Imaginal Butterfly Cells Inspire Imaginal People

The fuzzy, serrated leaves of poppies had sprouted up all over the lawn on the southwest side of the house that spring and he didn’t want to kill them, so the lawnmower was kept in its shed.  Perhaps it was the stunning beauty of the red flowers that were yet to grow and bloom.  Perhaps it was that poppies are as close to a sacred flower as one could get to Canadians of a certain age who have lived through countless Remembrance Days in schools, churches and at war memorials that were prominent in every town.  Nevertheless, he allowed them to grow and blossom in freedom, even though it broke the code of grass separated from “gardens” that most people in the small town observed.

Once the glorious petals had done their job of attracting pollinators, they fell, one by one until the grass was covered in red.  The seed pods grew and he couldn’t just cut them down knowing they contained the very stuff of new life.  And so the lawnmower stayed put.

To his surprise, new plants started emerging amongst the poppy stalks.  As he watched, they grew and became obviously Common Milkweeds.  There was news of declining Monarch Butterfly populations on the radio and in the press and people were being encouraged to grow milkweed plants so that the butterflies had a place to lay their eggs.  Monarch caterpillars eat only milkweed and the species cannot survive without it.  Milkweed was labelled at that time as a “noxious weed” by most municipalities, so growing it was kind of illegal.   But the story about the plant was in flux and people were changing their minds about it because Monarch butterflies were as close to a sacred insect as you could get for Canadians.

/Common Milkweed plants in flower

And so, he left the plants alone.  They grew and their hundreds of tiny pink flowers opened and filled the air with a sweet, pleasing scent.  He watched for butterflies to appear but only saw one or two that whole summer.  Perhaps the news of declining populations was correct.  They used to be everywhere when he was a kid.  The flowers became seed pods filled with silky strands and oval shaped brown seeds.  He left them alone and needless to say, the lawnmower was not used until the late fall.

The next spring, more poppies popped up and he loved them.  But the main event became the milkweed emergence.  The rhizomes of the original ones shot up new stems and brand new plants emerged as well, perhaps from the seeds that he left on the plants to fall and blow where they might.  Perhaps new plants emerged in far off places as well.  He imagined delighted butterflies encountering them along their migration route.  That summer, more butterflies showed up and he watched the leaves of the plants for chew marks.  He was delighted to find one caterpillar happily munching along a leaf.  He left the plants to go to seed and collected some seed pods to share with other people.

Now, five years later, there are about one hundred milkweed plants in that side yard.  They have flowered and the air is so sweet that you can smell it from the sidewalk as you walk up the long driveway.  Many Monarchs can be seen wafting over the plants and with the sun shining, it feels like a dream, somewhere to go to in a meditation, something that conjures up feelings of peace and serenity.  

Monarch caterpillar eating Common Milkweed

Always on the lookout for caterpillars, this year he has been astonished at the number he has found.  By carefully lifting up leaves and getting down on his knees, he has found tiny ones, little ones, medium sized ones and ones that look like they might just explode.  He has noticed that they seem to favour the tiny young plants that grow in the shade of the cedars.  Perhaps these are more tender for tiny caterpillar mandibles.  The caterpillars seem to eat a bit of a plant and then move on.  Perhaps they have an agreement not to kill any one plant.  Perhaps their relationship is one of support.  The toxic milky substance inside of the leaves and stems is what makes Monarch caterpillars and butterflies taste bad to predators who have learned to leave them alone.  And the caterpillars only eat plants in the milkweed family without decimating the population.

Now, he is on the look out for a lovely green and silver Monarch chrysalis that may be hanging from leaves.  They blend in (on purpose) with the surroundings and so they are hard to spot.  But he has good eyes and is determined, so the hunt goes on.  Oh, and you know by now where the lawnmower is.  It is fascinating to know that when the caterpillar goes into the chrysalis, all the cells go into a kind of green mush and then reorganize into a butterfly.  The cells that have the genetic coding for the adults have been called “imaginal cells” by scientists.  They direct the formation of a butterfly from green mush.  Amazing!

\I think the mouth is at the far end

He is hoping that if he can find a chrysalis and he keeps checking it, he might be able to view the emergence of the wet butterfly.  He can imagine that happening and is eager to see it for himself.

Curious to know what the current status of the Monarchs is, he learned that  that this year, according to Andrew Rhodes, Mexico’s National Commissioner for Protected Natural Areas, ,there has been a 144% increase in the Monarch population overwintering in Mexico this year (CBC website).  Experts believe this is because of increased protection of habitat where the butterflies winter and the planting of milkweed along their migration route by people who care about them.  People who had the imagination to imagine a different world, where Monarchs and Milkweeds thrived.  People like him.  Perhaps they were all the imaginal cells of this new story of restoration, this new story of diversity instead of a monoculture lawn.  

Some of these people planted milkweed in their yards.  All he did was leave the lawnmower in the shed and get out of the way of life that was ready to regenerate.  And there were enough people to make a difference.  I imagine that it isn’t a very large percentage of the population that have done this, but it is enough.  I don’t know, but maybe all the cells in the mush of a chrysalis aren’t imaginal cells.  Maybe all people don’t have the imagination to imagine a different future.  But those that do, can make all the difference.  Imaginal people are creating this new story.