The Mystery Tree...Revealed!

Remember the tree growing by the pond that had little pom pom flowers growing all along the stems in March? Now that it is mid-April, the flowers have developed into ruffly clusters of light green seeds, and the mystery tree has been identified as the Red or Slippery Elm, Ulmus rubra. The name "Red Elm" comes from the reddish brown color of the heartwood, and the name "Slippery Elm" comes from the slippery, mucus-like substance that can be ground from the inner bark. This mucilage can be made into a tea, or gruel for food, and is also said to be good for sore throats and irritable bowel syndrome. The fibrous part of the inner bark makes good twine or rope, and the wood is very shock resistant due to the interlocking grain pattern - good for making wagon wheels.

The Red Elm is less susceptible to the Dutch Elm Disease than its cousin, the American Elm (Ulmus americana), which has drastically declined in numbers in North America due to this introduced disease.
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The seed of the Red Elm is called a samara - a fruit with flattened, papery, wing-like extensions. The "helicopter" seeds of maples and ash trees are also known as samaras.

This particular Red Elm tree has produced thousands and thousands of seeds this spring, while the Red Elms planted in my yard at home barely have any seeds. Like many trees, the Red Elm may not produce a heavy seed crop every year. Seed production takes a great deal of energy, and by "flooding the market" in a particular year, the tree prevents seed predator populations from building up to high enough levels to take advantage of the heavy seed crops. Even so, only a few of the seeds will ever survive to become mature trees.

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The leaves of the Red Elm have a wonderful rough, sandpapery texture - we'll have to remember to check them out in May, after the spring "leaf out."
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One mystery solved! But there's always another mystery, never fear: just across the trail another tree is flowering, and I...have absolutely no idea what it could be! Stay tuned....

Serviceberry

All around the EDC right now you can see the Downy Serviceberry blooming (Amelanchier arborea). These small, slow-growing trees are native to Indiana and were planted in front of the building and in the backyard habitat to provide food and shelter for wildlife. Some varieties of Serviceberry grow as a shrub, rather than a tree. In some parts of the country, Serviceberry is also known as Shadbush, Shadblow, Juneberry, Sarvisberry, Sugarplum, and Saskatoon.
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The flowers of the Serviceberry are short-lived, only a week or so, so enjoy them while you can! After the flowers are done, small red-purple fruits form - they look and taste somewhat like blueberries, and are a tasty snack for birds. Sometimes people use them to make jams and jellies as well, if they can manage to beat the birds to them! Many species of caterpillars feed on Serviceberry leaves, providing food for baby birds and insect-eaters, and making it a great native tree to plant for wildlife value. The timing of the appearance of Serviceberry flowers coincides with the "shad run," hence the name "Shadbush." (Shad are a type of fish that swim to their spawning grounds in the spring). The name "Serviceberry" is also related to the timing of the flowers: when pioneers saw the Serviceberry blooming, they knew that the ground had thawed enough to bury anyone who had died over the winter, and the beautiful flowers could also be used as decoration for the funeral service. The Native Americans used the straighter branches of the Serviceberry to make arrow shafts, and used the berries in combination with fat and dried meats to make pemmican. Serviceberry is a member of the rose family, along with blackberries, raspberries, apple trees, hawthorn, pears, and strawberries - you can see the resemblance in the shape of the flowers.

Hemlock and Spruce and Pine, oh my!

There are several coniferous tree species found in Eagle Creek Park; for instance, the long magestic row of tall Norway Spruce (Picea abies) trees with their graceful upward arching branches along the main road by the Ornithology Center. They were originally planted by the Lilly family, and there are several around the EDC as well. As the name suggests, Norway Spruce is native to Europe. There is a White Spruce, Picea glauca, which is native to Indiana, but I've not found any growing in the park.Spruce needles are very stiff, and quite sharp. Folks who celebrate Christmas with a live spruce tree usually have a few uncomfortable prickly moments setting them up!The cones of the Norway Spruce have densely packed scales, and are 6+ inches long (cones of White Spruce are much smaller - less than 3 inches). Squirrels like to strip them of their scales and eat the seeds, leaving the central stem of the cone behind.

