WINTER 2017, VOLUME 18, ISSUE 1

A PUBLICATION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE SOCIETY

Native Plant to Know Spotted Wintergreen maculata by Kevin Kavanagh that is typically less than 15 centimetres (six inches) tall but which As I was examining a spectacular patch occasionally reach 25 centimetres (10 of native flowering azaleas in the inches). The plant is highly clonal with Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia stems emerging from a series of during my university days, I paused to horizontally creeping . Over tie a loose bootlace. As I bent down, I time, it can form patches of modest discovered my very first patch of size on the forest floor. Some classify it spotted wintergreen (Chimaphila as a shrub based on its persistent stems BRIGITTE GRANTON BRIGITTE GRANTON maculata). I was thrilled. It’s easy to and evergreen characteristics, while miss this diminutive plant even though others consider it to be a sub-shrub or it ranges widely with scattered herbaceous perennial. ILLUSTRATION BY populations from New England and In mid to late summer, larger (more Ontario southward to Arizona, Mexico mature) stems will produce one to and Panama. Its ability to go (rarely) three short stalks rising undetected quite often is due, in part, a few centimetres above the leaves, to its tendency to grow among fallen often branching at the top to produce needles, logs and other organic matter a small number of five-petalled, on the forest floor. Furthermore, its rounded held upside down like variegated foliar colour scheme helps it miniature umbrellas. The petals are to remain camouflaged among the generally coloured white to dappled shadows. light pink and beautifully Other common names for this complement the grey- evergreen perennial include striped green variegated foliage. Like prince’s pine, striped wintergreen and most other ericads, the flowers develop spotted pipsissewa. The name into small capsules filled with tiny pipsissewa is from a Cree term seeds which, despite the plant’s meaning “it breaks into small pieces.” strategy of hugging the forest floor, are A member of the family believed to be wind dispersed. (Heath Family), spotted wintergreen Bumblebees are known to pollinate has narrow, olive to blue-green toothed the flowers. leaves that have a beautiful variegated Spotted wintergreen appears pattern. The veins are white and to be very particular in its site especially pronounced along the locations and growing midrib of the leaf. The leaves are conditions. Preferred forest habitats are arranged in a whorl around a stem generally restricted to those dominated Continued on page 15 The Blazing Star is... Celebrating Our Volunteers The Blazing Star is published quarterly (April, August, November, February) by the North American Native Plant Society Why volunteer? (NANPS). Contact [email protected] Volunteering allows you to meet new people, learn new things, expand your for editorial deadlines and for advertising horizons and channel your enthusiasm for nature into action! Ask NANPS rates. The views expressed herein are volunteers why they do it and you’ll likely get many more reasons. those of the authors and not necessarily My involvement with the North American Native Plant Society began when I those of NANPS. went to the native plant sale for the first time. Over the years I “graduated” from The North American Native Plant Society customer to volunteer to plant sale committee member to plant sale coordinator. It is dedicated to the study, conservation, has enriched my life. In addition to gaining native plant knowledge, I have learned cultivation and restoration of North about volunteer coordination, publicizing the sale, managing sales data and charity America’s native flora. governance. Along the way I have met amazing people and had many interesting Winter 2017 discussions. I am grateful to NANPS for these opportunities. Volume 18, Issue 1 What does NANPS do? ISSN 2291-8280 You likely know about some Editor: Irene Fedun NANPS activities. They include Production: Bea Paterson publishing a quarterly newsletter, Proofreader: Eileen Atkinson managing two conservation Printed by: Guild Printing, properties, organizing the speaker Markham, Ontario series, workshops and excursions, © North American Native Plant Society writing information sheets, Images © the photographers and staffing information booths, illustrators, text © the authors. operating a seed exchange, JANET CARNEGIE All rights reserved. planning the AGM and awards,

North American Native Plant Society, and maintaining our website, HOTOGRAPH BY Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In P formerly Canadian Wildflower Society, Long-serving volunteers Miriam Henriques and Bill Ford. is a registered charitable society, no. pages. We also have committees 130720824 RR0001. focussed on restoration and, of course, organizing the plant sale, our biggest event Donations to the society are tax- of the year. creditable in Canada. What can I do? NANPS Membership: All contributions are valuable. They include setting up refreshments at our events, CAN$25/YEAR WITHIN CANADA, unloading and organizing stock at plant sales, representing NANPS at community US$25/YEAR OUTSIDE CANADA events, cleaning seeds, providing your photos for our website, designing flyers, Join online or send cheque or money networking, fundraising, writing articles, taking photographs or drawing cartoons order to North American Native Plant or illustrations for The Blazing Star and managing our organization. You don’t have Society, Box 84, Stn D, Toronto, ON to be an expert. With interest and dedication you can learn while participating. M9A 4X1. Telephone: (416) 631-4438. Where do I start? E-mail: [email protected] We email out volunteer opportunities several times a year. To participate, please Web: www.nanps.org. contact [email protected]. In the upcoming year you can help at information Facebook: www.facebook.com/nativeplant tables at various events and at our plant sale in May. Our editor is always happy Twitter: @tnanps to receive ideas for newsletter articles. We are currently looking for someone to Board of Directors: coordinate volunteers and to promote the use of our trailer which was purchased Vice-President: Adam Mohamed to support plant rescues and restoration efforts. Secretary: Miriam Henriques If you have a specific skill, talent or area of expertise, please tell us. We sometimes Treasurer: Lakshay Gandhi receive questions by email and it is helpful having resource people who can respond. Colleen Cirillo Bill Ford Come join us! Alison Howson Each year we honour a Volunteer of the Year at our annual general meetings. Past Janice Keil recipients are listed on our website. Maybe next year it will be your turn! But from Arielle Kieran my perspective, the biggest reward is the satisfaction of helping nature and being Myles Mackenzie with others who also care about our natural world. Without volunteers, there would Howard Meadd be no North American Native Plant Society. A big thank you to all my fellow volunteers! Harold Smith Alice Kong NANPS plant sale coordinator

