Interactive Key to Wetland Monocots

What a nifty new resource!

There is a new Interactive Key to Wetland Monocots of the US (ca. 2400
taxa) available from PLANTS (plants.usda.gov). See
(http://npdc.usda.gov/technical/plantid_wetland_mono.html) for details.
It is free for use and download and requires no installation or
registration.

The data set was developed cooperatively by the Missouri Botanical
Garden and the USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center and was compiled
from numerous and varied sources by Dr. David Bogler of the Missouri
Botanical Garden (ca. 1.7 million data points). The automated plant key
runs in a new version of SLIKS (www.stingersplace.com/SLIKS) which is
free and requires no installation. It lets you identify the monocots
known to occur in U.S. wetlands. The species list in this key is
derived from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetland
Inventory National List of Vascular Plant Species That Occur in
Wetlands: 1998 National List.

866 Reports Can't be Wrong

Very depressing news just before the holiday...

WASHINGTON - Animal and plant species have begun dying off or changing sooner than predicted because of global warming, a review of hundreds of research studies contends.
These fast-moving adaptations come as a surprise even to biologists and ecologists because they are occurring so rapidly.

"We are finally seeing species going extinct," said University of Texas biologist Camille Parmesan, author of the study. "Now we've got the evidence. It's here. It's real. This is not just biologists' intuition. It's what's happening."

Her review of 866 scientific studies is summed up in the journal Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics.

Parmesan reports seeing trends of animal populations moving northward if they can, of species adapting slightly because of climate change, of plants blooming earlier (remember our earlier post?), and of an increase in pests and parasites.

Read the rest here.

NJ Pinelands Drawings at Rutgers

A historical collection of NJ Pinelands botanical drawings was acquired by the Alexander Library of Rutgers University (my alma mater). This collection of black-and-white illustrations was created by Dr. Albert List, Jr. (1928-2005). List was a botany professor at Drexel University with an interest in field botany and a training in art. Included in this donated collection are an estimated 1000 drawings of vascular plants (a few insects and several mosses, lichens, etc too), unpublished manuscripts, and notes. What a boon to local botanists!

More on Albert List.

Autumnal Colors Head North

global warming and fall foliage

Say it ain't so!

Some climatologists have said that even if steps are taken now to limit global warming, temperatures in New England will rise enough over the next half-century that the source of much of that rich fall color, the sugar maples (Acer saccharum), will disappear from most of the region. Healthy stands of sugar maples may be found eventually no farther south than Canada and northern Maine.

Herbaria aid climate change research

Haven't we been telling you that herbarium sheets are the foundation of all that is good and pure in the world? What is an herbarium sheet, you say? See this (then click on "store").



An old photograph shows that on Memorial Day, 1868, the deciduous trees in Lowell Cemetery in Massachusetts had yet to leaf out. On Memorial Day, 2005, they stood in full verdure. Leafing or flowering dates each year depend on temperature, and global warming has been driving those events earlier in many places. Plants take part in many ecological interactions—with their pollinators, for instance—that are precisely timed. Changes in their seasonal development may therefore bring on broader ecological disruptions. Records of past plant development are scarce, though, so analyzing trends in timing has been difficult.




Now Abraham J. Miller-Rushing and Richard B. Primack, both ecologists at Boston University et al. have compared dated historical photographs, as well as dated herbarium specimens, of plants in flower in eastern Massachusetts, with recent observations of the same species. The plants now flower about eleven days earlier than they did a hundred years ago, when the region was 4.5 Fahrenheit degrees cooler. Their findings echo independent estimates from other data, confirming that old photographs and herbarium specimens are reliable sources for climate-change research. (American Journal of Botany, in press, 2006)

Pollination Station

Lots of news about pollinators.

First, the bad news...
Long-term population trends for some North American pollinators -- bees, birds, bats, and other animals and insects that spread pollen so plant fertilization can occur -- are "demonstrably downward," says a new report from the National Research Council. However, there is little or no population data for many pollinators, which prompted the committee that wrote the report to call for stepped-up efforts to monitor these creatures and improve understanding of their basic ecology. Read more

Now, the good news...
U.S. Postal Service announced the creation of Pollination stamps which will be released next summer to coincide with National Pollinator Week (June 24-30). The stamps consist of four images arranged in two alternate and interlocking patterns. The intricate design of these beautiful stamps emphasizes the ecological relationship between pollinators and plants and suggests the biodiversity necessary to ensure the viability of that relationship.

