Cottonwood (Populous deltoides)

The cottonwood tree has a place in literature, particularly in the Westerns, and in ecology being water dependent and water demanding.  The trees are nearby if not directly in the neighborhood.

You will notice these trees at Lake Roland every June with the cottony snow on the ground.  The trees are tall and not giving up their leaves or branches for close examination.  There is a small group of cottonwoods at the church parking lot, north side of Church Lane in Cockeysville.  This is the leaf in the photo.  In July there were neither catkins or the snowy seeds.  Cottonwood is dioecious so these trees out York road may be male and have only the reddish catkins in late spring.

The petioles are long and flattened, allowing the leaf to fluttered in the slightest breeze ,a characteristic of the group.  The leaves, consistent with the name are triangular with a flat base.  There are a couple of small glands at the junction of the leaf and its stem.

typical triangular eastern cottonwood leaf

Addendum:  Someone raised the question of leaf scars.  They are said to be large and triangular  on a stour yellow-grey twig.   See the last photo.

transillumination of the cottonwood veins

leaf scar on cottonwood twig, somewhat triangular

Hickory Challenge : Which Species?

The hickory is just slightly outside the neighborhood, at L'Hirondelle , corner of the driveway leading into the old Rugby field.  There are a couple of reasons to add the hickory.  First there are probably some hickories closer along Towson run, just hard to get close.  Second, it is an important tree historically and the local forest were known as hickory forests  along with the oaks, beech, and maples.  With the diverse mix of neighborhood trees there should be more hickories.

The divided nut, the alternate leaves, pinnate with an odd leaflet at the end is consistent with hickory. It is just not clear to me which variety.  There are more than five relatively narrow leaflets.  But the leaflet margin is serrated.  It doesn't seem to fit the common groups.  There could be hybridization or it could be a simple category overlooked.  The twig I have is too small to see the star shaped pith but the pith seems solid.

A final reason for showing the hickory relates to the hundred year old pecan tree on Maple Ave.  It produces copious quantities of nuts and would tend not to be self-fertilizing .  If there are no other pecans in the area, it might be possible for the local hickories to pollenate the pecan.  Producing one of the Hican hybrids in the nuts.

Shown is a small branch with three leaves and a transillumination to show the leaf margin.  Extra credit if you can explain the slightly orange vertical background artifact.  It is an interaction between the fluorescent lightbox and the cellphone camera.  It orients with the light box.

Update: So there has already been an inquiry about the terminal buds.  This is shown in the last photo and yes in seems to have a sulfurous yellow quality.  I naturalist first suggestion was pecan, which was interesting.  The terminal bud helps with that.

Alternate,oddly pinnate leaves with 9 leaflets and divided  small fruit.

Margin is serrated not entire,veins end in point. Stripes are  camera artifact.

terminal bud from the mystery hickory.

Wavyleaf Basketgrass (Oplismenus undulatifolius)--Something to Watch

On the Friday morning walk at Lake Roland Ed pointed out the clumps of wavy leaf basket grass.  This is an Asian invasive first found in Maryland, some say first at Lake Roland.  There are long roots or stolons spreading for many feet just under ground. This was on the green trail,on higher ground.  I have not seen it on the east side of the lake but is almost inevitably present.

It should be flowering shortly, so spreads by the sticky awns or by the growing stolons.  The seeds stick to humans and animals.  The family is Poaceae with relatives found as lawn weeds.  The pictures show a single plant and a transillumination of a leaf.  The long parallel veins may have something to do with the undulations.  The stiff center vein remains flat.  I will try to add a picture of a large colony, easy to spot.

Wavyleaf basketgrass showing the undulations in the leaves, an Asian invasive nearby

transillumination of the leaf showing the long parallel veins possibly related to  waves

Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)

Overlooked on the list of plants along Wagner is the  bottlebrush buckeye near the first curve at the top of the hill, north side.  The overall view is typical widespread with height up to 12 feet.  It spreads by suckering, shoots growing from the base.  The leaves are typical of other buckeyes around the neighborhood, opposite, palmately compound, 5-7 leaflets.  It is a garden plant but is native to the USA, from a small area in Alabama.

The name comes from the erect panicles of flowers, which are now past their prime and beginning to mature into the horse chestnut fruit.  A picture of the flowers from the internet is added showing the peak in late June, early July.  Perhaps it was considered too much ornamental in the first map.  It can be considered a relative of the horse chestnuts that played a role in the origin of modern Israel, similar nuts.  And it is an illustration of the opposite leaf Madcap Horse (chestnut) mnemonic.

The opposite leaves, as in MADCAP Horse mnemonic 

older flower panicle

Palmately compound leaves like other buckeyes

peak flowering from the internet

Black Swallow-wort(Cynanchum louiseae) and Purple Flowered Raspberry (Rubus odoratus)... out of bounds

We were visiting Aurora, NY for a conference, on the shores of Cayuga Lake.  There was an aggressive vine along the walking paths, twining over itself.  There were attractive dark purple flowers.  It is invasive, originally from Europe, and although first seen in New York, it is widely recognized in Maryland.

It is a hazard due to crowding out native species.  It is a relative of milkweed and may attract Monarch butterflies as does milkweed.  The swallow-wort is less supportive to the butterfly or even toxic so a possible additional risk.  This was a couple of months ago and still have not seen swallow-wort in our area.  Look for the follicle fruit now in late summer and the wind borne seeds.

The purple flowered raspberry prefers shady conditions and is uncommon in Baltimore county.  It is also known as Virginia raspberry so is in the general area.  It has the unusual large maple-like leaves.  The internet gives them a downgrade for taste, but our host in NY raises them and finds them a favorite for cooking.  She also mentioned that the canes are smooth, without thorns or prickers but there are small thorns just beneath the berry. It is a native to the eastern United States and has little down side other than limited growth niche.

Two plants from NY but possible sightings locally?

The raspberry was seen on the south side of the path to Taughannock Falls.  Growers know the site.

Unusual leaves of the purple-flowered raspberry. No thorns on the canes.