Plant of the Day: 2016

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Plant of the day is: Puya berteroniana or turquoise puya

Not that I don't approach every seed I sow with excitement, but every once in awhile, I come across a packet of seeds that I REALLY hope germinates. This is a story of that packet today.

Blue flower of Puya berteroniana. Photo Credit: Rod Waddington

(CC BY-SA 2.0)

Well then, do I have your attention? How about that color!? You just don't see that kind of color that often in nature, it's a treat. The contrast of the bright orange pollen is really something. It looks even better amassed on the inflorescence ...but more of that to come.

Taxonomy, etc.: We're back on another monocot. So you think pineapple and you'd probably think more tropical. Most bromeliads are tropical and found in the Americas, but this particular genus, Puya, can grow in some rather hostile places. While it is still a Bromeliaceae, it is more at home with cacti than palms, as you can see in the very bottom photo. The name Puya is derived from the Mapuche Indian word for point, which is easy to sympathize with when working with these plants. Gloves are non-optional. There are around 230 accepted species of Puya, so there is some nice diversity in the genus. Puya is one of the 51 genera in the Bromeliaceae much like the pineapple Ananas comosus and all those awesome air plants we all like so much, the Tillandsia. Puya is the type genus for the Puoideae subfamily. The classification of the family has seen a lot of attention based on chloroplast DNA analysis. Other notable genera in the family include Fosterella, Dyckia, Vriesea, and Guzmania. Some decent house plants in that lot. That doesn't mean the rest aren't equally amazing, I just don't know as much about them. Oh. Wittrockia is pretty awesome. It rocks.

Genus is credited to Juan Ignacio Molina, which I think is a great name. Actually from Chile himself, he wrote Saggio sulla Storia Naturale del Chili, one of the first accounts of the natural history of the country. He also has a lizard named after him. Nice.

Puya berteroniana bromeliaceae Photo Credit: Domaine du Rayol, le Jardin des Méditerranées

(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Description: Forms large mounding rosettes of silver-grey leaves that are well armed with inward pointing spines that trap anything that falls into the rosette. They are pretty brutal. They are one species considered protocarnivorous, which is a fancy way of saying that they may trap and kill things but can't digest them directly, essentially just taking advantage of downward moving organic matter through the process of decay. Neat. The clumped rosettes can be over 1.5m tall by the way and the leaves are about a meter in length, pretty impressive. The flowers are a striking blue, which is a bit unusual as it selective for birds, as reds tend to attract other insects. In a pretty nifty morphological co-evolutionary feat, the flower stalks have lateral branches with flowers on the lower parts but ending in a stiff spur which is used as a perch for birds. Awww, nature is cute...when it's not being really diabolical. The inflorescence can be 2 to 4m tall, which is absurd and truly something to behold. These are what is called a monocarpic perennial, meaning they live for more than two years (can be several) and when they finally reach maturity, flower, and set seed, they die. This particular species takes bout 6-8 years to reach maturity, well worth the wait though.

Habitat/Culture: Hailing from the coastal mountains of Chile, it has adapted to live in a fairly hostile environment. You can see just how barren and dry its home is in the photo below. Because of its altitude it is actually fairly cold hardy, with reports of being hardy down to 15F in more xeric soils. I'd feel pretty comfortable with 22-25F degrees in a well drained but I doubt I'd feel comfortable pushing it any further than that. Not particularly difficult to germinate and grow if higher humidity in well drained soils is maintained throughout young growth. I think the danger with growing dry loving bromeliads and even cacti from seed is exposing them to harsh conditions too quickly. They can actually take a fair bit of water, and like the humidity, as long as the media is VERY well drained. I've got some very nice sized Puya coerulea var. monteroana that I've grown from seed this year and they're doing swimmingly in clay pots with lots of big chunk perlite, peat, and charcoal. Growing xeric plants is a rewarding lesson in managing watering, one I'm still learning.

Propagation: Will be trying these similar to my other Puya, essentially mimicking well established practices for cacti seed sowing and using well drained but peaty mixes that have been well sterilized. I actually use microwave safe deli/takeout containers and sterilize media with boiling water/microwave, sow seeds on surface, cover with good seal lid (allowing light in), place in greenhouse, and wait, impatiently at times.

Puya berteroniana, Paihuano, region de Coquimbo Photo Credit: Pato Novoa

(CC BY 2.0)

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Plant of the day is: Dracaena draco or dragon blood tree

IUCN: Vulnerable

Dracaena draco by brewbooks (CC BY-SA 2.0)

As you can see, much like Dumbledore, this plants got style. Hopefully I can keep an interested coworker from stabbing into it and investigating its common namesake. I've been meaning to write about this one for some time and it might as well be today. Probably one of my most closely watched seedlings at the moment, very excited to see my two inch start grow into one of these majestic "trees".