Depicted on the Pollination stamps are four wildflowers and four pollinators. Two Morrison’s bumble bees are paired with purple or chaparral nightshade (one of the bees is actively engaged in buzz pollination). A calliope hummingbird sips from a hummingbird trumpet blossom. A lesser long-nosed bat prepares to “dive” into a saguaro flower. And a Southern dogface butterfly visits prairie or common ironweed.

And some interesting news...

Researchers Find that Flower Choice Matters

Rebecca Flanagan has probably come as close as a human can to reading the mind of a bumblebee.

Flanagan is studying the behaviors of bees as they gather pollen -- which plant species the bees forage on, which flowers they probe
and in what order, and how many blooms they visit before moving on to another plant.

But why go to such lengths to map the flight of the bumblebee? The bees are pivotal players in determining which plant populations survive through successful reproduction. If scientists could better understand nature’s decision-making process, then they could use the information to increase crop yields and to boost conservation of native plant communities.


For more information on pollinators: www.pollinator.org.

Natives for Invasives

This is a great new publication - there are lots of natives I hadn't thought of using in a horticultural situation. I do have a suggestion for improvement, however. There should be some kind of warning regarding use of Celastrus americana where people need to make sure these plants are purchased from a trustworthy source and labelled properly. Their exotic breathren are very similar and so hard to differentiate - especially the M. rubra. It's for exactly that reason that I tend not to recommend them to the average native plant gardener. That said...
Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants is an indispensable guide for everyone who loves dazzling gardens and cares about the health of North America's natural landscapes. Invasive plants, the overwhelming majority of which are not regionally native, brazenly spread unchecked across residential landscapes, parks, preserves, roadsides, and other wild lands, supplanting native species and ultimately threatening the ancient biological communities in their path. In fact, most scientists now consider invasive species to be one of the top two threats to this planet's native plants and animals (the other is habitat loss). Invasive species cause major environmental damage amounting to almost $120 billion a year. Yet invasive plants are still commercially available, and a few of them remain wildly popular. Japanese barberry, for example, is one of the hottest-selling plants in the nursery trade, and Norway maple is one of the most widely planted trees in the country.

NY Biodiversity at AMNH

Today I attended Living with Nature: A Conference on Sustaining the NY Metro Region's Biodiversity Through Local Action at AMNH. Co-sponsored by the NYC Soil & Water Conservation District, the agenda had panels on education, arthitecture and green cityscape, food systems, consumer choice, transportation, and natural systems.

I missed the keynote addresses, but heard that Al Appleton was excellent. The architecture panel was great (except for the one who was incredibly lack luster. We shan't name names). As I expected, there was a lot of talk of greenroofs. The Gaia Institute has one in the Bronx using native plants. But really, all the greenways and greenroofs won't provide habitat for shade-tolerant forest herbs. So it's not all about building. You can't construct your way out of land conservation.

I sat in on the natural systems panel in the afternoon. It was excellent as well. The DEC representative was especially lively and made several good points...nature does need a Madison Avenue marketing campaign! Carolyn Summers exclaimed that there should be "no more extirpations"...brava!

A gorgeous fall day

These pictures will make office workers everywhere weep with envy at how sweet it is to be a field biologist. Today I was working along Staten Island's South Shore.
Fall foliage isn't limited to the trees. Here bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) glows a golden hue. {Most people think of ferns as dew-covered fronds growing lushly on the rich forest soils in the umbrage of canopy trees. Bracken fern laughs in the face of convention. It is a sunshine-embracing, sandy soil inhabiting fern. It is adapted to fire, with its root stock (rhizomes) nestled deep in the earth to avoid the flames. It's also quite common - keep an eye out for it the next time you are in the pine barrens or on Staten Island in Conference House Park or Clay Pit State Park Preserve.}

Here you can see clearly the glacial till sandy soils. The vegetation - trees - gray birch (Betula populifolia) and sassafras (Sassafras albidum) and that's a scrub oak to the right. The pine is short-leaf pine (Pinus echinatus). The shrubs are black chokeberry (Photinia melanocarpa) or if you are old school (Aronia melanocarpa) and the gorgeous reds in the background are highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum). The cloud-like white puffs are narrow-leaved boneset (Eupatorium hyssopifolium var. laciniatum), a New York State rare plant.

