![[Charles Darwin]](darwin.jpg)
The Darwin's Day
Phylum Feast
is a shared
potluck meal
composed of
as many taxa
as possible,
celebrated by
naturalists on
Charles Darwin's
birthday,
12 February,
to commemorate
the relatedness
of all organisms.
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at the Bishops Mills Natural History Centre
The EOBM having transferred the hosting of the annual potluck celebration to us, we welcomed a cheerful crowd to the diversity feast at
Bishops Mills Natural History Centre
30 Main Street, Bishops Mills
Thursday, 12 February 2004
16h00-21h00 (from 4:00 - 9:00)
Before supper we toured the BMNHC, and explored jars of fluid-preserved specimens from the diverse treasures of the Carleton collections.
After dinner...
addressed us on the subject of
"Newts of the World,
their diversity and phylogeny"
more about Darwins Day
Subject: [NatureList] Darwins Day Phylum Feast Species List, BMNHC, 12 Feb 2004
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 14:09:50 -0500
From: "Frederick W. Schueler"
To: Eastern Ontario Natural History List
in my invitation to the Phylum Feast I wrote:
> The potlucks [at the EOBM since 1999] turned out to be largely vegetarian, with a great variety of families of Plants, but few Fungi or Animals, so the maximal effect on the total disparity of the menu is achieved by bringing dishes featuring Fungi, bacterially fermented foods identified to species, and invertebrate Animals.
* this morning Ted Mosquin phoned about another matter, and wondered how the Phylum Feast had gone. Cindy Deachman needed a fully-named list for her account of the Feast for her Ottawa food-'zine Burnt toast, which is one reason this took so long. What with one thing and another I only finished finding the names for the species list yesterday, and I append it here.
As a Phylum Feast, this was only moderately successful, and I'd accurately forecast the deficiencies. Only 80 species were represented. Reasons for this included my illness (as our household's primary diversifier), the inablity to attend of several who were going to bring invertebrates and Conifers, lack of vigilance along the spice & herb rack (where most of the potential family-level diversity of Vascular Plants is to be obtained), and a failure to bring processed foods, which often contain ingredients derived from many exotic species. We are, of course, far inland, many larders do tend towards vegetarianism, and February presents minimal opportunities to step out-of-doors to harvest or forage, but next year we've got to pass the 100 species mark!
I'm sorry I wasn't well enough to write an account of the event itself - thanks to Carolyn Seburn for recording the ingredients of the dishes, to Wes von Papineäu for his newtsome address, to the EOBM for the loan of their hybrid between a tank and a projector screen, and to Aleta, Jennie, and Joan Morrison for all the cleaning up that made the gathering possible.
fred.
SPECIES LIST
Fungi (5)
Button Mushroom, Agaricus bispora
Manitoba Maple Oyster Mushroom, Hypsizygus ulmarius
Shitake, Lentinus edodes
Wood Ears, Auricularia polytricha
Bread & Wine Yeast
Protista
Rhodophyta
Nori, Porphyra
Phaeophyta
Arame, Eisenia bicyclis
Plants
Pteridophyta
*Ostrich Fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris
Monocots (15)
Wheat & Spelt, Triticum
Rice, Oryza sativa
Barley, Hordeum vulgare
Millet, Setaria
Oats, Avena sativa
Sugar Cane, Saccharum officinarum
Corn, Zea mays
"Bamboo shoots"
Leeks, Allium ampeloprasum
Onions, Allium cepa
Garlic, Allium sativum
Vanilla, Vanilla fragrans (V. planifolia?)
Coconut, Cocos nucifera
Date Palm, Phoenix dactylifera
Cattail, Typha x glauca
Dicots (48)
Arrowroot, Marantha arundinacea
Lambsquarters, Chenopodium album
Parsley, Petroselinum crispum
*Prickly Pear, Opuntia
Poppy, Papavar somniferum
Carrot, Daucus carota
Olive, Olea europaea
Lemon, Citrus limon
Kumquat, Citrus kumquat
*Lettuce, Lactuca sativa
Grape, Vitis spp.
Ginger, Zingiber officinale
English Walnut, Juglans regia
Pecan, Carya illinoesis
Almond, Prunus dulcis
Umeboshi Plum, Prunus mume
Strawberry, Fragaria hybrid
Cranberries, Vaccinium macrocarpon
Pumpkin, Cucurbita maxima
Cucumber, Cucurbita sativus
Mango, Mangifera indica
Cashew, Anacardium occidentale
Papaya, Carica papaya
Elderberry, Sambucus canadensis
Chick Peas, Cicer arietinum
Green & Black Turtle Beans, Phaseolus vulgaris
Peanut, Arachis hypogaea
Soy, Glycine max
Brazil Nuts, Bertholletia excelsa
Tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum
Potatoes, Solanum tuberosum
Red & Bell Peppers, Caspicum
Cabbage, Brassica rapa
Mustard, Brassica nigra
Canola, Brassica napus
Sesame, Sesamum indicum
Banana, Musa acuminata
Star-fruit, Averrhoa carambola
Cacao, Theobroma cacao
Gum Arabic, Acacia senegal
Cotton, Gossypium hirsutum
Rhubarb, Rheum rhaponticum
Manioc, Manihot esculenta
Cinnamon, Cinnamomum zeylanicum (C. verum?)
Apple, Pyrus malus
Pear, Pyrus communis
*Sweet Potato, Ipomoea batatas
Hazelnut, Corylus avellana
Animals
Vertebrates (4)
Cattle, Bos taurus
Chicken, Gallus domesticus
Goat, Capra hircus
*Herring, Clupaea harengus
Echinoderms
"Sea Cucumber" (Holothuria)
Crustaceans
Alaskan King Crab, cf Paralithodes camtschaticus
Molluscs
Oyster, cf Crassostrea
Insects
Bee Honey, Apis mellifera
Mealworms, Tenebrio molitor