Leader for
today’s Ramble: Linda
Authors of
today’s Ramble report:
Linda. Comments, edits, and suggestions for the report can be
sent to Linda at Lchafin@uga.edu.
Insect
identifications: Heather Larkin and Don Hunter
Link
to Don’s Facebook album for this Ramble. All
the photos that appear in this report, unless otherwise credited, were taken by
Don Hunter.
Number of
Ramblers today: 20
Today’s
emphasis: Fall Wildflowers
Reading: Don read a passage from the “Golden-rod and Aster” chapter in According to Season by Mrs. William Starr Dana (Frances Theodora Parsons) first published in 1894 (lightly edited for length):
“…The
English naturalist Mr. Alfred Wallace commented upon what seemed to him the
fact that nowhere in our country could be seen any such brilliant masses of
flowers as are yearly displayed by the moors and meadows of Great Britain. I do
not recall whether Mr. Wallace saw our fields and hillsides in their September dress, and while he alluded to the many species of
golden-rods and asters to be found in the United States, it seems to me quite
impossible that he could have seen our country at this season and remained
unconvinced of the unusual brilliancy of its flora….When September lines the
road-sides of New England with the purple of the aster, and flings its mantle
of golden-rod over the hills, and fills her hollows with pink drifts of the Joe-pye-weed
or with the intense red-purple of the iron-weed, and guards her brooks with
tall ranks of yellow sunflowers, then I think that any moor or meadow of Great
Britain might be set in her midst and yet fail to pale her glory.”
Show and
Tell:
As an introduction to today’s
ramble, Linda brought some branches of the native Rough-leaf Goldenrod.
Cultivars of this species called ‘Fireworks’ are widely available in the native
plant trade. Goldenrod is a member of the Aster family that illustrates the features that distinguish most species in this family: a
central disk of many tiny fertile flowers surrounded by a whorl of several
sterile ray flowers.
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| Goldenrod flower heads have 4 or 5 disk flowers surrounded by several short ray flowers. |
Announcements/Other Interesting
Things
Heather mentioned that the milkweed
in the new garden behind the Ceramics Museum is now covered over with Monarch
caterpillars. She also mentioned that
the UGA Trial Garden (on campus near the Pharmacy School) has planted a ton of pipevine and the plants are covered with
Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies, as well as the caterpillars.
Don’t miss this wonderful article about the coming of fall!
The
Garden is holding its 11th annual native plant sale at the Mimsie
Lanier Center for Native Plants, October 6,7,8 and 13,14,15, Thursdays and Fridays, 4–6 p.m. and Saturdays,
9 a.m.–noon. For a list of available plants, email Linda.
An excellent online plant guide — Guide to Common Wetland Plants of
North Carolina, by Gianopulos, Kendig, and Pyne — was recently published by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. View and download here.
Sandy and Linda represented the Nature Ramblers on Saturday at the Garden’s 32nd Insectival. The Education Department set up a table for us, and equipped it with some butterfly host plants and information brochures about monarchs and Georgia butterflies (our butterfly trail brochure was not back from the printer yet). Sandy brought a laptop with a revolving display of her butterfly photos and also some dried butterfly specimens. Lots of folks, and zillions of kids, stopped by to look and talk.
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| Insectival 2022! Nature Rambler table (left) and visiting Monarch (right) |
Today’s
Route: We left the arbor at the Children’s Garden and headed out to the road, so as not to be distracted by the wonders of the Shade and Dunson Native Flora gardens, and down to the powerline right-of-way. We first explored the southern, wetter end of the right-of-way than headed upslope to look for Ladies’-tresses and Carolina Milkvine fruits in the Nash Prairie.
Introduction to the Aster Family
Late
summer – early fall is the peak season for flowering in the Aster Family, also known as the
Composite Family. The latter name refers to the flower heads that are
typical of this family, each head being a composite of many flowers into a “head” that superficially resembles a single flower. The
classic composite flower head has a central disk of many tiny flowers,
surrounded by a showy whorl of ray flowers, the whole thing held
together by a cup-shaped structure made up of many tiny (usually green) bracts that are called phyllaries.
Phyllaries are important for identifying members of this family. Are they
solid green in color or marked with white diamonds or red edging? Are
they hairy or smooth? Do they have long, tapering points or blunt,
triangular points or no points at all? Do they cling tightly to the base
of the head or spread outwards? These phyllary features are important
for separating the many look-alike members of this family.
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| Sunflower phyllaries are usually sharply tapered and spreading |
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| Blazing Stars have tightly clasping phyllaries that often have red margins |
The
eponymous members of this family are plants in the genus Aster. In our part of the world this includes plants commonly known as Georgia Aster, New
England Aster, Heath Aster, and many(!) more. But the scientific name of Aster has essentially disappeared from North America. Based on DNA research as well as traditional botanical studies, the Aster genus was split up into many different genera. All but one of the Aster species in the New World were assigned to different genera. Acceptance of this new system was slow but, as of now, we have seven genera of plants in Georgia that were once lumped together in the
genus Aster. The seven new genera (with the number of species in Georgia) are: Ampelaster (1 species), Doellingeria (3 species), Eurybia (10 species), Ionactis (1 species), Oclemena (2 species), Sericocarpus (3 species), and Symphyotrichum (27 species).
