Monday, January 18, 2010

Breakout & Burdock

Sunday morning I had a 7 mile breakout trail run. “Breakout” is my term for when you climb up and out of an inversion under your own power. IMG_3951 From my house, depending on circumstances, I can do it by bike (road or mtn) or foot. The last month or so has been probably the most consistently inverted winter I can remember here. The pattern of high pressure has meant few storms, so the skiing’s lousy. Backcountry skiing after a couple of snowless weeks isn’t much fun, and the resorts have rocks and shrubs sticking out all over the place. In this blog I’ve gone on many times about how great it is living in Utah, but the truth is that right about now, it kind of sucks.

Tangent: Awesome Wife and I have returned to a conversation that comes up every couple of years or so- should we move? Last week Northern Utah had the worst air quality in the nation. This can’t be good for any of us, but we worry most about Twin A, who is asthmatic. He takes daily medications, and we keep a steroid prescription on hand in the fridge for emergencies. We love our neighborhood, our proximity to both city and foothills, but is living here the right thing for our kids? Should we bite the bullet and move up to Park City, or maybe even out of state?

Our concern and frustration is exacerbated by the almost complete lack of effort or backbone on the part of local and state government to do anything about our bad air. Every January our state legislature convenes for several weeks, spent driving back and forth through the smog to the state capitol, where they worry about gay people getting it on, suing the federal government for possibly, maybe, trying to do something about healthcare, and passing yet another pointless abortion law that we’ll spend years and millions of tax dollars defending before it’s finally shot down by the Supreme Court. Our politicians just love to go on about how pro-family they are. Why isn’t kids breathing clean air considered pro-family?

What’s fascinating to me about inversions is how clear the demarcation is between the inversion layer, and the warm clear air above. Here’s a shot from early on in my run, behind the U. of Utah hospital at ~5,000 feet.

IMG_3952 Here’s the view at the mouth of Dry Creek Canyon, looking East/up-canyon. You can see I’ve almost broken out of the inversion, with clear blue sky just ahead.

IMG_3954 Side Note: What’s interesting is that I broke out of the inversion a moment later, just inside Dry Creek Canyon. But ~45 minutes later, while returning down-canyon, I encountered the fog bank just ½ way down, or in other words, ~3/4 mile up-trail and ~200 feet higher than just 45 minutes earlier. This was consistent with my general observation that inversions seem to rise over the course of the day, probably due to the sun warming the fog…

And here’s what it looked like partway up Dry Creek. The air is clear, clean and dry. Ahhh!

IMG_3966 I haven’t blogged much about plants lately, mainly because I’ve been sticking close to home, or traveling to other Northern climes lately where not much is growing right now. IMG_3955 But about ½ mile up Dry Creek, I noticed several weathered brown shrubs bearing these things. You know them- they’re the little weird Velcro-thistles that stick to your bike shorts or arm-warmers when you brush by, and then stick to your glove like crazy when you try to pick them off. But if you pick them off with your bare fingers, they don’t stick at all. What are these things and what’s the deal with them?

They’re Lesser Burdock, Arctium minus, IMG_3956an exotic weed native to Eurasia which has been wildly successful in North America. It occurs in every state except Alaska, Hawaii and Florida, and every Canadian province South of the Yukon. It even occurs in Greenland! Arctium phylogeny is complicated*, but it seems to have originated in the Iran-Iraq-Turkey area, and have been around for at least 9 million years.

*It’s closely linked/intertwined with the genus Cousinia, which contains some 600+ weedy species originating from the same part of Eurasia. Arctium and Cousinia were originally distinguished based on morphological features, but it turns out that Arctium is paraphyletic, unless grouped with a number of Cousinia species. Together with these species Arctium can be grouped in a true monophyletic clade, all possessing a haploid chromosome number of n=18, and dubbed the “Arctioid Clade”, within the broader “Arctium-Cousinia Complex”.

I’m just curious. Does anyone reading understand what I just said in this footnote besides me, the Catalogue of Organisms guy, KB, Ted and Sally? I always wonder when I write this stuff if people are like, “Oh yeah, that’s cool stuff…” or if they’re just like “zzzz… when’s the next tangent, already?”

