幾個月前的達爾文日(2月12日,達爾文的生日),在芝加哥最冷的季節裡,度過了忙碌奔波而溫暖的日子;如同前一篇小記所提,這不是我第一次在芝加哥的冬,也不是我在芝加哥的第一個達爾文日,這並非巧合,純粹只是因為我所在的演化生物學系(Committee on Evolutionary Biology)特意選了達爾文日的週末舉辦每一年新生的面試週,而性質接近的兩個學系: 生態與演化(Ecology and Evolution)以及個體生物與解剖學(Organismal Biology and Anatomy)亦是如此,甚至三個姊妹學系因著和演化的緊密關係而合稱達爾文科學組(Darwinian Sciences Cluster),在幾個公共空間裡,也總會遇見懸掛牆上達爾文那蒼老深邃的目光。
Prunella vulgaris var. nanhutashanensis visited by a bumblebee (Bombus sp.) in the valley of Mt. HeHuan region.
This is about Prunella and Prunella. Yes, I didn’t make the mistake of copying words. Also, don’t just start looking for any cryptic difference that you think you might neglect at the first glance. “Prunella and Prunella” have the same spelling but what they represent can be completely different. The confusion and ambiguity come from the independent nomenclatural codes used by plants and animals. Since there is no restriction in using the same scientific name between different systems, the term Prunella is now genus names for both plants and animals. Continue reading “Prunella and Prunella”
芝加哥大學的學季制(Quraters),每季只有短短的十週課程,也讓初來乍到的我苦於奔波追趕每週的進度和閱讀,然後在不知覺中,才由雪花的飄落感受到季節的變動;近幾週也有機緣幫忙看了幾篇朋友的SOP (Statement of Purpose),才想起距離去年在申請截止前拚命修稿準備的日子,已然是接近一年;重新思考了自己申請時的熱情和想法,雖然被軍營中的疲乏和無奈多少磨的淡了些,卻也是未曾消退,七週過去了,有些時候迷惘和困惑,但也有更多時候是感到興奮而雀躍,卻也是對於當初最後的決定滿意而未曾後悔,這裡雖然甚少植物學研究者,但如同甚至超乎我預期的,在豐富而多樣的演化生物學學術環境裡,激盪著自己的思考和視野;在芝加哥的第一個冬季考驗才將來到,卻也因此少了些恐懼而有了更多的期待。
Parnassia glauca found at Montrose Point with the slender false foxglove (Agalinis tenuifolia) in the background
Two weeks ago, I finally found some time for my first field trip since this busy quarter began. The destination was a lakeshore spot around northern Chicago neighborhoods, Montrose Point. As I mentioned in the previous blog post, most of my discovery about natural Chicago came from the search for hummingbirds, and that was also true for this one. Right next to Montrose beach, Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary is a popular bird watching spot with nicely protected habitats from sandy dunes to savannas and woodlands. The urge for visiting there in October was all about an unexpected finding when I looked through the species list of Montrose Point on iNaturalist records: the fen grass of Parnassus, Parnassia glauca. Continue reading “Grasses of Parnassus”