Winter Solstice 2011

Oh the weather outside is frightful!

Ring-necked Pheasant, Phasianus colchicus, contemplating?

We all have our ways of coping...

Here's wishing you peace and all the creature-comforts
throughout this winter season.

Apiaceae, the Carrot Family aka Umbelliferae, the Parsley Family

The fresh young water hemlocks in the roadside ditches are very becoming this year, tall and lanky, quite innocent-looking. But for such a commonly occurring wild plant, most people seem unaware that it is considered to be the most violently toxic plant in North America. Grand mal seizures are followed by a quick death if only a tiny amount is consumed.

See how pretty it looks in the fall!

 

Worldwide, there are about 3320 species in the Parsley Family, only 44 of them occurring in Connecticut. They are all herbaceous, that is, none are woody plants. They range in size from low wetland creepers like the marsh pennywort, Hydrocotyle americana, shown below:

to the giant hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzianum, which may reach a height of 15 feet. Below see the close-up of its flower cluster (inflorescence) which is about the size of a dinner plate when fully open.

Here I took a shot of the main stem a couple of feet from the ground. This species of Heracleum can be problematic for humans as its sap contains a phototoxin which can cause severe burns on the skin and eyes. It is considered to be an invasive in our area.

Our native american cow parsnip, Heracleum maximum grows to about 9 feet along riversides.

The sheathing leaf-stem is one of the more easily-observed features common to most members of the Parsley Family. This species is SO similar in appearance to the introduced one above. The stem of this one, H. maximum, is more hairy and grooved while the H. mantegazzianum (2 shots above) is somewhat mottled with dark red spots.

I thought I’d spotted one recently on the Hop River and climbed through a mess of tall wetland brush to discover the Great Angelica – with large round (instead of dish-like) inflorescences. Also, instead of the large spreading leaves of Heracleum, its leaf is divided into many smaller leaflets.

Pinnately compound leaves of Angelica atropurpurea:

Another, though inconspicuous, characteristic shared by the Apiaceae is a 2-carpelled fruit. This small fruit, sometimes referred to as a mericarp, usually ribbed longitudinally like the familiar caraway “seed” used to flavor rye breads, is key in the identification of similar species within the family. In Gray’s Manual of Botany, the descriptions are accompanied by cool illustrations of the mature fruit entire and in cross-section.

 In the above photograph of Daucus carota, Queen Anne's lace, you can just make out the barbed mericarps.

Below are the ripening mericarps of Cicuta maculata:

What often comes to mind when one thinks of the Parsley Family is the umbel-shaped inflorescence (hence the traditional family name Umbelliferae) - like Queen Anne’s lace and others shown below:

Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)

Aethusa cynapium (fool's parsley) is toxic.

Zizia aurea, golden Alexander

another view of Daucus carota

Aegopodium podagraria (introduced and invasive but also edible as a salad or cooked green)

The tiny flower common to the Apiaceae is 5-petaled and 5-stamened, inserted upon a disk which crowns the ovary and the base of the two styles. I had a hard time trying to get a clear photo of this feature. This is the Daucus carota - again.

As Asa Gray stated in 1908, this is a “large and difficult family, some of the species innocent and aromatic, others with very poisonous properties.” The cultivated carrot is a subspecies of the beloved Daucus carota (Queen Anne’s lace.) Other “innocents” are Apium (celery), Coriandrum (coriander), Foeniculum (fennel), Osmorhiza (aniseroot), Pastinaca (parsnip), and Petroselinum (parsley).

Osmorhiza (aniseroot)

 Pastinaca sativa (wild parsnip)

I hope you've enjoyed this little foray into the lives of our Carrot Family neighbors. These little guys sure did.

The Big Flowers: Spring-blooming Trees

I'd like to present a few of the trees and their flowers I've observed this spring.

In this first shot you can sort of see the drooping cluster of staminate flowers of the sugar maple, blooming in early May (just after the red maples shown 2 or 3 blogs back.) Though the male trees are mostly male, you can make out one pistillate bloom on the far right.

Bark of Acer saccharum, sugar maple.

This was my first sighting of Acer negundo

(boxelder or ashleaf maple)!

I really wanted a look at Fraxinus americana (white ash) flowers this year and had quite a time craning my neck, straining my eyes, and praying for wind storms and squirrels to knock parts down for me. This is a far-up view of a staminate (male) flower cluster.

Here's one fallen on a rock.

and here's a far-up pistillate branch. They're nearly impossible for me to make out.

but FINALLY I found a low-hanging one.

A couple of weeks later, the females are maturing so beautifully.

Fraxinus leafscar below

Betula lenta (sweet, black or cherry birch) showing both pistillate "cones" and staminate catkins.

Betula lenta bark, middle-aged tree.

Ah, Sassafras albidum. I checked on a small stand of young trees nearby every few days and was thrilled to catch them at last. These are less than 20feet high. Darlene and I found a huge one near her place that measured 111 inches around - it's bark was a gorgeous dark cinnamon-color.

Sassafras leaf

This pretty bow of Populus deltoides (eastern cottonwood) was taken by the Fenton river off a storm-damaged tree. We've had some ferocious thunderstorms already!

2-3 weeks later, a cottonwood inflorescence landed on this moss-bed.

The Mighty Oaks

Quercus rubra (northern red oak) far-up shot above and close-up of pistillate blooms, baby acorns.

The strange picture below shows staminate blossoms and newly-forming galls, just a very close-up section of one of the long, drooping male catkins.

This may be Quercus bicolor, swamp white oak. I need a tree-teacher!

this is its bark.

A scarlet or pin oak?

Another guess: bear oak? I remember where these are located so I'll hit the books and take some more looks.

((on my computer the blog stops here, so please click "read more" to continue))

This is a l-o-n-g b-l-o-g... but I looked at a lot of trees, Ma! This is the Walnut Family, Juglandaceae, which includes the hickories (your southern pecan is a hickory, Carya illinoinensis.)

                                 It may be a good year for hickory nuts, shagbark - they fruit every 3 years.

Young shagbark leaflets, they will become MUCH bigger.

old shag bark.

Shown below is a young branch of the pignut hickory, Carya glabra, with ripe staminate catkins.

pignut bark

Above see the magnificent Juglans nigra, black walnut. Look closely and see the stalk of red female flowers. I can't wait to check the nuts later on. There's also a white walnut or butternut, Juglans cinerea, not far from this tree. I think if you double-click the photo, it will enlarge.

Here I observed the Carpinus caroliniana, american hornbeam, in bloom. I wasn't able to make out the sexual parts (no pun intended). The bracts seem to hide them - now I'll have to wait until next year to look again.

Just last week I found the black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia, a pretty introduced invasive, blooming behind Daisy's Grill.

And, lastly, for now,  I was fortunate to capture the glorious flower of Liriodendron tulipifera, our only member of the Magnolia Family.

twice.

Hasta luego...I'm exhausted!