When a flower isn't a flower: part 2

Species name: Euphorbia pulcherrima

Common name: poinsettia

Location: Dominican Republic

The poinsettia, an incredibly popular ornamental plant as both a landscape plant in tropical locations and a potted plant in temperate locations, is native to Mexico and Central America. It is, contrary to popular belief in North America, a tree that can be up to four meters tall. A bit big to fit in a pot! Like many euphorbs, poinsettias do incredibly poorly in pots and shed their leaves quite quickly. This can be due to over- or under-watering, but usually is just a case of the plant being incredibly picky, and not being able to tolerate the short periods of sunlight that it does receive during our winters (8-10 hours of sunlight in a very sunny window versus the 12 hours of sunlight it would receive near the equator), and the temperatures that are much too cold (it prefers to grow at temperatures that average 25 degrees Celsius; much warmer than "room temperature" in the average house in North America during the winter!). This tree in the Dominican was significantly taller than I was, and while it was rather sparse on the green leaves it had enormous clusters of bright red flower bracts, or modified leaves.

Yes, that's right. Poinsettia "flowers" aren't real flowers. Sorry to disappoint you! The true flowers are illustrated in the bottom picture, and even at that they're not fully in bloom yet. The flower buds are the very small greenish pink knobs on the inside of the bracts, and will eventually open into either yellow or white flowers. They are incredibly inconspicuous even when fully open, and do not produce nectar and hence don't attract pollinators (even hummingbirds ignore the bright red bracts). The flowers are, instead, wind pollinated. The bracts also aren't always red, contrary to what we picture the typical Christmas poinsettia to be. They can also be orange, yellow, pink, white, green, and a mottled colouration, usually of pink and white together.

There is quite a bit of speculation about the toxicity of poinsettias, and parents who have "been there" are usually the first to warn you about how deadly this plant is. Well, let me tell you: all lies. Yes, if a small child ate one of the red bracts (or even a green leaf, or chewed on a stem) they would be quite ill with diarrhea and vomiting if they consume sufficient quantities, and learn never to do that again (albeit the hard way). In an analysis of over 26,000 supposed poinsettia poisonings, none resulted in death and only two required hospitalization (likely a hypersensitivity reaction). All were as a result of children and accidental ingestion. Some studies have looked at just how many leaves one would have to consume to die of the latex produced in the bracts, and the results are overwhelming: a 50 lb child would have to eat 500 bracts to require hospitalization due to risk of death from poisoning. That's a whole lot of poinsettia leaves, and I think the real question there if it ever happened would be how a child could get ahold of 500 bracts and be left alone long enough to consume them all. Sounds more like neglect than accidental poisoning! So will having a poinsettia around Christmas potentially kill a curious child? Absolutely not. You should still ALWAYS educate children about putting foreign plant parts in their mouth, because some houseplants are absolutely lethal enough to children to cause death upon consumption, just not this one. If they play with the bracts too much and release too much sap, the latex will cause skin irritation, rashes, itching, and in some children with hypersensitivity reactions to latex, hives. A word of caution: the jury is still out about this plant's toxicity to cats (it has the same reaction in dogs as it does in humans). There are an over-abundance of cases of cats dying as a result of eating poinsettia leaves, and perhaps some of them are true. But I have my doubts about the majority of them, considering how benign they are to humans (I'm guessing the cat probably got into something else that was in the house that led to the cat's death, but that's just speculation). Better to be safe than sorry; if you have a cat, make sure your poinsettia is out of reach to it (perhaps a tall order...literally) or you are vigilant while your cat is around the plant.