Good Gardening: Little Bluestem

Most people have no concept of grasses aside from turf lawns. And that's too bad. Grasses can contribute much to your home landscape and with relatively little effort.
For example, little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) {formerly Andropogon scoparius} is a perennial, warm season, native grass that has become a wildly popular ornamental. It is a common component of our landscapes, occuring in sandplain grasslands, oak-hickory forests, pine barrens and dry roadsides throughout our area.

Little bluestem forms dense, upright tufts of bluish-green leaves that typically reach 2-4' tall and 12" wide. It's shorter stature makes it an ideal wildflower companion. Its extensive root system acts as a barrier to weeds, keeping wildflower competitors to a minimum.

In late summer its small, purplish-bronze flowers bloom. The real show stopper is in autumn, when the flowers turn to fluffy white seeds on the tips of bronze-maroon-orange fall foliage. Who needs sugar maples with these autumnal hues? These stems persist, contributing interest to the winter garden.

The grass is an important food plant for the caterpillars of many species of skipper butterflies. It's also one of the critical species for grassland birds. Interplantings with Eastern red cedars are striking, and a sure way to lure more avian critters and human gawkers to your winter landscape.

Thank you sir, may I have another?

It has happened yet again - *sigh*. Wild potato vine (Ipomoea pandurata) has once again been cut to the ground.

Here's the problem, this plant, an herbaceous vine, (related to that chartreuse green windowbox favorite) existed in an area that was made into a recreational park. Despite all thoughts to the contrary, the plant came back a few years after it had been hacked to the ground to create said park. However, the plant doesn't know that things have changed. This (unnamed) park is now manicured and all things not trees get weed whacked. (This seems to be true of all NYC Parks - unskilled labor + pruning equipment = death to all plants not 50 ft tall. I'm not exaggerating). Imagine, a vine growing up a fence in a highly managed park. How unseemly! thwack

Why care? Well, wild potato vine is a New York State rare plant. And this site is its only occurrence in New York City. I am meeting with the park manager next week to discuss long term solutions to protect this plant. Which I've done every year around this time. My suggestion for 2007 is going to be a security guard.

LAs with Attitude

In reviewing the plant list for a certain project along the Bronx River, I finally embraced the fact that many landscape architects are very resistant to using natives.

For starters, I pointed out a number of invasives trees, shrubs and forbs that were on the list and suggested suitable native alternatives. I also commented on the compatibility of other exotic species with site conditions and proximity to natural areas.

This was one comment back...

Cotoneaster apiculatus and Spiraea japonica (both of which I said were invasive) are only found in the medians on East Tremont and Devoe. They were chosen for their hardiness in order to survive this hostile environment (because native plants are never found in hostile environments?!? she said dripping with sarcasm). If NYSDOT agrees we can replace the Cotoneaster with Arctostaphylos uva-uri or Myrica pensylvania, and the Spiraea with Itea virginica or Clethra alnifolia (my suggested replacements). You'd think I was asking them to donate a kidney. Sheesh.

The rarest in the land

Poor Torrey's mountainmint (Pycnanthemum torrei). There has been so much hooey over this population (then scroll 4/5 down) of the globally rare plant. It used to be part of the gorgeous! pristine (in some sections)! rare plant inhabited! 130 acres Kreischer Hill parcel, which was owned by the NYC EDC.

But conservation was not to be. Instead of thousands of years old glacial till sandy soils with their concomitant NYS rare communities and species, we have - what we've always needed! - Target, Home Depot, Bed/Bath/Beyond and a Christmas tree store. Hooray! That was certainly worth destroying the uncommonly occuring, sexually reproducing population of American chestnut. But that's just imho.