Taxonomy, etc.: As good of a point as any to explain why tree is in quotation marks above. While the dragon blood tree does eventually grow into something resembling a tree, it is not really a tree in the traditional sense. Much like other palms, it is a monocot and does not form wood in the usual way with secondary growth from the cork cambium and vascular cambium (lateral meristems). See a quick video on secondary growth here! Instead of forming bark from a cork cambium, these clever plants essentially harden their outer layers with various sclerified or hardened cells left over from the bases of previously shed fronds. The drawback to this is that treelike monocots cannot make use of compartmentalization to protect wounds against pests like a real tree can.

You wouldn't think of this as an asparagus but it is in the Asparagaceae family, definitely an odd cousin. Dracaena is derived from ancient Greek drakaina or female dragon. There are about 120 species, the majority of which are native to Africa. Sansevieria is actually a very closely related genus. I did not know that. If you've ever seen "lucky bamboo" you'll notice a close relative of D. draco here. D. braunii is frequently sold as "lucky bamboo" despite uhhh, not being bamboo. In a different life I had some for awhile until I killed it. If you like the genus Dracaena you can thank Linnaeus for making this specific epithet cooler. D. draco used to be Asparagus draco. Lame.

Dracaena draco by Esculapio (CC BY-SA 3.0)

El Drago Milenario (the thousand-year-old dragon) growing at Icod de los Vinos in Northwest Tenerife. It is estimated to be about 250 to 365 years old and the largest specimen alive.

Description: One of the tree Dracaena, grows to a width of up to 10m with a similar height in culture. It can get quite a bit taller in its native environment over a great deal of time. Typically a little taller than wide at maturity but has a bit of a varied growth habit throughout its life. It grows as a single stem for the first 10-15 years of its life and then begins to flower and form more lateral stems. The base is supported by aerial roots that emerge from the base of the lower stems and closely hug the central stem, forming a mass of wood-like roots. Leaves are about .7m long and 3.8 cm in width and blue-green in color. The bark, when cut or bruised releases a red resin that looks similar to blood and has been used for a variety of purposes including wood staining, medicine, and embalming the dead.

An old dragon tree (Dracaena draco) with a gash in its stem

by Wellcome Images (CC BY 4.0)

Looks crazy right? It was actually a thing. The Guanches hollowed out the trunk into a little hobbit-like sanctuary which Humboldt saw when he visited. Sadly destroyed by a storm in 1868 :(.

Habitat/culture: Native to the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Madeira, and western Morocco. Near extirpated in Madeira and Porto Santo. Only a few hundred left in the Canaries. There is a nice remote pocket of them in North Africa that has several thousand, so ...that is nice, though they are likely a variant. Would be sad to lose the genetics of the rest forever. It is tolerant of temperatures around 20-25 F and is very heat and drought tolerant. I'll be transferring my seedling to a very well drained media and root promoting pot very soon. Dracaena, in general, tend to be pretty forgiving in terms of nutrition as well, basically, be a little mean to them and withhold. Slow release fertilizers like Osmocote are nice.

Propagation: Keep in mind that the seeds are recalcitrant (die if they dry out). Can be stored for a few months if kept moist. I like to soak my seeds before sowing, typically overnight, to jump start imbibition. For these, I put them in a 50/50 potting soil/perlite mix in a 4" tall pot and covered with humidity dome with bottom heat 80F+ (lot of the palms like it toasty to germ) just make sure you watch your water, they can never dry out.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Plant of the day is: Pinguicula primuliflora or primrose butterwort

Another southeastern species. Somebody keeps bringing all these plants in from that region...hmmmm. Said person piqued my interest discussing its dormancy today, so here we are. One of the butterworts, a really neat group of plants I have been remiss to address.

Pinguicula primuliflora (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) photo by dogtooth77

Taxonomy etc.: A member of the bladderwort family actually. Lentibulariaceae ...really rolls off the tongue right? Say that one five times fast. A fairly small family in terms of genera with only Pinguicula, Genlisea (corkscrew plants) and Utricularia (the bladderworts), and Isoloba. The bladderworts are well worth a look and perhaps soon they'll have their time to shine as well, they're quite fascinating in their underwater capture methods. From a genetic standpoint, members of this family originally evolved the ability to secrete proteinase mucilage as a deterrent to insect predation and then later further evolved to adsorb nutrients from captured prey. The family contains about 312 accepted species. The Pinguicula genus contains about 73 accepted species. For a very nice description of family characteristics visit Tropical Biodiversity. One fun fact is that it is the most species rich family of carnivorous plants. Worth noting that there are both tropical and temperate members in the genus so they adapt to those changes quite differently. Also...not all of them are carnivorous P. cyclosecta for example.

