Sandra's Garden: The Last One

Species name: Syringa vulgaris

Common name: lilac

Location: Sandra's garden

Lilacs are some of the most easily recognizable shrubs used commonly for ornamental purposes. They have large heart-shaped leaves (although, not all plants that have "lilac" as a common name have heart-shaped leaves...), purple to white flowers, and the flowers have *THAT SMELL* that you smell it once and you never forget it. To me, it smells exactly like Myrtle Beach in South Carolina because that's the first place I was ever made aware of the smell; I remember walking to the beach from the camp ground past what must have been lilac bushes and a pond with baby ducks and snapping turtles that would eat the ducks. Thankfully I never actually witnessed a duck being eaten or else it might have scarred me for life. But I feel like I remember there being pens that people would keep baby ducks in so the turtles couldn't get them. Maybe I'm just making things up...this was back when I was 5 or 6 years old. I can barely remember last week!

And back to lilacs. They are native to Europe, from Croatia east to Moldova and south to Albania and Bulgaria. They had been introduced to the rest of Europe centuries ago and lilacs are now considered naturalized to most countries throughout the continent. The earliest settlers to North America brought lilacs as ornamental species, and so they have also existed in North America for many, many years. They are also considered naturalized here (it's even the state flower of New Hampshire), and have very little chance of becoming invasive since so few of their seeds are fertile. Normally you'd think a plant wouldn't do very well in the wild if the majority of the seeds being produced wouldn't be able to grow a new seedling, but this is relatively common in ornamental species (especially shrubs) because of their history of domestication: it was recently discovered that lilacs are actually hybrids of two drastically different species. When you hybridize two species that are closely related sometimes you don't even notice a reduction in fitness (or a reduction in the number of viable seeds being produced, which is a reflection of the potential number of offspring a single shrub could produce, called "fitness"). When you hybridize two species that aren't closely related then usually this reduction in fitness is quite drastic, if the hybrid takes at all. This hybrid shrub was likely a natural hybrid when it was first produced, and was since propagated over time.

Pruning lilacs is an art form to make sure it keeps flowering. If you just whack off the entire shrub at ground level (strangely enough, a "hard prune" is recommended by most garden centres for lilacs at least once every three or so years), you'll get a very "spotty" flowering on your shrub; these plants flower best on old growth. If you're cutting it off all the time, you're eliminating the possibility of getting really showy lilac flowers in the spring. The other side to this story is that lilacs can grow quickly if in optimal conditions, and so they can get to be an enormous size if left unchecked for too long. Dead-heading branches where flowers have been after flowering but before developing seeds can remove the branch's ability to extend further while at the same time promoting flower growth in later years. Win-win! Something to keep in mind too is that lilacs flower best every other year. So if you get one bad year, don't fret! A good one is probably on its way the next year.

If you like the idea of a lilac but absolutely cannot risk having a non-native plant escaping from your yard into a natural area, you could always plant a "doubled" cultivar. These cultivars have been selectively bred to have their stamens (or the "boy parts" of the flower that produce pollen) replaced with petals, so there are eight petals in each flower instead of four. If a flower doesn't produce pollen it cannot produce seeds, so this is a great way of planting a lilac for the smell without worrying about the plant getting away from you.

Allz you ever wanted to know about Rhododendrons

Species name: Rhododendron sp. (perhaps a cultivar or variety of R. wardii but I'm not positive)

Common name: rhododendron

Location: Sandra's garden

Rhododendrons are really gaining popularity in North America as garden plants, especially those species that are native to this continent. Most gardeners aren't actually aware that we have many native North American species of rhododendron, since the most widely available and easiest to grow are those native to China (like this one probably is), Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Rhododendrons prefer acidic soil which is most commonly found under very old coniferous trees. So if you have some pruned firs, spruces or pines (so that the lowest branches are several feet off the ground and the base of the tree receives a fair bit of sunlight) and want to plant something under them, rhododendrons would be a good bet! Just make sure they will receive enough sunlight; they do best in full sun. Make sure you take care in paying attention to what species you're planting and where you live; various species of rhododendrons can be highly invasive in locations where they are not native.