The association of the poinsettia to Christmas in the United States and Canada was merely a marketing ploy by a family in California, and a very successful one at that. The plants require a special grafting technique to merge two different species together in order to get the typical bushy plant that you see on store shelves in pots. If left to their own devices, poinsettia plants end up getting rather strange-looking and weedy, as demonstrated in the photos above. Once grafted, they look much more pleasing to the eye. But how to get those red bracts? Because those certainly are not "natural" when grown in North America...or is it? In Central America, because of the 12-hour days, all of the terminal branches have bright red bracts. In order to achieve this, the plants must be exposed to 12 hours of consecutive darkness for two consecutive months, with the other 12 hours being uninhibited sunlight. If any more or any less darkness reaches the leaves, they will stay green (or the plant will just plain old die) and the plant won't be all that attractive. This is the other reason why poinsettias never do well indoors in pots; rarely are they put in rooms that receive total darkness after sunset. I don't know about you, but I like turning on the lights in my living room after dark! The Ecke family business no longer produces poinsettias in California as they had since the early 1900s, but now produces them in the plant's native Mexico. They still serve 70% of the North American market for poinsettias around Christmas. In Mexico, however, this plant has special meaning. The flower bracts radiate outwards like a star, and is said to represent the Star of Bethlehem. Legend also has it that a young girl in the 1600s was too poor to provide a gift to Jesus on his birthday, and instead gathered weeds to lay outside the church. After a few days, poinsettias started to grow and the plants have been incorporated into Christmas celebrations ever since. While not a national plant, it is a very important culturally-significant plant in Mexico.

For part 1 of this blog, about the flower bracts of the bougainvillea, please read the blog post HERE.

A special Christmas ecosystem

Today, with it being Christmas and all, instead of profiling a plant in my blog I figured I would profile an entire ecosystem. This ecosystem is incredibly rare, only occurring in one tiny pocket in the world, and I've been lucky enough to visit it yearly. It's a hidden gem; I can guarantee that none of you have ever seen it before, although many of you will have experienced something similar. Unfortunately, it's a transient ecosystem and is best experienced at this time of year. It's also almost like it has a timer; almost every year on New Year's Day it disappears for another 11 months. Strange! I'm not going to tell you where this ecosystem is since I like to keep SOME secrets (and my mom is mad enough about her stuffing recipe!). So enjoy the photo collage with explanations! :)

Species name: Abies navidadea

Common name: artificial Christmas tree

Location: secret!

The first species I'll profile from this ecosystem is known commonly as the "artificial Christmas tree". I'm not sure how the common name came about; it's either going to be a Christmas tree or it's not. But we'll go with it for now! This species grows incredibly quickly but never achieves its full height, rarely growing above 5 feet tall. It has intimate associations with other species, which I'll talk a bit about as we come to them. Unfortunately, the wood of this species is incredibly tough; it can be compared to solid steel. This makes it incredibly impractical for any use other than ornamental use.

Species name: Bacillus fibreopticaleus

Common name: fibre optics

One of the reasons why this ecosystem is so endangered is because of the poaching of trees that occurs for the symbionts that live within the trees themselves. Commonly these are called "fibre optics", a species of bioluminescent bacteria that live within the branches and on the surface of the needles. Why these species exist on and in the tree no one is quite sure; it might act as a way of attracting insect pollinators. The cones that grow on this tree in the spring (usually when the ecosystem is hidden away for the year) are incredibly unusual as far as gymnosperm cones go; the pollen isn't wind dispersed like other pollen cones. It is hypothesized that there were once insects that had co-evolved with these trees, attracted by the bioluminescent bacteria, that once pollinated them. It is also hypothesized that these insects have long since gone extinct or are hunted to near extinction by the ever-dominant Homo sapiens.

Species name: Gymnosporangium navidadea

Common name: Christmas ornaments

Unfortunately, the artificial Christmas tree is often attacked by a very unusual species of fungus, one that has a complex morphology like the cedar apple rust (and so it is placed in the same genus; no DNA analysis has been done on this species so we are unsure of its correct placement within the fungi). The morphology of this species is very similar microscopically to a pipecleaner with a very rigid interior and a fluffy, polyester-like exterior. The six arm-like projections are thought to mimic snowflakes, but we are unsure whether or not this has any kind of biological relevance. A very unusual species, indeed!

Species name: Sphagnum treeskirtii

Common name: Tree skirt

This species of Sphagnum grows almost exclusively with artificial Christmas trees, although it can occasionally grow with other species used as Christmas trees in captivity. It has an incredibly soft, fur-like texture that is sometimes pressed into large sheets of fabric and sewn to make seasonal clothing; it is believed that Santa Claus wears a suit made of this botanical fabric (but no one has ever seen it to confirm this idea). Other uses for this type of moss is unclear; it is rumoured to have a role in animal bedding in captivity.