2 NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY WINTER 2017 NANPS SPEAKERS’ SERIES LETTER TO THE EDITOR

NATIVE FOR MULTI-SEASON SHADE GARDENS Dear Editor, Wednesday, February 22, 2017 I have a couple of comments about the cover story in the 7 - 8:30 p.m. fall 2016 issue of The Blazing Star about the ostrich fern TBG Studios (Matteuccia struthiopteris). I’d be cautious about including Toronto Botanical Garden, 777 Lawrence Avenue East, Toronto the Pteridium in a statement about edible fiddleheads. I’ve always heard that you should avoid eating Award-winning horticulturist Frank Kershaw will reveal the bracken ferns. In the Field Manual of Michigan Flora (Voss multi-season attributes of native shade garden plants and & Reznick, 2012), the authors say about Pteridium offer simple approaches to identifying, establishing and aquilinum: “The fiddleheads of this contain the caring for them. A co-founder of the Canadian Wildflower carcinogenic terpene ptaquiloside and should not be eaten.” Society (now the North American Native Plant Society), Also, to my knowledge, cinnamon fern was re-classified into Frank has over 40 years experience in the parks, its own genus Osmundastrum in 2008. The Michigan Flora environment and gardening fields. He teaches garden (http://michiganflora.net/species.aspx?id=1874) and design at George Brown College and previously taught at FOIBIS, Flora Ontario Integrated Botanical Information the University of Toronto’s Landscape Architecture School. System, (http://www.uoguelph.ca/foibis/index.htm) both Space is limited. Please reserve your spot by emailing use this classification, although I don't know if it has been [email protected]. Pay at the door: NANPS members $5, accepted North America-wide. non-members $10. David d’Entremont, Mississauga, Ontario

Editor’s Note: There are differing opinions on the safety CONNECTING THE DIVERSITY DOTS: GARDENING WITH NATIVE PLANTS of eating bracken fiddleheads. Here’s one article: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 http://honest-food.net/bracken-fern-edible/. For anyone 7:30 p.m. who wishes to avoid the controversy altogether and eat only what is universally considered to be safe, you should Toronto Botanical Garden feel secure buying fiddleheads at the grocery store since In this illustrated slide presentation, garden author there is too much liability involved for food chains to get Lorraine Johnson explores the beauty and benefits of native sloppy on their identification. If you’re picking your own, plants and the pleasures of low-maintenance gardens that please make sure of the identification before you pick. attract birds, bees and butterflies. Lorraine's's recently Check the internet or a reliable field guide before you go updated 100 Easy to Grow Native Plants will be available out searching for fiddleheads. Please pick no more than for purchase and signing. 10% of a given population of any native plant. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. NANPS members and TBG Irene Fedun members get in free, general public $15, students (with ID) $12.

NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR NANPS AWARDS

The NANPS Founders Conservation Award recognizes the extraordinary contribution of an individual or group to the conservation, protection or restoration of the natural heritage/flora of North America at the community, regional, provincial, state, national or continental level. Deadline for submissions is July 31, 2017. NANPS Garden Award recognizes and celebrates the amazing gardens that support diverse habitat and shared accommodations for our native flora and fauna. Deadline for submissions is September 1, 2017. The Richard Woolger Cultivation Award celebrates growers who demonstrate a passion and commitment to

© GREGOR G. BECK © GREGOR G. the propagation of native plants. Deadline for submissions is September 1, 2017. The NANPS Volunteer Award is given to a volunteer HOTOGRAPH P who makes an outstanding contribution to the A Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly feeds on the nectar of common fulfilment of NANPS goals. elderberry (Sambucus canadensis). Visit nanps.org for more information.

NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY WINTER 2017 3 Don’t Just Smell the Roses …

by Patricia Baldwin brain’s batteries for it to become tissue in our bodies. Adiponectin helps productive again. regulate our blood sugar levels and Has anyone ever asked why you love Nature doesn’t just contribute to body weight. In urban environments, plants? Were you hard-pressed to find our mental health; there are many human populations are experiencing an answer? Do you find it difficult to physical benefits to be gained from an increase in blood pressure put into words the joy and wonder the forest environment. Dr. Qing Li problems and metabolic syndrome. that botanical nature elicits in you? Do in Japan has discovered that spending People with Type 2 diabetes or high you believe that being out in nature time in forests increases a serum blood pressure can benefit from a walk affects your health in a positive way? protein hormone known as in a forested area. Most of us find the answers to these adiponectin produced by adipose In recent studies, Dr. Li and other questions elusive but scientists have been studying this fascinating subject for decades. They are trying to clarify exactly what it is that makes us love nature and how nature is beneficial to our health. Studies such as those done by psychologists Rachel and Stephen Kaplan indicate that being in nature gives our over-worked brains time to restore themselves. In the pre- industrial world, the majority of people were employed in activities, both for work and leisure, that were tied in with the natural environment. Compare foraging in the forest to grocery shopping at a big box store, for example. Each experience is quite different to our brains. Looking for ripe fruit or berries outdoors uses the primitive parts of the brain and requires less conscious thought than reading grocery store labels. It is an activity that many people now do for pleasure and relaxation. When shopping, we use the pre-frontal cortex to read and decipher language, pricing, nutrient information and cooking instructions. Advertisers post colourful packaging to attract our attention and the steady stream of visual stimuli can be stressful. A great deal of conscious thought is involved in interpreting the information. Our heavy use of the pre-frontal cortex without time to rest causes us to become less and less efficient. Mental ALDWIN

health can decline due to overuse of B this part of our brain. We need to ATRICIA rebalance by using the primitive brain P which is associated with rest and relaxation and is more engaged by HOTOGRAPH BY forest smells and colourful foods. In P other words, we need to recharge our Redwood old-growth forest in Muir Wood National Monument in the San Francisco Bay area