If you grow your own honey, which is also gaining in popularity with gardeners with large yards since bee populations are on the decline, it is strongly suggested that you do so only when your bees wouldn't have ready access to rhododendrons (and other species in the same genus that we call azaleas because the flowers only have five anthers instead of the usual ten; you can read my previous blog about azaleas HERE). The pollen and nectar of rhododendons contains a toxin called grayanotoxin, which can cause hallucinogenic and laxative effects. Not exactly the kind of thing you're expecting when you consume honey! Horses have an even more extreme reaction to grayanotoxin: it can cause seizures and even death. Thankfully for horses, they usually avoid rhododendons based on the smell alone and would rather look for something else to eat. Cats and dogs also have adverse effects to rhododendrons, but the effect is much more pronounced in dogs than in cats (are cats smarter for staying away from the plant more often? Perhaps. Is this my bias for what pet I prefer more? Perhaps...). Dogs like to chew on sticks, so if you prune this plant and leave the sticks laying around your beloved pet might be in for a surprise. Symptoms include digestive issues, heart palpitations, heart attack, and liver failure. Eventually these symptoms will lead to death if the animal is left untreated. Supervise your pets around your landscape plants!

Rhododendron species are very important to different cultures around the world. For example, different species of rhododendron are the national flower of Nepal, the state flower of both Indian-administered and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, the state tree of Sikkim and Uttarakhand in India, and the state flower of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Washington in the United States. Not bad for a plant!

Easter's other flowers

Species name: Pulsatilla patens

Common name: pasqueflower, prairie crocus

Location: photos from Wikipedia

Since I blogged about Easter lilies last year, I couldn't do that again this year! If you are disappointed and want to read about Easter lilies instead, you may do so HERE. Instead, I figured this year I would blog about Easter's other flower: the pasqueflower. If you speak a language other than English, this flower probably sounds familiar to you as reflecting the time of year; in French, the word for Easter is "paques," in Italian it's "pasqua," in Spanish it's "pascua;" even in Icelandic the word for Easter is "paskar." It's no surprise, then, that the name of these flowers should be reminiscent of Easter not just because of their name, but also because of their flowering time: they are often the first flowers to emerge in temperate prairies around the world. There are about 35 species in the genus, and each one of these species are early flowering right after the snow melts and the temperature of the soil starts to warm up.

The pasqueflower, sometimes called the Eastern pasqueflower, is native to a circumboreal area in North America, Europe and Asia; countries that claim this flower to be native there include Canada, the United States, Russia, much of Scandinavia and parts of more southern countries in Europe, Mongolia, and China. This flower is so popular it has even pushed its way into being the provincial flower of Manitoba and the state flower of South Dakota despite its drastically reduced population sizes in both locations. Because of the conversion of prairie habitat to agricultural fields around the world, all of the species of Pulsatilla are now threatened with declining populations (some more drastically and faster than others). There is the idea that prairies can rehabilitate themselves naturally if given enough time and given a jump-start through seed planting. Unfortunately, once the field has been plowed the pasqueflower never comes back; disturbing the rhizomes that the flowers grow from in the spring eliminates the population. They grow very slowly from seed and are very sensitive to disturbance (and are not good competitors with other fast-growing species like goldenrods), so have a very hard time re-establishing themselves after disturbance. If you come across a patch of pasqueflowers this spring, refrain from picking them and (most importantly) don't dig them out of the soil. They need as much help as they can get for the remaining areas where they are common.

All parts of the pasqueflower (in most, if not all, species) are highly toxic. Consumption of any part of the plant can lead to convulsions, heart attack, coma, and death. Native North Americans used to use this plant as a natural abortion-inducing medicine; this was likely incredibly effective (and is being looked at by the pharmaceutical industry as a "natural" method of inducing labor) due to its toxic properties. It is still a main ingredient in homeopathy, so pregnant women (and those that are lactating) should never take any kind of homeopathic remedy. The extracts of the plant are used in herbal medicine to treat cough, asthma, and as a sedative.

