Sandra's Garden: non-Canadian Canada Redbud

Species name: Cercis canadensis

Common name: Canada redbud

Location: Sandra's garden

Canada redbud is, contrary to the Latin name and the common name, not really all that native to Canada. As an aside, neither is Canada thistle...

The native range of Canada redbud extends from a negligible amount in Southern Ontario south to Florida and Mexico, west to Texas and Oklahoma, and east all the way to the coastline and up to New England. The native range map of this species barely registers a blip in Canada, and yet we plant it here in large numbers as an ornamental species. It will never do as well here as what it does in Kentucky and Tennessee (do they call it American redbud there, I wonder?), but it does well enough to still be spectacular in the spring. The flowers form directly off the largest stems and branches of the tree (sometimes only being big enough to qualify as a shrub) in huge numbers, and almost all of them will develop into pods of seeds that look a bit like brown snow peas. The leaves are a bright green and a heart-shaped.

This was surprising to me, but Canada redbud seeds and pods are actually edible, and have been eaten by native North Americans for centuries. The unripe immature green pods can be eaten raw, and the ripe seeds of brown pods can be roasted and turned into a coffee-like beverage (without the caffeine, and probably without the tasty flavour) or eaten. The flowers were also eaten either raw or boiled. I can't imagine either of these being all that tasty, but I guess when you have nothing else to eat you'll eat anything that won't make you sick! The toxicity of raw Canada redbud plant organs has never been tested, so I don't recommend anyone tries eating the pods or flowers raw. But give some roasted seeds a try if you're feeling adventurous and let me know what you think. The twigs themselves have also been used as a flavouring; the young green twigs would be rubbed against and skewered into venison or buffalo steaks before cooking to give them a somewhat spicy flavour (and hence the other common name for this plant, spicebush; use this name with caution since it is applied more commonly to another species).

Other than the obvious ornamental use, this plant isn't really used for much else. The trees never really grow large enough to produce lumber, and the overall shape of the plant (the main stem is rather short and it forks very early in growth; the best lumber trees are very tall, very straight unbranching trees) makes it impractical for anything other than making veneer; even at that, the grain isn't all that attractive so other species are more preferred. The tree can tolerate everything from full sun to full shade (but does best in full sun to partial shade). They also provide a great nectar source for native bees, butterflies, and some birds!

The nasty side of the Golden Trumpet

Species name: Allamanda cathartica

Common name: golden trumpet, yellow trumpet vine

Location: Dominican Republic

The golden trumpet vine is native to Brazil, but because of its pleasing aesthetics has been transported around the world to different tropical locations as an ornamental species. Unfortunately, in almost all of those locations it has become invasive not because of its seeds, but because it reproduces asexually so readily. This plant is usually used as a hedge and is pruned multiple times per year, causing the stems of the vine to be cut up. Normally this isn't a problem but for a plant like this that can root so easily from cuttings it's potentially disastrous. Each tiny piece of plant can become a new one, and so without proper disposal of all fragments the vine can very quickly get out of control.

One of the most impressive qualities of this plant is how quickly it grows. Unlike many other vines, it does not have its own support system so requires a trellis to prop it up off the ground (or it could be grown as a ground-creeping vine; it doesn't anchor itself in the ground like English Ivy does which you can read all about HERE). It also doesn't have tendrils or circular stem growth like peas do, so it also won't strangle plants it is propped up against (but will, more than likely, shade out any competitors). In only a couple of months during the peak of the growing season, it can grow up to 20 feet. Yes, twenty. That wasn't a typo. That's a few inches a day...you could almost watch the plant growing if you could sit still long enough. That's insane.

