King of the Coneflower

by Penny Meyers

Title

King of the Coneflower

Artist

Penny Meyers

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

This bumblebee looked so proud atop the coneflower that it immediately reminded me of the schoolyard game, king of the hill.
Per USDA.gov plant guide, YELLOW CONEFLOWER Ratibida pinnata (Vent.) Barnh. Plant Symbol = RAPI
Alternative Names: Gray-head prairie coneflower, drooping coneflower, pinnate prairie coneflower.
Uses: Ethnobotanic: Ratibida pinnata root was used to cure toothache (Fielder 1975).
Description: General: Sunflower family (Asteraceae). Yellow coneflower is a native perennial herb growing from a woody caudex up to one meter or taller. The leaves are pinnantely compound, mostly with five to seven lanceolate segments, with harsh and scurfy surfaces (Bruggen 1976). The disk flowers are usually gray at first becoming brown with age. When the disk heads are crushed, an odor of anise is emitted. Each flower has its own stalk and five to eight yellow, drooping petals arranged in a cone shape.
Per Wikipedia, A bumblebee is any member of the bee genus Bombus, in the family Apidae. There are over 250 known species,[1] existing primarily in the Northern Hemisphere although they also occur in South America. They have been introduced to New Zealand and the Australian state of Tasmania.
Bumblebees are social insects that are characterised by black and yellow body hairs, often in bands. However, some species have orange or red on their bodies, or may be entirely black.[2] Another obvious (but not unique) characteristic is the soft nature of the hair (long, branched setae), called pile, that covers their entire body, making them appear and feel fuzzy. They are best distinguished from similarly large, fuzzy bees by the form of the female hind leg, which is modified to form a corbicula: a shiny concave surface that is bare, but surrounded by a fringe of hairs used to transport pollen (in similar bees, the hind leg is completely hairy, and pollen grains are wedged into the hairs for transport).
Like their relatives the honey bees, bumblebees feed on nectar and gather pollen to feed their young.

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August 15th, 2013

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