Like almost all thistles, it’s a member of the sunflower family. Burdock is a biennial. In its first year of life, it’s just a small, low-to- the-ground clump of leaves (a rosette.) It doesn’t flower, but just accumulates and stores energy for the year to follow. In Year 2 the plant shoots up and flowers. Following pollination and seed development, the plant dies. Every burdock you see right now in Northern Utah has already died.

Burdock127 In summer each purple flower-head consists of dozens of disk flowers (no ray flowers.) They’re pollinated by bees of all sorts- bumblebees, honey bees, wild bees- and also by several moths and butterflies. After pollination, the flower-heads turn brown and dry out.

One of the cool things about flowers in the sunflower family is how often reproductive hardware gets re-purposed for seed dispersal. Dandelions, Salsifies and Spotted Knapweed are all examples we’ve looked at before, and in each of these flowers, following fertilization, the calyxes of the individual florets dry up and transform into little parachutes, which are then carried away by the wind, hopefully some number to a possibly viable location for germination.

In burdock the calyxes also are transformed, but not into parachutes. Rather each dries and hardens into a stiff, thin little stalk, the end of which culminates in a tiny hook. The dried calyxes remain firmly attached to the flower-head, but the connection between the flower and stalk dries up, becoming brittle and weak. When a passing animal bearing a coat of fur brushes against the dried heads, the hooks catch firmly on the animal hairs, with a grip much stronger than the weakened stalk-connection. The heads- full of seeds- remain attached to the animal, and are borne wherever that animal wanders.

Expando1 In the early 1941 George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, returned from a hunting trip and noticed the numerous burdock thistle-heads stuck to both his clothing and the fur of his dog. Curious, he examined several up of the heads under a microscope and noted the tiny hooks which had caught on the fibers of his clothing and the hairs of his dog’s coat. It occurred to de Mestral that the same mechanism might be used to bind two materials. It took him 10 years of experimentation and development, first using cotton, then nylon* to come up with a fully mechanized process for producing Velcro.

*Cotton worked, but only for a short while before wearing out. Nylon was a brand-new material at the time, and de Mestral’s biggest problem with it was working out how to cut hooks out of it.

The new fastener didn’t catch on for a number of years. NASA used it for space suits in the 1960s, but the first large-scale consumer uses were for skiwear, followed by Scuba gear. Today of course, Velcro is everywhere; I can’t think of a day where I don’t connect/disconnect a velcro connector of some sort at least ½ a dozen times.

Hook Closeup Many angiosperms of course use animal agents for seed dispersal. But all Asteraceae fruits are achenes, which, being dry and generally small, lend themselves easily to wind dispersal, which is why so many species in the sunflower family- including Dandelions, Balsamroots, Mules Ears, Knapweeds, Asters and Salsifies- use an Agent-Wind pollination-dispersal strategy. But Burdock is Agent-Agent, and it’s interesting to think about what the relative advantages of each approach might be.

On the downside, there’s always wind, but depending on where you’re growing, there’s no guarantee that an animal will brush against you. GloveConnect But on the upside, when an animal does brush against you, that animal is generally going somewhere. And it occurs to me that animals generally- eventually- get around to going to places conducive to growing plants. An herbivore seeks out plants to eat, and such plants obviously grow in places where plants can grow- not on sun-baked barren outcrops of rock or sand, or in the middle of a pond. And carnivores go looking for prey in places where herbivores are likely to be found, which, again, are places where plants are capable of growing. So while it may be likelier that a breeze will brush against you than an animal, it’s likelier that the animal is eventually headed to someplace where your seed might gain purchase*.

*Always wanted to work that “gain purchase” expression into a post. I think I originally heard it in Raising Arizona, when “Hi” is narrating his fertility problems with Edwina.