Aside from the ridiculous speed of growth, this plant also has intoxicating yellow flowers. The flowers fully open just at sunrise, releasing a huge amount of scent along with them that you can smell from tens of feet away, in the attempt to attract their pollinators: hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are most active and looking for nectar first thing in the morning when they're still trying to recover from their overnight tropor or short hibernation. Warming such a tiny body up can only be accomplished by moving flight muscles, which hummingbirds can do at extraordinary speeds. This, as you can probably imagine, requires a whole lot of energy. Where does this energy come from? Sugar! And where does sugar come from for hummingbirds? Nectar! So the fact that these flowers open and are right ready to accept hummingbirds first thing in the morning means that the flowers are going to be visited right away if there are hummingbirds in the area. If this plant is propped up off the ground and allowed to grow in very dense clumps beside a wall for shelter, chances are you might find a hummingbird nest inside the clump of vines if you look hard enough. It would be like a Canadian Tim Horton's addict setting up a tent right outside a store. You can get your fix of morning java as soon as you wake up!

Unfortunately, this plant isn't just fun and games and pretty flowers to look at it. It is incredibly toxic, and the toxicity of the latex is enough to induce second-degree chemical burns if it stays on your skin long enough. If you are around this plant and are pruning it, PLEASE wear gloves and a long-sleeved shirt and pants (not to mention closed-toe shoes. Toes get ignored the most when it comes to gardening, and the last thing you want is a second-degree burn on your feet!). Also, there should never be a circumstance when you decide eating this plant would be a good idea. The toxic chemical called allamandin in the plant will cause severe vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, liver failure, kidney failure, coma, and potentially lead to death. As with many toxic plants, this plant may have a redeeming quality or two: in very low doses, allamandin is sometimes marketed in "natural" laxatives because of its cathartic qualities. Also, pure extracts of the latex of the plant show that it has potent antimicrobial and anticancer properties, so it might one day be used in conjunction with current cancer treatments. Every thorn has its rose (or something like that).

Pineapples don't grow on trees!

Today, being April 1st and all, I was going to photoshop two plants together and then "publish" a new species on my blog. Come up with a really creative name, pretend it has some ridiculous medicinal quality that I discovered while experimenting on my cat, and describe its ability to not only transport itself from one place to another by its roots, moving through sandy soil, but also that when the flowers open it moos like a cow. Yeah, big plans. But then you know what? I remembered I didn't have a clue how to use photoshop properly. Maybe I'll learn in time for next year's April Fools :)

Until then, 365 days from now, you can enjoy a (100% true) blog about...pineapples!

Species name: Ananas comosus

Common name: pineapple

Location: Dominican Republic

Pineapples. What to say about pinapples?! Well, the first thing to mention is that they do not grow on trees (you can read all about pineapple-like trees HERE). Pineapples are monocots; they don't have the ability to form wood and so cannot be a tree. Plus, from the first picture you should be able to see that they're more like a shrubby, spiky, rather dangerous-looking plant. This observation would be completely true; some of the people that were on the safari excursion with my mom and myself came away from the "farm tour" with scratches all over their legs from brushing up against pineapple plants. The leaves have razor-sharp spines all along both sides and they can slice through skin with the very lightest of pressure. Definitely a plant to stay away from unless you're wearing pants!

Pineapple plants are native to South America, at least that is the current school of thought. Very little is known about the actual domestication of pineapples, nor what the likely ancestor of a domesticated pineapple actually looks like. What is known is that the domesticated pineapple was introduced to the Philippines and to Hawaii very early on, likely before the days of Marco Polo and the Dark Ages. It seems as if no one could quite figure out how to propagate them, and they were eliminated from the agricultural crops of these locations until their re-introduction. It is said that pineapples were re-introduced in the 1500s to Hawaii by the Spanish, but this is widely disputed. We do know that they were cultivated there by 1720 in "pineapple pits", and a widespread re-introduction in the early 1800s caused them to be (and still are) one of Hawaii's most important export crops beginning in the late 1800s. In the Philippines, it is believed they were introduced sometime in the early 1800s, probably by the same Spanish ship that introduced them to Hawaii, and they have become a staple in rural Filipino life. The leaves contain very strong fibres with a very unusual texture (almost like silk when you run your hand along a garment in one direction and feeling like burlap in the other), and this has been used to make traditional clothing for at least two centuries. Now, pineapples are cultivated in the Philippines (mostly just exported to other areas in Asia and in Australia/New Zealand), Costa Rica (where Del Monte produces all of its pineapples after the breakup of the Pineapple Research Institute in Hawaii), the United States (where Dole still grows a lot of its pineapples), Thailand, and Indonesia.

