O’ Cassia Tree, O’ Cassia Tree, how lovely are your branches…

Where some female Sulphurs are concerned, the verse above should read, how lovely are your blossoms. The brilliant yellow buds found on a blooming Cassia plant, are number one on these gals’ Christmas lists.

Christmas Cassia (Cassia bicapsularis), a vigorous, evergreen winter bloomer, decorates itself in golden blossoms of sunshine for the holiday season. It, along with several others, such as Desert Cassia (Cassia polyphylla) and Candlestick Cassia (Senna alata) serve as hosts to a variety of Sulphurs (Colias), including the Cloudless (Phoebis sennae) and several species of Oranges and Yellows.

Although female Sulphurs will place their tiny offspring upon the green foliage of the Cassia plant, they much prefer to set their eggs down upon its tender buds. Here, a newly emerged caterpillar can climb into a safe sun colored burrow which will provide him with food and shelter.

The lovely saffron flowers showcased by Christmas Cassias and others alike, are not only cherished by the female butterflies, but by their young as well. Sulphur caterpillars prefer to feed on Cassia’s bright petals, mimicking their yellow color while doing so.

Then, like a Christmas miracle, when the favored florets are gone and the green foliage must be consumed, Sulphur caterpillars miraculously turn a verdant hue. And, almost as if attempting a keepsake, often they retain, in the form of a yellow stripe, just a hint of the flowers they so adored.

To learn and see more about Sulphur caterpillars click the flower bud found at the end of this blog.

O’ Cassia Tree, O’ Cassia Tree, how lovely are your blossoms!

Christmas Cassia in Bloom

A perfect snowflake falls
Gently descending
Into a journey unending

It begins by
Waking to a dream
Of melting into stream

Then travels
As rainbow mist
Of waterfall color kissed

Only to rise again
A cloud cast night
Cloaking the moon’s soft light

Once more
Transformed anew
Sails to earth a drop of dew

Nurturer now
Of seedlings sought
By sweet sunflowers it is caught

Bright yellow blooms
Spring from the ground
Life for those who flutter round

In full circle
Creation is shown
Divine harmony known

Soaring upwards
Towards the heavens high
Blissful as a Butterfly

© Kristen D’Angelo

I am grateful for the endless skies, I am thankful for the Butterflies!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!! KD