4 NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY WINTER 2017 scientists have discovered complex obtain specific health benefits. Shinrin nasty-tasting or even poisonous relationships between human Yoku has been described as chemical to discourage the . A endocrine and immune systems and aromatherapy in the forest. common VOC, methyl jasmonate, is the biogenic volatile organic You may have heard about VOCs released by a number of plants to compounds (BVOCs) released by with respect to pollution. These signal stress, warning the rest of the trees. Dr. Li has found that tree pollutants are usually man-made plant to take preventative measures for BVOCs, also known as phytoncides, volatile organic compounds created survival. Stressors could take the form can bring about blood pressure during industrial processes. VOCs and of bacteria, fungi or insects (which reductions in humans that rival the BVOCs can both contribute to the also produce BVOCs, just to effects of blood pressure medication. formation of smog. Despite that, a complicate matters.) The presence of Trees are particularly significant study in Houston, Texas, where smog any of these could trigger a chemical producers of BVOCs due to their long is a serious problem, has postulated response from the tree. However, most life and large size. The resins in older of the reasons that plants produce trees build up within the heartwood chemical signals are still unknown. providing a high concentration of We are only beginning to grasp their phytoncides, especially in old-growth significance. trees. Grasses and other plants do not In Japan, the cypress tree rely as heavily on chemical defences (Chamaecyparis obtusa) and a cedar such as those employed by trees (Ctyptomeria sp.), both native to the because they have defence country, have been studied and mechanisms like sharp leaves or the found to be especially beneficial due ability to regrow quickly. They still to the release of compounds such as produce BVOCs, but in smaller alpha-pinene and limonene. quantities. When we are outside, we A northern Quebec study breathe these gaseous chemicals measured the levels of alpha-pinene straight into our lungs. Theoretically, and limonene in balsam fir (Abies they can then pass the blood-brain balsamea), black spruce (Picea barrier and enter directly into the mariana), white spruce (Picea bloodstream if the molecule size is glauca), tamarack (Larix laricina), small enough. Thus, it’s possible for jack pine (Pinus banksiana), white BALDWIN RACHEL phytoncides to affect our bodies in the that the large-scale planting of native cedar (Thuja occidentalis) and way drugs do. It is not surprising that trees along the city’s outskirts would Labrador tea (Rhododendron LLUSTRATION BY some medical practitioners are now result in an overall reduction in smog. groenlandicum). The study looked at I prescribing a walk in the woods in The study authors suggest replacing the antimicrobial properties of the place of a drug. 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of trees’ essential oils (which produce the Japan has set aside 24 forests for use grasslands with tree species such as BVOCs.) Many North American First as health facilities where residents can American elm (Ulmus americana), Nations used balsam fir in traditional practise a preventative health care cedar elm (Ulmus cassifolia), green ash medicines. Some tribes apparently practice known as Shinrin Yoku. This (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) and used them for bedding as well. All the term translates to “forest bathing.” The sugarberry (Celtis laevigata). tree species in this study had strong forests were selected because of the Humans rely on the circulation of ethnobotanical histories. presence of trees known to produce blood to bring chemicals to various Plants, like people, need to maintain certain chemicals. Dr. Li notes that parts of our bodies. Plants are homeostasis (the tendency of the body phytoncides provide 50% of the different in that plant cells have to seek equilibrium within its internal human health benefits for Shinrin chemical sensors (like those in human environment) for optimal health. Yoku, but there are other factors noses) throughout their leaves, stems Alternative evolutionary adaptations working in combination with BVOC’s and roots. Different chemicals to body temperature homeostasis are to enhance human health such as transmit different signals to the plant. evident when we compare warm- negative ions near bodies of water (a These could be scents to encourage blooded animals, like humans, with stream or a pond.) Negative ions have pollinators to approach the plant or to cold-blooded animals such as been linked to good health and warn other parts of the plant – or even amphibians and reptiles. Humans longevity in humans. If you’ve ever neighbouring plants – that insects regulate body temperature with tried aromatherapy, you’ve used have begun snacking. The plant might internal body adaptations, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to respond with the production of a Continued on page 6

NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY WINTER 2017 5 Continued from page 5

perspiring when hot or shivering when Dr. Li says that walking a minimum of cold. Alternatively, cold-blooded two hours over 2.5 kilometres (1.5 animals use the outside environmental miles) will boost both physical and temperature to provide heating and mental health. If you have a full day can internally adjust to extremes of available, then walk five kilometres temperature in ways humans cannot. (three miles) over four hours. If you Trees adjust to temperature extremes wish to produce natural killer cells by shutting down photosynthesis and which fight cancerous tumours, he growth in the winter. Deciduous trees recommends taking a three-day trip will drop their leaves. Evergreens into the forest and spending two drastically reduce photosynthesis nights in that forest therapy setting. In although it still occurs through the other words, like a turtle seeking a needles, which have considerably less warm log in a pond to warm its body surface area than the leaves of a and maintain homeostasis, urbanites deciduous tree. Phytoncide production need exposure to the natural world in also varies with climatic factors such order to stay healthy. as temperature and light. The Japanese prescription for ALDWIN