If Norway Spruce has the biggest cones, the Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) has the tiniest - these little doobers are only about an inch long.

Eastern Hemlock has flat, rounded needles, soft and flexible, rather than stiff and sharp, with two whitish lines on the underside. This is not the same hemlock that killed Socrates (the poison he drank was made from an herbaceous plant that looks a bit like parsley - Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum) so don't worry about touching and handling Eastern Hemlock, it won't bite! In fact, pioneers often made tea from the needles, which, like most conifer needles, are high in vitamin C. Deer also find the Hemlock needles tasty; the trees in the park are all browsed as high as a white-tailed deer can reach.

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Eastern Hemlock prefers cool and humid growing conditions, and unlike most other conifers it can grow in the shade. Most of the trees in the park were probably planted, but they grow naturally in ravines in southern Indiana. These cool, humid microclimates became refuges for hemlock trees when the glaciers retreated long ago, and Indiana became too warm and dry for them to survive in more upland forest.

Next we have the cones of the Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) - similar in size to Norway Spruce, but the scales are much less densely packed, and they are often adorned with white bits of sap on the ends. White Pine is native to Indiana, but the original range was only in a few small pockets - the trees in the park were probably planted. Check out the "Native Trees of Indiana Riverwalk" for some excellent range maps of Indiana trees: http://www.phyplt.ipfw.edu/GROUNDS/NativeTreesOfIndianaRiverWalk/NativeTreeListByCommonName-Page1-Test.htm

White Pine holds the record of being the tallest tree in eastern North America; pre-colonial trees were reported to reach over 200 ft tall, and the current record holder is just over 180 ft. The tall, sturdy trunks of the White Pine were in great demand during colonial times to be turned into masts for the ships of the British Royal Navy.

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There is a large White Pine growing near the deck at the Ornithology Center, and one at the edge of the Grasshopper Field by the EDC.

Needles of the White Pine are long and slender, and grow in clusters of five. Quite conveniently, the word "white" has five letters, making this fact a little easier to remember. The needles look sharp, but they are actually quite soft and flexible.

The other common pine tree in the park is the Virginia Pine (Pinus virginiana). Its needles grow in clusters of two, and the needles are slightly twisted or spiraled. There are several stands of Virginia Pine planted in the park - you can find them growing along both the Pin Oak Loop and the Cabin Loop Trail by the EDC. Virginia Pine is native to Indiana, but only occurred naturally in the south, along the Ohio River.

Most of the Virginia Pine trees in the park look rather worse for wear. It is hard to even tell they are pines in most cases, unless you look to the very top and see the needles. Virginia Pine is shade intolerant, and has a very short lifespan - only 60 to 90 years - and that is about how long ago they were planted. Norway Spruce can live a little longer, 100-200 years, and White Pine and Hemlock can reach ages of 300 to 400+.

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The cones of Virginia Pine are medium in length, around 3 or 4 inches, and have a sharp thorny spur on the tip of each scale.

Ohio Buckeye

The first tree to leaf out in the park is the Ohio Buckeye, Aesculus glabra. Most of them are quite small - there are clusters of young trees at the end of the driveway coming out of the Ornithology Center, another patch just before the sharp curve at Fisherman's Cove, and near the end of the Cabin Loop trail by the EDC. I only know of one big tree in the park, although there are probably others scattered around.
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The European version of the Buckeye is known as the Horse Chestnut, Aesculus hippocastanum, and is sometimes planted as a landscape tree. Despite the name, this is not the chestnut of "roasting on an open fire" fame - the nuts produced by both of these trees are actually toxic to humans, although deer and a few other animals can eat them without harm. Edible chestnuts come from the American Chestnut, Castanea dentata, a member of the beech family, which sadly has disappeared from most of our forests due to an introduced fungal disease.
Although it may look like I'm holding five leaves here, in actuality there is only one compound leaf in the picture, a single leaf composed of five leaflets. Buckeye leaves are also palmate - shaped like a hand with all of the leaflets connecting at the center. Some compound leaves, like those of the walnut, are pinnate - shaped like a fern, with the leaflets along a central stem. The new leaves are dark red, but they'll turn green as they get larger.
Here's a photo of a Buckeye from earlier in the year, which shows how the buds/leaves are arranged in an opposite pattern on the twig, rather than alternate. Opposite leaf and bud arrangement is an important clue when it comes to tree ID, as there are only a few tree groups that have opposite leaves: Maple, Ash, Dogwood, Horse Chestnut, and Buckeye. MAD Horse Bucks is an easy way to remember the opposite-leaved tree groups. I've also seen MAD Cap Horse - the "Cap" stands for the family Caprifoliaceae, which includes shrubs like honeysuckle, viburnum, and elderberry, all opposite-leaved.

