The Mother Tree III
two 48 x 12 acrylic on wood panel works
A magnolia tree with evening grosbeaks in its branches. Magnolias keep their leaves during the winter, providing wonderful shelter for songbirds and small mammals. Their hearty seeds are eaten by small mammals and birds with strong, beaks like woodpecker’s, cardinals, and grosbeaks. Magnolias are the first angiosperm/flowering plant arriving around 95 million years ago, before bees had evolved. They were pollinated by prehistoric beetles. The beetles attracted by the magnolias protein rich pollen, stumbled through the flower happily eating. When they moved in to the next tree, simple pollination took place. Beetles are responsible for pollinating 88% of the ancient species in existence today; this makes beetles very important pollinators. please do not use pesticides in your garden or home and purchase organic foods. We need to protect our pollinators.