Species name: Ursus noelae

Common name: Christmas bear

As an incredibly unusual step for my blog, I figured I can't possibly ignore the last integral part of this special ecosystem even though it happens to be an animal. This bear is very unusual, not just because it's one of the only bears to have ever worn clothing on a regular occasion. The main reason for why it is so unusual is because of its size; it's barely 4 inches tall! Another unusual characteristic about this bear, the only one that has this characteristic in the genus, is that it is a herbivore. It grazes on the needles and bark of the tree, rarely leaving the tree that it also uses as shelter (it is rumoured to build a nest in the tree like birds do; I have never seen this phenomenon in action so I can't speak to the validity of this rumour). Unfortunately, this is the most popular prey of a very large cat-like creature, commonly known as Storm The Cat (Latin name Felis catus). This cat subspecies (it is believed to be the only one left) is a ruthless predator when it comes to the Christmas bear, tearing it from its tree and throwing it to the ground. It does almost seem to be a game, however, as rarely does the cat do anything to the bear after this. Nevertheless, the bears are often so scared that they have heart attacks, leading to their population numbers suffering needlessly as a result of this "game" played by the cat. She is discouraged, but likes to hunt at night when no one is watching. We have considered erecting a fence to protect this fragile ecosystem...

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Colorado Blue Spruce

Species name: Picea pungens var. hoopsii

Common name: Hoopsii spruce, Hoopsii Colorado Blue spruce

Location: Ontario

I had wanted to post back-to-back blogs to contrast the difference between spruces and firs, since many people when they're first starting out at plant identification (me included) have a hard time telling them apart. I didn't get a chance to post a blog yesterday and I had a different blog planned for today, so I guess I'll just have to post two blogs today :)

The Colorado spruce, as I'm sure you can guess, is native to the alpine regions of Colorado in the United States. It has been transported all around the world by humans, favoured for its blueish tint to the needles at the tips of the branches. As the branch grows and the needles age, they lose their waxy frosting that gives them the blue tint, and turn green. The Colorado spruce is very intolerant to shade, and so the needles on the inside of the tree are shed as they become too shaded by branches above them. While the Colorado spruce is a popular Christmas tree, all spruces lose their needles when the tree dries out, so they can be very messy by the time it's time to compost the tree. The needles compared to fir trees, which don't lose their needles when dry, are also much sharper and not as nice to handle, and can be quite dangerous to small children with sensitive skin and to animals (compare the photos of the needles above to the needles in my blog post about the white fir HERE). Spruces also don't smell as wonderful as fir trees do; the typical "Christmas smell" that I think of when I think of Christmas is cinnamon, apples, the smell of fir trees, and a roasting turkey. Yum!

This variety of spruce tree is actually quite misleading when it comes to the "typical" form of spruces. It actually looks absolutely nothing like a typical Colorado spruce, and actually much more like a black spruce (which you can read all about HERE). Black spruces, except when young, have this type of characteristic shape; very dense branch growth towards the top of the tree that point almost straight outwards but with very short branches, then the longer branches towards the bottom of the tree are much longer, droop downwards, and are much more sparse compared to the top of the tree. The Colorado spruce, on the other hand, should be shaped almost like a pyramid with very dense branches throughout the length of the tree, and branches pointing nearly straight outwards. The Hoopsii spruce, a variety of the Colorado spruce, was selected by humans to have that drooping, very narrow growth habit.

As for the uses of the Colorado spruce, it is rarely used in the lumber or paper and pulp industry unless it is found growing in a stand of trees intended for pulping. It grows incredibly slowly and adds very little girth with each growing season, so is not very useful for lumber. The Navajo use the bark from the Colorado spruce as a medicinal item; it is steeped like a tea with other herbs to treat various medical conditions. The Colorado spruce is also the state tree of Utah and (of course) Colorado.

The Colorado Christmas Tree

Species name: Abies concolor

Common name: white fir, Colorado fir

Location: Ontario

As you can probably imagine from the common name, this tree is native to western North America in alpine regions in and around Colorado. While this tree survives well in eastern North America as an ornamental tree, it doesn't make seeds willingly (while cones can be quite prolific, depending on the environmental conditions). In its native range, it hybridizes readily with the grand fir.