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| Georgia Aster, with white and purple disk flowers and purple ray flowers, blooms in late October and early November. It is now in the genus Symphyotrichum. I know that name looks unpronounceable, but try this: sim-fee-AH-trick-um. |
Some
of the most common and conspicuous of the late summer composites are
sunflowers, in the genus Helianthus. They are typical composites, with
flower heads composed of a central disk of maroon or yellow flowers and an outer
whorl of golden ray flowers.
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| Woodland Sunflower heads have golden-yellow disk and ray flowers |
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| White Crownbeard, aka Frostflower, with Ailanthus Webworm Moth. This species has white rays and white disk flowers. |
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| Maryland Golden-aster has dense, cobwebby hairs on leaves and stems. |
Most Aster Family flower heads include both the central disk flowers and the outer whorl of ray flowers, but there are two groups within the family that don’t fit this pattern. One group lacks ray flowers and the other one lacks disk flowers. We saw examples of all three flower head types today.
Disk-only
flower heads are especially common among late summer- and fall- blooming species.
Think of the ironweeds, thistles, bonesets, blazing stars, and Joe-Pye-weeds.
Their showy flower heads lack ray flowers and instead have relatively large disk flowers with long, colorful
style branches. These bright colors and showy features play the role that ray
flowers typically do: they attract pollinators.
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|
| Tall Thistle’s flower heads have no ray flowers but their long style branches and rich colors attract pollinators. |
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Tall Ironweed flowerheads are a spectacular shade of purple. |
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|
|
|
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| Late Boneset disk-only flower heads are brilliant white. |
Ray-only flowers seem to
predominate in the spring and early summer (think dandelions), but Carolina Desert-chicory starts
flowering in June and persists into the fall.
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| Carolina Desert-chicory flower heads have no disk flowers; instead the ray flowers in the center of the head are fertile and produce seeds. |
All three types of flower head are the result of the same evolutionary pressure: to make available to
pollinators large numbers of flowers in a small space. In a single visit, a
pollinator is able to probe and pollinate several (or many, depending on
the species) flowers. This pollination efficiency has allowed the
composite family to diversify into the highest number of species
(32,000+) of all the plant families and to spread across all the
continents but Antarctica.
Don noticed this patch of
Fireweed in the woods near the arbor. Each puffy, white seed head releases up to 50 plumed seeds, making it one of the most aggressively spreading
members of the Aster Family. It pops up wherever there is sun, even a small opening
in an otherwise closed-canopy forest. In his Flora of the Southeastern U.S.,
Alan Weakley writes about Fireweed: “Perhaps the only other species [besides Pokeweed] in our area
as adept at appearing (seemingly from nowhere) at small soil disturbances in
forests…”
Although Aster family species dominate in September, two other families are also busily reproducing: mints and beans.
As every rambler surely knows by now, the Mint Family is distinguished by opposite, often strongly aromatic leaves,
stems that are square in cross-section, and a two-lipped flower. The
most abundant flowering mints at the Garden in late summer and fall are bee-balms (Monarda) and mountain-mints (Pycnanthemum).
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| Southern Mountain-mint in August (left) and September (right). The flowers are past now but the distinguishing feature for this genus – whitened bracts surrounding the flower cluster – is still evident. |
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| Unfortunately, Perilla Mint or Beefsteak Plant, native to southeast Asia, is becoming common at the Garden and in disturbed areas throughout the south. |
The Bean family is also huge, with 20,000 species worldwide. Bean family plants fall into one of three sub-families. The most abundant are the species with classic “pea-like” flowers: there is a prominent, often erect banner petal; two wing petals spreading or folded over the middle of the flower; and a keel petal held between the wings that consists of two petals that are fused into a canoe-shaped single petal.
The second sub-family, with many fewer native species, is the Mimosa-type group. Its flowers are tiny and grouped into a head made conspicuous by many long colorful stamens that rise from the nearly invisible flowers.
The third sub-family has flowers that are sort of ordinary in appearance–they have five nearly identical petals and prominent stamens.
The three subfamilies are held together by their similar fruit: all produce seeds in pods, called legumes. Some pods have many seeds, such as Senna and Redbud; others, such as Lespedeza, have one-seeded pods.
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| Lespedeza legume |
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| Maryland Senna’s many-seeded legumes |
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| Beggar-lice legumes break apart at the joints between seeds |
Many other plant families
were on display today in the southern end of the right-of-way.
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| The Smartweed Family (Polygonaceae) is in full glory in the early Fall. Here, Climbing Buckwheat is using Southern Crownbeard as a trellis. |
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|
Climbing Buckwheat fruits are three-angled, each angle |
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| Dotted Smartweed flowers are loosely arranged along the stem. The flowers have microscopically small, clear dots on their white sepals. There are no petals. |
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| Pennsylvania Smartweed flowers are in dense spikes. |
This and other smartweed species are able to outcompete Japanese Stilt Grass,
making them a welcome partner in wetland restoration efforts.