Pinguicula primuliflora at the University of Washington greenhouse collections (CC BY-SA 4.0) photo by Ryan Kitko

Description: Herbaceous perennial. Leaf margins are entire, forming a rosette, I'm saying fairly oblong and rounded at the tip and about 6-9cm long. Flowers are kind of a light purple to pink. When germinating and establishing there is a single ephemeral root that then disappears to be replaced by adventitious roots. Neat. The roots mainly just absorb water and help anchor the plant. They get their nutrients through their sticky leaves that trap small gnats and insects. Yum. The leaves are covered in tiny hairs that secrete said mucilagenous (I like that word...) liquid. Worth noting that the scapes also have hairs and can trap insects, why waste a meal on a flower?? They also form new plantlets from the tips of their leaves...cooooool. I wanna see that. Very detailed description here. I do not believe this species grows different leaves in the winter... :(. Maybe we'll get a hold of some that do though.

Pinguicula vulgaris Illustration (Public Domain)

Distribution/Culture: Typically found on the extreme southern coast areas starting in Louisiana stretching through the panhandle. While most Pinguicula prefer very moist soil, these prefer it VERY wet, near to growing in water even. In terms of soil, broadly, they prefer similar soils to most carnivorous plants: acidic and poor. Combinations of peat, sphagnum, and sand should be included in a growing mix. High light exposure is kind of their thing too. I'm unsure if you can use similar methods to Drosera to feed them in lieu of insects. Finely ground betabites fish food is probably an option though...I'd wager. They do require a dormancy in the winter and need to be kept fairly cool (above freezing) for several months.

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Plant of the day is: Myrcianthes fragrans or Simpson's Stopper/Twinberry

I promise this has nothing to do with the fact that Florida is staring at a category 4 hurricane. Pure coincidence. I actually just cleaned and sowed some seeds of these today and decided I'd like to learn a little bit more about them. The fruit is edible actually (not the seeds I was told). To me it reminded me a bit of the taste of gin... not bad, not great, but interesting. Definitely a flavor I'd spend some time with throughout the seasons. Hoping to get one up and growing.

Taxonomy, etc: The Myrcianthes genus is fairly small with only about 37 species found throughout Central and South America. From a quick glance it looks like M. fragrans is the only species native to the United States. A good chunk of the rest of them are in Colombia, Bolivia, and Venezuela. The genus was described in 1856. The genus is the in the Myrtaceae family with Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, and another Caribbean fruit that I have eaten, Syzygium samarangense. A common theme of the family is brightly colored and numerous stamens. While the stamens for M. fragrans aren't particularly colorful, they are numerous and give a decent show. Published by Roger McVaugh in Fieldiana, Bot. in 1963. It was listed as Myrtus fragrans at one point by Swartz BUT do to taxonomical confusion was named by McVaugh possibly all because of a neglected question mark. The technicalities of taxonomy. Read the tale here.

From Perfect Island Website

Description: A small tree/shrub reaching 6-10m tall and 3-6m wide. Habit greatly depends on growing location and pruning habit. You can really grow it how you like. It has a flaking outsider bark, reddish brown inner bark. Will develop a buttressed root flare with age. Leaves simple, entire, and opposite with a short petiole. Fairly elliptical leaf. The leaves can often curl a bit at the margins and tips (see below). The leaves smell quite nice when crushed (hence fragrans). Flowers throughout the year but see best flowering in Florida in February through early summer. Flowers are white, also smell lovely, and lead to a very bright red fruit with two seeds in it (can confirm). The fruits are a popular favorite of native birds. The flowers are also frequented by a variety of pollinator plants. It's a pretty awesome Florida native really. You can even turn it into a hedge. It will get the guava fungus

Thanks to the University of Florida IFAS Extenstion for a great reference on this.

Distribution/Range: It is a native of South Florida but has made its way well up the coastline up to Charleston, SC. It is also found in the Caribbean but is rare in Puerto Rico. The Island of Mayaguana in the Southern Bahamas still has forests of them growing on elevated rocky ridges. Apparently if you are in Florida they're fairly common, even used as parking lot island trees.

Culture: Has a high salt tolerance, which is to be expected given its coastal propensity, prefers well drained soils but can handle occasional saturated soils (like ...umm hurricanes??). It is fairly drought tolerant once established. It is a 9b-11 so don't think about trying it outside in the Midwest.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Plant of the day is: Olea europaea or European olive

Today's plant of the day is going to be a bit more relaxed and narrative than the recent trend. It is plant #100 so I'm pretty excited about it and I wanted to pick a significant and meaningful one. I was recently in Spain and had the opportunity to see a very nice chunk of the largest groves in the world. It is a truly magnificent and overwhelming thing to see miles and horizons of trees lined up through rolling hills. Here is a photograph that doesn't do it justice. I'm going to ramble about a few things and then give it the more traditional treatment near the end if you feel like hanging in.

Photo Credit: Justin Lee (CC BY 4.0)

Spain is the worlds largest producer of olives. Forty five percent of all the worlds olives come from Spain. That is a lot of olives. It's all well and good to see a number and think "Wow that's a lot!". It is something altogether different to see miles upon miles upon miles (err...kilometers) of groves as far as the eye can see. We had the opportunity to take a high speed train from Barcelona to Cordoba where we then rented a car and drove to Granada, Ronda, and finally Sevilla. For the most part we saw a really good sized chunk of southern Spain or the Andalusian region. Now for a fun graphic. There are HUNDREDS of cultivars of this tree, suited for different climates and different production (fruit, oil, etc. etc.). This is a sweet map of the different varieties typically grown in Spain alone.