The Northern Agave: the Yucca

Species name: Yucca filamentosa

Common name: Adam's needle, filament yucca

Location: Ontario

This is one of those rare plants that is not in my garden at home, that is native to eastern North America, and that I absolutely LOVE. In fact, I used to love this plant purely based on the fact that it reminds me of Agave (which you can read all about HERE; it's actually a close relative in the same family) and has such a tropical feel, yet is fully cold hardy. Not only are the flowers absolutely stunning and smell fantastic (they're all past their prime by the time I got around to photographing this plant on campus), they also open at night and are the most fragrant when it's dark out. This phenomenon is not uncommon in the plant world, and is referred to as being a "nyctinastic" plant. Since this is such a fantastic plant, the people of New Mexico have recognized it as their State flower. Way to go, New Mexico!

One of the main reasons why a plant would want to open its flowers at night and release most of the scent of the flower at night is to attract nocturnal pollinators. In this case, there is only one main pollinator of the Yucca, called the yucca moth. Due to habitat destruction (they prefer rocky deserts, sandy areas, dry prairies, and light woodlands, all habitats that are being lost in North America at an alarming rate) this plant is becoming more and more rare, which also means the yucca moth is becoming more and more rare. The yucca moth doesn't just get food from this plant, it also uses the plant to house its eggs and larvae until they are ready to moult into caterpillars. The moth lays its eggs at the base of the flower on the inside so that it is enveloped by the developing fruit. As the larvae hatch, they consume some of the nutrient-rich seeds before exiting the seed pod when it splits open naturally (when the plant is ready to release the seeds). So why would a plant "agree" (plants aren't capable of conscious thought, so to say they "agree" to do anything is inflicting a bit of a human-centric bias onto a plant) to have its seeds, its babies, consumed by an animal? Well, if all of the seeds produced developed into offspring, the young seedlings probably would not be able to compete for resources sufficiently with the already established parents, and there would be too much competition between them. So the parent Yucca allows the relationship between the moth and the seeds to occur to prune out the number of possible offspring and gaining the benefits of cross-pollination provided by the adult moth. A great system! The larvae in return ensure they do not eat all the seeds, and there are still plenty around to ensure population replacement at the very least, and population growth during good years. How the larvae "know" how many seeds to leave I don't think is fully understood, since larvae of any species are incredible eaters and can eat many hundreds of times their body weight in plant material before they moult into adults.

The uses of this plant are numerous, the least of which today being for textile use. The strikingly tall inflorescence stalks have long fibres in them that can be spun to make (incredibly uncomfortable) clothing, textiles, or rope. Yucca flowers are also edible, and are a deep-fried delicacy in some southern states in the US. Some species of the genus also have edible fruits, but this species isn't one of them since the fruit walls are made up of very tough plant tissue. The leaves of this plant are also sometimes referred to as "meat hangers" since they are so tough they can pierce meat and can be knotted together to make a ring that can be hung on a tree branch to dry cured meat.

The most important use of this plant even today is as a fish stun agent. This might sound a little strange, and why would you want to stun a fish, anyway? Well, it makes them a whole lot easier to catch! The traditional way to stun fish with this plant is to take either chopped up leaves or roots (or both, just to be sure) and boil them in water for an extended period. Then take rocks and macerate the tissue, extruding all of the juices that come with the macerated tissue. Those juices, along with the cooking water, are then dumped into streams and small ponds with high densities of fish. The juices contain fish toxins that either instantly paralyze (or kill if not collected immediately) the fish, and they are scooped up and either used as bait fish (if they're small) or cooked and eaten (if larger). The most interesting part of this story is that this is probably the method used to catch the original fish used in the first fish farming processes thousands of years ago! Once the stunned fish are put into fresh water (ideally, an isolated pond near the settlement), the effect gradually wears off and the fish return to normal. The effect of the fish stun, however, remains in the original body of water until it can be appropriately flushed out through natural processes (dilution, breakdown by other organisms like bacteria, flushing further down the watershed, absorption and depletion in the soil, etc.) so using this plant to stun fish for fun can be incredibly detrimental to an ecosystem not just immediately, but potentially for many months or years to come!

