I assume you mean the book by my old cohort Steve who lives in the Denver area. Foodplants of World Saturniidae, Stephen E. Stone. It was published in 1991 as a memoir of The Lepidopterists' Society. The data was complied by Steve from the field efforts of the very best researchers worldwide for this group of moths. It is a great aide for anybody who wants to look for wild livestock or rear Saturniidae. I can get you the LCC/ISBN for the book if you need them. Thinking about this sure brings back some fond memories of field work with Steve. So you are stuck with a story I am afraid. Steve is wheelchair bound but it doesn't slow him down much when there's bugs to do. I well remember a trip with him and Dr. Paul Opler up to Beaver Creek, CO one Saturday with some newly emerged female H. nuttalli I had flew in from Utah with to prove to Paul my hypotheses that this group of Hemileuca's pheromones were so close to each other that they would call in other species besides H. nuttalli. I called in lots of three species with the female H. nuttalli that day - nuttalli, hera and eglanterina to prove my hypotheses. Then in the very wee hours the next morning Steve, Andy Warren (now Dr.) and I drove the 9+ hours to the CO/NM border to look for H. magnifica at its type locality near Mesita, CO. I estabished a new and very unusual LFP record for H. magnifica (Eriogonum effusum), both a county record and new LFP record for Euphilotes rita also that day in Costillo Co (also on E. effusum), and a county record for H. magnifica in Taos Co, NM. Steve followed Andy and I in a 4X4 truck as we walked the washes and plateaus through the head high Indian sagebrush looking for livestock (the sand was too deep for his wheelchair). He'd simple hit the horn to get our attention when he spotted something. We made a stop on the way back at Plum Creek, CO (TL of H. diana) for what turned out to be a very near a 24 hour day start to finish. Karen about skinned my hide for keeping Steve out so long (I didn't tell her it was his idea). Anyway, it was a very fruitful Saturniidae weekend for all of use, proved some theories and established some new records. I flew back to UT early the next morning (back to the real day job). I'm listed in the personal correspondents appendex in Steve's book along with some of the other gents from around the world I worked on Saturniidae projects with back during those years. Unfortunately some of the best have passed on, but their lifes work is still with us and their known LFP's at the time recorded in Steve's book.

Nell, Sassafras trees are not native in Oklahoma. When I was taking the scenic route through NC through the mountains, we stopped in the little mountain community of Highlands. I bought a Sassafras walking stick as a souvenir to take home to my son who was house sitting while we were gone. I bought two t-shirts: one for me and one for him that had the following words on them: "Hike Naked. It adds color to your cheeks". I get a lot of double take looks when I wear it. (hehehe) But we do have Hackberry trees everywhere, and they are butterfly magnets. I have seen the Spicebush butterfly here on my property from time to time. Not sure what they find here for their habitat plant(s) of choice, but they do come here to my place. Not sure if they are listed as a common butterfly in Oklahoma though. I was thrilled! Haven't spotted one yet this year. This is the first year that there haven't been any yellow Sulfurs, however. They are usually here in clouds, filling the air, so to speak. Last year they were spectacular! Those late freezes may have something to do with it. During the warm spell before the freezes there were butterflies out and about, bees and all. Then those three freezes hit in late March and early April and that may have killed them out. Don't know. I sure hope they return. I love those little yellows. They frequent my Salvias, especially the Lady in Red variety. Perhaps they will return soon, as my Salvias are just now starting to bloom. That is really late too. Darned late freezes messed everything up this year. Everything is way out of kilter time-wise. I couldn't find any Pentas this year. Wonder why? I love those beautiful flowers, too. Maybe we gardeners were butterflies in a former life. :) The high temps have returned again today. UGH! Clouds are building again and rolling in. Big, white clouds, coming out of the Northwest and fairly low to the ground. I hope, I hope, I hope we get more rain...and the lower temps return. Hope you all have a wonder-filled Fourth of July. May it be a memorable day for you all. Going out now to add horse manure-hay mulch to more of the flowers beds and fruit trees. It is really making a big difference already. Have a good one! ~Annie

Thank you, Kay. Rebecca, WOW....lucky you to be given 10 yards of fabric! Jan, I was a little concerned about not having the butterflies centered within the squares, but I would have had to waste a lot of fabric to do that, so decided to go with getting as much of the butterflies as I could into each square. The more I look at it, the more I like the butterflies flying all over the place.......just like in nature. Jean, I've gotten used to posting my pics here in the gallery. There are a few of us who are still here that were instrumental in getting the quilting forum put up and then getting the gallery put in so pics could be downloaded direct from your computer...before photobucket days. We've been a part of GardenWeb for over 10 years and ThatHomeSite since it began. There used to be a Beer Garden, but some of us got so raucous Spike closed it down. (Very Big Grin) SharonG/FL

"Perhaps this is destined to remain a horticultural mystery with no ready explanation for what happened." I'm not sure we quite have to declare it a mystery yet. My guess is this is multifactorial: that at some point...or I should say at various points (!)...either in Ruth's yard or at the nursery, the plant might have been both mechanically damaged, and/or subject to freezing during growth, and/or burned by winter sun. And as per typical nursery practice these days, it would have been "optimally" fertilized for maximum speed container growth, which I am quite convinced is not always "optimal" fertilization for winter cold resistance!* Combined these factors, the ability to fully outgrow the damage, and make it through winter, was compromised...even if one incident was some months before the other(s). OTOH take my 'Judy Zuk' whose trunk developed a serious and very alarming looking sun scald/frost crack during the 2nd cold winter (somewhat belying the notion they are solid zn 5 plants, given that in both cold winters it never went below 0F here) - I wasn't even sure it would survive, but it has quickly sealed off the wound and in a couple more years I doubt it will even be noticeable. I'll try to grab a picture later if I remember. Btw that injury was after its first winter in the ground, which was only 1 year after grafting. I think it's quite reasonable to assume that grafted magnolias, whatever their agreed upon hardiness rating, are a little more sensitive in the first couple years after grafting. Though Ruth's plant looks too big for that to be a factor now, it might have been during the time it faced whatever challenge it first faced. And btw in my humble opinion, it is quite possible for a plant to leaf out in spring, even though it's already doomed by that point. I've seen it with winter damaged things. * - surely there is no need for me to rehash the story of the same Camellia cultivar which survived with only minor burning here, in the first cold winter (2013-2014)...but was killed to the ground, unable to even sprout from the roots, at Longwood! Same lows in that particular winter, it's only 40 minutes away! Also their plant was sheltered by building walls, mine was not. The caretaker admitted to me they'd rushed it into fast growth because they needed to get it blooming for breeding purposes.