Crazy right? Most of the production is in the southern region of Spain and it is considered a "dry crop" that doesn't require irrigation. The trees are planted in groups of 3 to promote growth towards the outside which helps not only fruit production, but makes harvesting much easier as well. There are a variety of harvest methods from shaking the trees, hand collecting into bags, and even pruning off branches to promote good form (kind of a double benefit to that). One thing that did strike me as a little concerning, however, is that all the rows between the trees are continually cultivated (dug up so that weeds and/or native plants don't grow between rows). A naturalist we hiked with there told me that they are just now starting to study the affects of erosion and soil degradation that this may cause. The practice is done supposedly to make harvesting easier. I do have to think that it might actually be better to leave the soil undisturbed. You'll help promote native species (eventually...if seed banking can be reestablished) AND help create good soil structure and aeration. Time will tell.

I did see several tractors spraying as well, so they do have pest and pathogen issues.

Some of these trees are reportedly over 1,000 years old. So naturally, rich people are paying large sums to dig these trees up and ship them all over the world. It's actually a big problem and Spain really needs to step up with some protections. I believe Italy has already banned the practice. See this article for an interesting read.

Fun story: The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge east of Jerusalem's Old City. Named for the olive groves that used to be there. It is described as the place where Jesus ascended to heaven (Jeopardy question today...kid you not...). He stood on the Mount of Olives and wept over Jerusalem.

Photo Credit: Justin Lee (CC BY 4.0)

I really miss olives right now. This bowl of olives here represents the best olives I've ever had. I've fairly recently not been a huge fan of olives actually. I would never even touch them as a child/younger me. Even Niki, who is also not a fan, was impressed. I miss the olives. Nothing quite like truly authentic and delicious olives. They are one of the most widely cultivated crops in the world actually with an estimated 865 million olive trees in the world (as of 2005). Most ancient cultures, even dating back to the ancient Egyptians, have made use of this tree. It is truly one of the great gifts to the planet and our species. It's claimed as sacrad by Christians, Muslims, and the ancient gods of Greece. The oldest trees are likely over 2,000 years in age. They give us food, they give us oil and wood, they self regenerate, adapt to drought, and will invade areas if planted without consideration to their success.

They are also extremely allergenic with an OPALS rating of 10 out of 10. Being wind pollinated means that allergy season can be hell in production countries. Our guide even mentioned how miserable it was. This tree certainly earns my appreciation and respect for one of the more magnificent and beautiful creations on the earth. Tip of the hat and wag of the finger.

Taxonomy, etc.: Just to briefly mention a few simple things. It is actually a very small family in terms of genera, clocking in at only about 26 (one of which is recently extinct). Around 700 species, which is respectable but again, not that large of a family. Boy does it have some hard hitting and notable genera though! Olive, ash, jasmine, privet, forsythia, lilacs, heck, even our native Chionanthus (fringe tree, which is flowering now I might add and just a lovely tree). Hesperelaea palmeri from Guadalupe Island is now extinct and no longer with us. Carl Linnaeus named 8 of the genera in 1753. The rough establishment of the family was made by Johann Centurius Hoffmannsegg (surely could have used one more pair of double letters...) and Johann H.F. Link in their flora of Portugal. According to wiki, there hasn't been much phylogenetic research into the family. Get cracking people. Though to be fair it is hard to work with because of some issues with reticulate evolution. News to me. Learn something new every day.

Description: Evergreen shrub or tree native to the Mediterranean, Asia, and Africa. A fairly short and squat tree but very dependent on varieties (more on that shortly). Leaves are silvery green (glaucous) and alternate. Trunks can be extremely gnarled and twisted, which is very beautiful. The flowers are small and white and borne on previous year's wood in racemes that emerge from the leaf axils. Fruit is a drupe that is green when young and ripens to a darker purple black color. Seed is considered a pit, rock, or stone depending on where you live. Either way, don't eat the pit :).

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Plant of the day is: Arthrostemma parvifolium or ???

Another species in the genus, Arthrostemma ciliatum, is called pinkfringe. I'm not sure if some variant could be applied to this species as well. I've got a nice crop of these right now, and I figured I'd get a little bit more information on their end size and more in depth cultural habits. So far they've been an easy going well mannered plant with an interesting rubbery feeling leaf. My leaves are quite a bit darker in color than pictures below, more purple. I wonder if it is sun exposure, nutrients, or just a genetic quality. The world may never know.

Sadly not any other CC images available (the one that is looks like it may be A. ciliatum). I shall take a few photos of mine and upload tomorrow.

Let me google that for you.