*Sigh*

Presently we are trying to conserve the population in situ (stop snickering!). This summer, we did a census of the mountainmint population. A transect was set up parallel to Veterans’ Road West. Every meter was marked off. Perpendicular to transect, 1m squared plots were set up. Within each plot the following data was collected – number of plants, number of individual stems, number of shoots, length of all stems, and the presence and number of flower heads. Casual observation suggests that the plants are grouped in clusters along this transect. This data will confirm whether or not this is the case. If so, further environmental factors will be examined to determine causal factors.

The Garden State

Good things going on in New Jersey:

A new watchdog organization forms to protect the Highlands
With increasing pressures to further develop and fragment the New Jersey Highlands, New Jersey Conservation Foundation and its conservation partners are forming a new watchdog organization—the New Jersey Highlands Coalition.

Statewide vision for land preservation
Garden State Greenways, is available free to conservation advocates, regional and local planners, government agencies, community leaders and others.

Plants 0, Recreation 1

This is a charming little change in Parks' policy from allowing only passive recreation to now installing mountainbike trails in natural areas throughout the city. These pictures are from Cunningham Parks in Queens. I have a couple of issues, aside from how devastating this will be to ferns and wildflowers of the forest floor.

The propaganda (which, please note, was written by the mountainbike person doing this work), speaks of erosion:

"There's a common misconception that bicycles cause erosion damage to the trails. In response, a group of local mountain bicyclists decided to band together and educate themselves on the science of trail erosion and how bicycles could be ridden with minimal impact. Fueled with information provided by the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) and the US Forest Service, a management plan began to take shape."

First, I would like to see the literature that supports the contention that mountainbikes don't erode trails. But that will never happen. You know why? It doesn't exist. You can, I imagine, minimize erosion, but there will always be erosion associated with mountainbiking.

Second, you want to see their answer to erosion? Look below...













That ditch off to the side? THAT is the result of their managment plan. These are placed every so often along the trails where there are slopes to encourage water (and thus water borne entities, such as soil) to pool. There is still plenty of erosion happening. What is no longer happening is the soils ending up on sidewalks and roadways when it rains. Now the soil settles into these little pools. So it keeps civic infrastructure tidy, but does nothing to retain the uppper soil layers. aka the seed nursery aka the bed of all future trees.


This is utterly awful. Acres and acres of destruction caused by all terrain vehicles - those off road motorized contraptions. Cops tell the drivers to go in the parks - these things are illegal on city streets. But see what happens when cops send these guys into the woods? This is a living graveyard. Once those trees die, nothing will take their place. Shameful. Why doesn't the Parks Department put in perimeter protection to keep these vehicles out? It's a cheap and easy solution, but there is obviously no will.

Scary Seton Falls Park

A little early for Halloween - scary but true story...

While monitoring vegetation in Seton Falls Park in the Bronx along Rattlesnake Creek approximately 100 yds from the falls area, I noticed 3 boys, about 13 years old, congregating nearby. When I asked if they needed some help, they responded with lewd and threatening comments, and then ran off. I was a little rattled, after all I was in a ravine, unseen (and probably unheard) from the street. About 10 minutes later, they returned to throw rocks at my head. Charming. At this point I ditched the field work and called the police as I promptly left the park. Once the two officers arrived, they drove around a bit to look for the kids, but no luck.

In the midst of the melee, I did come across new plant finds for the park: large-toothed aspen (Populus grandidentata) and the forb ditch stonecrop (Penthorum sedoides). Both are native, the latter is NYC-rare.

Orchids Found in SI

Today I went out with my pal Ray to root around along Staten Island's south shore...won't say exactly where...and we found two orchid species new to City records – large coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata) and bog twayblade (Liparis loeselii). Large coralroot lacks greenery - it has tawny brown stems and no leaves. This is because it does not photosynthesize. It is saprophytic, meaning it feeds off organic matter, like fungi. It is added in its nutrient intake by a short, stubby, branched root that resembles coral. Small white, purple spotted flowers appear in late summer.

As the name suggests, bog twayblade is found in wetland, open habitats. It has unremarkable yellowish-green flowers that are only 1/4” long that bloom in late summer.

Rare Plant Hunting

Today I romped around Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. I located NYS-listed rare plants Eastern gama grass (Tripsacum dactyloides) and common persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) on an upland copse in Goose Creek Marsh. I noted something interesting – that the Eastern gama grass only appears ringing the upland perimeter of Phragmites, which is highly invasive. Where Phragmites was not observed, gama grass was also absent. T. dactyloides was noted as bearing seeds, but it was too early for the persimmon’s fruits.