Trees emit their phytoncides into preventive health looks a lot like what B the air to affect their surrounding Canadian conservationist Monte ATRICIA environment. Dr. Qing Li has found Hummel described in his book P that, in the appropriate forest Wintergreen: Reflections from Loon environment, some trees are Lake. Hummel was talking about his HOTOGRAPH BY producing BVOCs in sufficient small cabin set in the forest around a P quantities to provide benefits to small lake on the Canadian Shield: White Bear Conservation Reserve old- humans when they come within close “For years now, my habit (and firm growth forest in Temagami, Ontario proximity. A dense forest will provide resolve) has been to be in my cabin for greater health benefits than a city park a few days every month… More than hard to protect. Because without with large expanses of grass. anything else, this place has been an dipping back into our source regularly, Worldwide, scientists are looking at enduring sanctuary for me from a very any of us can lose our way.” this plant-human relationship. The demanding work schedule, and a issue is becoming especially important spiritual wellspring… My great regret Pat Baldwin trained as a forester but as more humans move away from after thirty years of full-time worked in the health care industry for rural areas and into flora- involvement in the Canadian and many years. She is now involved in impoverished urban environments. world conservation movement is that I research at the Faculty of Forestry, The Japanese have developed health have not taken more time to University of Toronto, in a field that care guidelines for boosting immunity. experience what we have all worked so marries the two disciplines.

Native Edibles from Your Garden

by Lorraine Johnson I think that for a long time, however, we’ve missed a key In the native plant movement, we element—and it’s one that has deep often try to interest people in adding resonance for people. Let’s start native plants to gardens for a by-now- promoting the edibility and familiar list of environmental benefits: deliciousness of many native plants, enhancing biodiversity, creating and the ways in which gardens full of habitat for wildlife, reducing water native plants can provide food not

use, eliminating pesticides. We also only for pollinators and birds, but for READ LINDA talk about the attractiveness of native humans, too. If we start focusing on plants, appealing to the aesthetic edible native plants, I think we will HOTOGRAPH BY

impulse of gardeners to create extend the reach of our message and P landscapes of beauty. gain a whole new audience of Redbud pods

6 NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY WINTER 2017 gardeners, along with the growing numbers of people who are interested in foraging. (A related bonus is that by promoting the planting of edible natives, we will be gently redirecting foragers away from natural areas that can’t sustain plant harvesting.) The following is a list of some readily available native plants for northeastern gardeners that are easy to grow—and delicious to eat.

Trees and Shrubs Pawpaw (Asimina triloba): An ideal urban tree, pawpaw is about six metres high (20 feet), tolerant of a wide range of conditions, flowers

prolifically (with maroon blooms in BISSONNETTE DAN spring) and produces the largest edible fruit of any tree native to Canada. The HOTOGRAPH BY fruit looks like a small mango and P tastes like a cross of banana and Smooth serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis) is closely related to the A. arborea mentioned pineapple. Pawpaws should be planted in the article. The fruits are sweet and juicy and comparable to blueberries. where they are protected from wind; plant three trees to ensure fruit set. moth and coral hairstreak butterfly. this small tree that’s up to nine metres tall (30 feet) are edible. The flowers Wild plum (Prunus americana): This Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea): are great in salads and the pods can be small tree (a bit taller than pawpaw) This tree is perfect for urban cooked in a stir-fry. Does well in sun produces attractive whitish pink conditions in sun or shade. It grows or shade, is leguminous and its early flowers in spring and plums in early 4.5 to 7.5 metres (15 to 25 feet) and flowers are important for pollinators. autumn. A fast grower, wild plum also produces a mass of white flowers in suckers and spreads. Not only does spring, followed by prolific berries in Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago): This this tree provide food for humans, but early summer and beautiful fall colour. tall shrub/small tree (up to nine it’s a host for the larvae of the cecropia The fruit tastes like a combination of metres) flowers in late spring and blueberries and produces bluish black fruit in late almonds, and summer, which can be eaten raw. can be enjoyed in (Note that the fruit has a large seed.) many different Easy to grow and versatile, nannyberry ways: eaten raw, can be grown in sun or shade. cooked into pies and jams or Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata): A dried. massive, 30 metre (100 foot), slow- growing but long-lived tree, shagbark Redbud (Cercis hickory (yes, with shaggy, peeling canadensis): Both bark) has two things going for it in the the flowers— edibility department: its nuts (with some of the thick outer husks and slightly bitter earliest to appear nut meat inside) and its sap, which in spring and can be boiled into a syrup, like the sap DAN BISSONNETTE DAN covering the of sugar maples. Grow it in sun or branches with part shade and plant it where you

HOTOGRAPH BY bright pink won’t have to move it, since its taproot P colour—and the makes transplanting difficult. Pawpaw fruit dangling pods of Continued on page 8

NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY WINTER 2017 7 Continued from page 7

Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina): This enchantingly architectural shrub spreads well in sunny spots, and the fruit—borne on perky-looking cones—can be boiled in water, then cooled, for a delicious lemonade-type drink.

Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa): This large shrub/small tree is highly versatile, growing in a wide range of conditions and creating thickets by suckering prolifically. Its spring flowers are followed by abundant blueberry-sized fruit in early fall that are too astringent to eat raw but are best when processed into juice or jam. This species has good autumn foliage. BISSONNETTE DAN

