Sweet Cup. Lasius niger, Black Garden Ant, and Mediterranean Spurge, Euphorbia characias, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Juba II (50 BCE-23 CE), king of Numidia (North Africa), and friend of the Roman Empire, had a very high regard for his botanist doctor, Euphorbus. When his Roman friends named a plant for their doctor, Euphorbus's brother Musa, Juba immediately in recognition of his own physician gave a medicinal plant the latter's name: Euphorbia. That plant had apparently been useful to him when he'd suffered from constipation. Indeed, down through the centuries Mediterranean Spurge has been used as a laxative. But to be handled with care: the white 'milk' which exudes from its broken leaves and stems can cause allergic skin reactions.
Our tiny Black Garden Ant, Lasius niger, is not out for a laxative but rather for Sweet Oozings from Euphorbia's flowers.
A most delightful scene in the Hortus Botanicus of Amsterdam!
Sweet Cup. Lasius niger, Black Garden Ant, and Mediterranean Spurge, Euphorbia characias, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Juba II (50 BCE-23 CE), king of Numidia (North Africa), and friend of the Roman Empire, had a very high regard for his botanist doctor, Euphorbus. When his Roman friends named a plant for their doctor, Euphorbus's brother Musa, Juba immediately in recognition of his own physician gave a medicinal plant the latter's name: Euphorbia. That plant had apparently been useful to him when he'd suffered from constipation. Indeed, down through the centuries Mediterranean Spurge has been used as a laxative. But to be handled with care: the white 'milk' which exudes from its broken leaves and stems can cause allergic skin reactions.
Our tiny Black Garden Ant, Lasius niger, is not out for a laxative but rather for Sweet Oozings from Euphorbia's flowers.
A most delightful scene in the Hortus Botanicus of Amsterdam!