Bowling for Aquilegia

Species name: Aquilegia sp. (probably Aquilegia vulgaris)

Common name: Columbine (probably Common Columbine, European Columbine)

Location: Ontario

As you can probably tell by the proximity of the fence in the second picture (and the blurred plant in the background), this is not a species of plant in my back yard. I have to graciously thank my neighbours by allowing me to use their flowers as models (although they don't know it yet) and letting me steal flowers through the fence with elaborate stick mechanisms!

I honestly have no idea which species of Columbine this is. I'm guessing it's probably the common columbine since its English name is probably "common" for a reason. The common columbine has been selected for flower colour through hybridization by humans over many generations, so there are now cultivars with many different colours of flowers even though the "natural" colour of this flower is dark purple. Since I don't truly know which species this is, I can't also comment on the "nativeness" of this plant for certain, but since there are more species native to Asia and Europe than there are North America (but there are a few!), I'm going to pick the bigger group and go with non-native. There are about 65 species of columbines in the genus Aquilegia, and almost all of them are critically endangered (with the exception of the few species used for ornamental purposes; even some of those are endangered in their native habitat). We have 3 species that are native to Canada, and another 3 are native to the United States. One of these three American species is endemic to Colorado, where it only exists in one small pocket of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and is protected under federal law. Since it's also the state flower of Colorado, I wouldn't suggest taking your chances with American law enforcement and picking any flowers if you happen to stumble across them!

There is quite a bit of folklore associated with this plant because of the elaborate spurred flowers that are produced. At one point, even the Raelians (remember them?! If not, you can read about their philosophy HERE) believed that these flowers were too unusual to be a product of evolution and chance, and must have been created by their extraterrestrial God. The ancient Romans believed the columbine flowers to be the flower of Venus, and if you carried around a bouquet of columbines you would arouse the affection of a loved one. Going along with that, it was also used as an herbal medicine to relieve the pain of childbirth. In modern times, some herbalists use the rhizomes in a tea-like beverage as a diuretic or an astrigent; I would recommend you stay away from experimenting with this plant since some species can be a diuretic via kidney disintegration as opposed to increased kidney flow--and I don't think that's the effect you'd be going for!

The Littleleaf of the Lilac World

Species name: Syringa microphylla

Common name: littleleaf lilac

Location: Ontario

Lilacs are deciduous shrubs that are native to Europe and eastern Asia. This specific species of lilac, the littleleaf lilac, is native to China. As many gardening websites suggest about this plant, it is a "spreading" plant in North America meaning it is invasive. In fact, walking through natural areas around this time of year the most predominant flowering shrubby growth are different species of lilac that have escaped from backyard landscaping. As the name suggests, the leaves are smaller than the traditional ornamental species of lilac ("micro" means small and "phylla" means leaf or leaves) and the scent of the flowers is also somewhat different. The smell reminds me of South Carolina for some reason; my family and I used to go to Myrtle Beach for camping vacations around the Victoria Day weekend when I was in elementary school. I can't explain why, but the smell of littleleaf lilac is exactly the same as what I remember the beach mixed with the pine trees of the campground smelled like.

Lilac flowers are incredibly popular with many different pollinators due to the shape of the flowers, the colour, and their scent. Bees are attracted by their colour and scent, butterflies are attracted because of the tube-like shape of the flower to get to the nectaries, and hummingbirds can sometimes be seen around the flowers in the early summer. Already this year we've had 5 or 6 different species of buzzing, stinging insects swarm our lilac bushes which would be a nightmare for someone allergic to bees!

Other than ornamental uses, lilac plants aren't used for much. There was some historical use of lilac wood in knife handles and in musical instruments, but for the most part other woods or artificially-created materials are used. There is no documented medicinal use of lilac plants, but the essential oil is often used in aromatherapy since a lot of people report it the smell of these plants has a calming quality. Lilacs are the state flower of New Hampshire.

