Mid-September 2017 Part Deux: Fringe Tree Fruit, Healthy Oregon Grape,Common Evening Primrose

We mentioned the  Fringe tree in the early summer and are now back to see the small purple fruit.  The tree is in the olive family so the fruit is edible.  Like the olive it needs treatment, most commonly pickling before it is useful.  Have you tried olives right off the tree?  The fruit of the Fringe tree is mostly seed so the reward for effort is small.  It is rarely used.

The two pictures are from each of the two trees on either side of the driveway, north west side of Rolandvue.  There are comments on the internet suggesting that the trees need to be of opposite sex, they are dioecious .  I am uncomfortable talking about sex so may leave it there.  It is possible there is another male tree in the area.  Or it may be that fruit is not a definitive sign of female tree, perhaps a sterile seed is possible.  Or there may be another explanation, will discuss with the naturalists. Maybe artificial insemination.

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fruit from both Fringe trees ? both female trees.

As an update the leaves of the Oregon grape which seemed stressed earlier are now a nice bright green.  Every leaf has a story to tell, even if it is just looking normal.  The earlier yellow and red color, a sign of anthrocyanins, may have been a sign of temporary dysfunction.  They now look healthy.

Oregon grape leaf returned to a healthy color from red earlier. (new" adventure" bike intruding)

Another possible new entry is the tall yellow flower across the fence, north side of Rolandvue near the field.  Tentatively I am calling this the common evening primrose, Oenothera biennis.  It is interesting to watch if your walk takes you by there at different times of the day.  The flowers open in the evening as the name suggests and close by noon of the following day.  There are illustrations of a primrose moth online, resting on the flowers in the evening, but not visible as yet.  As usual there are numerous medical uses for the plant and the entire plant is edible at various stages.  The scent is said to be lemony, not too obvious but this was in the morning.

stem and flower of common evening primrose at 9 am.

Beauty Bush,Asiatic Dayflower, Willow Oak, Late Boneset (Mid-September 2017)

There is an unidentified plant around the 920 area of Rolandvue with striking bluish-purple berries.  In response to numerous requests we are including a photo.  It is more in the area of gardening than in  wild plants but probably Beauty Bush ,Kolkwitzia amabilis.  It is another Asian native which like Gingko is no longer in the wild but frequent in cultivation.  It is in the honey suckle family, note the opposite leaves and the berry distribution similar to honeysuckle.

It has the typical arching branches, maybe not as large as 10 feet, so may have been trimmed back. The branches are expected to peal during the winter.  There will be numerous sprays of bell-shaped flowers in the spring.  We missed this last year, may have been early spring.  Wiki says the plant was most popular between the two world wars, unknown if this one could trace its history back that far.

There is no agreement about foraging the berries.  A summary might be that it is non-toxic but inedible, having a disagreeable taste.  It is apparently not in the toxic plant data bases. Attempts at jellies have been made.  This is the only plant in the area so harvesting would not be suggested anyway.

Many of the Asian honey suckles have become invasive but this one seems not to be on that list. Watch for the pealing bark in the winter and the flowers in the spring.

Probable Beauty bush on the south side of Rolandvue near 921#.

Last year there was some discussion of the willow oak on the east side of Rolandvue  100 yards north of Cloverlea.  There had been no clear acorns.  It turns out the acorns on the Willow Oak take two years to mature, and there are now numerous nuts as shown. It is a favorite of arborists, longer-lived than the Water Oak, branches stay higher and the superficial roots do less damage to pipes and sidewalks.  The leaves give a dappled shade allowing some undergrowth .

definite acorns on the willow oak

A perspicacious observer noted a small blue flower along the shoulder of Rolandvue heading downhill toward GBMC.  This is another new addition, being small it may have been overlooked, although most states call it another invasive: Asiatic Dayflower Commelina communis .  The flowers have the two prominent upper blue petals and the small lower white petal. It has a prostrate stem lying low on the ground until the flower portion shoots up.  As the name suggests, the blooms last only a day.  The flower can make a dye sued by Japanese painters.  It is a candidate for restoring mined areas since it accumulates some metals in its leaves and stems.  It is also used in studies of plant physiology.

the leaf and the flower of the Asiatic Dayflower

Near the fence on Rolandvue, not far from the fig tree is a white flower, on tall stalks.  There are a number of flowers with similar pattern, but with this late summer bloom and this leaf pattern we are suggesting late Boneset, Eupatorium serotinum.  It has the tubular flowers in a flat top inflorescence, other bonesets tend to bloom earlier, and it is not the related white snakeroot.  The leaves have petioles,stems, while the common bonnet has clasping leaves.  It is food for numerous insects.

the leaf and flower of possible late boneset, shows leaves with petiole

What's That Plant? (Natural History Society): Elecampane,False Nettle, Spanish Needle(Bidens bipinnate)

This was a mixed group of plants that had been puzzling which we shared with the group of naturalists.  I do not remember seeing the spanish needles before.  The group felt I was not guilty of bringing these in on my boots.  They were along the road where spread by any random car or truck could occur.

The Bidens is tall, 3-5 feet with multiple branches, leaves are hairless double or triple pinnate with irregular clefts.  There are the ray flowers typical of Aster family.  Roadside is a common habitat, along with disturbed fields and ditches.  Flowers and seeds provide food  for a wide assortment of insects and birds. The trident-shaped seeds are partially hidden but can be seem by breaking open the maturing flower.  It was difficult because the leave and flower are different from most Bidens(beggar tick ).

It is growing in a few places along the north side of Wagner Rd.

five petal flower of spanish needles, from Wikipedia

The tick seeds which will stick to clothing later in the year, presently these are hidden

The large plant with square stems(not a mint) and fern-like leaves, not as typical of most bidens  family.