Honeysuckle to Honey Locust

Ah, the first green leaves of spring...unfortunately, they belong to the invasive exotic, the bush honeysuckle. Bush honeysuckles are some of the most pervasive and difficult to eradicate invasive species in Indiana. They create dense shade that prevents native wildflowers and shrubs from growing; some species even release growth-inhibiting chemicals into the soil. The Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society (INPAWS) has a very informative flier that lists the ten most damaging invasive plant species in Indiana, including the bush honeysuckle and the Japanese honeysuckle vine:
http://www.inpaws.org/InvasivePlants.pdf
In addition to the early appearance of leaves, bush honeysuckle can be identified by the opposite branching pattern of the twigs and leaves (most of our native shrubs are alternate).
When walking through the forest sometimes you run across a tree with a strange lump, almost like a tumor. These woody outgrowths are known as burls (also known as burrs). No one is entirely certain what causes them, but it is believed that most are triggered when the tree undergoes some sort of stress - from certain types of mold or insect infestations, physical damage, and possibly genetic susceptibility. Some burls can grow quite large, and the wood is prized by artists and furniture makers for the unique and beautiful woodgrain patterns. The bark of the Cork Elm (Ulmus thomasii) is squishy, and indeed, very corklike! The bark grows in layers, typical of most elm bark. According to wikipedia, the Cork Elm is susceptible to Dutch Elm Disease, which may explain why we only seem to find a few small trees in the park.

If you're a tree hugger by nature, you might want to consider giving this tree a friendly, careful pat instead! These impressive thorny growths are found on the Honey Locust tree (Gleditsia triacanthos), making it a very easy tree to identify, even in the winter. The "honey" the tree is named for comes from the sweet pulp of the long bean pods the tree produces in fall, used for food and even fermented into beer by Native Americans. The pulp of the Black Locust tree bean pod is toxic, so be sure you have the right tree if you ever decide to taste it. Thornless varieties of the Honey Locust are often sold in plant nurseries for landscaping.

Monday Volunteer Walk March 9th Part 2

The leaves of the False Rue Anemone were poking out through the dead leaves on Monday - another sign of spring-to-come. Later they will create carpets of delicate white wildflowers. There is also a True Rue Anemone - not sure why this is considered to be the false one!


More early wildflower leaves peeking up through the forest floor - this three-lobed leaf is much thicker and sturdier than the fragile False Rue Anemone leaves and belongs to Hepatica. The leaf was thought to resemble the three lobes of the human liver, and thus, logically, the plant must be good for treating liver ailments! Hepatica is the Latin word for "liver," and another name for Hepatica is "Liver-leaf." This belief, that the appearance of a plant indicates its medicinal purpose, is known as the "Doctrine of Signatures."
We found the Hepatica growing along the stairs up the hillside leading to the old cabin. Not a pioneer cabin, although it is fun to pretend! This would be far too large and difficult to heat for a pioneer family. The cabin was built in the 1950's by the CEO of Indianapolis power and light (I still need to double-check the date, so don't quote me on that), and is constructed of old telephone poles!

Driving through the park in winter, it is easy to notice all of the young American Beech Trees (Fagus grandifolia) in the understory of the forest. Older beech trees drop their leaves in late fall, like most deciduous trees, but the younger beeches hang on to theirs for some reason. It is fun to hear the dry papery leaves rattle in the breeze, and they often are bent up in the direction of the prevailing winds by the end of winter. Young beech trees are able to grow in the shade, unlike the oaks and hickories, and so beeches, along with maples, are part of the mature Climax Forest of Indiana.

The long pointy leaf buds of the beech tree were formed last fall, and have been waiting patiently all winter for warm weather to come. They look quite dangerous and sharp, but don't worry - they're harmless (although I wouldn't recommend getting your eyes within poking range - look closely, but not TOO closely). You'll see a lot of my fingers in these close-up twig and bud shots - that was the only way to convince my camera to focus!

Another fun leaf bud - this one reminds me of a tiny fuzzy knife blade and is found at the tip of the Paw Paw, or Indiana Banana. I like to pet them - they are so silky soft! The round fuzzy bud further down the stem will open up in to a dark maroon, bell-shaped flower.

The strange and interesting twigs of the Winged Euonymus (Euonymus alatus), also known as burningbush for the bright red color of the leaves in the fall. The corky ridges are thought to be an adaptation to discourage browsing by deer.

Unfortunately, winged Euonymus (pronounced YOU-WAN-IH-MUS) is considered an exotic invasive species in our woodlands, brought over from northeastern Asia as an ornamental in the 1860's. When planted as a landscape plant away from forests it is usually not a problem, and there are several cultivated varieties that are less invasive and provide beautiful bright red fall color, but recent studies have shown that native trees and bushes are much more valuable to wildlife, especially birds, than the exotic species commonly used for landscaping. The key is in the BUGS!

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Native species are host to a whole community of caterpillars, beetles, and other invertebrates that are a vital source of FOOD for songbirds. Trees and bushes brought in from other parts of the world are missing the network of insects that have adapted to living with them in their home country. Although they provide some shelter, and some species may produce berries or nectar, their main value as an insect smorgasbord is missing.

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Planting native trees and bushes is a much better choice for wildlife. It is a gargantuan task, but we also attempt to control exotic invasive shrubs and bushes in our forests, so that native shrubs have a chance to grow. There are native varieties of Euonymus, although they don't have the nifty wings on the twigs. We'll have to see if we can find some growing this year.

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For some excellent reading on the value and importance of native plants to our declining bird populations, check out the book "Bringing Nature Home" by Douglas W. Tallamy:

http://bringingnaturehome.net/native-gardening

Monday Volunteer Walk March 9th

Weather: cloudy, 55F

Technically, it is still winter, but on our walk today spring was peeking out all around the edges - tree buds were swelling, there were eggs and bugs in the pond, and even some early wildflowers!

Right by the pond there was a tree with clusters of flowers all over its branches, like little pom poms. I don't remember what type of tree it is from last year - we'll have to remember to check again when the leaves appear:


Smallmouth salamander (Ambystoma texanum) eggs in the pond - these were laid some time in mid-February and are already partially developed. The salamander larvae will hatch by mid-March and feed on zooplankton and other small animals, then lose their gills and crawl out on land to live in the forest some time in May or June:



We also found several clusters of snail eggs in the pond - the snail eggs are on the stick on the left and look like small clear blobs of jelly. Each small blob has 20+ tiny clear eggs inside.




Sycamore seed balls were everywhere by the pond, falling from the overhanging sycamore - some whole and round like this one, and some smushed with their brown-yellow seeds scattered across the ground. Sycamore seeds sprout best after being soaked by water, so the white-branched sycamore tree is usually found growing near streams and rivers:

A leaf of a mystery wildflower - maybe Virginia waterleaf? Any guesses? Hmmmm....we'll check back in a few weeks and see.

Wildflower! One of the earliest of them all, Salt and Pepper, also known as Harbinger of Spring. This is a close up shot - in real life the flowers are very tiny and often go unnoticed unless you know to look for them:

We saw lots of other nifty things - Paw paw and spicebush buds, baby beech trees still holding on to their winter leaves and their long pointy leaf buds waiting to unfurl, woodpecker holes, moss and lichens - I'll try to get a few pictures of them tomorrow!