Eastern White Pine: Ontario's provincial tree

Species name: Pinus strobus

Common name: Eastern White Pine, White Pine, Wheymouth Pine

Location: Ontario

The Eastern White Pine is a native evergreen tree to Eastern Canada (Newfoundland to Manitoba), and has now been naturalized in the mountains of Poland and Czech Republic (naturalized meaning it is not native, but not out-competing native species). These trees are incredibly important in Canadian industry for timber and in the pulp and paper industry. They are the provincial tree of Ontario, and the state tree of Maine and Michigan. In the photo are the male or staminate cones, which are the cones that produce pollen. The pinecones that fall off the tree in the fall and are often used for decorative purposes are the female or carpellate cones which eventually produce the seeds. Staminate cones are the reason for many pollen allergies in the spring. These staminate cones are even the state flower of Maine!

Eastern White Pine trees were historically very susceptible to a fungus called the White Pine Blister Rust, which was introduced from either Asia or Europe during the 19th century. By the early 20th century the mortality of White Pines in some areas was as high as 80%. The Blister Rust is a fungus that requires an alternate host to complete its life cycle (in this case Ribes, or Gooseberry or Wild Currant). In the mid- to late-20th century, it was suggested by the US Department of Forest Pathology that if Ribes plants were removed from surrounding forest with White Pine, the disease can be controlled. This method was actually incredibly effective, and now mortality of "natural" pines (not ornamental pines, but those occurring naturally in forests) is about 3%. Now in New England in the US it is actually illegal in some locations to plant wild currant or wild gooseberry plants.

In the forestry industry, White Pines have historically been used to make masts for boats and some were even marked with a blue arrow as reserved for the British Royal Navy. This was a practice of great controversy in the US, leading eventually (at least contributing to) to the American Revolution. There are now more than just North American White Pines that are used as lumber to make masts of ships, should they be made of wood at all (most are now metal). Instead of growing trees for masts, we now grow pine plantations for Christmas trees and other lumber/pulp/paper purposes (building materials, furniture, carving, etc.). The sap of the White Pine is purified to make turpentine.

Surprisingly enough, White Pine trees are also used for food and as medicine by some native North American people. Pine needles themselves contain about five times the amount of Vitamin C as lemons (the typical Vitamin C benchmark), and make a great "Vitamin C tea." The cambium of the tree (the fast-reproduicing cells that produce the wood and inner bark of the tree) is commonly eaten by the Algonquin people. It is a good source of a chemical called resveratrol which has been touted as the "new cure" for just about everything that affects humans from diabetes to cancer. It has shown some promise as a chemical that will significantly reduce blood sugar as a potential treatment and/or cure for diabetes, but only in extremely high doses. The only human trial that has shown this was sponsored by a drug company, so any results that come from it have to be taken with a grain of salt. Other medicinal uses of this tree: as an anti-microbial agent used to treat gangrene by the Chippewa, and using the residue of slowly burning branches and roots as a treatment for dandruff.

Thou shalt forget me not!

Species name: Myosotis sp.

Common name: forget-me-not

Location: Nova Scotia

One of the amazing aspects of the Acadia University campus is their arboretum and medicinal plants garden. Tanya and I spent a good couple of hours wandering around a relatively small corner of campus looking at their pond system (with bog, swamp and marsh areas that they had created), their native plant area, and their medicinal plant garden. The medicinal plant section was by far my favourite because it had so many unusual plants, most of which were historically used in native medicine or once used for extracts to treat a specific disease. They even had a wormwood plant, since that was once originally used to treat malaria!

The forget-me-nots were growing around one of the ponds, which leads me to believe this could possibly be the "true" forget-me-not, or Myosotis scorpioides (native to Africa), but there aren't enough identifying features in the photo to be able to tell for sure. The genus Myosotis contains about 50 different species, and almost all of them have the potential to become invasive under the right conditions. Forget-me-nots are popular garden plants in North America, since they are such an effective ground cover, especially in shady areas (which should lead you to believe even more strongly that they're invasive!). I remember planting the "mini kind", as I used to call them when I was 4 or 5, with my mom in our garden at the old house. More than 20 years later we were still pulling the stragglers out of the garden! Since the plants themselves were so short, it leads me to believe it was probably Myosotis alpestris that we were planting, or the Alpine forget-me-not which is the state flower of Alaska. For anyone that's counting petals, this plant is indeed a dicot!

