is/are the primary Her research advisor is function(s) of the egg mimics? Do they only cause the female but- Passiflora poslae displaying the egg mimic Dr. Mac Alford. and nectaries. 26 Chinquapin 23 (4) The Newsletter of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society SABS Officers and Executive Council From The Editor’s Desk: on edible plants. But from my perspective For full addresses, see http://sabs.appstate.edu/about/officers – “from the editor’s desk” – the best thing Joe Pollard, Newsletter Editor of all is that there must be millions of edible Kathy Gould Mathews wild plants in the world! This is definite- President (2014-2016) I have been serving as editor of this Western Carolina University newsletter for about three years now. I ly not going to be a short series. Lytton (828) 227-3659 volunteered for the job because I had always provides a preview of his new column in the [email protected] enjoyed reading Chinquapin, and because article on our back page. I thought Dan Pittillo had earned the right There is actually a point to this rambling Charles N. Horn to hand it over to someone else. So I came column, if you’re still reading. In addition to President-Elect (2015-2016) into the position with no real inclination the regular columnists I have named above, Newberry College I have tried and will continue to try to find (803) 321-5257, fax (803) 321-5636 to shake things up or make big changes. volunteers to contribute other interesting [email protected] Perhaps the scariest thing for me was wheth- er I could find authors to fill the pages; works to the pages of Chinquapin. I thank Charles N. Horn therefore, I made it a point to cultivate the all of my friends who have been willing to Treasurer (2014-2018) relationships with regular contributors that do that, and I especially applaud the efforts Newberry College had been established by the earlier editors. of our student members, such as the front- (803) 321-5257, fax (803) 321-5636 George Ellison’s “Botanical Excursions” page article in this issue. But there is always [email protected] column has appeared in Chinquapin since a need for new voices. If you are interested in writing something for your newsletter, Michael E. Held volume 1, issue 1, way back in 1993! The anything from a brief letter-to-the-editor Membership Secretary (2015-2018) “Taxonomic Advisory” series by Alan Weak- Saint Peter’s University ley and “Rare Plants” by Linda Chafin were to a scholarly article with references, please (201) 761-6432 established in 2008 during Scott Ranger’s don’t hesitate to contact me. If you want to [email protected] term as editor. I am indebted to all of them nominate someone else, send me a sugges- for continuing to submit articles. Their tion and I will try to coax them on board. If Susan Farmer three distinctive voices contribute greatly to you want to be a regular contributor, we can Recording Secretary (2013-2016) the entertaining but informative tone that I talk about that too. Just watch out for those Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College wanted Chinquapin to keep. infinite subjects! SABS Welcomes (229) 391-5126 [email protected] The other regular column that I inherit- Our New Members ed in 2013 was Lytton Musselman’s series Lisa Kelly on the fascinating lives of parasitic plants, Daniel Breen Member at Large (2014-2016) which I believe was inaugurated in 2011. In Memoriam . Robert Floyd University of North Carolina at Pembroke But I have to admit that this one worried George Pryor Johnson (910) 325-1470 Fredrick Rich me! Nothing personal about Lytton, I assure Dr. George Johnson, Professor [email protected] you. He has always submitted his pieces of Biology and Curator of the Jay Bolin well before the deadline with a minimum of Member at Large (2014-2016) editorial prompting. But the subject matter Herbarium at Arkansas Tech Catawba College seemed distressingly … well … finite. There University, passed away on (704) 637-4450 will always be taxonomic and nomenclatural [email protected] changes for Alan to inform us about. Rare December 16, 2015, at the age of plants are, paradoxically, becoming more 59. Dr. Johnson was a member Jennifer Boyd and more common, so Linda will never lack of the Southern Appalachian Member at Large (2015-2017) for material. And I am totally confident that University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Botanical Society and former editor (423) 425-5638 George has an unlimited trove of fascinating [email protected] natural history stories, all lovingly illustrated of Castanea. Our thoughts go out with Elizabeth’s watercolors. But parasitic to his family and friends. Christopher P. Randle plants? Surely they would run out too soon! Editor-in-Chief of Castanea (2014-2017) Well, it has happened. Lytton wrote me Sam Houston State University last June to say that he would exhaust his (936) 294-1401 list of parasites at the end of the year. Oh Reminders: [email protected] no! But in the next sentence he offered to • Dues notices have been mailed to all begin a new regular column on edible wild Joe Pollard members. Pay by mail or online at http:// plants. It was immediately obvious that this Editor of Chinquapin sabs.appstate.edu/membership. (2012-2015) was a brilliant idea. Of course everyone is interested in things they can (and cannot) Furman University • Abstracts for the 2016 annual meeting (864) 294-3244 eat, and Lytton is an acknowledged expert are due by February 7. For information go [email protected] in ethnobotany; he has even written a book to http://www.sebiologists.org/. On the web at sabs.appstate.edu Chinquapin 23 (4) 27 A Shrubby Sandbur, Krameria lanceolata (Spreading Ratanay) By Lytton John Musselman, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA In this series, I have considered Southeastern parasites in the families Cervantesiaceae (with Pyrularia pubera, formerly placed in Santalaceae), Convolvulaceae, Lauraceae, Olacaceae, Orobanchace- ae, Santalaceae, and Viscaceae.