Greater NC Spring BioThon 2020's Boletim

Check out this beautiful Purple Passionflower found by bluecoral16 in the Greater NC Spring BioThon: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/49140141

Purple Passionflowers are very intricate and hailed for their beauty usually being included in native botanical gardens, in fact they are my fiancee's favorite flower!
It is a native of the Southeastern U.S. and is easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. but have the propensity to become invasive if introduced into new areas.

The flower aside from being beautiful and exotic has many interesting uses. The Houma, Cherokee and other Native American tribes used purple passionflower for food, drink, and medicinal purposes. The fruits were eaten either raw or boiled to make syrup. A beverage was made from the fruits by crushing and straining the juice. Sometimes the juice was thickened by mixing it with flour or cornmeal. The young shoots and leaves were eaten, cooked with other greens. The roots were used in an infusion to treat boils, and to “draw out inflammation” of wounds from briers or locusts. Babies were given a tea made from the roots to aid in weaning. The roots were beaten with warm water and used as eardrops to treat earaches. Root infusions were used to treat liver problems. Soaking the crushed roots in drinking water made a “blood tonic.” The plant was also used as a sedative to treat nervous conditions. To round everything off it the flower is also a great attractant for butterflies!

Information gathered from the USDA plant guide: https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_pain6.pdf
and the NC Extension Gardner Plant Toolbox: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/passiflora-incarnata/

Check out this observation by Britnet in the Greater NC Spring BioThon, she spotted this magestic raptor in Haw River, NC: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/47421379

Ospreys are very distinctive fish-hawks, formerly classified with other hawks but now placed in a separate family of their own. Along coastlines, lakes, and rivers almost worldwide, the Osprey is often seen flying over the water, hovering, and then plunging feet-first to catch fish in its talons. After a successful strike, the bird rises heavily from the water and flies away, carrying the fish head-forward with its feet. They can be found near water, either fresh or salt, where large numbers of fish are present. May be most common around major coastal estuaries and salt marshes, but also regular around large lakes, reservoirs, rivers. Migrating Ospreys are sometimes seen far from water, even over the desert.

Like most raptors the Osprey was seriously endangered by effects of pesticides in mid-20th century; since DDT and related pesticides were banned in 1972, Ospreys have made a good comeback in many parts of North America.

Information gathered from https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/osprey