Pineapples carry a lot of controversy, especially with the methods used to cultivate them. Pineapples are all clones of each other; that's the only way you can ensure the fruit obtained will be the same sweet, juicy pineapple consumers have come to love and expect when they buy pineapples. Unfortunately, whenever you clone a plant you make it unable to evolve resistance to pathogens, and pineapples today are attacked on a daily basis by fungi, bacteria and viruses that have evolved virulence genes against the plants. In order to fight disease, this means pineapple plantations must be sprayed, sometimes upwards of 40 times over the time of fruit development (which is only 6 months), just to prevent disease. The chemicals sprayed on pineapple plantations are incredibly dangerous to the health of the workers on the plantations: every chemical sprayed is carcinogenic, many are organophosphates which destroy the environment and can affect brain development in fetuses, and some are hormone disruptors which can have adverse effects on child development (they have been linked to everything from autism to attention deficit disorder to spontaneous miscarriage, brain cancer and leukemia). These chemicals aren't just dangerous for the health of the workers that spray the fields and work in the fields all day; these chemicals are leached into the drinking water supply and are consumed downstream by everyone in surrounding villages. This is a real problem, and there have been many lawsuits filed against both Dole and Del Monte along with encouragement to solve this problem by working harder to develop different cultivars that are disease resistant. There is some effort underway in pineapple biotechnology, but because of the "bad rap" that genetically modified food has, none of these products have made it to widespread cultivation. Remember, too, that if a chemical is sprayed onto the surface of a food item, it is more than likely incorporated in some way (however large or small) into the food that is consumed. Some food for thought (pun intended).

Pineapple fruit develops in a very unusual way; a way that is not shared with any other fruit commonly consumed worldwide. It is called a "multiple" fruit, because it is a single fruit made from multiple flowers. The entire inflorescence of the pineapple goes into making a single fruit! Each flower must be pollinated, usually by bees or hummingbirds, and then all at the same time the flowers mature into the pineapple. The actual pollination process can take from 20 to 24 months! That's two years just to get the beginning of a pineapple fruit. That gives me a whole new appreciation for my pineapple. After all of the flowers have been pollinated, the fruit takes another six months to become fully mature. In the third picture, you can see some of the flowers emerging from the inflorescence. Unfortunately, this entire process is actually detrimental to pineapple production since flower pollination implies seed production. No one wants to be eating seeds in their pineapple! For this reason, pollinators of the pineapple plants have been banned from import by the Hawaiian islands, to prevent unwanted seed development. If no pollination occurs, the fruit still develops but just no seeds are formed. The pineapple is said to be a "mathematical" fruit; the flowers are arranged in two spirals around the inflorescence stalk, with one spiral going each direction. If you count the number of flowers in a spiral one direction it's 8, and the other is 13. This means that the pineapple is an example of a fruit in nature that displays the Fibonacci number sequence. Neat!

Shaving brushes on trees

Species name: Pseudobombax ellipticum

Common name: shaving brush tree

Location: Dominican Republic

The shaving brush tree, by far my favourite tropical tree that I saw in the Dominican, is native to southern Mexico and further south to the "left half" of Central America. It is still relatively common there in the wild, but will likely soon be threatened by habitat loss.

