Tag Archives: Summer Hill Natural Area

National Wildflower Week 2024 – Day 6

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Lady Bird Johnson said wildflowers “give us a sense of where we are in this great land of ours.”

Always the first full week of May, National Wildflower Week commemorates the colorful blossoms that bring our landscapes to life.

To celebrate this week, I encourage you to visit one of our area nature preserves, parks or trails to view the wildflowers now in bloom locally. Each day of this week-long celebration, I’ll feature a local native wildflower that you may find in bloom at this time.

To continue this week’s focus on wildflowers and for your self-guided search today, I suggest that you go looking for Red Baneberry (Actaea rubra). See below for my suggestions as to where locally you can find this native forb.

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Red Baneberry is a bushy herbaceous perennial plant that is 1-3′ tall either unbranched or sparingly branched with large, highly-divided leaves. The central stem and any secondary stems are light green and smooth; leaf stems are up to 6” long, light green, and smooth. Each plant has 1-4 alternate leaves that are thrice divided, becoming widely spreading. Leaflets are 1¼–3½” long and coarsely toothed along their margins. The upper leaf surface is medium green and smooth, while the lower leaf surface is slightly more pale and either smooth or hairy along the major veins.

Above the foliage are dense, globular clusters of small white flowers. The fruit is an attractive, but poisonous, red berry.

The central stem and any secondary stems terminate in solitary racemes of flowers that are 1-2″ long; these racemes become slightly longer when the flowers are replaced by berries. Each flower is about ¼” across or slightly wider, consisting of 4-10 white widely spreading petals that are individually narrowly elliptic in shape, and 15-40 white, long and showy stamens. The ascending to widely spreading flower stems (pedicels) within each raceme are ~½” long (or slightly more) and noticeably more slender than the central stalk (rachis) of the raceme. The flowers have a rosy fragrance and the numerous stamens give each cluster a feathery appearance.

The main way of distinguishing Red Baneberry from White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda), whether in flower or in fruit, is the thickness of the pedicel. The flower stalks of White Baneberry are noticeably thicker than the slender flower stalks of Red Baneberry. This difference is most pronounced after the flowers fade and are replaced by fruit. The stalks supporting White Baneberry fruit thicken and turn a bright red, while the stalks of Red Baneberry fruit are significantly more slender and remain green or greenish brown.

Afterwards, fertile flowers are replaced by bright red, glossy, ovoid berries that become about ¼ inch long at maturity. Each berry contains a fleshy pulp and several seeds. Individual seeds are about ⅛ inch long, reddish brown, and crescent-shaped.

Where Found:

Habitats include moist to mesic woodlands, shady stream banks, and shaded areas where some seepage of ground water occurs. Red Baneberry is shade-tolerant and can grow in moderate to full shade, doing best in light to moderate shade. It is found in hardwood forests, but is also seen in mixed wood forests with conifers.

Ecological Significance:

In botany, there is a scale called the “Coefficient of Conservatism.”  The scale represents how tolerant a plant is to human disturbances and how representative it is to a pre-settlement natural community of plants.  Coefficients of conservatism (“C” or CoC values) are increasingly being used to prioritize natural areas for conservation as well as for the monitoring of outcomes of habitat restoration projects. Species least tolerant of human disturbance and with an affinity for high-quality native habitats are placed in category “10.”  Red Baneberry is placed in category “8.”

SOURCE: Bried, Jason & Strout, Kerry & Portante, Theresa. (2012). Coefficients of conservatism for the vascular flora of New York and New England: inter-state comparisons and expert opinion bias. Northeastern Naturalist. 19. 101-114. 10.2307/41495840.

Red Baneberry’s importance for wildlife is low, because it is generally not an abundant plant. The flowers do not have nectar, offering only pollen to visiting insects, which are mainly bees. Most bees seen on the flowers are Halictid species (including Lasioglossum cressonii and Lasioglossum versans). However, the main pollinator in the Northeast is said to be the European Snout Beetle (Phyllobius oblongus), an introduced weevil.

Because the foliage is somewhat toxic, it is usually avoided by browsing animals. However, some animals feed on the seeds of this plant while rejecting the pulp, such as Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus), Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), White-Footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), and Woodland Deer Mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus). Meanwhile, birds that eat the fruits include the American Robin (Turdus migratorius), Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum), Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), Gray-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus), Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus), Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina), and Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius).

How to Grow Your Own:

NOTE:  Red Baneberry is a protected plant listed as a species that is exploitably vulnerable.  It is a violation of New York State Environmental Conservation Law §9-1503 to collect or destroy listed plants without the permission of the landowner. The regulation gives landowners additional rights to prosecute people who collect plants without permission.

By division –

Because the root system consists of a vertical rootstock with fibrous secondary rootlets below, it is not possible to propagate by root division.

From seeds –

Best sown as soon as the fruit is ripened in autumn.  Seeds have a limited viability, so if sown in spring, germination rates may be poor. The seeds are slow to germinate, doing so in the following year, and then flowering in the third year.

What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week? (May week 1)

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This week, I’m featuring Striped Maple (Acer pensylvanicum) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Striped Maple is a slow-growing understory tree which rarely grows over twenty or thirty feet tall and is often found growing as a shrub. The trunk is generally short and forked, usually divided into a few ascending, arching branches, which results in a broadly columnar shape and an uneven, flat-topped crown.

Striped Maple bark is smooth and green or greenish brown when it is young, featuring long white or pale vertical lines and creating a striking appearance, which is the basis of its common name. The bark turns reddish-brown with dark vertical lines as it matures.