Unlike other spring wildflowers I've blogged about so far, forget-me-nots do not produce rhizomes for underground energy storage. Instead, they have a diffuse fibrous root system so they act as effective erosion-control plants by holding in the soil. This root system is also what allows them to invade riverbanks (also called the "riparian zone") and out-compete native plants. It also produces more seed at a much quicker rate than most of our native plants that grow along riverbanks, which helps contribute to their success as an invasive species.

The origins of the common name of this plant are quite diverse, but I'll share my two favourites. The one my grandma used to always tell me (she had a story for everything...true or not, they were always interesting!) was about a knight in shining armour that was walking by the river with his princess when he bent down to pick her some flowers. The weight of his armour pulled him into the river, but before he drowned he threw the flowers at the princess and yelled "forget me not!" The Freemasons also used this flower as a symbol in the 1920s to not forget the poor and desperate people in Germany. The flower still has tight ties with modern Masons, often being worn as a symbol that those that have died are gone but not forgotten.

Forget-me-nots have been used (and are actually becoming more popular) in herbal medicine around the world as a treatment for chronic nosebleeds and lung issues. I would strongly suggest against the use of this plant for these purposes, however, since they potentially contain high levels of chemicals called "hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids," which attack the liver and cause liver failure and can cause cancer. There is conflicting evidence on whether all species of this genus contain these alkaloids, but it's always better to be safe than sorry!

The original Stinking Benjamin

My appologies! For the last 4 days I've been at two different conferences, and so have been a wee busy. More regular blog postings are starting again tomorrow!

Species name: Trillium erectum

Common name: red trillium, wake-robin, stinking Benjamin

Location: Nova Scotia

I took this photo while out with Tanya on a guided excursion of an area in Nova Scotia called Cape Split. Felt like a walk up a mountain carrying the pack mule with all of its stuff, to be rewarded with a beautiful view of the Bay of Fundy. Once we were done absorbing the view we started our (incredibly short) trek back down the "mountain", only to find out that the walk wasn't all that long at all! The red trillium is native to Eastern North America, especially the Maritime provinces.

Most of the 40-50 species in the Trillium genus are at risk of population decline across their entire range. Despite this, there is only one species that is protected by law in Ontario against picking since it is officially a threatened species and has a greatly reduced population size. The common white trillium, the provincial flower of Ontario, is only prohibited from being picked in Provincial and National Parks, and on land owned and controlled by a Conservation Authority. In the United States, it is illegal to pick trillium flowers in Michigan, Minnesota and New York. This isn't because it's a threatened species, it's because picking the flower prevents the bracts and leaves from making sugars to be stored for the next year's growth. This impedes the growth and reproductive abilities pretty severely of the trillium. The white trillium is also the state flower of Ohio, and the official government emblem of the Ontario Government. Like the Jack in the Pulpit plant, the trillium is characterized by having flower parts and leaves in multiples of three: three petals, three sepals, and three leaves. This makes the plant trifolate, and a monocot.

Red trillium flowers are definitely not suitable for picking for the dinner table. A dark red-purple colour in flowers often indicates that they will smell terrible, like rotting meat. This implies the flowers are pollinated by animals attracted to rotting meat, usually flies. Like another native Ontario wildflower, bloodroot, the seeds of the red trillium are dispersed via ants (called myrmecochory). The ants are attracted to the fruit of the flower because of the fleshy elaiosome that surrounds the seed. This elaiosome contains lots of lipids (fats) and proteins, which the ants use as a rich source of nutrition. Once the ants have consumed the elaiosome, they transport the seeds into their disposal chambers underground where they can germinate the next spring and grow into a new trillium plant. Despite this complex association between trilliums and ants, these plants rarely actually reproduce sexually via their seeds. Like many of the spring wildflowers that I've blogged about so far, trilliums have rhizomes that store nutrients for the plants to use to grow the next spring.

To my knowledge, there is no medicinal or nutritive benefits (either perceived or actual) of consuming specifically the red trillium (although, there are stories about other species of trillium having medicinal value in preventing and treating bloody diarrhea). It contains calcium oxalate crystals in a special form called a raphide, which would make the plant toxic to consume by humans. The crystals can perforate the intestines and cause ulcers. Plus, I don't imagine they taste very good!