Arthrostemma parvifolium habit (CC BY-NC-SA)

Photo Credit: Andrés Ernesto Ortiz Rodríguez

Taxonomy, etc: It has been some time, if ever, that I have touched on a Melastomataceae. It is quite a family with some of the more spectacular species in the plant world, 2/3 of which are from New World Tropics). The Arthrostemma genus is quite small with 5-6 accepted species. This species is not widely known in cultivation and information is again fairly limited. I was trying for an easier species tonight, oh well. Wiki lists a publication of the species in 1823 while Tropicos reports it published in the Monographiae Phanerogamarum 1891. Type species for the genus is Arthrostemma ciliatum for which there is a bit more information. It has naturalized in Hawaii actually. Several melastomes (as they call them) are actually invasive, including the Tibouchina semidecandra (another great plant for a write up someday). A few other notables in the family include Melastoma, Medinilla, Osbeckia, and Rhexia (of which we have a native...there is the POTD reference :)).

Arthrostemma parvifolium (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Photo Credit: Justin Lee

Description: Leaves are opposite and decussate (forming an x). You can see in the first photo how the leaves alternate positions up the stem in a kind of x like pattern. Flowers are perfect, and borne singly, a purple in color with a red hypanthium developing after the 4 petals drop (above). Looking at pictures around the web it looks like this species and A. ciliatum may get misidentified from time to time. As best as I can tell the leaves of A. ciliatum are typically greener and with much smaller teeth. Young stems are reddish, not radish. From the published description, again BHL you rock, it grows up to 3 dm (yeah...decimeter...) or .3m (I'm just not going to give you the foot, I won't). If you'd like to dig through a poorly translated Wiki description, here you go.

Several grown in 1 gallon container (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Photo Credit: Justin Lee

Distribution/Culture: I can tell you thus far that it is handling quite a bit of sun and moisture this Spring. I think this will want a bit more shade as the intensity increases. Seems fairly tolerant of a wide ranges of soil pH and nutrition, haven't noticed any kind of chlorosis or nutrient deficiency with a moderate fertilizer regimen. Tropicos shows collections from Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico so it has a fairly broad range. Did you know you can even view the exact coordinates of these collections from google maps!? Check this one out! Give it up for a heck of a database.

A bit closer detail on margins, maybe starting to see some leaf burn from sun

(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) Photo Credit: Justin Lee

That's all for tonight folks, I'll try to get those supplementary photos tomorrow. G'night.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Plant of the day is: Berkheya purpurea or bloudisseldoring

I have a few of these germinating and they look like they might be a little tricky through the establishment phase (the biggest challenge really). So, it's time to study up.

Presumably a Berkheya purpurea flower, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa

Photo Credit: Lollie-Pop (CC By 2.0)

Taxonomy, etc.: A member of the Asteraceae family, as noted by all those disk and ray flowers. It is in the subfamily Carduoideae...the thistles! I have a bit of a soft spot for thistles (which I'm sure they would more than happy to exploit with their general pokiness). I realize that many of them are invasive plants all over the world (this one included) ...but that has nothing to do with the plant really. That's all on the people that move em around. Pulling honeysuckle, or winter creeper, or any of the numerous weeds that St. Louis is blessed with annually...I often remind myself that I'm not really irritated at the plant. Back on topic here, the Berkheya genus is comprised of around 75 species and of those, 71 can be found in South Africa. If you take a trip to South Africa, and pay any attention at all, I can almost promise you you'll come across at least one member of this genus. The genus typically has yellow ray florets with a few white ones and this particular odd standout B. purpurea. The purpurea obviously for purple. German botanist Ehrhart founded the genus in 1788 in honor of the Dutch botanist Jan le Francq van Berkhey (I for one applaud the trend of shorter names).

Berkheya purpurea "Zulu Warrior" Photo Credit: FarOutFlora (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

A cultivar of this plant. Something about this plant...I like it.

Description: A herbaceous perennial that forms a low rosette initially and then later sends up flower stalks. Leaves are up to 250 mm long with wavy, very spiny edges. Adaxial side of leaf is near shiny while the abaxial (under) is covered with long, soft, white hairs. One the flowering stem, smaller leaves are produced that get smaller further up the stem. Not only do they get smaller but they kind of cling to the stem as they go...almost making wings. Check out a few of the pictures here to really appreciate it. The flowering stem can be up to a meter tall (nice), flowers are typically purple but can occasionally be white. Each flower stays open for several days and a single plant can have up to 15 flowers open at a time, making for an impressive show really. Not bad for a weed. May or may not have a taproot, I've read some differing information. My guess is, IF rhizomatous at all, it is likely after being well established. I'd lean towards tap rooted, which is a difficult property to manage under propagation. Deep seed trays or frequent transplanting are necessary and soil/root disturbance is typically extremely frowned upon.