Photo Credit: https://wildadirondacks.org/images/Trees-of-the-Adirondacks-Striped-Maple-Acer-pensylvanicum-Bark-Heart-Lake-Trail-28-June-2017-61.jpg

Like other maples, Striped Maples have opposite, lobed leaves that are 3–6 inches long and 2.5–4.5 inches broad. The leaves of the Striped Maple are large, thin, and somewhat papery; they usually have three triangular, forward-pointing lobes, with a large central lobe. The margins of the leaves are finely toothed. The base of the leaf is rounded or slightly heart-shaped. Striped Maple leaves are a deep yellow-green and smooth above, turning bright yellow in autumn.

Photo Credit: https://wildadirondacks.org/images/Trees-of-the-Adirondacks-Striped-Maple-Acer-pensylvanicum-Leaf-Heart-Lake-Trail-15-August-2018-61.jpg

Striped Maple flowers in late spring or early summer, following leaf development. The flowers are small and greenish yellow, arranged in loose drooping clusters.

The fruit is a samara and they are somewhat reddish in early development, changing later to tan. The fruits have widely spaced wings (~145°) and are about 3/4 inch long, maturing in late summer and early fall.

Photo Credit: Samaras Homer Edward Price CC BY 2.0

Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

No known uses as food.

American Indians used Striped Maple to treat a variety of ailments. The Iroquois used a compound decoction that included the bark of Striped Maple as a laxative. The Micmac used a decoction of the bark or wood in the treatment of colds, coughs, gonorrhea, and kidney troubles.

Bark tea is a folk remedy for minor skin problems like acne.

    Wildlife Value:

      Bees in the genus Andrena, especially Andrena milwaukeensis, are considered the most important pollinators of Striped Maple.  However, flies are the most abundant visitors to this species.Members of the genus Acer serve as hosts of the Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis) larvae which have one brood per season.

      Striped Maple is an important food plant for a variety of wildlife:  Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) and Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) eat the seeds; American Beaver (Castor canadensis), New England Cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis), and North American Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) frequently eat the bark; White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) browse the leaves and twigs though it provides relatively low energy as a food source; and Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) consume the buds in spring.

      Striped Maples are also very useful to wildlife in that these small trees help create vertical diversity – a forest canopy with multiple layers. Multiple layers create a more balanced ecosystem providing both food and shelter for wildlife. For instance, the Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens) prefers to nest in sites that offer a dense understory layer, including shrubs such as Hobblebush (Viburnum lantanoides) and small trees such as Striped Maple and Mountain Maple (Acer spicatum).

        Where Found:

        Striped Maple is an understory tree of mixed species woodlands found in moist soils (acid soil preferred) with moderate light. Striped Maple is a shade-tolerant species that grows best in dappled shade.

        Striped Maple can be found in a several ecological communities, including:

        Locally, you will find Striped Maple at these destinations:

        National Wildflower Week 2024 – Day 4

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        Lady Bird Johnson said wildflowers “give us a sense of where we are in this great land of ours.”

        Always the first full week of May, National Wildflower Week commemorates the colorful blossoms that bring our landscapes to life.

        To celebrate this week, I encourage you to visit one of our area nature preserves, parks or trails to view the wildflowers now in bloom locally. Each day of this week-long celebration, I’ll feature a local native wildflower that you may find in bloom at this time.

        To continue this week’s focus on wildflowers and for your self-guided search today, I suggest that you go looking for Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum). See below for my suggestions as to where locally you can find this native forb.

        Distinguishing Characteristics:

        Jack-in-the-Pulpit is a perennial plant that may live more than 20 years and generally grows to about 1-2′ tall, but can grow up to 3’ tall. It consists of 1-2 trifoliate leaves with long petioles and a single flower atop a stout stalk (peduncle). The peduncle is wrapped by a sheath at its base and it is shorter than the petioles. Both have a smooth hairless surface, and their color varies from light green to reddish green or brownish green. Leaflets are up to 7″ long and 3″ across; they are generally oval with a pointed tip, finely veined, and smooth along the margins. The terminal leaflet is larger than the lateral leaflets. When the leaves emerge, they reveal the sex of the plant:  male and non-flowering plants have 1 set of compound leaves, female plants have 2 sets. Sometimes the leaves tower over the flower and hide it from view.

        The cylindrical flower structure is about 3½” long and 2″ across and consists of the spadix (Jack) which is an erect 2-3” tall spike containing numerous, tiny, green to purple flowers and the sheath-like spathe (pulpit) which encases the lower part of the spadix and then opens to form a hood extending over the top of the spadix. The outside of the spathe is slightly furrowed and usually green or purple and the inside is usually striped purple and greenish white, though considerable color variations exist. Flowering plants initially produce only male flowers, but become hermaphroditic as they further age with male flowers on the upper part of the spadix and female flowers on the lower part. The male flowers have several stamens, while the female flowers have a single pistil.

        Male plants tend to be smaller than females and have a small hole at the bottom of the spathe which allows pollinators to escape (with their pollen) more easily. Female plants lack the hole and pollinators are more likely to become trapped, better ensuring successful pollination. While Jack-in-the-Pulpit has both male and female plants, they can change gender from year to year, apparently in response to successful (or failed) reproduction the previous year.

        Most plants in a colony become dormant and disappear by mid-summer, but the mature, hermaphroditic flowering plants will produce a cluster of red berries in mid- to late summer, which becomes visible as the spathe withers.

        Each fertilized flower will develop a fleshy bright red fruit about ¼” across, each containing 1 to 5 seeds that ripens by fall.

        Where Found:

        Jack-in-the-Pulpit prefers to grow in partial sun to full shade in rich, moist, deciduous woods and floodplains.

        Ecological Significance:

        Jack-in-the-Pulpit thrives in moist, shady and seasonally wet locations and is most commonly found in floodplain forests.

        The flowers are pollinated by fungus gnats (Sciaridae & Mycetophilidae) and the larvae of parasitic thrips (Heterothrips arisaemae and probably Ctenothrips bridwelli), which are attracted into the hooded spathes by the slight fungal odor emitted by this plant.

