The bright red-orange and scarlet blooms of the scarlet paintbrush (Castilleja mineata, also called great red paintbrush, giant red paintbrush, and Indian paintbrush) are a common sight in the grasslands of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument from about May through September. Paintbrushes are related to the garden snapdragon, and like snapdragons, their colorful “petals” are really bracts, or modified leaves. The actual flowers are much smaller, and in paintbrushes, fused into a long, greenish-yellow tube.
There are over 200 species of Castilleja in North America, and they frequently hybridize, making species identification difficult. Paintbrush species may have red, orange, pink, yellow, white, or purple bracts.
The genus is named for Domingo Castillejo (1744-1793), a Spanish botanist and Professor of Botany in Cadiz, Spain. In the late 1770s, Spanish-Columbian scientist Jose Celestino Mutis named a new genus “Castilleja” to honor his countryman. The common name comes from the plant’s resemblance to a paint-tipped brush.
 -Melissa Barton
Photo Credit: Melissa Barton
While the paleontology of Florissant has been studied extensively, the geology is less well-known. This summer and over the next few years, Dr. Charles Ver Straeten, a sedimentary geologist from the New York State Museum, will be studying the preservation of volcanic ash layers in the late Eocene Florissant Formation, which dates to about 34 Ma (million years ago).
Just like living organisms that died and fell into ancient Lake Florissant, ash layers aren’t always preserved after deposition. Animal activity can disturb and even destroy thin ash layers, and ash layers are also subject to destructive chemical processes. Understanding how ancient ash layers are preserved–or altered–helps scientists to better interpret the geological record of volcanism.
Ver Straeten is also examining ash layer preservation at the ~48 Ma early Eocene Green River Formation in and around Fossil Butte National Monument. His original ash preservation studies were on much older Devonian rocks (416 to 359 Ma), and he plans to begin a research collection of ash slides as a resource for other researchers.
-Melissa Barton
Photos: Ver Straeten and park paleontologist Dr. Herb Meyer discussing sampling possibilities (top); layers of volcanic ash-clay, pumice, and diatomite at the “Scudder Pit” interpretive site (left); Ver Straeten, Meyer, and summer paleontology interns Kathy Salas and Eva Lyon (right).
Photographer: Melissa Barton
Palaeovespa florissantia, one of the most iconic Florissant fossils, was a paper wasp related to living yellowjackets and hornets. Like its modern relatives, Palaeovespa probably made “papery” gray or brown nests out of plant fibers and saliva. These nests have open honeycomb-like cells for brood rearing, and are anchored to plant stems by a sturdy stalk called a petiole. Modern paper wasps feed on nectar and other insects. They also secrete an ant-repelling chemical around the base of the petiole to keep ants away from their eggs and young.
Palaeovespa was described in 1906 by University of Colorado professor T.D.A. Cockerell (learn more), a naturalist with wide-ranging interests. Cockerell collected extensively in the Florissant Formation during the summers of 1906 to 1908, and published over 130 papers on the fossils of Florissant, as well as numerous papers on living insects he collected there, particularly the bees. If you see a bee collecting pollen from a wildflower at the park, that bee was probably described and named by Cockerell–he described more than 900 species in Colorado alone!
A stylized image of Palaeovespa decorates the sign at the entrance of the Visitor Center parking lot, and Palaeovespa is also part of the Friends logo. You can buy replicas of this specimen at the Visitor Center gift shop.
“To a non-scientific person it seems highly illogical to say that an object is in one sense of priceless value, and in another only worth ten or fifty cents. The value of a new species of fossil fly or beetle, in a money sense, is of course very small, since neither museums nor naturalists can afford to give large sums for objects which “bake no bread,” and which at the time interest perhaps fewer than half a dozen persons in the world. On the other hand, such specimens form part of the material of science, and essential parts of the great structure of knowledge, and will continue for unknown generations to tell their humble but not insignificant tale of what has been. To lose or destroy them is like removing a brick from some splendid building; the building will not fall, but the offense is intolerable.”
-T.D.A. Cockerell, “Colorado A Million Years Ago,” Journal of the American Museum of Natural History (1916)
-Melissa Barton
Photo Credits: NPS/Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (Palaeovespa), Michael Apel (living paper wasp and nest)
At this time of year you may hear the loud cheeping of baby mountain bluebirds (Sialia currucoides) from a nest near the administration building, or catch sight of the bright blue plumage of the male. A member of the thrush family, the mountain bluebird is a small, plump, insect-eating bird. The males are bright blue all over, unlike eastern and western bluebirds, which have ruddy breasts. The females are gray with dull blue wings and tails, and the juveniles are similar to the female but less colorful.
Mountain bluebirds nest in tree cavities, nesting boxes, and sometimes even the eaves of buildings across western North America up into Alaska. This is the third year for the administration building nest, although the first year’s brood was unsuccessful. Pairs may mate for more than one season, usually when they are attached to a particular breeding site. Mountain bluebirds often imprint on the type of nest they were raised in. This year’s pair may be last year’s returning, their offspring, or a different pair entirely.
After the eggs hatch, the female broods the nestlings for a week while the male provides food. After that, the female broods only at night, and both parents hunt insects for the young.
You may see the male in particular aggressively chasing Richardson’s ground squirrels (Spermophilus richardsonii) away from the area of the nest. While Richardson’s ground squirrels are only known to eat the eggs of ground-nesting birds on rare occasion, other species of ground squirrels are egg predators.
This is a great time of the year to observe mountain bluebirds, as the adults are extremely active hunting insects to feed their constantly-hungry young. Keep your eyes open for that flash of blue around the Visitor Center and on the trails!
-Melissa Barton
Photo Credit: Elaine R. Wilson/NaturesPicsOnline.com (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 license)
Yesterday, with the assistance of Intermountain Regional museum curator Matt Wilson and Jennifer Fish Kashay, the lead exhibit designer, a team of staff, volunteers, and interns had an all-day exhibit assembly party. While the new exhibits aren’t complete yet, we made a lot of progress, and you’ll see more changes in the Visitor Center over the next few months.
Exhibit Cabinets
Over the last few weeks, Lead Interpretive Ranger Jeff Wolin and several volunteers assembled the drawers for the three new exhibit cabinets, which are now installed in the Visitor Center.
The drawers contain carefully selected fossils from Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument’s museum collections and a loan from Waynesburg College, as well as photographs of microscopic fossils and exceptional specimens at other institutions and casts of fossil mammal jaws.
This cabinet stands next to the door to the new theatre, where the park’s film plays three times an hour. Step-stools are provided so children can view the fossils. Drawers hold fossils carefully nestled in Ethafoam&tm; cutouts to protect them from jostling when the drawers are pulled out.
Fossil Mounting
Yesterday, Wilson taught a group of interns and volunteers how to mount fossils in brass mounts. After trimming the brass arms, pounding the tips flat, and rounding them with a file, the mounts are carefully bent around the fossil block so as not to touch the surface of the fossil impression itself. These fossils will be screwed into upright panels, to be installed on top of the cabinets and in a wall display.
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The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Friends of the Park group supporting