Month: July 2010

Mayapples Yellow When Ripe for Lemonade

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Mayapple, or American Mandrake, is one of those interesting plants that is easy to recognize because of its uniqueness. No other plant looks quite like the umbrella plant, does it? One or two deeply cut leaves have an overall round shape with a truly variegated edge. No two leaves seem to be alike, yet they are similar.

Appropriately named Mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum, starts blooming in the beginning of May. A single large white flower about two inches across blooms underneath the cover of one or two large leaves. The leaves seem to protect the flowers kind of like an umbrella. Check out some nice photos of Mayapple flowers in an earlier post about this native woodland plant.

Mayapple fruit at the fork of two large umbrella-like leaves.
Mayapple fruit at the fork of two large umbrella-like leaves.

Photo above taken 6 June 2010.

A single ripening fruit juts out from between the fork of two Mayapple leaves. I’m not sure what blight caused the yellow spots on the leaves of this Mayapple, but when the foliage is dying back it sometimes happens. Into July we can find mayapples turning yellow even though much of the foliage has already withered away.

The fruit is edible and can be enjoyed as a refreshing cold drink. One year I picked a handful of yellow fruit, cut them up and squeezed out the liquid in to a glass of ice cubes. I expected more of a citrus taste as Peterson’s Edible Plant Guide suggested the juice could be added to lemonade. Without sugar it would have been too tart and bland at the same time. At the very least Mayapple fruits are a survival food packed with vitamin C.

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Asiatic Dayflower Blooms For One Day

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The Asiatic Dayflower, Commelina communis, is a cute three petal flower with two upper blue petals and one lower white petal. The lower white petal is so thin or narrow that often it is not even noticeable. The two larger blue petals stand out like Mickey Mouse ears. Long stamens stand out and anthers are bright yellow. A sheath is underneath each flower as a sort of pocket.

Three-petal bloom of the Asiatic Dayflower.
Three-petal bloom of the Asiatic Dayflower.

In the photo above taken 6 June 2010, the thinner stem to the left of the larger stem on the right is that of the Asiatic Dayflower. Note the oval pointed leaves and the sheath that houses the flower until blooming time.

A related plant called Virginia Dayflower, Commelina virginica, has three blue petals and otherwise the flower appears the same as the Asiatic Dayflower. The Virginia Dayflower is native to Eastern North America, but it’s very rare compared to the alien Asiatic Dayflower.

Dayflowers are named appropriately as they bloom for only one day, so they’re no good for cut flower arrangements.

Leaves are linear-veined, pointed ovals that sheath the stem. These plants spread by laying down their stems and rooting at the leaf nodes. This reclining habit also helps to differentiate the Asiatic Dayflower from the native dayflowers, which grow in an erect posture.

Asiatic Dayflowers photographed here were growing along the upper west lane near blackberries in a partially shaded area with Spotted Touch-Me-Nots.

Much better pictures of the Asiatic Dayflower can be seen in an earlier post about it blooming in South-central PA.

Peterson’s Edible Plant Guide indicates the dayflowers are edible and may be enjoyed by adding young stems and leaves to salads or using them as cooked greens.

Wild Geranium Gone to Seed

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Wild geranium, Geranium maculatum, is a beautiful flowering herb that we see here on the mountain top. It flowers in the woodlands during May. The flowers grow in loose clusters at the stem tips. Stems are quite hairy and the seed pods themselves are very bristly. The long hairs on the seed pods and even on the seeds themselves aid animal dispersal of the seeds.

The beak of this wild geranium seed pod suggests the common name, Cranesbill.
The beak of this wild geranium seed pod suggests the common name, Cranesbill.

When the seeds are totally ripe the beak splits up the middle and each seed is attached to a curved piece of the old beak.

The seed capsule splits open with five seeds at the curled base.
The seed capsule splits open with five seeds at the curled base.

Note the bristles on the seed pods and seeds. Photos taken 6 June 2010. Click on any photo to see a larger view.

Elderflowers Bloom in June for August Elderberries

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Elderflowers bloom at the end of spring and the beginning of summer and ripen into dark purple elderberries by the end of summer.

Tall elderberry shrub reaches for the sunlight.
Tall elderberry shrub reaches for the sunlight.

In the photo above taken 6 June 2010 there are over 3 dozen elderflower clusters. Additional flower clusters were observed blooming on the same plant on 22 June 2010. The flower clusters occur at tips of branches. When the elderberries ripen they get heavy enough to bend the branches down. Berries are ripe for picking when the clusters hang down and are very dark purple.

Elderberry shrubs, Sambucus canadensis, have large, opposite, pinnately compound leaves with leaflets opposite one another. Toothed leaflets are lance-shaped and occur in pairs except for the terminal leaflet.

Elderflower cluster and compound leaves.
Elderflower cluster and compound leaves.

Note that the upper right leaf has nine toothed leaflets. The flower cluster rises up from the terminal end of the branch between two compound leaves.

Individual elderflowers are creamy white with five rounded petals and protruding stamens, which gives the flower cluster a fuzzy appearance from a distance.

Close-up view of an elderflower cluster.
Close-up view of an elderflower cluster.

All around the area we see elderflower bushes at the edge of fields, where the trees meet the open sunny fields. Many bushes are growing near water, in culverts, in drainage areas, and near streams. The tall elder shrub photographed above grows next to the edge of a lane where a natural spring trickles water down the side of the road, especially in Springtime and after heavy rains.

A common elderberry bush at the edge of a farmer's field.
A common elderberry bush at the edge of a farmer's field. Photo taken 10 June 2010.

When the elderberry bushes are in bloom is the best time to find these shrubs if you’re going to collect the elderberries. The berries won’t ripen until late summer. By then we’ll be ready to make elderberry jelly!

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Whorled Pogonia Two With Seeds

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Very few Whorled Pogonia plants flowered in 2010, but of the four individuals that did only two appeared to have been fertilized as noted by the developing seed heads.

Whorled pogonia may only spread successfully by their root system, judging by the sparse seed output this year and total lack of flower production in prior years. Would that mean that the flowers of whorled pogonia are self-fertile, like those of the Box Huckleberry of Pennsylvania?

Large whorled pogonia plant with seed head.
Large whorled pogonia plant with seed head.

Photo above taken 31 May 2010.

Another specimen of Whorled Pogonia with seeds developing.
Another specimen of Whorled Pogonia with seeds developing.

Photo above taken 16 June 2010.

Although not federally endangered like its cousin the Small Whorled Pogonia, Isotria medeoloides, Whorled Pogonia, I. verticillata, is listed for protection in a handful of states.  New York lists this orchid as vulnerable, Vermont and Michigan list it as threatened, New Hampshire, Illinois and Florida list it as endangered, and Maine lists it as possibly extirpated. Evidently, the Large Whorled Pogonia is being squeezed at the extremes of its natural range, possibly due to habitat loss.