        The foliage and corms (especially the latter) contain crystals of calcium oxalate, which can cause a burning sensation in the mouth and irritation of the gastrointestinal tract. As a result, animals rarely eat this plant. However, some upland birds feed on the foliage occasionally as well as its red berries, including Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), and Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina).

        How to Grow Your Own:

        Jack-in-the-Pulpit will spread and colonize over time from its corm. It is easier to start plants from corms, rather than seeds.

        From corms –

        The quickest way to propagate new plants is by splitting off the cormlets that form alongside the parent roots. Here’s how to do it:

        1. In the fall when the plants have just entered dormancy, dig up the entire root clump, using a shovel or trowel. (Wear gloves to avoid skin contact.)
        2. Break or cut off the cormlets that have formed alongside the main corm or tuber.
        3. Immediately replant the pieces (as well as the parent corm) in about six inches of humus-rich soil in a location with light shade.
        4. Water well, then cover the planted pieces with mulch for the winter.

        From seeds –

        CAUTION:  Leaves and fruits contain calcium oxalate that can irritate the skin, so it is important to wear gloves when collecting and cleaning the berries.

        Jack-in-the-Pulpit seeds can be collected once the spathe has died back in the fall and the berries are fully ripened. Wearing gloves to protect your hands from irritation, remove the berries from the pod and clean the flesh from the seeds. Berries can be smashed with a large spoon or by hand, and the seeds separated by rinsing them in a strainer, picking out large debris. Seeds should be cleaned as soon as possible after collection as they lose viability if allowed to dry out. Following cleaning, seeds need to be cold-stratified to germinate. To do so, mix the cleaned seeds with damp sphagnum moss and placing the mixture into a resealable plastic bag or container and then store them in a refrigerator for 60-90 days. Then, sow them in a flat covered with ½” soilless commercial potting mix and keep the flat in a cool, damp place. Germination should take two to three weeks. In spring, plant the seedlings outdoors. Plants grown from seeds have only one leaf the first year and it takes them three or more years to come to flower.

        What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week? (April week 4)

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        This week, I’m featuring Dwarf Ginseng (Panax trifolius) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

        Distinguishing Characteristics:

        Dwarf Ginseng is one of our ephemeral spring wildflowers.  Each year it has a fleeting above-ground life of only about two months.  Then the foliage dies back and the root lives underground until the next spring.

        This perennial herbaceous plant grows 3-8″ tall.  It has a smooth and reddish green unbranched stem that terminates in a whorl of compound leaves and a single flowering stalk.

        Dwarf Ginseng has medium green compound leaves with stalks about 1-1/4 inches long to which three (sometimes five) leaflets are attached.  The leaflets are finely toothed and stalkless, and they appear in a whorl around the stem about halfway between the base and flower cluster.  The leaves are oblong to lance-like to elliptic with the middle leaflet being the largest and the side leaflets becoming progressively smaller.  The upper surface of the leaves is medium green and hairless.

        Photo Credit: (c) 2005 Peter M. Dziuk,
        https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/dwarf-ginseng#lboxg-2

        The flowering stalk rises 1-3″ above the leaves, terminating in a single small umbel of white flowers about ¾” across.  Like the central stem, it is light green to dull red and hairless.  Individual flowers are about 1/8″ across with five white petals.  The flowers of some plants are all staminate (male, which bear pollen), while the flowers of other plants are perfect (male and female, with the latter producing seeds).  Smaller plants usually produce male flowers.  Individual plants are capable of changing their gender from year-to-year.  It has been estimated that every year about one fourth to one third of the plants in an area switch from producing one kind of flower to the producing the other.  The flowers turn pale pink before withering.

        Photo Credit: (c) 2005 Peter M. Dziuk,
        https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/dwarf-ginseng#lboxg-1

        Fertilized perfect flowers are replaced by small clusters of berries.  The rather dry berries are initially green, but later become yellow as they ripen.  Each berry contains 2-3 white kidney-shaped seeds, each less than 1/8” in size.

        Photo Credit: https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/dwf_ginseng.htm

        Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

        The distinctive tubers (a small round ball only about half an inch wide) of Dwarf Ginseng can be eaten raw or boiled. This species, in contrast to the well-known herbal medicine American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), is not extensively used for medicinal purposes. However, in the past, the Cherokee and the Iroquois used tea of the whole plant in the past to treat a wide variety of ailments, such as chest pain, colic, gout, hepatitis, hives, indigestion, liver ailments, rheumatism, and tuberculosis. The root was chewed for headaches, shortness of breath, fainting, and nervous debility.

        Wildlife Value:

        Very little is known about floral-faunal relationships for this species.  The flowers are probably cross-pollinated by small bees and flies.

        Where Found:

        Dwarf Ginseng is found in moist rich woodlands and occurs mainly in two ecological communities:  Beech-Maple Mesic Forest and Maple-Basswood Rich Mesic Forest and can often be found under Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum).

        What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week?  (April week 3)

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        This week, I’m featuring Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris) as two of our local wildflowers that begin to bloom at this time.

        In sunny wetlands, Marsh Marigold is one of the first wildflowers to bloom in the spring. According to the Cornell Botanic Gardens in Ithaca, New York, Marsh Marigold bloomed an average of six days earlier over the period of 1986 to 2015 as an indication of climate change sensitivity.

        Description:

        Marsh Marigold is a native perennial herbaceous plant in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) that tends to grow in clumps. Also known as cowslip, cowflock, or kingcup, it is a lovely harbinger of spring.

        Marsh Marigold in Ushers Road State Forest

        Marsh Marigold grows from 8-24 inches tall with many branches, and has glossy green basal leaves that are round, oval, heart or kidney-shaped and up to 4” long and 4” across.