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin): The HOTOGRAPH BY sweetly scented, yellow flowers of this P small, three-metre-high (10 foot) Wild bergamot shrub appear before leaves in spring. and pungent flavour. Growing to like asparagus. The fruit, a reddish berry that roughly one-third of a metre (one develops in summer, can be dried and foot), nodding wild onion does best in Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa): A used as a sun but will tolerate open shade, favourite of bees and butterflies for its producing white to pink and purplish nectar, wild bergamot is a sun-loving, flowers in summer. meadow plant (growing to hip height) that flowers for weeks in the summer, Ostrich fern (Matteuccia producing lavender blooms that look a struthiopteris): Few things announce bit like jesters’ hats. The leaves of spring more than fresh fiddlehead Monarda fistulosa have an Earl Grey ferns—the edible (when cooked), tea scent and can be made into a closed up fronds of this attractive lovely hot drink. fern. Grows in sun and shade, in regular to moist soil, and spreads well, Wild ginger (Asarum canadensis): The substitute for creating large colonies. rhizomes of this shade-loving, low- allspice. growing groundcover do indeed taste The Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum): like ginger and can be used in many leaves, Spreading to create dense colonies, this different ways (e.g., candied, finely twigs, and shade-tolerant groundcover, which grows chopped and added to peas). bark can be to roughly half a metre (1 1/2 feet), Spreading well, wild ginger needs made into a flowers in spring and then produces a humus-rich soil, medium to moist tea. Grows in sun single small round fruit that can be conditions. or shade. A host made into jelly. Mayapple’s umbrella- plant for spicebush swallowtail shaped leaves are especially attractive. Lorraine Johnson, a past president of larvae. NANPS, has written a number of books

JANE ZEDNIK Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum about native plant gardening; a new, Perennials virginianum): This very aggressive, revised edition of her classic 100 Easy-to- Nodding wild onion (Allium moisture-loving woodlander grows to Grow Native Plants for Canadian Gardens HOTOGRAPH BY P cernuum): All parts of this native half a metre (two feet) and has small is coming out this spring from Douglas & onion are edible, with a strong purplish flowers in spring. The young McIntyre Books. Allium cernuum stems can be cut, cooked and eaten

8 NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY WINTER 2017 Botanical Forays into Eastern Virginia by Stephen R. Johnson maples (Acer rubra), northern red that sticks out like a tongue. oaks (Quercus rubra) and white oaks I was sampling for the presence of Virginia, my home state on the mid- (Q. alba). We also saw the occasional wetland soils, typically pale gray clay Atlantic coast, occurs at a latitude southern red oaks (Q. falcata) but originating from anoxic conditions, at where flora of the southern United found not a single pogonia. Instead we another site west of Fredericksburg States meets and intermingles with enjoyed seeing large twayblade orchids when I spotted a small orchid with flora from the northern states. Perhaps (Liparis lilifolia) and a gorgeous one, sometimes two, glossy bright the most interesting and familiar example of crossvine (Bignonia green leaves, known as green adder’s region to me is the eastern part of the capreolata), all in state. I had the privilege of exploring flower. The just a fraction of the botanical crossvine treasures of this broad area in various straddled two professional capacities from the mid- dead trees and 1980s to the early 1990s. bore its yellow and One of the first of these forays was plum-coloured to a fascinating isolated sphagnum flowers along its bog in Caroline County northeast of entire length. The Richmond. My college botany upper flowers were professor, Dr. Miles Johnson, led the particularly exploration. We saw the staple of the striking framed southern U.S. pulp and paper against the blue industry, loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), sky. It’s good that growing in standing water, towering we made our trip over masses of purple pitcher plants to New Kent (Sarracenia purpurea). I had thought County when we of loblolly pine as an upland tree until did because, sadly, then. Interspersed among the prolific within five years pitchers and, glowing like jewels, were the county was tiny round-leaved sundews (Drosera consumed by rotundifolia). I did not see Pine suburban sprawl. Barrens gentian (Gentiana During the late autumnalis), a beautiful and – 1980s and early STEPHEN JOHNSON thankfully – fairly common gentian ’90s, I was a field RAWING BY

species; it was too early in the season. technician for D However, almost three decades later, I three wetland While searching for small whorled orchids with the Virginia Plant found this species at a native plant mapping Search Consortium, Stephen found many large twayblade orchids. nursery. The owner had collected the contractors. This seeds from plants growing in a job gave me the opportunity to visit mouth (Malaxis uniflora). I also found Caroline County bog. several of what I call ghost natural a line of American chestnut (Castanea In spring 1987, an invitation came areas in Spotsylvania County just west americana) stumps each with a crown from Robert Wright, then head of the of Fredericksburg. I term them of root suckers. Growing in sporadic Virginia Native Plant Search “ghosts” because each was marked for clumps between the blighted chestnut Consortium. Wright was conducting a imminent annihilation and quick trees were a dozen or more of the botanical survey of New Kent County, conversion into a wealthy gated uncommon large whorled pogonia several miles east of Richmond, development. One of my first trips as orchids (Isotria verticillata), congeners searching for populations of the state a technician was to a moist glade west of the small whorled pogonias we were and federally endangered small of Fredericksburg. At the forest edge I searching for on the previously whorled pogonia orchid (Isotria remember a beautiful fringe tree mentioned excursion. medeoloides). We walked through (Chionanthus virginicus) in full flower. Spotsylvania County was the site of many clearings, occasional bucolic In the morning sun it fluoresced; with many American Civil War battles. I pastoral scenes and forest edges the slightest breeze it shimmered. noticed while probing and assessing beneath countless tulip trees Nearby grew a single wild azalea soil colours for wetland characteristics (Liriodendron tulipifera) and other (Rhododendron periclymenoides) with that the landscape had a bed of gravel typical Carolinian species such as red its pink and white flowers and a style Continued on page 10

NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY WINTER 2017 9 Continued from page 9

just below the soil surface, except in On a graduate school class one place. At a strange erect pile of trip in plant ecology, my plant earth, the stone layer had mysteriously ecophysiology professor Don disappeared. I believe this was a civil Young and I went to the war breastwork, a breast-high easternmost point of mainland defensive structure possibly Virginia to First Landing State constructed in 1863 at the Battle of Park. This natural area is Chancellorsville or in 1864 at the located within the city limits of Battle of the Wilderness. Both battles Virginia Beach just south of occurred west of Fredericksburg. This historic old Cape Henry particular site was somewhat hidden Lighthouse. Here loblolly pines and surrounded by broad arching grow in both dry sand and American holly (Ilex opaca var. opaca). black water muck. More On my last visit to a Spotsylvania interesting were the few large wetland, I was alone in a thicket of red live oaks (Quercus virginiana) maples. Near the wetland edge, I saw and the less frequent, co- an amber spring peeper sleeping on a dominant, dry dune oak pair: leaf at eye level. Among the green and blackjack oak (Q. marilandica) straw-coloured blades of wetland and blue jack oak (Q. incana). grasses I spied the unmistakable green Live oak ranges from here to globular inflorescences of American northeastern Mexico, while

bur-reed (Sparganium americanum) blue and blackjack oaks share STEPHEN JOHNSON shining in the sun. Its spherical floral co-dominance in old, nutrient-

structures stood out in sharp contrast poor sand hills throughout the RAWING BY D to the linear and angular leaves of the southeastern U.S. All three oak attendant grasses and graminoids. species were festooned with North Landing lobelia Spanish moss into one of the most botanically (Tillandsia usneoides) while surreal areas I’d ever seen. The water adjacent loblolly pine was not. was acidic and tea-coloured but you Some researchers suggest that only glimpsed it when you disturbed the pine tree sheds bark at the carpet of duckweed (Lemna sp.) such a fast rate the seeds of obscuring it. Our boat traversed a Spanish moss can’t establish. narrow channel margined by thickets Oaks don’t shed bark that of towering cordgrass columns quickly so Spanish moss can (Spartina cynosuroides). In the near establish – not necessarily to distance was a dark forest and I could the advantage of the oaks. make out the round floral heads of Spanish moss may eventually buttonbush (Cephalanthus cause enough drag in occidentalis) and an almost- windstorms to break tree continuous canopy of bald cypress limbs and dry Spanish moss (Taxodium distichum). Erupting from can spread ground fires into the duckweed carpet were cypress the crown of a tree. knees three to five feet (one to one Perhaps the most intriguing and a half metres) tall. A cypress knee plant search was with Chris is a woody projection that sprouts Ludwig, then botanist for the above the water level, growing Virginia Natural Heritage vertically from the root of the tree, Program. Ludwig was generally in swamps. As the knees age, searching for the state-rare the tops may become chipped, craggy STEPHEN JOHNSON species known as long-leaf and collect dead leaf litter and other lobelia (Lobelia elongata). We organic matter. It was in just such a travelled to remote North

HOTOGRAPH BY matter-filled knee top that we found P Landing River in southeast our sought-for lobelia with its spike Virginia and took a small boat Pickerel weed of velvety violet flowers.

10 NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY WINTER 2017 Later we met the assistant director today is much like what was there standing stock still very close by. We of the Natural Heritage Program to when the first English explorers were both startled but the lanky bird search the same system of tidal creeks arrived in 1607. On this trail I like to remained unmoved. Rather than for waste discarded from pleasure get out of the car and view the James further disturb the heron, which had boats. The assistant director and I River from a line of loblolly pines that fishing and frogging rights to the were startled by a strange guttural cry grade steadily down into the river. In swale whereas I was just an interloper, from Ludwig. We glanced sharply at the middle of this loop trail is a I slowly pulled away from the him and found him pointing towards freshwater swale that is generally milkweed, saving it for another foray. the bow of the boat, incapable of shaded at midday but probably sunlit speech. A beautiful cottonmouth at other times of the day. In the spring Stephen Johnson no longer lives in snake, maybe eight feet long (over two of 1990, while approaching the marsh, Virginia but he still considers himself a metres), was serenely undulating I saw an orange dot hovering above Virginian and grows many Virginia plants across the stream in front of our boat. the wooden roadside railing. As I in his Iowa front and back yards as a One of my favourite places in drove closer, the dot resolved into the reminder of those halcyon forays so eastern Virginia is the paved, tight cluster inflorescence of a many years ago. automobile-accessible loop trail at fewflower Jamestown Island National Park. In milkweed the summer you will likely see spiky (Asclepias blue-flowered pickerel weed lanceolata). As I (Pontederia cordata) and arrow arum turned to get my (Peltandra virginica) growing in the camera in the swamp in front of the visitor centre. passenger seat, Helen Roundtree, author and expert my eyes locked on eastern Virginia Native Americans, onto the eyes of a GIVING NATIVE PLANTS says the vegetation growing there great blue heron A PLACE TO GROW www.LongPointLandTrust.ca Specializing in container grown Trees & Shrubs native to Ontario Original Art by Brigitte Granton

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NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY WINTER 2017 11 Strategies for Plant Profiling