Berkheya purpurea. Taken during Tatton Park Flower Show 2009

Photo Credit: Mike Peel (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Habitat/culture: From higher elevations in South Africa. Mountain regions, steeps, and grassy mountain slopes. Typically found at elevations around 1,500 to 3,000 m). Three thousand meters is, by the way, pretty up there. Needs good drainage! For sure. Cold hardiness is a bit under debate. I read a report of hardiness to zone 5. This may be a rare plant that endures not only the cold of a St. Louis winter but the summer heat as well (provided good drainage!). Then again, another site said hardy down to 23F. Hmmm. Needs full sun as well.

Propagation: Germinating a bit from just sowing on a mist bench with bottom heat. Other sites also mention no stratification requirement. Like many other alpine asters, I do wonder if it wouldn't benefit from a brief 2 to 3 week chilling for more uniform germination. Sowed these in a 50/50 blend of fine peat and sand. It can be a fine line to walk between keeping seedlings well watered and happy and addressing the demands of a dry loving tap rooted species as it is establishing and moves to maturity. All part of the adventure :).

Enjoy.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Plant of the day is: Oxydendrum arboreum or sourwood tree

Caught my eye as a large tree for the Ericaceae family. I'm used to seeing lots of alpine Ericaceae species so this one gave me a little bit of a double take, and then I was quite taken by it's for and color. That color. Oh my.

Oxys - Greek for sour

dendron - Greek for tree (references the sour tasting leaves)

arboreus - Latin for 'of a tree'

Photograph of a Sourwood tree, located in Elizabeth Park, West Hartford, CT. Photo taken October 31, 2010.

Photo Credit: Msact (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Taxonomy, etc.: Well, as I mentioned, it is in the Ericaceae or heath/heather family. Most members of this family fare found in acidic and/or infertile growing conditions. It's a pretty large family with about 151 genera and 3,554 species. Pretty large. You'll likely be familiar with other members of the family: cranberry, blueberry, huckleberry, rhododendron, azalea...etc. etc. Many species also have evergreen foliage and strong mycorrhizal associations. Oxydendrum arboreum is actually a monotypic genus, just the one species. Located in the Vaccinioideae subfamily (closely related to Vaccinium (the tasty genus :)).

Description: For once I don't have to scour the corners of the internet for good information. Plenty to find out there. A small deciduous tree up to about 20 m tall or so. Leaves are alternate, simple, elliptical to lanceolate and 4 to 7 inches long. Very finely serrated leaf, a good photo of leaf, twig, flowers, and form can be found via the great people at Virginia Tech (they also have an app which is great for tree ID...recommendable). Has a small petiole. Flowers are hermaphroditic, white, borne on on loose panicle stems. Flowering occurs about mid summer. Fruit is a 5 parted capsules with loculicidal dehiscence :) that releases two very tiny two winged seeds. Good twig ID with almost non existent buds appressed to the stem. The leaf scar is elevated with one leaf bundle (see VT site for good photo). Fall color is knock your socks off red. A show stopper.

Sourwood flowers, July 2010 Photo Credit: Martin LaBar (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Culture/habitat: Found throughout a good chunk of the Appalachian mountain range. Makes it down to the coast in Mississippi and Alabama as well as to the coast of North Carolina/Virginia. Prefers a slightly acidic to neutral pH. MUST have well-drained soils. It is a must. Near some of it's out limits it actually grows in very sandy, almost dune like soils. Hardy to Zone 5, so it can definitely take the cold but languishing in humid weather in poorly drained soils is sure to upset it. In the Appalachian Mountains, sourwood is most abundant on subxeric open slopes and ridges with chestnut oak, white oak, and scarlet oak up to about 5,000 feet in elevation (rarely over).

Propagation: Found some good info on this. USFS says they don't root well from cuttings and wildflower.org says they should root fine with hormone. Gotta love conflicting information. The seeds supposedly don't need pretreatment for germination BUT I found a study earlier today that mentioned a 1 month cold stratification decreased the amount of light needed to prompt germination and also decreased the time to germinate. I will be giving these a brief cold period for this reason.

Sourwood racemes and leaves Photo Credit: Martin LaBar (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Fun facts: Plant it next to Nyssa sylvatica for some amazing fall color. The lumber has been used for hand tools and used to be used to make wagon sled runners. They are VERY popular with the bees and sourwood honey is a thing down South (it granulates slowly...neat). The largest known sourwood is in Robbinsville, N.C. coming in at a whopping 36 m!! It is a really great and probably under appreciated species. In normal landscapes probably only going to reach 10 m or so and is a slow grower and a slightly more difficult tree to grow/find in nursery trade. Still a great tree, worth going out of your way for if you got a nice well drained soil (if you don't have clay backfill for a yard...which is hard to come by...).

Anyways, enjoy folks!

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Plant of the day is: Dietes robinsoniana or wedding lily

Definitely a looker of a flower. Not actually one of the showiest of the genus (in my opinion), but I've got a few seedlings up so they're special to me. It's been awhile since I gave a slot to a monocot, so ready or not...I'm terrible with rhymes.

Lord Howe Wedding Lily (Dietes robinsoniana) in the botanical garden of Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain.