        Basal leaves of Marsh Marigold
        Photo Credit: https://commonsensehome.com/marsh-marigold/

        The basal leaves have long petioles while upper, stem leaves are alternate and on shorter petioles becoming stalkless as they ascend the stem. The stems are hairless and hollow. Leaves are smooth with a deep and narrow notch and their margins have small scallops or teeth. Leaf edges may be toothless but are more often scalloped.

        Upper stem leaves of Marsh Marigold
        Photo Credit: https://commonsensehome.com/marsh-marigold/

        The upper stems produce small clusters of 2-5 bright yellow flowers on short petioles, usually rising above the leaves. Each flower is about ¾–1½” across with 5-9 (usually) petal-like sepals. There are no true petals. The sepals are bright yellow, well-rounded, and slightly overlapping. There is no noticeable floral scent.

        Fertilized flowers mature into a flattened and recurved seedpod (follicle) about 3/8 inch long.  Each follicle is initially green and erect, spreading out as it matures, drying to light greenish brown and eventually splitting open along its upper side to release its seeds.

        Marsh Marigold fruit (follicles)
        Photo Credit: (c) 2010 Peter M. Dziuk,
        https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/marsh-marigold#lboxg-3
        Marsh Marigold seeds
        Photo Credit: USDA, NRCS. 2016. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 13 February 2016). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

        Folklore:

        A German legend tells the story of a maiden named Caltha (meaning “cup” in Greek) who fell so in love with the sun god that she spent her days and nights in the fields, trying to see as much as possible of him, until her body and spirit wasted away. The very first Marsh Marigold – a cup filled with the sun’s rays – grew where the devoted maiden had stood.

        Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

        CAUTION:  Plant juices can cause blistering or inflammation on skin or mucous membranes on contact. WARNING:  POISONOUS – Leaves contain the oily toxin protoanemonin, the amount of which increases as the leaves progress through a growing season. If ingested raw, it can induce convulsions and lesions throughout the digestive tract.

        The young leaves (picked before the plant blooms) are sometimes used as potherbs, but require several short boilings with changes of water between each; heat destroys the toxins. Tightly closed buds can be similarly prepared and pickled like capers.

        Medicinally, the whole plant is anodyne (painkiller), antispasmodic, diaphoretic (induces sweating), diuretic (induces urination), emetic (induces vomiting), expectorant and rubefacient. A poultice of the boiled and mashed roots was used by American Indians to treat sores, remove warts, protect against love charms, and as an aid in childbirth. A tea made from its leaves was also believed to relieve constipation. Early colonists learned from American Indians to mix a decoction of the root with maple syrup to make cough syrup.

        Wildlife Value:

        The flowers produce both nectar and copious amounts of pollen, which attract primarily flies and bees. Marsh Marigolds are primarily pollinated by pollen-seeking Greater Bee Fly (Bombylius major), Halictid bees, honey bees, and hoverflies (family Syrphidae, including Lejops spp., Neoascia spp., and Xylota spp.). Ants (family Formicidae) and cuckoo bees (Nomada spp.) collect the nectar.

        To see the dramatic pattern on Marsh Marigold blossoms as bees see them, view: http://www.naturfotograf.com/UV_CALT_PAL.html.

        Because the acrid foliage contains toxic alkaloids and glycosides, it is usually avoided by browsing animals. The seeds are eaten by Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus), Meadow Vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus), Sora Rail (Porzana carolina), and Wood Duck (Aix sponsa).

        Where Found Locally:

        As its name suggests, Marsh Marigold is a plant that prefers sunny areas where the soil is consistently wet from underground seepage of water. Habitats include various wetlands, including vernal pools in low woodlands, swamps, soggy meadows in river floodplains, marshes, fens, seeps and springs, and ditches that get part or full sun.

        What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week?  (April week 2)

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        This week, I’m featuring Sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

        A Mi’kmaq haiku, entitled “Kejimkoojik” (meaning “little fairies”), by writer Alice Azure, from the collection entitled “Dawnland Voices: An Anthology of Indigenous Writing from New England,” edited by Siobhan Senier, et. al. (Vol. 1, 2014):

        Kejimkoojik

        cliffs, old sweet fern petroglyph

        still keeping us calm.

        Description:

        Photo Credit: (c) 2006, Peter M. Dziuk,
        https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/shrub/sweet-fern#lboxg-5

        Sweetfern is a small, native, aromatic mound-shaped shrub, 2-5 feet tall that has ascending to widely spreading branches with fine twigs and occurs in dense colonies. The bark of branches and twigs is gray or reddish brown, more or less smooth, with scattered white lenticels. Young shoots are light green to light brown, and very pubescent, becoming less pubescent with age.

        Alternate leaves occur along the twigs and shoots. These leaves are 2-6″ long and ¼-1″ across; they are narrowly oblong to oblong-elliptic in shape and the edges of which are rolled back and rounded, with a fern-like division. The upper surface of mature leaves is medium green to olive-green and smooth to slightly short-pubescent, while the lower surface is light green and nearly smooth to short-pubescent. Immature leaves, in contrast to the mature leaves, are yellowish green and more heavily covered with silky hairs (especially along their undersides). The leaves also have glandular resin-dots; leaves and twigs are very aromatic, so much so that on a warm day the fragrance can be detected at some distance without crushing its leaves. The leaf stems are less than ½” long, light green, more or less pubescent, and relatively stout.

        Leaves with glandular resin-dots.
        Photo Credit: (c) 2015 Peter M. Dziuk, https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/shrub/sweet-fern#lboxg-3

        Male and female flowers are borne separately on the same plant (monoecious) or different plants (dioecious) in clusters called catkins; flowering occurs before leaves emerge. Male catkins are drooping and cylindrical, ½ to 1¼ inches long, mostly crowded at tips of one-year-old twigs, with 25 to 50 flowers each with a sharply pointed scale-like bract and 3 to 8 pale stamens. Female catkins are erect, round to egg-shaped, 1/16 to 1/6 inch long and ovoid to globoid in shape, with 20 to 45 flowers each located below the male catkins when present or at branch tips when not.