The tree has many traditional uses, from native medicines (the trunk of the tree is succulent-like and so stores water; it was believed that the water exuded from the stem when the tree was cut had healing properties) to construction materials (the wood is very soft and so easy to carve into shapes) to decorative material (the flowers are very popular church decorations in Central America). It is also sometimes used as firewood, but because the stems store so much water the wood must dry out first (and so other species are often favoured). The plant, for obvious reasons, is also a preferred ornamental species almost everywhere it grows, and has now been introduced to Florida, Hawaii and Arizona in the United States where it struggles along (never quite reaching its fullest potential as a tree, but certainly not dying, either). The flowers are, by far, the most spectacular flowers I have ever seen on a tree. Before the flowers are ready to open, they look like small acorns on the tips of all of the branches, sometimes in clusters of 2 or more "acorns". When my mom and I first saw the tree, we both wondered why the grounds staff were keeping a very dead-looking tree so prominently displayed outside the balcony of our hotel room since the tree didn't even have any leaves. The rounded parts of the acorns elongate and turn from a dark maroon-brown to a much lighter brown. Then a seam forms along the elongated acorn, where the flower can emerge through. The protective covering of the flower, that "acorn," then curls down around itself, contributing to those decorative curls at the bottom of the flower. Depending on the variety (some argue depending on the subspecies or even the species), the flowers that open will either be white or pink, as in the pictures above.

Me, being who I am, saw the flowers the first day and wondered what type of animal would be coerced into pollinating a flower like that. Since each individual flower in the inflorescence is so darn tiny, I figured the only possible animal that could pollinate it (or enjoy any of its nectar) would have to be either a moth or a butterfly, since they would be the only animals with styles (or "tongues") long enough to get down to the nectaries. Since the flowers seemed to open at night (only because I didn't get up at the crack of dawn to watch them be opened, as I discovered later), I figured it had to be moths. Not a bad guess, but an incredibly incorrect one.

One morning, my mom and I were awoken by a wonderful racket outside, with what sounded like a bunch of birds being mauled by a bunch of other birds. By the time I grabbed my camera (and put on clothing that wouldn't look like I was in my pyjamas) and ran downstairs the show was almost over, but this is what I saw:

Can you see what causes the flowers to open? No? Look a little closer...

See him yet? Still don't know what you're looking for?

Yes, that's right. Woodpeckers. Woodpeckers opening flowers! I though this was mind-boggling, and had never heard of woodpeckers doing anything other than pecking trees. Apparently they are multi-talented! They drill into the bottom of the flower through the protective covering (what used to be that "acorn") to drink all of the nectar at the bottom of the flower. By the time the flower splits open along the holes that the woodpecker made, its a moot point what else comes along since they would only be getting the woodpecker's leftovers. Every morning there were 5 or 6 of these birds that would congregate on this tree and fight each other for the optimal flowers. There were other birds, sparrows, that would wait around until the nasty woodpeckers were done before moving in on the flowers, and then once the flowers were fully open there were always a swarm of insects flying around the tops of the flowers, collecting pollen and any nectar that was left over. Interestingly enough, I didn't ever see a butterfly around the flowers. Hummingbirds did come visit the flowers during the day, but they didn't usually last long. They were probably disappointed with their nectar haul, and there seemed to be many, many other flowers that they could exploit for food elsewhere.

Our friend the woodpecker is right in the middle of this shot, drinking from the elongated 

"flower acorn". Click to enlarge...

Swim little fishies!

Species name: Nemanthus wettsteinii

Common name: goldfish plant

Location: UWO Greenhouse

This is one of the few tropical species of plants that grow well indoors that I'm disappointed no one has told me about before a couple of weeks ago. To me, these flowers are just plain awesome. Not just awesome for the fact that they literally look like goldfish (unlike other plants named after animals like the Shrimp Plant; sorry shrimp plant!), but because of their unique adaptations to target their preferred pollinators. The goldfish plant is native to the Amazon and surrounding areas, with the native range stretching from Brazil up to Mexico. This plant, while a very popular indoor plant in the southern United States, is still very common in the wild. It also grows incredibly easily indoors, so the need to return to the wild to collect more plants is rare.