The Elecampane or Inula also known as horse-heal, was growing along Charles Street in a group across from Sheppard Pratt.   The large leaves with the white mid vein looked like curly dock until it started blooming.  It also has the ray flowers of aster family.  It is about 4-5 feet tall. It is spread by the tears of Helen of Troy. It was widely used as a tonic and a cure for rabies.  It is native to Europe. It is both grown for its flowers and cursed as being a foreign invasive.  I am pretty sure it was not there last year but could have gone unnoticed.  Both will be making copious seeds so may become more evident.

large, slightly curled leave, looked like dock.

upper leaves are clasping, helped with ID

ray flowers typical of the aster family

We did a foraging walk where stinging nettle was suggested as a green with extraordinary nutritional value.  There is a large patch of true nettles down by Towson run and then this plant along Cloverlea Road.  But this version was not stinging, no hairs along the stem and leaves.  So this was keyed out as False Nettle, It has the square stem, the opposite leaves with long stems and the serrated oval leaves but no sting. I will ask Nick if it is equally nutritious.  One test is by touch using palm side thicker skin if sensitive to the sting, back of hand thinner sting if less sensitive.  Then apply a poultice of jewelweed for the sting.  I am fairly sensitive so used a magnifying glass.  It looks a little like clear weed, covered earlier but not the translucent stem.  The spikes green flowers are a characteristic.  You can find real stinging nettle blindfolded, not false nettle.

these little spike flowers are one element of the ID of false nettle

false nettle, looks a lot like stinging nettle.

MADCap Horse: (News Flash) adding Viburnum and Honeysuckle to the opposite leaf group

Back in the old days, naturalist course in oughty two thousand fifteen, it was only MAD-horse.  An acronym to remember the few trees which have opposite leaves, Maple, Ash and Dogwood plus the horse chestnut.  Some are now using MAD Cap horse to include the capriofoliaceae group both viburnum and honeysuckle.  There are references to this on the net going back a few years, I was just slow to get the word.  In the meantime classifications are evolving meaning the "Cap" part may be less accurate. It is still a nice memory device.

Rolandvue has all the opposite leaf trees but the ash is less common.  There is a small ash in the woods near the white shed along the flat part of Wagner.  There are larger ash near the Riderwood school, probably with some emerald ash borer infestations.  This may be why the small ash never seem to grow well.  Within 20 feet are all the other trees, dogwood, horse chestnut ( maybe actually yellow buckeye) ash,honey suckle and viburnum and lots of small maples.  It is a good reminder that box elder is a maple and is also nearby.

So there is a class in opposite leaf bushes and trees within 10 yards of Wagner Road, it is just that the ash tree is very small.

opposite leaves on a dogwood, south side of Wagner  Rd.

opposite compound leaves of an Ash tree in the same areas. There are maple,viburnum,honey suckle and horse chestnut nearby (MADCap Horse)

There is also the question of opposite branching occurring in the MAD horse group.  This is illustrated in the same area as the ash tree.  Looking at the dogwoods in the same area, this is not all that obvious, but still present.  There is some binary branching that does not look opposite .

opposite branching on one of the MAD (maple,ash, dogwood ) trees.

Here is a photo of the Ash leave from Riverwood school near the tennis courts.  The trees have shiny lesions but I have not seen the caterpillar or the adult emerald ash borer.  There are no traps in the branches.  The trees are on the large side for ash.

Probable ash leave maybe Green Ash from Riverwood school.

Road Trip: Heal-all, Hawthorn, Herb Robert, Rudbeckia lancinata

All of the above plants are distributed in Maryland but not as common as in Ontario.  We were visiting the old family homestead in Lowville, Ontario.  The easiest way to ID plants when visiting is to ask the ranger or guide.  We did do a simple dichotomous key on the hawthorn, and the heal-all was courtesy of a neighbor.

There was a line of Hawthorns across the road from the Pickett Octagon House.  That is a clue since they were probably planted rather than naturally occurring .  The there was a woody single trunk and a spreading 20 foot tall tree. The key calls the small fruits "pommes" like crab apples.  There were simple serrated alternate leaves, round to oval. We had no flowers at this time of year.  With the thorns the simple key diagnosed Hawthorn.  Since it might be imported and with no flowers we went no further in species etc.  The illustrations are from the internet, my branch was not well-preserved.

A reason to plant,the spring flowers

Illustration to show rust but here to show the thorns.

Illustration of Hawthorn leaves and thorns. There was a question of twice serrated or lobed.

The ranger pointed out the Herb Robert (? row-bear).  This is said to be endangered in Maryland but an invasive in Washington State. There is the fernlike leave and the five petal purple to pink flower. It is in the geranium family.  Robert may have been a French monk who used the plant to cure a variety of illnesses. Or the "robert" may be a corruption of a term for red-stem. It was in the Niagara gorge, compatible with its preference for rocky moist environments.

Heal-all was a small ground cover plant in an empty lot.  It was about the size of purple false nettle. It was wide-spread and may be in the neighborhood just not very prominent.  As the name says it cures everything and has no side effects. Latin is Prunella vulgaris .  It is said to be edible, both flowers and leaves.

On the way home we took a break at Hancock Md to walk along the canal towpath.  There was this tall aster with trefoil type leaves.  It looked a little like black-eyed Susan but twice the height. There is a tall form of Rudbeckia and along the Potomac was a typical location.

this was a six foot tall version of Rudbeckia seen along the Potomac River, differential of wing stem,  artichoke ,and coneflowers