        Female flowers. Photo Credit: (c) 2015 Peter M. Dziuk, https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/shrub/sweet-fern#lboxg-1
        Male flowers. Photo Credit: (c) 2015 Peter M. Dziuk,
        https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/shrub/sweet-fern#lboxg-1

        Afterwards, the female catkins are replaced by bristly fruits that span about ¾” across; each fruit contains a cluster of 8 to 15 nutlets at its center and numerous bristly bractlets. At maturity, individual nutlets are 3-5 mm. long and ovoid in shape. The seeds contain a powerful germination inhibitor and can remain dormant but viable in the soil for as long as 70 years (Del Tredici, P. 1977. The buried seeds of Comptonia peregrina, the sweet fern. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 104: 270-275.).

        The smooth shiny ovoid brown nutlets formed in the bur-like cluster of the female flower in late summer. Photo Credit: (c) G. D. Bebeau, https://www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org/pages/plants/sweetfern.html

        The fall color of Sweetfern is initially reddish, then turning brown.

        Leaves of Sweetfern leaves provide interesting fall color.
        Photo Credit: (c) G.D. Bebeau, https://www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org/pages/plants/sweetfern.html

        Still, even after becoming a dark brown color, the leaves of this colonizing plant adds interest in the autumn landscape.

        Sweetfern leaf color in late autumn

        Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

        The young fruits are eaten as a pleasant nibble. The fresh aromatic leaves are used to make a palatable tea and are also used as a seasoning, such as to infuse baked or broiled fish with its flavor or to infuse a bottle of rye whiskey to make a woodsy cocktail. Sweetfern also makes an excellent rub for meat and fish.

        Sweetfern has served a medical function due to its ability to act as an astringent, blood purifier, expectorant, and tonic. North American Indians used it as a poultice for wounds or sprains, and to make a tea to cure diarrhea, headache, or fever. Additionally, Sweetfern can be used topically to relieve itchiness from poison ivy or stings by infusing cold water with fresh leaves. Due to its astringent properties, the Shakers found Sweetfern to be of importance for maladies such as cholera, dysentery, debility following fevers, bruises, rheumatism and for diarrhea. It is still used for most of the same purposes in modern herbalism. Leaves are harvested in early summer and dried for later use.

        Wildlife Value:

        Sweetfern is a host plant to the caterpillars of a number of moths and butterflies:

        The Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) feeds on the buds and catkins, while the White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) browses on the twigs and foliage. Two bird species, the Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) and Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus), have been observed to feed on the nutlets of this small shrub. More importantly, colonies of Sweetfern growing around and in between the bases of Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana) provide safe nesting habitat for a Federally endangered bird, Kirtland’s Warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii).

        Where Found Locally:

        Sweetfern most often occurs in poor, sandy or gravelly, infertile soils, such as along roadsides. Habitats include upland sand prairies, sandy shrub prairies, and sandy upland savannas. Dominant trees in these savannas are oak trees (especially Black Oak (Quercus velutina)) and sometimes pine trees are present (especially Jack Pine). The root system can develop clonal offsets from underground runners, often creating colonies of plants. Dry, sterile, often sandy soil of open woodlands, pastures, old fields, and clearings; usually in full sun.

        In New York, Sweetfern is a characteristic plant found in these ecological communities:

        Locally, this native plant can be observed at any of these parks, trails, and nature preserves.

        What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week?  (August week 3)

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        This week, I’m featuring Large-leaved Aster (Eurybia macrophylla) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

        Aster is from the Greek for “a star” referring the appearance of the flower head on all asters.  The species name macrophylla is the combination of macros for large and phyllos for leaf giving us the common name of “large-leaved.”  All the new world asters, formerly in the genus Aster, have now been reclassified, most into the genus Symphyotrichum; several, such as this species, into the genus Eurybia.  That word comes from two Greek words, eurys, for “wide” and baios for “few”; both together are referring to the somewhat wide flower rays.

         Description:

        Large-leaved Aster is a native erect perennial with stems from 1 to 4 feet tall.  This perennial wildflower consists of a rosette of basal leaves during the spring that spans up to one foot across.  The large basal leaves of this aster are very conspicuous during the spring. 

        Photo Credit: (c) 2009 Katy Chayka,
        https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/large-leaved-aster#lboxg-9

        During the summer, unbranched or sparingly branched stems with alternate leaves are produced.  Flowering plants have basal leaves that wither away by flowering time; the basal leaves of non-flowering plants may persist longer.  Lowest leaves are large and heart-shaped, up to 8 inches long and 6 inches wide, on long stalks, becoming progressively smaller, more egg-shaped, and shorter stalked as they ascend the stem, with the uppermost leaves reduced to stalkless leaf-like bracts.  The upper surface of leaves is medium green and hairless to short-hairy, while the lower surface is pale green and hairy along the major veins.  The stems of the alternate leaves are up to 3″ long and they are often winged, particularly where they join the stem.  The stems of the basal leaves are up to 6″ long, light green, and usually hairy.

        Photo Credit: (c) 2011, Katy Chayka,
        https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/large-leaved-aster#lboxg-4

        Plants transition from groundcover to wildflower when erect stems emerge.  The upper central stem of each plant (and any upper lateral stems) terminates in a flat-headed panicle (corymb) of flowerheads spanning 3-8″ across.  (In a corymb, the flower stalks are of different length so that the flower heads form a flat-topped cluster.)  Individual flowerheads are ½-1¼” across, consisting of 8-20 ray florets (the pistillate or female flowers) that are irregularly spaced around the small, yellow, center disk.  The petal-like corollas of the ray florets (the bisexual flowers) are lavender or white.  The tubular corollas of the disk florets are initially pale yellow or yellow, but they later become orange-red, dark red, or brown.  At the base of each flowerhead, there are numerous overlapping floral bracts (phyllaries).

