Saturday, April 12, 2014

Pipevine Swallowtail


Today on a wonderful Yuki Teikei Haiku Society trip to the Tilden Botanical gardens in the East Bay Regional Park District near Berkeley in northern California. We had a tour of the parts of the garden and time for a ginko, or haiku-writing outing. This butterfly is called a pipevine swallowtail; when he spreads his wings, they are iridescent blue on the sides that fold together. Linda P. told me to watch for that, and it was worth doing!

This is my haiku:

folding, unfolding
heedless of its beauty, the
pipevine swallowtail


     June Hopper Hymas




This is a picture of a single blossom on the plant called Dutchman's Pipe after the shape of its bloom. This plant is not a nectar source for the adult butterfly, but a food source for the larvae. The flower is pollinated by gnats.

It has been a very long day, and I am very tired! And so, filled with blossoms and leaves in sunlight, I'm off to bed. 


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