Photo Credit: Quartl (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Di - Greek - meaning two

Etes - Greek - meaning affinities

Taxonomy, etc: Again, another very small genus of just 7 species. Formerly placed in the Moraea genus (I see the resemblance for sure) BUT because they are rhizomatous ...new genus. Moraea grow from corms. Like Moraea however, they have six free tepals that are not joined into a tube at the base (like an Iris would be). Most species are found in southern or central Africa but have been very successful in naturalizing many different areas around the world including some already threatened habitats like Mauritius, Hawaii, and Jamaica. Oh, it's in the Iridaceae family, if I didn't mention that. Named after the Greek goddess Iris, of course, who carried messages from Olympus to earth along a rainbow which Linnaeus saw in the petals of many species. Named after Sir Hercules Robinson by the way.

Dietes robinsoniana Photographed at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne (Australia) in December

Photocredit: http://Gardenology.org (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Notice the label at the bottom that helps highlight just how large this foliage is. Gives some of our Yucca a good run for their money.

Description: Perennial monocot growing up to 1.5m high with a thick creeping rhizome and blue-green Iris-like leaves. Leaves are linear about 100cm long and 5cm wide and a prominent midrib. Flowers are white, fragrant, and up to 4 in in diameter. Petals are ...3 actually, only 3 true petals. Flowers have neat yellow nectar guides. Each flower is similar to a daylily in that it is only open for one day.

Dietes robinsoniana 101028-0114 Photo Credit: Tony Rodd (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Photo is a little dark but you get the idea how tall the scapes are compared to the foliage.

Habitat/culture: Originally endemic to Lorde Howe Island. This was a new one for me. Found between New Zealand and Australia in a very small island group of about 28 island, islets, and rocks. It wasn't actually discovered until 1788, which is notably late in the discovering of land thing. Discovered by Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, commander of the Armed Tender HMS Supply on it's way from Botany Bay. It was actually a whaling outpost for some time :(. Permanently settled in 1834. Now the island exports kentia palms and is a phenomenal diverse and relatively unspoiled habitat with many endemic species. Truly one of the few places on earth we haven't trashed. About 70 percent of the island is protected by the Lord Howe Island Act of 1981 and the surrounding waters are also designated an island marine park. Awesome stuff. Boasts the worlds southernmost barrier coral reef. I'm always fascinated by these tiny island and spits of land that are rarely taught and/or heard of. Plant of the day will likely feature habitats and plants like this for awhile sometime in the future. On the island itself, D. robinsoniana is found in the forest margins and is somewhat uncommon. Prefers well-drained moist soils in sun to part shade. This species definitely prefers moist, nutrient rich soils, but other member of the genus are drought tolerant but respond well to additional water (put on a bit more growth). Not hardy or frost tolerant, don't even think it, this is a tropical species. Also, these can take years and years and years to flower. Many botanical gardens have waited many a year for these to flower. I expect it will be a long time before I see them, here is hoping though. Something to stick around for :).

Propagation: Vegetatively by dividing rhizome stuffs, pretty standard stuff there. From seed, also quite easy. I sowed seed in a standard potting mix in a small 4" pot and placed on mist until I saw the first seedling popping up. Removed from mist and several more seedlings popped up. Will pot up into larger containers when they get a bit larger.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Plant of the day is: Hymenaea verrucosa or Zanzibar copal

Also called the East African copal or amber tree. Locally known as mnangu and mtandarusi. Another tree, Byrsocarpus boivinianus, also shares the name of mnangu so...perfect example of why the binomial system is so important. Looks pretty amazing when germinating, periscope up! (see below). A pretty good sized seed and a beauty to see germinating. Some of the things I'm growing lately are going to wind up quite large indeed if they stay alive :).

verrucosa: warty (more on that later)

Photo Credit: Justin Lee (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US)

Whoa, my what cotyledons you have!!

Taxonomy, etc.: Hymenaea is another fairly small genus of around 23 or so species. All but one species are native to the tropics of the Americas, with one other species found on the east coast of Africa. This species right here! It's the oddball. Some taxonomists think that this species should be in its own monotypic genus, Trachylobium. I wouldn't begin to weigh in on this one. The genus was named by Linnaeus in 1753 in Species Plantarum for Hymenaios, the Greek god of marriage cerimonit ceremonies. Somehow this references the paired leaflets, which ...to be honest is pretty common in legumes so ...well, whatever, he got to pick the name. Leaves in the genus are pinnately bifoliolate and panicles in corymb inflorescence.

Fruits and seeds of Hymenaea verrucosa Photo Credit: Roger Culos (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The seeds were pretty cool. You can see both the fruit and seed here. Nice shot.