        Photo Credit: (c) 2011, Katy Chayka,
        https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/large-leaved-aster#lboxg-1

        During the autumn, both ray and disk florets are replaced by small seeds (cypselae).  Each seed is dry, brown, 2.6 to 4.5 mm long with 7-12 ribs, with tawny bristly pappus attached for wind dispersion.

        The seed head, left, showing the tawny bristly pappus of the cypselae, and, 2nd photo, individual cypselae.
        Photo Credits: © G.D. Bebeau, https://www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org/pages/plants/bigleafaster.html
        Photo Credit: https://www.prairiemoon.com/eurybia-macrophylla-big-leaved-aster

        Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

        The Algonquin cook the large, thick young leaves and eat them as greens.  The Ojibwe use the roots to make soup.

        The Iroquois use the root as a blood medicine, and they also use a compound decoction of the roots to loosen the bowels to treat venereal disease. The Ojibwe used an infusion of this plant to bathe their heads to treat headaches.

        Wildlife Value:

        The nectar and pollen of the flowers attract a large variety of insects, including long-tongued bees, short-tongued bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, beetles, and plant bugs.  Small bees, including yellow-faced bees (Hylaeus spp.) and Lasioglossum sweat bees, as well as bumblebees (Bombus spp.) and mining bees (Andrena spp., such as an oligolectic Andrenid bee, (Andrena hirticincta)) are regular visitors to these flowers.  Oligolectic species of bees gather pollen from two to several species in one plant family; many species of the genus Andrena are aster specialists.

        Large-leaved Aster is the larval host plant for the caterpillars of Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis) and Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) butterflies and also the caterpillars of Aster Borer Moth (Carmenta corni), Goldenrod Hooded Owlet Moth (Cucullia asteroides), and Arcigera Flower Moth (Schinia arcigera).

        Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) and Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) eat the seeds and foliage, while White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus) sometimes browse on the foliage.

        Where Found Locally:

        What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week?  (August week 2)

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        This week, I’m featuring Horse Balm (Collinsonia canadensis) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

        The genus was named in honor of Peter Collinson, an early English botanist.

        Description:

        This perennial herbaceous plant grows 2 to 4 feet tall.  The central stem is erect, hairless to moderately short-haired, light green, bluntly 4-angled with shallow channels along its sides, and usually unbranched.  Pairs of opposite leaves occur along the entire length of the stem.

        Photo Credit: https://mtcubacenter.org/plants/horse-balm/

        These leaves are 2 to 6 inches long, 1½ to 4 inches across, usually ovate in shape, and coarsely toothed along their margins.  The leaf tips are usually sharply pointed, while the leaf bases are wedge-shaped (cuneate) to rounded.  The upper leaf surface is medium to dark green and hairless to sparsely short-haired, while the lower leaf surface is light grayish green and hairless to sparsely hairy; when held in bright light, glistening dots will appear.  The narrow leaf stems (petioles) are ½ to 2 inches long, light green, and hairless to moderately short-haired; sometimes the uppermost leaves are stemless or nearly so.

        The central stem terminates in either a spike-like raceme or pyramidal panicle of flowers.  These individual clusters are up to 8″ long and 6″ across, consisting of a central stalk and several lateral branches that become progressively shorter upward.  These lateral branches are spreading to ascending.  Both the central stalk and lateral branches of the flower cluster are light green and bluntly 4-angled with shallow channels along their sides; they are hairless to moderately short-haired.

        Individual flowers are about 1/3 to ½ inch long, consisting of a short-tubular to bell-shaped green calyx (whorl of sepals that encloses the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud) with 5 teeth, a two-lipped tubular corolla (whorl of petals within the sepals and enclosing the reproductive organs) that is predominately cream-colored or yellow, two long fertile stamens that extend well beyond the other flower parts, and an ovary with a slender style that is similarly extended well beyond the other flower parts.  The corolla has a narrow tubular base, but it becomes wider and more trumpet-shaped towards its mouth with 5 spreading lobes (2 upper lobes, 2 lateral lobes, and 1 lower lobe that is larger in size).  The upper and lateral lobes are either oval or somewhat triangular in shape, while the lower lobe is violin-shaped, mostly white, and heavily fringed along its outer lip.  Sometimes there are reddish stripes or bars along the upper and middle lobes of the corolla, while either patches or stripes of faded red may occur toward the base of the lower lobe.  The throat of the corolla is a little wider than tall, where there is a patch of fine white hairs.  The slender style is dark red and usually bent toward one of the stamens.  The stems (pedicels) of the flowers are about 1/8″ in length or slightly longer; they are light green and short-haired.  Only a few of the flowers are open at any one time; the rest are either still in bud or shriveling on the stem, all of which contributes to the rather unkept appearance of this plant.  Both the flowers and foliage have a lemon or citronella scent.

        Afterwards, the flowers are replaced by small nutlets (usually two per flower).  Individual nutlets are about 1.5 mm. across, round but somewhat flattened in shape, and dark brown.

        Photo Credit: Penny Longhurst,
        https://wcbotanicalclub.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/horse-balm-collinsonia-canadensis-fruit-pl.jpg, Western Carolina Botanical Club

        Folklore:

        Settlers in the Ozark area of Arkansas and Missouri widely used the leaves of Horse Balm to poultice bruises and open wounds.

        Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

        There is no known use of any part of this plant for food.

        However, the dense and hard roots of this plant are used in traditional herbal medicine to treat a variety of conditions.