Also found a patch of Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense). This patch was very small in both size and number of leaves (ramets). Given the undisturbed nature of the site and the seemingly high habitat quality, one would expect to find the plant extensively clonal here - aka a much larger patch. This population will be incorporated into my study of habitat quality using mayflower as an indicator species for forest quality.

New plant listings found and identified from this trip include: climbing hempweed (Mikania scandens), water plantain (Alisma subcordata), three-nerved joe-pye weed (Eupatorium dubium); these are all NYC rare and new finds for the borough. I also found the NYC willow herb (Epilobium coloratum) and the not rare but still cool tussock sedge (Carex stricta).

New shrub in Fort Tryon

Today I was in Fort Tryon Forest, northern Manhattan. Most people know the garden, but there is also a woodland that hangs over the Henry Hudson Expressway, just south of Inwood Hill Park.

This is one of those sites where there weren't a lot of existing records, because on a casual walk through I got 52 new listings. The most exciting was yellowroot (Xanthorrhiza simplicissima), because this species is new to City records. The shrub has deep green, pinnately divided leaves, that sprout in a tuft. It flowers in early spring, with many tiny purple flowers in drooping racemes. (And yes, it does indeed have yellow roots). The plant is not native to New York City, its range is south and east, from Pennsylvania to Florida.

Sand Sedge Spreading at Shore

The Jersey shore - our beloved shore. After I got back from my Avalon trip, I remembered having read something about an invasive sedge at the shore. Sure enough - I found the culprit (in print, not in person). Asiatic sand sedge (Carex kobomugi)

• How to recognize Asiatic sand sedge
• Learn more about Asiatic sand sedge

Avalon's Dunes

In our second installment of looking at plants in Avalon, NJ, we go from the garden to the dune, much more fun. I didn't walk on the dunes, mind you. Just along the designated pathways.
Dunes! Filled with grasses and forbs.
Maybe the most famous dune occupant, beach grass (Ammophila breviligulata). This is the species that is planted in rows whenever there is an effort made to save the beaches from erosion. Through its extensive root system, beach grass binds the loose sandy soils together. This stability allows other plants to colonize the dunes. Avalon has been preserving it's dunes for over 30 years. (They are allowing new development in the salt marshes, however, but that's for another day).
This is a neat plant, trailing wild bean (Strophostyles helvola). It's uncommon in New York City, but fairly common in NJ - because it loves these outer coastal plains. It's a ground-trailing vine in the pea family. This plant is very similar to pink wild bean (S. umbellata), which is rare in NY State.


Note the fruits are encased in bean-like pods.

Avalon's Gardens

I'm lucky enough to be able to spend Labor Day weekends down the shore in Avalon, NJ. (And, it is "down the shore", not "at the beach"). Between lying on the beach, under an umbrella and jaunts in the ocean, I, of course, walk the neighborhood and scout out plants. Here, I present "Avalon's Gardens: Dos & Don'ts".

A definite do! Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is a great choice for the full sun and well-drained soils that dominate the yards in Avalon. This is a grass that you'd find occurring on its own in such a site. (Ignore the exotic boxwood and juniper flanking it).
A definite don't! Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) and purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) are highly invasive! And, what's with the cedar chip fetish?
Yam-leaved clematis (Clematis terniflora). Looks great, smells nice, invasive. A don't. This photograph was taken in someone's front yard. You know where else I saw this plant? Along the trees of the Garden State Parkway, for miles and miles.
Ah no! Chinese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis) - invasive! (And obnoxiously huge, no?)

To end on a positive note - a joe-pye weed(Eupatorium sp.). A definite do, and quite the looker. Its a great nectar plant for butterflies, and has interesting seedheads in winter.

Back in the saddle

I'm back to posting! Sorry for the very long radio silence, but as I was pregnant, field work became extremely arduous and I stopped lugging my camera around. Then the summer was spent home with the baby, looking at plants in Prospect Park. Not a whole lot going on, in other words.

But I've been craving dirty hands and my Gleason & Cronquist for months and now I get to indulge!