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| Tearthumb, a sprawling smartweed, has arrowhead-shaped leaves and stems that are lined with skin-ripping spines (below). |
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|
Red-morning Glory, aka Scarlet Creeper, is pollinated by |
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| Our native Virgin’s Bower vine, in the Buttercup Family, climbs to 15-20 feet. Each vine bears all female flowers, or all male flowers, or sometimes both. This vine has hundreds of fruiting heads, each with a cluster of green fruits in the center. Each tiny fruit bears a long, white beak that facilitates seed dispersal. |
Passionflower vines, in the Passifloraceae family, are
still in flower and also bearing dozens of unripe fruits (below). Gulf Fritillary caterpillars
(right) are still hard at work on the leaves.
False Nettle is a member of the Nettle Family (Urticaceae), despite its name. It lacks the stinging hairs that characterize many species in the
Nettle Family. The leaves (but not the flower spikes) on the False Nettle (right) have been eaten by
caterpillars of the Red Admiral butterfly (below left, adult, below right
caterpillar). The caterpillars also eat the leaves of Stinging Nettles without
ill effects.
Not surprisingly, the
lush vegetation in the right-of-way was supporting a diversity of insects.
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| Gray Hairstreak butterfly caterpillar on White Crownbeard flower heads |
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| Fall Webworm moths on Red Mulberry leaves |
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| Canadian Melanolophia caterpillar on Virgin’s Bower vine Photo by Heather Larkin |
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| Camouflaged Looper caterpillar on White Crownbeard flower head |
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| White Crownbeard-specific aphids, Uroleucon verbesinae |
Towards the end of the ramble, we raced upslope to look for fruits on the Carolina Milkvines. In May, the vines were loaded with hundreds of flowers, and we looked for fruits in early August without success. We were disappointed once again today, despite having several pairs of eyes on the ground. It’s possible that these vines, sprawling across the ground instead climbing on a tree trunk or trellis, may not attract the pollinators that they require. Also, low fruit set is common among the maroon-flowered milkvines (Matelea)
and may be due to a low level of pollination. Their dark red flowers attract
primarily flies which are inefficient pollinators, carrying only a small amount
of pollen and showing no preference for any particular group of plants. Had we found a fruit, this is what it would have looked like….
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| Photo by Stefan Bloodworth |
The upper right-of-way,
better known as the Elaine Nash Prairie Project, supported lots of upland
species and their insect visitors.
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| Nodding Ladies-tresses |
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| Yellow Garden Spider |
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| Carolina Praying Mantis on White Crownbeard |
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| Western Honeybee on Yellow Crownbeard |
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| Giant Strong-nosed Stink Bugs |
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| Ailanthus Webworm Moth on White Crownbeard flower heads |
It was a beautiful morning to be in the Botanical Garden.
OBSERVED SPECIES:
False Nettle Boehmeria cylindrica
Purple Passionflower Passiflora incarnata
New York Ironweed Vernonia noveboracensis
Common Evening Primrose Oenothera biennis
Late (-flowering) Boneset Eupatorium serotinum
Small White Morning Glory Ipomoea lacunosa
Hibiscus Scentless Plant Bug Niesthrea louisianica
Red Morning Glory, Scarlet Creeper Ipomoea hederifolia
American Wisteria Wisteria frutescens
Virgin’s Bower Clematis virginiana
Beggar Lice, Beggar Ticks Desmodium sp.
Camphorweed Heterotheca latifolia
Climbing Buckwheat Fallopia scandens
American Dagger Moth Acronicta americana
Eastern Redbud Cercis canadensis
Fall Webworm Moth caterpillars Hyphantria cunea
Yellow Garden Spider Argiope aurantia
Dotted Smartweed Polygonum punctatum
Pennsylvania Smartweed Polygonum pensylvanicum
Giant Strong-nose Stink Bug Alcaeorrhynchus grandis
Musadine Muscadinia rotundifolia
Arrow-leaf Tear-thumb Polygonum sagittatum
Tall Ironweed Vernonia gigantea
Maryland Senna Senna marilandica
Nodding Ladies’ Tresses Spiranthes cernua
Maryland Goldenaster Chrysopsis mariana
Carolina Praying Mantis Stagmomantis carolina
White Crownbeard-specific aphid, no common name Uroleucon verbesinae
Downy Lobelia Lobelia puberula
Long-horned bee Melissodes sp.
Meadow katydid Conocephalus sp.
Western Honey Bee Apis mellifera
Camouflaged Looper caterpillar (Wavy-lined Emerald Moth) Synchlora aerata
Ailanthus Webworm Moth Atteva aurea
Gray Hairstreak caterpillar Strymon melinus
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Papilio glaucus
Joro Spider Trichonephila clavata