The reproduction of this plant is fascinating. In fact, it hardly ever happens, and never happens sexually in this species. Hard to believe? I agree! But the biology has been well documented, and so here's what happens. The flowers are just an offering to species that need nectar in the wild, which is practically unheard of in the wild. This species of Nemanthus is asexual, meaning the flowers are not produced for the purpose of reproduction. Close relatives of the goldfish plant, who have redder flowers that are less shaped like goldfish and more like tubes, do reproduce via seeds (which requires sexual reproduction) so it appears as if this plant has lost the ability somewhere down the line. Instead, it reproduces asexually by severing its young branches, having them fall off the plant, ideally roll down a hill and root in a new location. In the wild these plants are often epiphytes, meaning they'll grow on just about any surface that they can grab onto (and rarely obtain nutrients from this surface; they get those from the humid air). The goldfish are just swollen sacs of nectar available for any insect or bird to exploit at their will. Hummingbirds, despite the flowers of this species being orange and not red, are still attracted to the flowers and will use it as a preferred nectar source when the flowers are in full bloom. Some insects with biting mouthparts will chew tiny holes in the bottom of the goldfish stomach to allow the nectar to freely flow out of the flower, and drink all they can get before returning to their nest. Other birds will use this same strategy, poking holes in the flowers and drinking the nectar that flows out. Every so often the goldfish plant will make something that looks like seeds when the flowers are spent, but they are sterile and not worth collecting since they will not produce a new individual (bananas are like this also; we call this not being "true to seed").

Like many succulent plants with fleshy leaves, the goldfish plant produces chemicals in the leaves that are mildly irritating to the skin. If you have sensitive skin and are planning on propagating this plant by snapping off leaves and putting them in water to root (it really is that easy to make a new plant!), make sure you wear gloves and you'll be fine. Cats and dogs (and other indoor pets) usually stay away from this plant despite having flowers that look like they would be fun to play with. There must be some kind of scent emitted from the leaves or flowers that lets them know it shouldn't be messed with. Goldfish plants are quite drought tolerant, so ignoring them won't bother them too much. They are also frost-tolerant (reportedly surviving brief exposures of -5 degrees Celsius or about 23-25 degrees Fahrenheit) so forgetting them outside on a cold night isn't a big deal.

A word of warning, however, if you like using these plants as ornamental garden plants in baskets during the summer and have a backyard garden: they carry viroids. A viroid is like a virus, being able to be transmitted from plant to plant when they come in contact (or when the sap of one plant is on the leaf surface of another, where it can enter the leaf breathing pores or stomata). Viroids are present in many plants, and it is believed that some are just the result of a virus that had infected the plant but had mutated to no longer be able to reproduce so gets stuck in the plant as a sort of virus fossil or relic. Some viroids, however, are still able to cause disease in plants, especially crop species. The viroid that the goldfish plant carries causes no symptoms in the plant so you would never even know it had it...until it comes in contact with either potatoes or tomatoes. Then it wreaks havoc. The symptoms in potatoes and tomatoes are quite severe, reducing the yield of crops of these two plants quite drastically. Best to keep these plants away from each other! Viroids cannot be spread through the air, and this particular viroid doesn't last very long outside of the plant, so having them in the same garden is no problem as long as there's a distance between them.

The Brazilian jasmine native to Brazil, not the Chilean jasmine native to Argentina

Species name: Mandevilla sanderi

Common name: Brazilian jasmine

Location: UWO Greenhouse

Brazilian jasmine is native to (you guessed it) Brazil, and until recently was considered part of a separate genus from the rest of the Mandevilla species in the genus Dipladenia. Most of the species currently classified in Mandevilla are native to Ecuador; this is one of the only species that's not. It's also one of the only species in the genus that's not critically endangered. It is still relatively common in the Brazilian rain forest, although the forest itself is decreasing in area by about 5-10% per year, so it will also soon be at risk. The common name of this plant is sometimes Chilean jasmine, but that common name actually refers to another plant, native to Argentina (yet another reason why common names of plants bother me...)

One of the characteristics of this plant that make it so attractive to gardeners (especially those with an indoor green thumb) are the strongly scented flowers. When in the appropriate location (in full to partial sun), these vines can reach heights up to 10 meters tall if given a support system in one growing season. If you want to encourage bushier growth, pruning the plant back almost to ground level every fall to encourage new growth in the spring would be best. The flowers can be tricked into being produced repeatedly during the growing season if the old flowers are pinched off (also called dead-heading). When grown in a container (either indoors or outdoors), it will rarely reach a height taller than a couple of meters.

