chinquapin The Newsletter of the Southern appalachian Botanical Society Volume 19 (2) 2011 parasitic plants, Buckleya is adapted to areas with natural distur- The Puzzling Piratebush bance. I wonder if there is a role for fire in the plant’s biology. Earl Core Student Award ReportThe shrub has many stems and a scraggly appearance. Leaves are By Lytton Musselman, small and arranged opposite one another (see illus.), hence the spe- Old Dominion University cies name, distichophylla. Few shrubs of the Southern Appalachians have captured the In such sites pines are often common, including Table Mountain imagination of botanists like the Piratebush, Buckleya distichophylla. Pine, Pinus pungens, and Virginia Pine, Pinus virginiana. This is The source of the so-called common name, Piratebush, is a mystery interesting as Buckleya is the alternate host of the Eastern Gall Rust, to me—perhaps it refers to the predatory nature of the plant which Cronartium cerebrum which attacks Virginia Pine (see image). Since depends on parasitic attachments to hosts. Like all parasitic angio- Buckleya is so limited in its distribution the rust is of little economic sperms, Buckleya produces a haustorium, a root modified for inva- importance. sion of a neighboring root and withdrawal of water and nutrients. The species is dioecious and it is easy to find flowering shrubs The haustorium of Buckleya has distinct flaps (see image) which of both species in April. Since the pistillate flower has a conspicu- enfolds the host root while from the center of the haustorium an ous nectary I assumed that insects where involved in pollination. invasive peg develops providing vascular continuity between host Patient observation showed numerous soldier beetles visiting flowers and parasite. of both sexes. Fruits are produced in the early autumn. It is this parasitism which has stimulated so much interest in this These fruits are one seeded and readily germinate without any Southern Appalachian endemic. For some time it was assumed and host influence. Despite their size and apparent stored food, I have often repeated in the literature that Buckleya, the common name never seen animals moving them. Living on steep, talus slopes, I prefer to use, was restricted in its parasitism to hemlocks. This is these fruits may enable the establishment of the seedling while not surprising as Buckleya is associated with hemlocks at most sites searching for a host. I have grown seedlings on a variety of hosts, and does parasitize the roots of both Eastern and Carolina hemlocks both gymnosperms and angiosperms, where they thrived f or a year (Tsuga canadensis and T. caroliniana). But Buckleya is not restricted in pots. Buckleya is frequently grown in botanical gardens. In fact, to these trees as hosts. the oldest plant in the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is a One of the largest populations of Buckleya is at the Poor Moun- large, prospering Buckleya shrub. tain Natural Area Preserve near Roanoke, Virginia where the shrub Recent studies in the Santalalean complex of families has led to is abundant even when hemlocks are not nearby. The shaley slopes re-alignment of the four genera of our region once placed in the are similar to other sites where I have seen Buckleya. Like many Santalaceae (Buckleya, Comandra, Nestronia, and Pyrularia). Under this strongly supported system, Buckleya would be placed in the Thesiaceae. Haustorium of Buckleya removed from the host root (bottom left), the darkened area (L) is the remains of the host root bark. The horseshoe shaped structure Buckleya shrub. Accuminate, opposite (= distickous) leaves. A nearly mature fruit of Buckleya is the vascular core of the infected with Eastern Gall Rust. haustorium. (Lytton Musselman photos [L,C]; Dan Pittillo [R]) 10 Chinquapin 19 (2) The Newsletter of the Southern Appalachaian Botanical Society Lytton Musselman, President From The Editor’s Desk: Department of Biological Sciences Southern Appalachian Old Dominion University J. Dan Pittillo, Newsletter Interim Editor Botanical Society New Norfolk, VA 23529 We continue with Alan Weakley’s (757) 643-3610 [email protected] thought provolking thinking in taxonomy as Members 2011 well as the other three columns by George You joined one of the more diverse Conley K. McMullen, Past President Ellison, Linda Chafin and Lytton Mussle- regional botanical organizations in the Department of Biology, MCS 7801 man. Alan’s question of whether there is country and we hope we can share some James Madison University interesting insights into the botanical world Harrisonburg, VA 22807 any more species names to be applied, in with each other. Let us hear from you in (540) 568-3805, fax (540) 568-3333 many cases for more careful observations these pages! [email protected] are something that I’d like to see some responses to Alan and us members. George Edward Alverson Charles N. Horn, Treasurer Biology Department Ellison’s continuation of a review of