IMG_3998 I continued running up the trail, blue sky up above. It hasn’t snowed in close to a couple weeks, and the trail surface is packed snow and ice, treacherous for runners and bikers alike. Fortunately Sunday’s run was my first with a new gear acquisition: Yaktrax, which you can think of as little tire-chains for your shoes. They grip wonderfully on snow and ice, the only minor downside a small increase in foot-weight. I ran over sketchy, slippery trails for 7 miles without even a slip; I don’t know why I waited so long* to get them.

*One of 3 cool gear-acquisitions over the last week, the other 2 of which will most certainly make their way into the blog in coming weeks.

hypercompact There’s another advantage to agent dispersal, which actually occurred to me last week in this same spot, when I biked past and acquired several burdock-heads on my lycra tights. As I stopped to remove them I thought, I’m dispersing seeds in January. Think about that. No dandelion is scattering parachutes now. But animals like deer, coyotes and mtn bikers pass by year-round. Burdock- dead for months- is still dispersing seeds.

Tangent: I thought about something else, too, and that was how many times over the course of this project- and before- I’ve noticed really cool things biking or running up Dry Creek. Glacier Lilies, Ballhead Waterleaf, Stellers Jays, Spotted Towhees, Mule Deer, Coyotes, a lion-kill, Oregon Grape, Milkweed, Balsamroots, Arnicas, Beardstongue, Wild Rose, Salsifies, Lichens, Mosses, Dragonflies, Myrtle Spurge, Spring Parsley, Oaks, Maples, Bitterbrush, Sagebrush and so much more- just on this little (<2 mile) stretch of trail. Think about that*. Over the past 2 years, if I’d done nothing but ride up and down Dry Creek, I still probably could’ve down ¾ of this blog.

*Better yet, search for “Dry Creek” in this blog.

I ran up the canyon, then switch-backed out of the bottom and climbed up along the side-hill to the overlook, running the last 100 yards in the bright morning sun. The air was dry and warm, the light clear and bright, and I felt like I was awake- really awake- for the first time in weeks. At the overlook I paused and looked out over the valley.

IMG_3968 As I did so, I was reminded of the wonderful, awful irony of inversions: that something so ugly, foul, cold and downright unhealthy can be so heart-achingly beautiful when viewed from above. If there’s something prettier than looking down on a valley inversion on a warm, sunny winter morning, I haven’t yet seen it.

IMG_3973 I lingered a while, then reluctantly turned and began the long run down. Toward the bottom of the canyon I began to feel the cold again, creeping through my jacket, my flesh and into my very bones. I exited the canyon and jogged back along the foothills toward home, responsibilities, work and another week in the smoggy valley.

IMG_3975 I’ve found though that the sense of wakefulness and clarity from a breakout lingers for a day or two back down in the fog-world. It’s as though your brain is still carrying a bit of the clear sky around with you. After a couple of days though, the effect wanes, and your mind begins to haze over and fog up again, like the air around you.

10 comments:

KanyonKris said...

Good post.

In your footnote you asked if anyone reads the technical stuff. I do, but I admit I've usually forgotten at least some of the terms. For example, I had to think about monophyletic, uh I know what mono means and phyletic is a form of phylum - so I pieced it together. But I couldn't recall the exact meaning of paraphyletic. Regardless, it's easy to skip over the techie stuff (you do a good job of separating it out), and if you enjoy the techie stuff you should keep doing it for yourself.

I got above the inversion twice this weekend (snowshoe & bike) and it was refreshing. Pretty amazing how much the temperature jumped after getting up out of the inversion. But the best was the sunshine through clear air.

The Phytophactor said...

>>Together with these species Arctium can be grouped in a true monophyletic clade, all possessing a haploid chromosome number of n=18, and dubbed the “Arctioid Clade”, within the broader “Arctium-Cousinia Complex”.<<
Made perfect sense to me, but probably the idea that a group of species share a chromosome number (evidence of common ancestry), but taxonomy based on observable features incorrectly placed some of these species in different genera, might not have been apparent to the more general reader. Botanical jargon can obfuscate meaning

Kevin Vigor said...

I "hiked" [1] East Canyon this weekend from the gate; it was stunning, easily 20 degrees warmer than the valley, sunshine and shirtsleeves. I regretted not bringing my running shoes, wouldn't even have needed the tire chains. There was even a nutter doing laps up Big Mountain on his mountain bike.