Description: A flat-crowned evergreen tree, usually growing from 6 to 24 m. Again leaves are bipinnate and hairless with leaflets ovate-elliptic. A distinctive midrib has dark spots on the underside (neat). Leaf margin is entire with a 1 to 3 cm petiole. Flowers form in axillary and terminal panicles. Flowers are small, and white, and in the typical legume fashion. The fruit pods are ...well ...you can see above. A neat feature is the small ring of hairs near the base of the fruit (see far right image). Did I mention the warty resin bubbles on the fruit? Yep, they harden and set when the fruit falls and that is why you get that interesting look in the seeds above. This is what earns it the verrucosa title. A very nice smoothish brown/red bark as well. Very attractive really. More info here. In drier climates it will shed its leaves in the dry season (worth mentioning). Also, it typically has a very clear bole quite a ways up with few low hanging branches.

Flowering branches Photo Credit: George E. Schatz (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Habitat/culture: Coastal forests, woodland thickets, often on sandy soils. Found throughout a good chunk of Kenya and South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles. From what I can tell it exists in several different soil types to slightly drier to quite a bit wetter. I have a feeling it would mind well drained soil. Probably exists better in wetter areas due to the sand being more porous, just a guess. Definitely full sun and happy with humidity. A bit more info and pictures here.

Bonus: Often harvested for its timber as well as for it's resin. The genus in general has edible fruits as well and are a fairly common market food in the Americas. In the 18th and 19th century the yellow resin was an important export from Kilwa to Europe and the Arabian Peninsula. This was back when varnish was still made the ole fashion way and not synthesized.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Plant of the day is: Trophis montana

You can thank some of the fine botanists at the Missouri Botanical Garden for some of these fine images. As far as I know, the only creative commons images available for the plant. Not published all that long ago (1988). I've got a few of these germinating, with somewhat cranky looking seedlings, I'm thinking too much water, but must investigate further.

Great list of identification pics can be found: here. Again, thanks MBG. I highly recommend a look, there are some fantastic up close detail shots.

Trophis montana (Leandri) C.C. Berg Photo Credit: Chris Birkinshaw (CC BY-NC-ND)

Taxonomy, etc.: Trophis is a small genus of only about 9 species, six of which are Neotropical and three of which are Palaeotropical. Trophis scandens is probably one of the more commonly noted species (seems to be easier to find pictures of it). A fair few unresolved species in this genus, so I'm a little curious what will happen in the future of this genus. It is in the Moraceae family, which includes the ever present Morus sp. or mullberry tree. Like silk? Thank this family, and that worm that evolved to enjoy it too. Not a lot of backstory for the genus but the family is the mulberry or fig family. The flowers of the Moraceae family are often pseudanthia (reduced inflorescences), a term I was not aware of. Basically when individual flowers are tightly grouped together. The individual flowers are called florets. Sunflowers with their composite flowers of disk and ray flowers are a great example of pseudanthium. Fun word. In evolutionary terms, it may assist with the development of many flowers pollinated by one...we'll say mega structure that looks like one flower drawing in a pollinator. Hopefully some of that made sense. Basically evolution, it's a thing, regardless of what political candidates may tell you. Used to be named Maillardia pendula in 1974 by Francis Raymond Fosberg but later changed when the Trophis and Streblus genera were remodeled.

Trophis montana (Leandri) C.C. Berg Photo Credit: Fidy Ratovoson (CC BY-NC-ND)

Seems a good place for this, see that hot mess of clustered florets. Pseudanthium.

Description: A slender tree, which reaches a height of about 10 meters with slender handging branches. Leaves are alternate and elliptic to elliptic-oblong often narrowed sharply at the leaf tips. Has a decent length petiole about 8mm long. Looking at the pictures on the MBG image page I see a stark difference in leaf shape between a few of the pictures, a characteristic of the genus/species, or perhaps a subspecies? I'll leave that to the botanists. Flowers are borne in tight clustersThe fruit starts off more orange and does mature into a deeper red. Despite what looks to be several florets clustered together, it appears that the fruit are typically borne singly or in pairs. As I look at one image in particular I wonder if it is included correctly in this genus...can you spot the outsider?? Leaves have very tiny blink and you'll miss them stipules. Moraceae have a tendency towards dioeciousness (now that's a word) so I'm guessing that they perhaps have separate male and female flowers at the very least. Silly that a plant would be so difficult to get this information on...I'm sure it's there, but the dig. The dig.

Habitat/culture: As you can see from this map here, some collections in the north and central part of Madagascar, where it is endemic. I'm still not really certain if it resides on higher, drier elevations or near lower, wetter areas. Gets the Madagascar climate though which is an absurdly regular temperature and daylight cycle owing to its proximity to the Equator. Not cold hardy for sure, hot and humid it likes. What type of soil and water regimen? I'll find out soon...

Trophis montana (Leandri) C.C. Berg Photo Credit: Charles Rakotovao (CC BY-NC-ND)

Odd facts: Actually found some for this. Check. This. Island. Out. The second largest coral atoll in the world. May or may not also be home to Trophis montana. After destruction of vegetation on the island by goats (smooth) Francis Raymond Fosberg (see above) reported that the species is extinct there. There may be a few plants still living in the Takamaka Grove on Grande Terre. I offer myself as tribute to investigate this.