authors Joseph Moosbrugger 2100 College Street is something you might like to save for Emily Blyveis Newberry College references. Rare plants that Linda Chafin Dustin Neufeld Newberry, SC 28108 describes will be another look for potential Conrad Blunck (803) 321-5257, fax (803) 321-5636 Michele Paladino [email protected] conservation efforts that will be of value to those working in the E&T studies. And Stephen Brewer Michael Held, Membership Secretary Lytton Musselman gives us some deeper Devin Rodgers Department of Biology insights into the interconnectedness of the Nathan Daniel St. Peter’s College parasitic or semiparasitic species. I think Steven Rolfsmeier Jersey City, NJ 07306 Danielle Floyd (201) 761-6439 you will agree this is a very valuable labor by [email protected] our fine thinkers. Scott Slankard Thomas Earl Hancock Climate change or global warming, what- Ruth Douglas, Recording Secretary Barry Snow 101 Wildflower Drive ever you call it, seems to be pronounced in Megan Henderson Charlottesville, VA 22911 our recent weather reports. I suppose some Clint Springer (434) 293-6538 of these weather extremes are not all con- [email protected] Ethan Kauffman sidered record-breaking but certainly there David Walker John Pascarella, Editor-in-Chief of are a lot of extremes cropping up in various Lucy Lowe Castanea places of Earth. Even here in the heart of Margot Wallston Associate Dean of Academic and the Southern Appalachians we have seen Hal Massie Research Programs some recent storm impacts. A straight-line and Professor of Biology Paige Waymer K-State Olathe storm or perhaps “twister” passed near my 22201 W. Innovation Drive home in Sylva and Cullowhee, breaking and Olathe, KS 66061 even twisting down trees, smashing several (913) 307-7317, (229) 563-3099 cell Book Corner automobiles and home roofs in the process. [email protected] Bruce A. Sorrie contributes one of the I got to experience this on the road return- first Southern Gateways Guides of UNC Audrey Mellichamp, Managing Editor ing from the grocery store just as the storm Press begun this spring with A Field Guide of Castanea struck. Those of us lucky enough not to to Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region. 3036 Ventosa Drive receive this devastation suffered through a Charlotte, NC 28205 Sorrie, Bruce A. 2011. UNC Press, [email protected] few days of life without electricity. Some of Chapel Hill. 378 p. ISBN978-0-8078- us with small generators were able to keep 3466-4 (cloth: alk. paper; also available pbk: J. Dan Pittillo, Newsletter Interim our frozen food cold enough to prevent ...8078-7186-7). The narrow strip of the Editor spoilage but there were a lot of folks going Sandhills Region innermost of the Coastal 675 Cane Creek Road Plain is very diverse with wildflowers as to the local restaurants, delis, or dragging Sylva, NC 28779 well as ferns, graminoids, shrubs and trees out the camping equipment. In no way was (828) 293-9661 that are generally not included in the nine [email protected] this comparable to the devastation of the habitats ranging from Longleaf Pineland to tornadoes that struck the South and Mid- Roadsides and Disturbed Ground. Flower west this spring. Let’s hope that those same color photographs and in some cases fruit families enduring that devastation will not photos range from white to yellow, pink or have to face the same thing with hurricanes red, blue and brown or green in each of the that may take place later this summer. habitats. Over 600 species are included. The Newsletter of the Southern Appalachaian Botanical Society Chinquapin 19 (2) 11 Carolina Prairietrefoil: Memento of Piedmont Prairies By Linda Chafin down by a bee, a sticky ribbon of pollen is forced out of a hole in Once scattered widely across the region, southeastern Piedmont the tip of the keel and onto the underside of the bee. prairies – herb-dominated upland communities– persist into this Researchers in the Plant Conservation and Research Pro- millennium largely as human clearings. Where pastures, powerline gram at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia have been monitor- rights-of-way, railroad embankments, and roadsides intersect with ing Georgia’s single population of Lotus helleri for years. They’ve mafic bedrock-derived soils, remnant patches of prairie vegetation noticed that the seeds are rapidly eaten by animals and that the hang on. Long gone are the “large savannas” and “spacious plains” numbers of plants fluctuate widely from year to year. In an effort to mentioned by early explorers of the Caro- create a consistent seed source that can be lina Piedmont. So invisible has this plant tapped for prairie restoration projects, they community become that it is absent from have successfully propagated Lotus helleri most of the older treatments of Piedmont ex situ. Potted plants seem to thrive best in natural communities (Wharton 1978, Bar- part sun and high moisture soils and when ry 1980, Godfrey 1980).