There are no reports of this plant being toxic, but also none of it being edible. It is sometimes used in the perfume industry because of its scent, but doesn't have any other value aside from an ornamental plant. In the garden it will attract hummingbirds and butterflies because of the shape and colour of the flowers (and also a few bees...!).

Whether a prawn or a shrimp, this kind isn't edible

Species name: Justicia brandegeeana

Common name: shrimp plant

Location: UWO Greenhouse

The shrimp plant, a pretty fitting name if you have bad eyesight and a good imagination (don't look much like a shrimp otherwise...), is native to Mexico and was introduced to Florida where it has become naturalized. The pinkish "petals" around the bottom of the flowers start off white, turning pink as they mature. The darker, more intense the colour the more light they were exposed to during maturation. These bracts continue to grow along the top of the inflorescence stalk until they become too much weight for the plant to bear and they break off. The more mature the plant, the longer the bracts can be; in some fully-mature plants they can be up to a foot long! Thats a big shrimp. The leaves also change colour in response to light; the chlorophyll is easily bleached out in high light levels. As the leaves are exposed to more and more direct sunlight, white spots start to appear on the leaves. To get rid of the spots, shade the plant. If you like the spots (it doesn't seem to hurt the plant much, although there will be an upper limit for the plant's tolerance), make sure it gets lots of sun during the day!

The shrimp plant is incredibly sensitive for frost; it would do very poorly in temperate climates if left outdoors during the winter (anything below 7 degrees Celsius and the plant will die) but they do perfectly well indoors. Outdoors during the summer they will attract butterflies and hummingbirds due to the long, trumpet-like shape of the flowers and the abundance of nectar that they produce. They will also attract a lot of ants and bees, so probably best to make sure it's not planted right beside the doorway to the house. You might regret your decision...

Another common name of the plant is the "false hop" plant, named after the bracts in some cultivars that are yellow or yellow-green. They mimic the bracts of the hops plant which are used to give the characteristic flavour to beer, but just to warn the home-brewers amongst you: the shrimp plant won't make your home-brew taste like beer, or even like shrimp. There aren't any reports of the plant being poisonous, but it's certainly not edible, either.

The noxious cow itch vine

Species name: Campsis radicans

Common name: cow itch vine, trumpet vine

Location: Ontario

The trumpet vine is native to the southeastern United States, reaching as far north as Kentucky. Despite this, it is incredibly cold-hardy, and can survive winter temperatures as cold as -30 degrees Celsius. For a subtropical species, that feat in itself is incredible. What's even more incredible is that it actually does better when transported to "strongly temperate" areas (locations that have a clear summer that is very warm, and a clear winter that is very cold) like New England and southwestern Ontario. There, the vine becomes incredibly invasive and can be very destructive. In fact, "radical pruning" is recommended in order to control its growth; it can grow up to 30 meters in one growing season!

This plant is one of the many vines that produce structures called tendrils that act almost like support beams that help keep the plant upright and attached to its substrate, whatever that might be. The plant that made tendrils famous is the garden pea plant, which has tendrils that react so quickly to touch you can almost watch them grow without a time lapse camera! The cow itch vine takes this to a whole new level. It can actually use its tendrils almost like hole borers, and can penetrate into mortar between bricks, and can split apart perfectly healthy trees. Nevermind what it can do to hydro or telephone poles! Outside its native range it truly is a menace, and should be avoided at all costs (despite its incredible beauty). The one good thing about this plant is its flowers; the bright red colour and the trumpet-like shape attracts every species of hummingbird to have ever come in contact with it, so if you'd like some great hummingbird viewings on warm winter days, go find some other poor gardener that planted this vine and camp out in their yard with a camera. The flowers are so prolific in nectar that the birds are very likely to "put on a show" for you while you just sit and snap pictures!