        Photo Credit: Dried root of Horse Balm, https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/stone-root/

        The whole plant, but especially the fresh root, is alterative (able to restore normal health), antispasmodic, diaphoretic (induces sweating), sedative, tonic, vasodilator (promotes the dilatation of blood vessels), and vulnerary (wound healing).  A tea made from the roots is strongly diuretic (induces urination), therefore, Horse Balm is used to treat urinary tract problems including bladder pain and swelling due to water retention, stones in the kidney and elsewhere in the urinary tract, and excess uric acid in the urine.  It has also proved of benefit in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (mucous colitis) and varicose veins.

        Other parts of this plant also provide additional medicinal uses.  The Cherokee made a tea from the leaves and flowers to use as a diuretic.  They also applied a poultice of the leaves or roots to burns, bruises, sores, sprains, etc.

        Wildlife Value:

        Bumblebees are the primary pollinators of the flowers, where both nectar and pollen are available as floral rewards.  While bumblebees have been reported to be the primary pollinators of the flowers, moths also visit the flowers for nectar.

        William Hamilton Gibson first called attention to this plant’s ingenious scheme to prevent self-fertilization by illustrating how a bumblebee ensures cross-fertilization.

        Horse-balm. Collinsonia

        Only a few days since, while out on a drive, I passed a luxuriant clump of the plant known as “horse-balm.” I had known it all my life, and twenty years previously had made a careful analytical drawing of the mere botanical specimen. What could it say to me now in my more questioning mood? Its queer little yellow-fringed flowers hung in profusion from their spreading terminal racemes. I recalled their singular shape, and the two outstretched stamens protruding from their gaping corolla, and could distinctly see them as I sat in the carriage. I had never chanced to read of this flower in the literature of cross-fertilization, and murmuring, half aloud, “What pretty mystery is yours, my Collinsonia?” prepared to investigate.

        What I observed is pictured severally at Fig. 9, the flowers being shown from above, showing the two spreading stamens and the decidedly exceptional unsymmetrical position of the long style extending to the side. A small nectar-seeking bumblebee had approached, and in alighting upon the fringed platform grasped the filaments for support, and thus clapped the pollen against his sides. Reasoning from analogy, it would of course be absolutely clear that this pollen has thus been deposited where it will come in contact with the stigma of another flower. So, of course, it proved. In the bee’s continual visits to the several flowers he came at length to the younger blooms, where the forked stigmas were turned directly to the front, while the immature stamens were still curled up in the flower tubes. Even the unopened buds showed a number of species where the early matured stigma actually protruded through a tiny orifice in precisely the right position to strike the pollen-dusted body of the bee, as he forced his tongue through the tiny aperture.

        Source:  Project Gutenberg’s My Studio Neighbors, by William Hamilton Gibson, pages 136-137, as viewed online on 6/4/2022 @ https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22165/22165-h/22165-h.htm#Page_136

        Horse Balm is the larval host for the caterpillars of the Hermit Sphinx (Lintneria eremitus), a few owlet moths (Noctuidae), and the Stalk Borer Moth (Papaipema nebris).

        Where Found Locally:

        What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week?  (July week 4)

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        This week, I’m featuring Wild Bean (Apios americana) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

        PLEASE NOTE:  Culturally Significant Plant = Ethnobotanic Uses:  Wild Bean (AKA American Groundnut, American Potato Bean, or Hopniss) was a source of food among the Omaha, Dakota, Santee Sioux, Cheyenne, Osage, Pawnee, and Hidatsa.  Read more.

        Photo Credit: https://www.legumesociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/legum_perspect_19.pdf

        Description:

        This native perennial twining vine can grow up to 7 to 10 feet in length and has no tendrils.  Although the plant does well in open areas by trailing, the vines readily climb up vertical supports such as woody or sturdy erect herbaceous plants.  

        Photo Credit: (c) 2009 Katy Chayka, https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/groundnut#lboxg-3

        At intervals along these stems, there occurs alternate compound leaves that are odd-pinnate with 3-7 leaflets (usually 5 leaflets and rarely 3 leaflets) and the terminal leaflet is larger and on a longer stalk.  The leaflets are 1½–3½” long and ¾–2¼” across; they are lancelike, oblong, ovate, or broadly ovate in shape with toothless margins.  The upper leaflet surface is medium to dark green and hairless, while the lower leaflet surface is either light green or whitened green and hairless to minutely hairy.  The stem (petioles, which are less than ¼” long) and the central stalks (rachises) of the compound leaves are light green, narrowly furrowed above, convex below, and hairless to minutely pubescent.  The foliage of this vine contains a milky sap.

        Photo Credit: (c) 2007 K. Chayka, https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/groundnut#lboxg-5

        The flowers are pink on the outside, and maroon to a rich brown on the inside.  The top of each flower has a curved horn-like structure that functions as a hood over the other floral parts.  Flowers are arranged in dense, conical clusters (racemes) 2 to 6” in length arising from the leaf axil; each is pea-like, yet unique and distinctive.  The basal stalks of these racemes are up to 3″ long, light green, and hairless to minutely hairy. The central stalk of the raceme (floral rachis) is light green, hairless to finely short-hairy, and bumpy from small tubercles; these tubercles are extra-floral nectaries that secret droplets of nectar shortly after the flowers and their pedicels become detached from the floral rachis.

        The banner petal is folded along a front to back axis and is colored from creamy to reddish brown. In the forward facing flower you can see the two projecting side petals with the curved keel rising between them.
        Photo Credit: (c) G. D. Bebeau, https://www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org/pages/plants/groundnut.html

        Afterwards, fertile flowers are replaced by slender cylindrical seedpods about 2 to 4″ long and 1/5” across that are light green to yellowish green.  These seedpods are often slightly curved (up or down) and slightly compressed along their sides.  However, some vines are sterile and they don’t produce seedpods after the flowers bloom.  

        Photo Credit: Russ Cohen,
        https://www.ecolandscaping.org/09/developing-healthy-landscapes/ecological-landscaping-101/edible-and-landscape-worthy-native-plants-of-new-england/

        The seedpods each contain several seeds; eventually they divide into 2 parts, ejecting their seeds.  The smooth seeds are ~3/16” long, green, and appear inflated when fresh and then become dark brown and more chunky in appearance when dry.