by Peter Kaellgren only bloom one day of the year. Most in the cracks of rocks. Most reproduce of the books suggest blooming times with difficulty. In many cases, the Finding orchids in the wild can be a but these can be unpredictable and flowers are not pollinated. A challenge. Most books on Canadian even mature native orchids do not pollinated blossom may produce a orchids are illustrated with bloom every year. Trying to find a capsule with millions of microscopic photographs of the blossoms only. plant using only images of the spores, but the spores still have to These beautiful, carefully chosen and blossoms usually leads to frustration combine with a specific fungus and photoshopped images feed the and disappointment. To locate and end up in exactly the right growing "orchid bug." My partner John identify the plant requires more conditions (soil, moisture, sunshine, Alexander and I caught the bug when evidence. Once the amateur naturalist space) so that the fungus can gather we visited the Purdon Nature Reserve has gathered this evidence, he or she nourishment for both parties. It can near Perth, Ontario. Around mid- might be able to see and photograph take 7 to 17 years for a plant to appear June, the bog at Purdon is filled with the orchid in prime blooming and it may bloom only when its health an estimated 15,000 pink and white condition. and the conditions are right. In our showy lady’s slippers (Cypripedium John and I have always been search for orchids, John and I have reginae). The profusion of bloom and interested in nature. Originally, we developed a new appreciation for the the beauty of the bog made a deep focused much of our energy on necessity of studying and preserving impression on us. observing and counting birds during fragile ecosystems and keeping It’s important to realize that the spring migration in Southern Ontario development and invasive species photos of orchids you see in books are where we live. John, who has been under control. That includes not not like the mug shots taken of doing photography professionally walking too close to the orchids! The convicted criminals who look more or since his teens, would record what we body weight of humans can compact less like their image 365 days of the saw. We had always been interested in the surrounding soil and make the year. Some plants, especially orchids, wildflowers as well. Six years ago, chemical balance inhospitable for the friends living in fungus, resulting in the death of the Arnprior, orchid. Ontario, near the The showy orchis (Galearis Ottawa River, spectabilis) is among the first to bloom showed us yellow in mature Canadian woods. Its lady's slippers rounded, glossy green leaves, (Cypripedium sometimes with indented vertical calceolus) at their veins, rise a few inches from the leafy cottage, and forest floor and surround its stalk. The suggested that we stalk has small snapdragon-shaped, check out the pale pink and white blossoms. Most of Purdon reserve. the photographs we’ve seen show one The rest is to three plants, each with a single stalk botanical history. of flowers. Over 70 For years, John and I had been varieties of dying to see and photograph a showy orchids have been orchis. In 2014, a potter from documented as Chatham sent us photographs of a growing in single plant that she had found along Canada. All are one of the trails at Rondeau Provincial terrestrial, that is Park. She provided us with detailed to say they grow information on the location. The in the ground as ecosystem or “plant profile” for the opposed to many location corresponds to what is tropical orchids described in the books as ideal for JOHN ALEXANDER JOHN that are epiphytic, showy orchis: a mature hardwood meaning they live forest with accumulated leaf litter.

in tree branches, Companion plants such as maidenhair HOTOGRAPH BY P or lithophytic, fern (Adiantum pedatum) and white Leaves and blossom stem of the showy orchis as discovered on the meaning they live trilliums (Trillium grandiflorum) grow Bruce Peninsula in August 2015.

12 NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY WINTER 2017 in patches along the trails. We scoured the trail but were unsuccessful in locating the small plant. Since 2013, we have done most of our orchid hunting in Bruce and Grey Counties, for several reasons. Over 40 of the orchids found in Canada have been documented growing there. The Owen Sound Field Naturalists published an excellent book, A Guide to the Orchids of Bruce and Grey Counties. Most important of all, the town of Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula and Fathom Five Marine Park host an annual orchid festival early in June. This festival is the ultimate fix for any orchid lover. In August 2015, we were hiking a conservation area in Grey County when we came upon mature hardwoods with a carpet of decaying leaves on the forest floor. I was excited to see hart’s tongue fern (Asplenium scolopendrium), a rare plant in Canada. Then we began to notice clumps of maidenhairs and some of the healthiest white trilliums I have ever observed complete with red berry seed pods. On a roadside bank, we JOHN ALEXANDER spotted a large group of rounded, glossy green leaves with indented HOTOGRAPH BY vertical veins and stems with the P dried-out remains of blossoms. It The same clump of showy orchis in bloom as photographed on May 27, 2016. looked like showy orchis. The plant profile was ideal. Anxious to verify our only was I trying not to step too metres away from the first one. In the discovery, John photographed the heavily on the soil, but also I end, we counted only three clumps. plant and sent photos to naturalist encountered the similar-looking green Like many of Canada’s native orchids, friends with orchid experience. They leaves of large numbers of wild leeks the showy orchis is rare and difficult confirmed that we had finally found (Allium tricoccum) and trout lilies to find. the showy orchis. (Erythronium americanum). To profile native orchids, naturalists Now the waiting began to document On May 27, our efforts were finally need to become familiar with the the plant in bloom. The following rewarded – and richly. Most of the plants’ preferred ecosystems, year, we drove up on May 12 and blossoms were open and fresh. There companion plants and trees. Learn to found that the leaves had come up but were 16 spires of blooms on that recognize the orchid’s leaves, seed the stems were only beginning to rise. single clump, more than we have seen pods and immature or younger forms. We waited until the Victoria Day on internet photos, in talks or These last longer and you are more Weekend. There was some colour on illustrated in books. The spring likely to see them than the blossoms. the buds, but no blossoms yet. weather had been warm, even hot, and Once you have located and confirmed On both these visits, while John by this time, the leaves of the wild the identity of the orchid, you stand a photographed, I tiptoed around the leeks and trout lilies were beginning to far better chance of finding it again in area hoping to discover other showy yellow and wither. This reduced the bloom. Native Orchids of Nova Scotia orchis plants. Where there’s one, often amount of confusing vegetation and and Orchids of the North Woods are there are others lurking. This allowed me to discover two smaller exceptional in reproducing helpful inspection proved challenging. Not clumps of showy orchis growing a few Continued on page 14

NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY WINTER 2017 13 Continued from page 13

photos of ecosystems and pinks (Sabatia development stages. angularis). The John and I are amateurs when it incandescent quality comes to orchids, but our experiences of the white may be have taught us a few things. First, if the result of cell you find one native orchid in an structure in the orchid ecosystem, there are likely to be blossom and how it others. (Note: this does not apply to reflects the light. helleborines [Epipactis helleborine], a Precise scientific European orchid that will grow research needs to be anywhere.) This has proven true in done to better explain our trips searching for orchids in this effect. Bruce Peninsula nature reserves. Many May your careful of the orchids are small, 50 and well-researched millimetres (two inches) or less. In searches prove as 2014, we discovered tiny, yellowish enjoyable and green Loesel’s twayblade orchids rewarding as ours. (Liparis loeselli) growing along the boardwalk at Oliphant Fen. We then Peter Kaellgren is a found one or two at Petrel Point and a retired curator of single one at Singing Sands in an area decorative arts who currently covered by the rising waters spent his career at the of Lake Huron. According to the Royal Ontario Museum, naturalists at Fathom Five Park, Toronto. By assisting Loesel’s twayblade had never been John Alexander with his documented at the last two locations. photography, he is JOHN ALEXANDER In 2015, all of a sudden there were two reviving his childhood dozen or more Loesel’s twayblades interest in nature and HOTOGRAPH BY growing on the boggy islands of focusing on Canadian P Loesel's tway blade discovered in a clump of pitcher plant at Petrel pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea) wildflowers and Point Bog in July 2014. The plant is five centimetres (two inches) and other species in the south section orchids. tall. of Petrel Point. This year we saw hardly any. Since native orchids in Canada do not come up or bloom every year, you need to keep checking. You may get lucky. Secondly, many of the native orchids that grow in Canada are white or occasionally produce albino forms. Although there are many white wildflowers which can add to the visual confusion when looking for native orchids, in our experience white orchids in Canada are almost incandescent. The white stands out because it seems to glow from within. We found this quality helpful in locating the lady’s tresses (Spiranthes spp.), fringed white orchids (Habenaria blephariglottis), prairie fringed orchids (H. leucophaea) and

bog candles (Platanthera dilatata) as MOHAMED ADAM Y well as albino forms of rose pogonia B

(Pogonia ophioglossoides) and grass ARTOON C

14 NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY WINTER 2017 Calendar of Events

MARCH 18, 2017 JULY 19-22, 2017 Be “The Educated Naturalist” Cullowhee Native Plant Conference 2017 Kimball Township, Michigan Cullowhee, North Carolina Master Gardeners of St. Clair County present Rick Darke Hosted by North Carolina Native Plant Society and Douglas Tallamy, authors of The Living Landscape: Visit ncwildflower.org for details. Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden, Mark Weathington of JC Raulston Arboretum and Larry Cornelis of the Return the Landscape program at the SEPTEMBER 29-OCTOBER 1, 2017 Landmark Academy. To register, phone (810) 367-3399 Tri-State Native Plant Conference 2017: or e-mail: [email protected]. Nature Knows No Boundaries Shepherdstown, West Virginia The native plant societies of Virginia, Maryland and West JUNE 7-10, 2017 Virginia are hosting this conference. Visit mdflora.org/event Native Plants In The Landscape Conference to register. Millersville, Pennsylvania For more information: bhwp.org/education.

Continued from page 1 – Spotted Wintergreen by various combinations of oak often the case for slow-growing forest of the stems began to improve (Quercus spp.) and pine (Pinus spp.) understorey species with low significantly. By comparison, on well-drained, sandy soils. These reproductive potential. An ongoing surrounding vegetation outside the sites exhibit moderate to high acidity, monitoring program by a local exclosure has continued to show winter especially in the humus-rich surface conservation group in southern browse. While this was not a formal layers where most of the fibrous root Ontario suggests that herbivore browse experimental design, this preliminary system occurs. The species can tolerate may negatively impact the species. In action suggests that heavy herbivore considerable shade, sometimes this instance, a small population that pressures in winter when plants are growing under closed pine canopies, was being monitored experienced a exposed may cause reductions in local but it also thrives in more open oak- sudden and significant decline over patches of spotted wintergreen and pine woodlands. It is rarely found one winter. Much of that winter was other vulnerable species. growing where dense shrubbery or characterized by an extended period Traditional uses of this species are other understorey plants could crowd of intense cold with little snow cover, varied and include medicinal purposes it out, preferring more open especially beneath the dense, overhead such as treating colds and fevers. understorey conditions. pine canopy. Observers noted that Leaves have been used for making tea Spotted wintergreen is listed as there were numerous white-tailed deer, but should not be confused with the endangered in Canada by both federal eastern cottontail and wild turkey better known wintergreen (Gaultheria and provincial authorities, with all tracks in and around the spotted procumbens). extant populations located in southern wintergreen patch. Other nearby The avid field botanist will be Ontario. One population previously evergreen plants, such as ferns cheered to come upon spotted recorded from southwestern Quebec (Dryopteris spp.) and various conifer wintergreen, especially in colder is now considered to be extirpated. In seedlings, exhibited very heavy browse, weather when many other forest the United States, spotted wintergreen and it is believed that winter browse understorey plants have gone is designated as endangered in Illinois of spotted evergreen was a factor in dormant. If we keep an eye out in and Maine and is listed as exploitably the sudden decline of this patch. To ideal habitats, perhaps more vulnerable in New York. The attractive investigate the impact of the browsing, populations of this secretive little foliage can make it a tempting target the group constructed a small fenced plant will be discovered. for native plant enthusiasts who try exclosure around the patch before the to transplant it into their gardens, next winter and installed a trail camera. Kevin Kavanagh is the owner of South but due to its dependence on a Happily, the barrier proved effective, Coast Gardens, a small specialty nursery mychorrizal relationship and the excluding rabbits, deer and most wild and landscaping business in Norfolk delicate nature of the roots, most turkeys. (The exclosure was open at the County, Ontario. He is involved in several transplants fail. top and turkeys have entered on rare monitoring initiatives for endangered Habitat disturbance is likely a cause occasions from above.) Within two plant species in the heart of Carolinian of population declines or loss, as is years, the vigour of the patch and size Canada.

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