Please end, inversion season. This is brutal.

PS: everything I know about chromosomes & biology I learned from this blog but I can at least fool myself into thinking I understand what you're saying.

[1] by "hike" I mean "walked along the snowpacked road".

KanyonKris said...

Kevin - this may have been the nutter.

Rachel said...

I always thought biannuals were sort of the dainty bunch of plant life, but I think I've been proven wrong here. Still, forget-me-nots are dainty.

You don't have to leave Utah to move away from the inversion. You could consider moving up one of those canyons you love or (a less expensive option) moving to Suncrest.

Also, I understood your footnote, but wikipedia had to help me out. I liked the technical stuff, though sometimes I have more time to try and process it than others.

Ski Bike Junkie said...

"I’m just curious. Does anyone reading understand what I just said in this footnote besides me...?"

I didn't, and in fact, just before I got to this part, I had the thought "I have no idea what I just read means." I keep thinking that I'll passively pick some of this stuff up, which over time I have. But in reality, I should probably try and actively learn some things as well.

As an asthmatic adult who got his lungs all kinds of irritated by running in that crap twice last week, I totally understand your concern for Twin A and your angst towards the hypocrites in the legislature. You could move to Pinebrook and start riding trails legally. Suncrest is nice, too.

nick said...

I'd seen burdock but never heard the name until I moved to the UK and found this stuff:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandelion_and_burdock
13th century beverage that's still sort-of-popular today. Can't say I love the taste, and I never made the connection to what it is until today.

Watcher said...

Rachel, SBJ- you’re right, we could move to Suncrest or up Emigration. It’s tough because we love everything else about our location: neighborhood, trail access, city access, easy commutes, great school. Re: Pinebrook, about 4 years ago I used to ride by a house up there that was for sale all summer at a T/H at a price I could’ve scraped together. Wish I’d bought it.(SBJ- I think I pointed it out to you?)

Nick- thanks for the link. I see there’s a gin-based version- the DB&G. I will definitely have to track that down on my next UK trip.

Thanks all for the footnote feedback. I belatedly remembered that I explained monophyly and paraphyly in this post; I should’ve linked to it in the footnote.

BTW, wasn’t the inversion-break wonderful today?

Lucy said...

Good post.

I am totally baffled by the Utah legislature and the yahoos that elect them. Why do people spend so much energy on hate?

Drew and I ask ourselves the same question every year or so: to move or not to move? But no way would I move to Suncrest. Those houses are going to slide off the mountain. Seriously. Plus, then you would be a bigger part of the problem, because you would be increasing miles driven.

I understand about 1/4 to 1/2 half of your tech footnotes, just enough to spark some ancient memory from botany class. They say that is good for the brain.

Awesome burdock hooks on the awesome expand-o-graphic.

My technique for dealing with the inversion this year is to not go out of it. I figure if I don't see how seriously socked in and polluted the air I breath is, I won't get depressed by it. I am not sure it is working.

Sally said...

Awesome post, Watcher, per usual! Nice photos; makes me thankful our inversions aren't nearly so yucky or constant here, thanks to those freight train winds we get (remember Boulderados?).

Thanks for the compliment. I do kinda get mono- and poly-, but had to look up paraphyletic. Wikipedia told me why: "These terms were developed during the debates of the 1960s and 70s accompanying the rise of cladistics." Given the 10-yr lag in info seeping into textbooks, perhaps I can't be blamed too much! (ntm, not being a taxonomist so spending most of my time just trying to memorize the names of the ones I needed to know). We had, and what I remember, is Porter, C. L. 1967. Taxonomy of Flowering Plants. W.H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco. In fact, according to Tod Stuessy's review of it, the "first general textbook in plant systematics to be truly cladistic in perspective" came out in 1999! So how could I have known that? By 1999, I barely remembered there were plants! ;-} So you see, you're WAY aheada me here... Okay, now I've really blown my street cred.

You get a lot more exposure to Velcro than I do, too, and I buy it by the yard!