Throughout much of North America, this tree is a very popular ornamental tree due to the coloration of the needles. It's not nearly as big of a contrast from regular green trees as the blue spruce is, but it is still quite the contrast nonetheless. There are huge stands of white fir trees of all roughly the same age, which may look strange to visitors to Canada and the United States. If you drive past the stand often, you'll notice the trees never get very large before the entire stand is cut down. This might make you think they're being used for some sort of commercial or industrial purpose and you'd be correct: Christmas trees! The white fir (sometimes sold as the concolor fir) is the single most popular tree to use as a Christmas tree due to the softness of the needles, the colour of the needles, and the fact that the needles stay firmly attached to the tree even after they start drying out (this cannot be said for all fir trees, and certainly can't be said for spruce trees). It also has a great smell when the tree starts to dry out!

Other than commercial value of the white fir as Christmas trees, it has very few other commercial uses. It is sometimes used as a pulp and paper tree, but only when its growing where it isn't wanted in a stand of other trees; the lumber is very soft and very knotty. The tree also is not self-pruning like many other coniferous trees, and retains its lower branches when mature (even though they have long since lost their needles). This is of great concern for "lumber farms," and National and Provincial Park staff; the bottom branches of the tree act as a sort of fire ladder, spreading forest fires very quickly through stands of trees.

This species of conifer tree is important in forests for reasons other than just fire hazards and as the odd pulp source; they are also the host for fir mistletoe, a parasitic plant that grows off of the carbon sources produced by the host plant. It doesn't produce any of its own food, and doesn't ever produce roots that root the shrub to the ground. Instead it completely relies on the fir tree for shelter, food, protection, and water. The mistletoe likely doesn't ever weaken the tree to the point where it will kill it, but when a tree is weakened for any reason it is more likely to be invaded by insect pests or infectious fungi. Mistletoe can indirectly lead to stand-wide forest death.

A Charlie Brown Christmas in May

Species name: Picea abies

Common name: Norway Spruce, Christmas Trees

Location: Ontario

As the common name of this plant suggests, this tree is native to northern Europe. It has been present in Canada for many, many years and is often considered a "naturalized" plant. It is incredibly important to the Canadian softwood lumber industry, amongst other uses.

I'm not sure why, but Spruce seedlings in general always remind me of Charlie Brown trees. Anyone who has seen A Charlie Brown Christmas knows exactly what I'm talking about with the topsy-turvy, rather pathetic looking tree supporting Christmas ornaments far bigger and heavier than it should. Perhaps some of the reasoning behind that is that Norway Spruce are actually the most popular Christmas trees in North America, and any time you see a "traditional" Christmas tree farm this will be the tree of choice (more "modern" farms are now resorting to planting more than one species of tree since different people like different qualities in their Christmas tree; some bushier than others, longer needles, shorter needles, softer or harder needles, ones that stay on the tree longer, etc.). Conifer seedlings in general are great examples of the benefits a plant gets from interactions of plant roots and fungal threads called mycorrhizae. Seedlings without these interactions are significantly smaller and have fewer needles (and generally do not survive into "old age") compared to their mycorrhizal competitors. In fact, there are some species of plants that cannot survive without these mycorrhizae. This seedling more than likely does have mycorrhizae since it is growing right beside a very large Norway Spruce (which also likely has mycorrhizae to have become as large as it is) and is still alive and kicking almost 4 years after this picture was taken. My neighbours keeps threatening to rip it out of their garden (which I guess they're more than welcome to do...but how could they?! Isn't it just the cutest thing you've ever seen?!) but I always manage to convince them to give it another year. My hope is that eventually it will be big enough it's not worth pulling out!

Other than use as Christmas trees, lumber, and pulp for paper, Norway Spruce trees have been symbols of thanks between Norway and the United States, Scotland and England since the end of World War II. Every Christmas, Norway sends one giant Norway Spruce tree to Washington D.C., New York City, Edinburg, and London which is meant to be displayed in the most central square of each city. While this is not the origin of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree in New York City, this is the tree on display as the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree in London, England. The tree is a symbol of thanks for the assistance given to Norway during the Second World War, but also as a token of gratitude for the ongoing good will between these countries.