        Photo Credit: https://climbers.lsa.umich.edu/?attachment_id=635

        Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

        Both the seeds and tubers are edible to humans, but the tubers were considered an excellent source of food by both early pioneers and American Indians.  The tubers saved the Massachusetts Bay Pilgrims from starvation during those first difficult winters.

        Photo Credit: https://jomegat.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/img_9421_1.jpg

        Wild Bean produces small tubers that are arranged along individual rhizomes like a knotted rope; however, it takes two to three years for them to reach harvesting size.  The tubers are highly palatable with culinary characteristics of a potato, although the flavor can be somewhat nuttier than a potato and the texture can be finer.  As with many other legumes, this plant can fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil through a symbiosis with rhizobial bacteria.  Therefore, compared to other commonly eaten tubers and root vegetables, the tubers of Wild Bean are unusually high in protein, containing roughly three times the protein content of a potato and 17% protein by mass.

        Photo Credit: (c) 2014 Peter M. Dziuk, https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/groundnut#lboxg-5

        It is not recommend to eat the raw tubers due to the presence of protease inhibitors that interfere with protein hydrolysis and act as an anti-nutrient.  Cooking the tubers destroys these compounds and eliminates this problem.

        American Indians would prepare the tubers in a variety of ways, such as frying them in animal fat or drying them into flour.  The Menomini make a preserve of the tubers by boiling them in maple syrup.  The tuber can also be dried and ground into a powder that is then used as a thickening in soups or can be added to cereal flours when making bread.

        While there are few known medicinal uses of this plant, the tubers were boiled and made into a plaster and used in folk remedies for the skin wound condition known as “Proud Flesh” in colonial New England.

        Wildlife Value:

        The flowers are visited primarily by bees for nectar and, to a lesser extent, pollen.  This includes bumblebees, Halictid bees, honeybees, and leafcutting bees.  Leaf-cutting bees are considered the most important cross-pollinators of these flowers.  Ground Yellow Jackets (Vespula spp.) have also been reported to visit the flowers, but to a lesser extent.

        Wild Bean is the larval host plant for the caterpillars of Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) and Southern Cloudywing (Thorybes bathyllus).

        White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) browse the foliage of this vine.

        Where Found Locally:

        What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week?  (July week 2)

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        This week, I’m featuring Water Horehound (Lycopus americanus) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

        The various species of the genus Lycopus have been used in folk medicine for cough remedies.  It was this use that gave the plants the alternate name of ‘horehound’ as this references back to the Romans and the Egyptians who used a plant they called ‘horehound’ for such purposes.  Since Lycopus prefers moist environments, that gave rise to this plant being called ‘water horehound’.

        Description:

        This native erect perennial plant grows on a green or reddish square hollow stem up to 40 inches tall; it is usually unbranched, otherwise branching sparingly and either hairless or slightly hairy.  A vertical groove is on each side of the stem.  The sap of this plant will permanently stain linen and wool.

        Opposite leaves are spaced somewhat widely along the stems and they are either stemless or short-stemmed.  Leaves are up to 3″ long and ¾” across; they are generally lanceolate in shape.  The lower leaves are narrowly lobed toward their bases, while the upper leaves are coarsely toothed all along their margins.  The leaves are hairless, except for a few hairs along the central veins of their undersides.  Leaves become progressively smaller as they ascend the stem.  The underside of leaves is a paler color than the upper surface and pitted with glandular dots.

        Photo Credit: (c) G. D. Bebeau, https://www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org/pages/plants/bugleweed_american.html

        There are several Lycopus spp. and they can be difficult to distinguish.  However, Water Horehound is easy to identify because its lower leaves have basal lobes that are narrow and deep.  Other Lycopus spp. usually have leaves with wedge-shaped or rounded bottoms that are coarsely toothed along the entire length of their margins.  If any lobes are present on the leaves of these latter species, they are more shallow and wide.

        Photo Credit: https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/wetland/plants/am_bugleweed.htm

        Dense whorls of white flowers occur where pairs of middle to upper leaves join the stem.  Individual flowers are about 1/8″ in length and each has a white short-tubular corolla with 4 spreading lobes; they often have tiny pinkish purple spots.  The flowers have no noticeable fragrance.  Flowers begin blooming from the bottom of the plant upward and usually not all flowers in a cluster are open at the same time.

        Photo Credits: (c) 2006 Peter M. Dziuk,
        https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/american-water-horehound#lboxg-1

        Afterwards, the flowers are replaced by a fruit comprised of four nutlets that are broad and flat at the top, becoming rounded and narrower along 3 angles toward the bottom; they have smooth surfaces.

        Photo Credit: (c) 2013 Peter M. Dziuk,
        https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/american-water-horehound#lboxg-3
        Photo Credit: (c) 2002 Gary Fewless,
        https://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity-old/herbarium/wetland_plants/lycame_fruit02.jpg

        Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

        Water Horehound leaves have been used as a potherb.

        The whole plant is used in various homeopathic remedies including as an astringent, mild narcotic and mild sedative and also in the treatment of hypoglycemia.  The Meskwaki used Water Horehound as an analgesic and gastro-intestinal aid.  In addition, the plant has been used for soothing coughs and treating thyroid issues.

        Wildlife Value:

        A variety of insects visit the flowers, primarily for nectar, especially short-tongued bees, wasps, and flies. Other floral visitors include long-tongued bees, butterflies, skippers, and beetles.

        Water Horehound and other bugleweeds serve as the larval host plants for the caterpillars of Hermit Sphinx (Sphinx eremitus).

        Because the leaves of Water Horehound are bitter tasting, they are not often eaten by animals.

        Where Found Locally: