Biodiversity survey on 1/4 acre

[Dodgy Loner]

I was doing a little TSI in my backyard this afternoon (in other words, I was cutting out some scrubby Virginia pines with some loppers because they were crowding out my oak and poplar seedlings ) when it struck me how much diversity there was in my pathetic little patch of woods.  My house is on a 3/4 acre lot down here in the southern Appalachians, and about 2/3 of the lot is covered by lawn and house.  I decided to find out how many tree and shrub species there were in my little 1/4 acre of woods.

Here's the list I came up with:

Acer rubrum - red maple
Albizia julibrissin - mimosa (I found 3 specimens, which, being exotic, suffered the same fate as the scrubby pines)
Amelanchier arborea - downy serviceberry
Betula nigra - black birch (very exciting find, as this is the lowest elevation I have ever observed this species)
Carya glabra - pignut hickory
C. illinoensis - pecan
C. tomentosa - mockernut hickory
Castanea pumila - Allegheny chinquapin (also exciting, because this is one of my favorite shrubs)
Cornus florida - flowering dogwood
Diospyros virginiana - persimmon
Ilex opaca - American holly
Juniperus virginiana - eastern redcedar
Kalmia latifolia - mountain-laurel
Ligustrum sinense - Chinese privet (DIE, evil spawn of Satan!)
Liriodendron tulipifera - yellow-poplar
Malus angustifolia - southern crabapple
Nyssa sylvatica - blackgum
Oxydendrum arboreum - sourwood
Pinus strobus - eastern white pine
Pinus virginiana - Virginia pine
Prunus serotina - black cherry
Prunus serrulata - Japanese cherry (I cut most of these, but there were too many to get them all)
Pyrus communis - common pear (will soon suffer the same fate as the other exotics)
Quercus alba - white oak
Q. coccinea - scarlet oak
Q. falcata - southern red oak
Q. nigra - water oak
Q. prinus - chestnut oak
Q. stellata - post oak
Q. velutina - black oak
Rhododendron maximum - rosebay rhododendron
Rhus copallina - winged sumac
R. glabra - smooth sumac
Rosa multiflora - multiflora rose (facing imminent death)
Sassafras albidum - sassafras
Tsuga canadensis - eastern hemlock
Vaccinium crassifolium - creeping blueberry
V. staminem - deerberry

That's 38 species of mostly trees, and a few shrubs, and only 5 of them are exotics!  I love the Appalachians .  Now I'll just have to learn what kind of herbaceous plant I have lurking in my little patch of ground.

[Tom]

Makes you wonder where to put it all. 

[WDH]

When I was up there last weekend, I was shocked to see the mortality and the devastation on Tsuga canadensis from the wooly adelgid.  Appalling.  I do not think that I saw a single un-attacked specimen and I saw several hundred.  Quite a shame.

Maybe that 1/4 acre diversity is a record for this part of the country.  I will also do a survey here, but I am sure that I will not exceed what you found. 

I did see a Castanea dentata little sapling on the Three Forks Trail on Overflow Creek road off the West Fork of the Chatooga River in Raqbun County.  Warmed my heart, it did .

[Dodgy Loner]

The HWA has been devastating in Rabun County (and everywhere else it's been).  I went on a hike Friday afternoon and saw a cluster of about 5 gigantic hemlocks, the largest of which was nearly 5 feet in diameter and 170 feet tall (it's a previous state record holder).  The poor trees looked like they had another year or so left in them, at most .  About 25% of my job is spent educating people on how to save their hemlocks.  My little hemlock (there's only one) is adelgid-free, and it will remain that way for as long as I live here.

[pigman]

Rosa multiflora - multiflora rose (facing imminent death)

I can't believe you would destroy that fine rose. It has such beautiful flowers in the Spring.

[Gary_C]

Rosa multiflora - multiflora rose (facing imminent death)

Just how do you cause imminent death in that multiflora rose? 

My brother in law claims the only thing that will control that stuff is goats.

The rest of the animal species will have nothing to do with it, dynamite will just spread it, and roundup is fertilizer to a multiflora rose. 

[Dodgy Loner]

My roses are very small, so control shouldn't be too difficult.  I'm cutting the stems back to the ground, and when they sprout back, I'll spray their tender little leaves with roundup.

[Lanier_Lurker]

What can be done to protect hemlocks from this nemesis if they have not yet been attacked?

My friend has some nice hemlocks at his cabin at the south end of Seed Lake.

[Dodgy Loner]

LL and others:  I just posted a very detailed account of how to treat HWA under the topic of "Forest Education".  Please see that thread for more information.  In short, preventative maintanence would likely be cost-prohibitive, but there are very effective methods of controlling the insects once they are present.  You just can't let them get "too far gone" before you do something about it.  It usually takes 3-5 years for the infestation to kill a mature hemlock.

[Greg]

Sounds like you've got yourself a genuine southern Appalachian Cove Forest right there in your backyard

Greg

[Riles]

You've peaked my interest, and if I can find the time, I may try to do the same on my 35 acres. I've noticed a surprisingly large number of species here on the farm match the ones I was taught at forestry school in Louisiana. East-West diversity isn't as high as North-South.

No tallow tree here, yet.

[Lanier_Lurker]

Dodgy, how could you possibly not have Q. rubra?  After all, they are like weeds according to Swamp Donkey. 

And I know they are thick in Rabun county.

I have some seedlings if you want them. 

Thanks a bunch for the info on eastern hemlock protection.  I will dig in on that and try to get my friend to do something.  He has some nice specimens both on and near his property.  There is one just down the road that is near 4ft in diameter.  Sure would hate to see that big guy go down from this affliction.

I have mentioned this in other posts.  For some reason this particular area along the Tallulah River is dominated by conifers.  Big eastern hemlocks, eastern white pines, and other pines I cannot readily identify.  The hardwoods are mostly yellow poplar (which is also like a weed) and various oaks and hickories - but are not nearly so numerous as the conifers.

[Dodgy Loner]

Actually, I think I might have a couple Q. rubra seedlings coming up already, but they're too young to tell from Q. coccinea at this point.  The petioles look too short and the sinuses too shallow, but at this point I'm just assuming they're scarlet oak because that's what all the overstory red oaks are.  Seedlings can be devious litter critters, though.

Riles, would be interested to see what you come up with on your property

[Riles]

OK, I went down my dendro list and checked off the ones I remember seeing on the farm, plus a couple others. So far I've introduced shortleaf pine and northern red oak seedlings. I started some sawtooth oak that came up and I put in pots. No luck with the catalpa or dogwood.

Quercus alba - white oak
Q. phellos - willow oak
Q. nigra - water oak
Q. rubra - northern red oak (planted, not sure if already there)
Populus deltoides - eastern cottonwood
Pinus virginiana - Virginia pine
P. taeda - loblolly pine
P. echinata - shortleaf pine (planted, not sure if already there)
Diospyros virginiana - persimmon
Carpinus caroliniana - blue beech
Prunus serotina - black cherry
Juglans nigra - black walnut
Liriodendron tulipifera - yellow poplar
Juniperus virginiana - eastern redcedar
Fraxinus spp. - ash (?) (small ones, need to key them out. probably not white)
Rosa multiflora - multiflora rose
Platanus occidentalis - American sycamore
Toxicodendron radicans - poison ivy, enough to give all NC an itch
Alnus rugosa - hazel alder
Ligustrum spp.- privet (Chinese or common?)
Ilex opaca - American holly
Cercis canadensis  - eastern redbud
Gleditsia triacanthos - honeylocust
Acer rubrum - red maple
Carya illinoensis - sweet pecan (?) (very small, not sure where they came from)
Ulmus alata - winged elm
Liquidambar styraciflua - sweetgum
Acer negundo - boxelder
Fagus grandifolia - American beech
Salix nigra - black willow
Morus rubra - red mulberry
Acer saccharinum- silver maple
Pyrus calleryana - Callery pear
Rhus typhina - staghorn sumac

There's a plum I haven't identified yet. Probably have more red oak diversity, I just haven't keyed them out. Haven't noticed flowering dogwood or any magnolias on the farm, but they're all over the area. Plenty of Rubus, Vitis, Smilax, and fortunately, no kudzu. The neighbor released pen raised quail that I heard the other day, so at least some made it through the winter.

[Lanier_Lurker]

Here is my incomplete list from about 1/2 acre.

English ivy (oh that I could get rid of it all)
maple leaf viburnum
summer grape
red maple
chalk and/or Florida maple
sassafras
persimmon
black cherry
flowering dogwood
yellow poplar
American beech
birch (I think river birch)
pignut hickory
mockernut hickory
blackgum
red buckeye
basswood
sourwood
sweetgum
pine 1 (I'm not good with pines)
pine 2 (I'm not good with pines)
azalea
white oak
black oak
northern red oak
scarlet oak
rhododendron (of some sort)

There are at least a dozen more vine, bush, and tree species that I am unable to identify.  It would take someone more knowledgeable than myself to make this list complete and accurate. 

[SwampDonkey]

What about the mosses liverworts, lichens and ferns?

When I was in BC, I was surprised at how many more tree and shrub species, especially shrubs that we have back east. Some they have that we don't and visa versa, but there seem to be more here per acre than where I worked on the Charlottes. The woods undergrowth out there was almost nothing. Some parts of BC though are fairly diverse, but seems to be further inland.

[SwampDonkey]

  Seedlings can be devious litter critters, though.

Yeah, basswood comes to mind. 

[WDH]

There are at least a dozen more vine, bush, and tree species that I am unable to identify.  It would take someone more knowledgeable than myself to make this list complete and accurate. 

LL,

I seem to recall that you take good pictures .

[Dodgy Loner]

I agree with Danny.  Time for some long-distance plant ID!

Given your location (and assuming they aren't transplants) the birch on your property would be river birch, and the rhododendron would be rosebay.

[Lanier_Lurker]

Yep, I need to get out there with the camera and get some action going on the Tree and Plant I.D. forum.

[SwampDonkey]

The sugar maple have begun to flower this week here. Looks like a good seed year coming on. The aspen are leaved out, some aspen/poplar species are a bit slower. Been in the 70's here, but still nippy at night, close to freezing. No bugs yet, but soon.

[Dodgy Loner]

Rhododendrons in full bloom here.  The azaleas are on their way out .

[Lanier_Lurker]

There are at least a dozen more vine, bush, and tree species that I am unable to identify.  It would take someone more knowledgeable than myself to make this list complete and accurate. 

LL,

I seem to recall that you take good pictures .

I agree with Danny.  Time for some long-distance plant ID!

Given your location (and assuming they aren't transplants) the birch on your property would be river birch, and the rhododendron would be rosebay.

I walked down to the lake (stream) today and as I was looking around at all the green stuff - I remembered that I needed to reply to this post with some unknown things to identify.

All of the pictures I will be posting were taken without stepping off of my crosstie steps down to the lake - so, this is a narrow cross section of my slope from the (normally submerged) exposed lake bed at 1060' up to about 1100'

I'm going to post the first one individually.  The next posts will each have multiple things to identify.  I wanted to see if I could post a composite image made up of smaller images.  It seems to work halfway decent.

I have some ideas about what some of these plants are, but I will post them as *unknown* anyway.  It is more fun that way. 




Unknown plant #1

The base of this little tree, which has been cut back many times but keeps on sprouting, would almost be flooded if the lake were full.
 

[Lanier_Lurker]

Here is the next batch.


Unknown plant #2

 



Unknown plant #3

 



Unknown plant #4

 



Unknown plant #5

 

[Lanier_Lurker]

And the last batch for tonight.



Unknown plant #6

 



Unknown plant #7

 

[WDH]

#1 is hazel alder, Alnus serrulata.  It is in the birch family. 

#3 is wild ginger, Asarum canadensis.  Crush the leaf.  It has a wonderfully distinctive smell.

#4 looks like a young seedling Cercis candensis, Eastern redbud.

#5 is Soloman's seal, Polygonatum commutatum, in the lily family.

The others don't ring a bell right off .  #7 is one that I have never seen before.  It is important to know what you don't know .

#6 and #2,  I am not sure of.  Hmmmmmmmm.

[Ron Wenrich]

This thread reminds me of one of the curses of being a forester.  Every plant you come across, you have to identify.  But, being a forester, we have to take that one step further.  How did it get here, and why is it growing here?   

[Lanier_Lurker]

So, #1 is hazel alder.  I think I have heard of it, but I am certainly not familiar with it.

My observation that my specimen would almost be flooded if the lake were full is interesting when you look at the pictures here: http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=8

[Lanier_Lurker]

Ok, I guess I have enough energy for one more.

This is one of the ones I suspect I know - but here it goes anyway:


Unknown plant #8

[Lanier_Lurker]

Sorry, that is not how it looked on the preview.

I tripled checked it to make sure it rendered correctly on the preview.

Sorry...

It should be good enough....

[SwampDonkey]

Specimens 6 and 7 are very likely the same species, at least the same genus Prenanthes. We have one called rattle-snake root Prenanthes racemosa, then others I know of are Prenanthes alba and Prenanthes crepidinea . They are in the aster family. The leaves are variable like what you show and there is one more leaf in between that one. 

The flowers are like those on the plant Dodgy Loner had on here to ID a while back.

These grow real tall and I always find them here in alder growth where the soil is quite saturated. You probably found them around those alders eh?

[SwampDonkey]

# 2 is rattlesnake-weed Hieracium venosum. Flowers are dandelion-like.

#5 looks like rose twisted stalk Streptopus roseus, possibly not roseus but the same genus. Flower petals are rose colored or white with purple streaks.

[WDH]

LL,

You taunting hid whether it was opposite branched or not .  I from what I see so far, it looks like Chionanthus virgininia, fringe tree (old man's beard).

[Lanier_Lurker]

WDH, I assume you are talking about #8.

If you can temporarily change your screen resolution to something larger than 1280x1024 then the 6 images should render as a 3x2 grid composite image in the browser.  (now I know to do them a little smaller next time)

Fringe tree is something I am not familiar with.  I will research it.

[Lanier_Lurker]

SD, thanks for identifying those.  Now I have some stuff to research! 

[SwampDonkey]

Another twisted stalk in the mountains south of here is White Mandarin S. amplexifolius, with green-white flowers and clasping leaves to the stem. The tell-tailed twist to the stalk rules out Solomon's seal. We also have a false Solomon's with a flower spike on top like goat's beard or false Indian hellibore.

[SwampDonkey]

With those rattlesnake roots, some call them white lettuce.

[Riles]

Now, the whole point of scientific names is to reduce the confusion associated with common names that change from place to place. Pin oak being a wonderful example. And I can understand how a scientific name might change over time as the genetics are better understood and a species might be moved to another genus, but such changes should be rare and occur infrequently.

I learned hazel alder as Alnus rugosa, the Virginia Tech dendro site has it as Alnus incana ssp. rugosa, and WDH has it as Alnus serrulata. The big daddy in charge in the states is supposed to be, I thought, the American Botanical Congress, who coordinate with the International Botanical Congress, who have guidelines established for taxonomy. Which brings me back to my question: How do I look up the official (current) scientific name of hazel alder? There doesn't seem to be any online resources and I can't imagine where to find the written texts?

Any suggestions, Prof Loner?

[SwampDonkey]

A. rugosa is speckled alder and the leaves are wrinkled as the latin species name suggests. The leaves pictured are a different alder. Speckled  is a northern shrub in NE and Lakes States and to the northern tree line, not down in Georgia.

We do see some hazel alder up as far as NE US and SW N.B. and N.S., leaves gummy and aromatic when young. Only native alder in SE US.

[WDH]

How do I look up the official (current) scientific name of hazel alder? There doesn't seem to be any online resources and I can't imagine where to find the written texts?

Any suggestions, Prof Loner?

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=8

[Lanier_Lurker]

Next batch.

Dodgy, sorry for taking over your thread. 



Unknown plant #9










Unknown plant #10
If it helps any, this is a vine.









Unknown plant #11

This thing is growing in the rich silt of the exposed lake bed that would normally be 8 feet under water.

[SwampDonkey]

#9 poison ivy

#10 wild potato Ipomoea pondurata or wild yam Dioscorea villosa  ?

#11 Rumex sp?

[WDH]

I agree with SD on #9.  #11 might be pigweed.

Is #10 a vine?

[Sprucegum]

I don't know nothin' about nothing nowhere near where-ever but I sure do admire your photography   

[Bro. Noble]

10 looks kinda like Muscadine (sp)  If it is,  you are a lucky fellow.

11 is Pennsylvania Smartweed if I'm not mistaken.  If it is,  keep in mind that it is a poor (really, really poor) substitute for toilet tissue.

[Tom]

10 looks like "Air Potato[/url" to me.  If it is, get rid of it post haste.

[Dodgy Loner]

Most of these have already been answered correctly, but here are the answers I know for sure.  As you know I’m not much on herbaceous plants, so I’ll leave SD and WDH to debate those

1.   Hazel alder (Alnus serrulata )
2.   
3.   Heartleaf (Hexastylis virginica) – this plant is sometimes called wild ginger due to its strong, spicy odor, but the term “wild     
             ginger” more commonly refers to Asarum canadense, which has leaves occurring in pairs and more rounded, rather than
             triangular, leaves
4.   Wild yam/air potato (Dioscorea villosa) – the parallel venation gives this one away
5.   Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum commutatum)
6.   
7.   
8.   Fringetree (Chionanthus virginius)
9.   Poison-ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)
10.   Wild yam/air potato

Riles, there is and has always been some amount of disagreement about certain scientific names.  They’re definitely more reliable than common names, and there are certain systems to try to peg down classifications based on phylogenetic relationships (check out the Cronquist system and the Dahlgren system on Wikipedia).  However, determining what name to assign to each species is made more difficult by the fact that there is still a considerable amount of debate about whether to classify some taxa as separate species or not.  It is an inexact science, to say the least.  We are trying to make the natural world conform to unnatural standards, which is inherently troublesome.

Here are some recent changes to some of the taxa that you are probably familiar with:

-The Taxodiaceae (baldcypress, redwoods, sequoias) has been abandoned and all species are currently placed in the Cupressaceae
-The Aceraceae (maples) and Hippocastanaceae (buckeyes/horsechestnuts) now reside in the Sapotaceae (the soapberry family)
-The Tiliaceae (basswood/linden) and the Bombaceae (no native species, but this family did include familiar exotics such as baobabs) are now place in the Malvaceae (the family of the familiar hibiscus, okra, and cotton)
-The Caesalpiniaceae (honeylocust, redbud), the Fabaceae (black locust, yellowwood) and the Mimosaceae (mimosa) have been combined to form the Fabaceae, which encompasses all legumes.  This family has come full circle, starting out as the Leguminosae, then changing to the Fabaceae to conform to standardized naming for plant families (they all have to end in –aceae), then being split into three separate families, and now recombined to form one family again.

Isn’t taxonomy fun?

[SwampDonkey]

I agree with SD on #9.  #11 might be pigweed.

Is #10 a vine?

We have a couple plants called pigweed and both have flowers in axils of leaves. One has rounded leaves and the other is oval at the base coming to a point on the tip with small sinuses on the leaf margins. Young plants are steamed and eaten.

Rumex species are similar with the flowers and one is called yellow curly dock because of the leaf curl on the leaf margins and it has reddish figures in the leaves like that plant pictured, maybe not the same pattern. They are in the buckwheat family.

[Riles]

Thanks guys, looks like I'm entitled to a small refund on my dendrology tuition. I did in fact bookmark the speckled alder page, guess I was thinking it was the common name that was varying.

My original search continues. The American Botanical Congress doesn't even have a website I can find, much less an authoritative listing of species.

[Lanier_Lurker]

11 is Pennsylvania Smartweed if I'm not mistaken.  If it is,  keep in mind that it is a poor (really, really poor) substitute for toilet tissue.

I think Bro. Noble has nailed #11.  I hunted around and found this image of Pennsylvania Smartweed (Polygonum pensylvanicum)

http://www.delawarewildflowers.org/1536.html

[beenthere]

Lanier..
You still don't know what #9 is??

 

Or is it that ...you know, and we haven't figured it out??

[Lanier_Lurker]

#9 I kinda had a clue about, but was not certain.  Several people have confirmed it is poison ivy.

Unfortunately, I seem to have a large crop of it....

[SwampDonkey]

11 is Pennsylvania Smartweed if I'm not mistaken.  If it is,  keep in mind that it is a poor (really, really poor) substitute for toilet tissue.

I think Bro. Noble has nailed #11.  I hunted around and found this image of Pennsylvania Smartweed (Polygonum pensylvanicum)

http://www.delawarewildflowers.org/1536.html

Well actually its spotted Lady's thumb Polygonum persicaria because of that purplish somewhat triangular blotch. Another feature is a fringed sheath at leaf nodes. But thanks to Noble we narrowed it down. It is another buckwheat member. It's an alien species from Europe by the way.

This page shows the spots on the leaves:

http://www.missouriplants.com/Pinkalt/Polygonum_persicaria_page.html

[Lanier_Lurker]

Well actually its spotted Lady's thumb Polygonum persicaria because of that purplish somewhat triangular blotch. Another feature is a fringed sheath at leaf nodes.  But thanks to Noble we narrowed it down. It is another buckwheat member. It's an alien species from Europe by the way.

This page shows the spots on the leaves:

http://www.missouriplants.com/Pinkalt/Polygonum_persicaria_page.html

A non-native?? 

Now that is disappointing.

Are you certain it is not Polygonum pensylvanicum, which is a widely ranging native?  That "delawarewildflowers.org" picture I found sure does look like the critter in my picture of #11.

[Lanier_Lurker]

Because I have had a very bad day and I need to occupy myself with distracting activities - - here is the next one.



Unknown plant #12
The leaves with the curled up edges are part of the same plant.

[SwampDonkey]

Look for the fringed sheath LL, like encircled in this picture. But I think the purplish blotch would rule out the native. This alien is found throughout the continent as indicated by the USDA website.

 

[Lanier_Lurker]

Perhaps this one, and some of the others, will develop more distinct characteristics as they begin to flower.

I will check for the fringed sheath on #11.

[Dodgy Loner]

12. Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus) - has very sweet-smelling (almost sickeningly sweet) purplish red flowers in the spring.  The leaves are also very aromatic.  Crush one up and smell it.  They smell like ripe scuppernongs to me.

[Bro. Noble]

Well Swamp,  I just know plants that are good to eat or that will cause me grief,  but I still say that's smartweed.

I think I posted about smartweed the very first week that I joined the forum.  If I remember correctly it was in response to a whatzit posted by KIWI CHARLIE

I was heavily medicated with pain medicine during that time and made a lot of silly posts

[SwampDonkey]

They both are so similar that it probably doesn't matter. 

[Lanier_Lurker]

Here is the tally so far for Lanier_Lurker's biodiversity survey picture essay:

1. hazel alder              (Alnus serrulata)
2. rattlesnake weed      (Hieracium venosum)
3. wild ginger              (Asarum canadensis)
4. wild yam/air potato  (Dioscorea villosa)
5. Solomon’s seal        (Polygonatum commutatum)
6.
7.
8. Fringetree               (Chionanthus virginius)
9. Poison-ivy              (Toxicodendron radicans)
10. wild yam/air potato   (Dioscorea villosa)
11. <pending>           (either Polygonum pensylvanicum OR Polygonum persicaria)
12. Sweetshrub           (Calycanthus floridus)

[Lanier_Lurker]

Here are some more pictures of unknown plant #7.

This thing seems to have us all stumped.

[Dodgy Loner]

LL, No.3 is Heartleaf (Hexastylis virginica), not wild ginger.  The two are closely related, however.

[Lanier_Lurker]

LL, No.3 is Heartleaf (Hexastylis virginica), not wild ginger.  The two are closely related, however.

I missed that one when I was scanning the previous responses.  Here is the revised list.


1. hazel alder                (Alnus serrulata)
2. rattlesnake weed       (Hieracium venosum)
3. heartleaf                  (Hexastylis virginica)
4. wild yam/air potato   (Dioscorea villosa)
5. Solomon’s seal         (Polygonatum commutatum)
6.
7.
8. fringetree                 (Chionanthus virginius)
9. poison-ivy                (Toxicodendron radicans)
10. wild yam/air potato   (Dioscorea villosa)
11. <pending>              (either Polygonum pensylvanicum OR Polygonum persicaria)
12. Sweetshrub           (Calycanthus floridus)

[Lanier_Lurker]

Here is another one.


Unknown Plant #13
This is a small tree.

[Dodgy Loner]

Basswood.  There's some confusion among botanists as to the division of American Tilias, but I think they intergrade to the point where it's appropriate to classify them as a single species, American basswood (Tilia americana).  A 'splitter' would classify that as a white basswood (Tilia heterophylla)

[WDH]

LL, No.3 is Heartleaf (Hexastylis virginica), not wild ginger.  The two are closely related, however.

http://botany.cs.tamu.edu/FLORA/dcs420/mi05/mi05020.jpg

Hexastylis arnifolia may be a closer match.

[Dodgy Loner]

It appears you are correct.  Hexastylis arnifolia is my final answer .

[SwampDonkey]

I still say Prenanthes for 6 and 7. 

The one shown in the most recent photo is Prenanthes trifoliolata (Cass.) Fernald, common name: gall of the earth or threeleaf rattlesnakeroot

Be aware, that you won't find another plant that looks identical.

[Lanier_Lurker]

Before I do the next summary checkpoint on where we stand, I'll throw in another one.


Unknown Plant #14
This plant is competing nicely with the English ivy in some areas as a ground cover.  I much prefer it to the ivy since it is not as aggressive and certainly does not climb trees and the house like the ivy does.  I'm very interested to know if this is an alien or native species.

[beenthere]

Looks like what my wife is encouraging in some of our flower beds here. Will check on a name. 

[SwampDonkey]

Looks like periwinkle Vinca minor

Introduced.

[WDH]

I don't believe that it is a native plant.

[Dodgy Loner]

SD nailed it.  Not quite as noxious as English ivy, but still considered invasive.

[Lanier_Lurker]

Noxious is a good word to describe English ivy.  Only kudzu is worse - at least in this part of the country.  Oh that I could find the fool that planted the stuff here over 20 years ago.     

This periwinkle (Vinca minor) seems to be much easier to tame than the ivy - and my wife likes the cute little blooms.  While I am not surprised to hear that it is alien, I am surprised to hear it is considered invasive.

[SwampDonkey]

Anyone seen any American groundnut Apios americana in your travels? It grows in NB, but I have never came across it. Prefers good sun and it's a vine in the pea family that produces edible tubers and seeds. When cultivated it can produce up to 5 pounds of tubers over a two year period. I'm trying to source some seeds to germinate from the northeast. They say the slugs are hard on the seedlings and we have a lot of slugs in our woods on rainy days. They crawl on everything.

[Furby]

I deliver thousands of flats of Vinca Minor each year.
It is faaaaar easier to keep under control than English (and other) Ivy.
It can be kept in check easily by "prunning" with a weed wacker.
It is also a fair replacement for grass and don't need to be mowed.
With gas prices up, more folks are planting ground covers such as this to reduce their lawn space.
Vinca Minor 'Ralph Shugert' Shugert's Variegated Myrtle is one I really like.
Vinca minor 'Blue & Gold'/ 'Blue and Gold' Myrtle is cool as well.

[Dodgy Loner]

I've been doing some brush clearing and I found have a few more species to add to the list:

Clematis virginiana (Virginia clematis)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Maclura pomifera (osage-orange)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia-creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison-ivy)

That brings the total to 43 woody species on 1/4 acre.

Now I just need to start identifying the herbaceous stuff.

[SwampDonkey]

Hey, I have some Virginia Creeper to. I keep cutting and mowing it off. Hopefully will keep it from seeding because birds like to spread that stuff. 


I also have some Virgin's Bower I believe it is called. I just call it Clematis. Here it grows in wet places with alder, balm and/or willow. Sometimes it grows in old wet fields or line fences with shrubs like chokecherry, high bush cranberry, dogwoods and hawthorn.

Also have two kinds of honeysuckle, bush and fly. One has red berries, the other has a capsule.

[Dodgy Loner]

Ironically, all of the plants I listed today got a strong dose of triclopyr and 2,4-D yesterday, so hopefully they will no longer be on the list within a couple weeks

Probably will take more than one application to knock them all out, though.

[Lanier_Lurker]

What is the best way to eradicate the Toxicodendron radicans?

[WDH]

Dodgy's mix will surely spell the death knell.  I think that full strength roundup mixed as a 3% - 4% solution with water and a splash of dish washing liquid (surfactant) will work as well if you cannot get your hands on triclopyr (garlon, remedy).  Triclopyr is probably the best for woody control if you can get it.  Maybe Dodgy can shed some light on available versions of triclopyr.

My favorite mix is a 3% solution of roundup and 3% solution of Garlon 4 in the same spray tank.  This concotion gets it all, grass, woody stuff, greenbriar, you name it.

[Dodgy Loner]

Yep, the triclopyr will work well.  It's sold in many formulations, but I got a brand called Crossbow that's a mixture of triclopyr and 2,4-D.  Look for a concentrated solution- it's sold as Brush-B-Gon, which you can purchase at Wal-Mart or Home Depot, but that stuff is very diluted and very expensive.  The more concentrated it is, the cheaper it will be.

I didn't use any Roundup (glyphosate) in my mix because the poison-ivy was encroaching on my yard, and I didn't want to kill the grass.  I used 3% Roundup on some poison-ivy earlier this year, and it burnt it back to the ground, but then resprouted a few weeks later.  I suspect that 2-3 applications of Roundup would definitely take care of it, but I'm hoping the triclopyr will take care of it the first time around.  The leaves were already wilted when I went to work this morning

[beenthere]

I've noticed over the 40 years I've been on this acerage, that the Virginia creeper chokes out the poison ivy patches, but don't really know how well one can depend on it happening.

Otherwise, 2,4-D treatments seem to work poorly for some persistent small patches along the edge of some lawn areas. It is in a neighbors field, that is sometimes corn and sometimes alfalfa. Neither like my attempts to rid the area of the poison ivy. 

I fight the virginia creeper mainly to keep it out of the hardwood trees, which if left to flourish in the crowns, will kill the trees.

[Riles]

You can add stinging nettles (Urtica spp.) to my list.  Mowed them pretty short and now I've got ten times the problem. They're small, but they took off everywhere. Anyone have any experience with Milestone? This stuff is in the pasture grass that will become my lawn in a few months.

The good news is that it's an indicator species of high soil fertility.

[SwampDonkey]

Yes it is a good indicator of soil fertility. Usually moist firm soil of alluvial plains.

It is also a good indicator that you walked somewhere you shouldn't have. 


I can remember searching for fiddle heads on the Skeena River. I found some all right enough. Just follow the local natives, they know where to pick'm.  But, in my search I walked through head high nettles and used my hands to part the way. My hands stung for 3 days like needle pricks and I had almost no feeling in my fingers. 

[Dodgy Loner]

I have one more woody plant to add to the list:

Smilax rotundifolia (Common greenbriar)

And last night I started documenting the herbaceous plants on my property.  Here's the list so far.  I figure I'm about 5% done, and these were just the easy ones   I'm not 100% sure about all of the species, but I know all the genera are correct.

1. Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
2. Duchesnea indica (mock-strawberry)
3. Erigon annuus (eastern daisy fleabane)
4. Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry)
5. Lepidium virginicum (poorman's-pepper)
6. Lespedeza virginica (slender lespedeza)
7. Lespedeza bicolor (bicolor lespedeza)
8. Lycopodium obscurum (groundpine)
9. Oxalis stricta (slender yellow woodsorrel)
10. Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
11. Plantago lanceolata (narrowleaf plantain)
12. Polygonum pennsylvanicum (Pennsylvania smartweed)
13. Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
14. Rudbeckia hirta (blackeyed susan)
15. Trifolium repens (white clover)
16. Viola sororia (common blue violet)

[WDH]

Post some herbaceous pics so that we all can bone up on our herbaceousness .

[SwampDonkey]

Yes we have a lot of those here. We have wood sorrel, Oxalis montana instead of O. stricta though. Don't eat too much of the stuff in your salad though. Might effect your speech.

bah, rah, ah, erm :X

[Dodgy Loner]

My camera took an unfortunate tumble down a hill when I visited Providence Canyon in June and is not currently functional .  I will try to borrow a camera to take a few pics, especially of the plants I can't ID.

[WDH]

That is a pretty big hill to be tumbling down .

[Lanier_Lurker]

That is a pretty big hill to be tumbling down .

That's no hill, that's a space station.......(no, wait)........that's a big ole hole!!!

[Dodgy Loner]

It's a big hole alright.  I did manage to snap a few photos before my camera disappeared into it 

[SwampDonkey]

Step easy Dodgy, the young and fearless.