Michigan’s deciduous “Evergreen”

Posted on November 8, 2013 by admin

Tamarack in Autumn

Tamarack or American Larch (Larix laricina) is the only conifer in Michigan that sheds its leaves every fall. Last weekend in the Grayling area they were golden, glowing in the sunshine. One of the last trees to turn color its golden leaves are often in contrast with the snow.

Tamarack twig

Walking through a grove of Tamaracks in the winter is surreal. Their dark grey, brittle, bare, twisted branches appear dead. The leaf scar spurs look like knuckles and the trees appear to have fingers. Illustrations of the tree can be found in horror books.

Tamarack leaves and old cone

In the spring the soft green clusters of leaves grow on short spurs and the reddish pollen cones spring forth. Gymnosperms (which include the conifers) are no longer said to have flowers but have pollen (male) and seed-bearing (female) cones. The seed-bearing cones hang on the trees for several years but lose their seeds during the winter or early spring.

Tamarack new cones

Tamaracks grow in wet areas, often in quaking bogs. Their long fibrous roots spread out and anchor the tree in place. These flexible roots were used by Native Americans to sew birch bark onto canoes. The wood is resistant to rot and was commonly used to layer corduroy roads. It currently has little commercial value.

Tamaracks are easy to spot this time of year. Look for them in low, undisturbed areas throughout Michigan.

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Seaside Goldenrod in Michigan

Posted on October 30, 2013 by admin

Seaside Goldenrod

Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) is native at the edges of salt marshes and sand dunes along the east coast of the United States. This halophyte occurs in Michigan along highways and roads that are heavily salted in the winter. Growing in areas that collect salt runoff they compete with few native plants in this harsh environment. First recorded in Michigan in 1978 in Wayne County it is now moving north.

This distinctive Goldenrod is easy to recognize. It is 1 to 2 meters (3 to 6 feet) tall and blooms in September and October. I recently found the plant in Troy, Michigan. A few plants still flowered but most had set seeds and some plants had dehisced some seeds. Succulent, toothless leaves clasp its stem. Its flowers are large for a goldenrod and contain only 6 to 10 ray flowers. They resemble small aster blooms. Sempervirens means “always green” but the plants turn brown in the winter in the north. Fuzzy seeds, called achenes, look like small dandelion heads. They are blown by the wind and are dispersed long distances.

Seaside Goldenrod

In its native range it is an important nectar plant for migrating Monarch butterflies. This plant’s late blooming time in the north might delay the migration of Monarchs too long. If it expands its range in the north it may have a negative impact on migrating butterflies.

Seaside Goldenrod’s reported range in Michigan is from five counties in southeast Michigan and Berrien County in the extreme southwest corner. (See the Michigan Flora website) I found it in Oakland County which is the seventh county for it in the state. According to the Michigan Flora website the species is “Doubtless much more widespread already than collections suggest.” I have seen it for several years along the expressway where I could not stop and gather specimens but it is now invading secondary roads near the interstate.

It will be interesting to see if this plant continues to spread. Will it become another invasive species? I don’t know. It does not appear to accept much competition from other plant species and not many native plants tolerate this salty environment, so hopefully it will not become a problem. Look for the plant as you travel and help document its range.

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Nature Notes: Winter is Coming

Posted on October 24, 2013 by admin

Winter returned to the area surrounding Grayling, Michigan last weekend. A cold drizzle falls as I walk along the Swan Road. I find that I no longer care if it is a sunny or rainy day. I just love to be out in Nature.

An occasional Chickadee calls but sound is mostly absent from the woods now. Suddenly, a single hoarse call pierces the calm as one raven cries, then another and yet another. I stand motionless and observe a flock of six ravens mobbing an immature Bald Eagle. Ravens are large birds but the eagle is twice their size. They continue to dive bomb the eagle even after it seeks shelter among the lower branches of a Red Pine. Why they mob the poor eagle is a mystery to me. They have no young to protect and eagles seldom take adult ravens. Finally, the eagle slips away and the ravens become silent once more.

The growing season is almost over. A single White Sweet Clover is the only plant flowering. Brought to Michigan in the 1880s as a forage plant it escaped and now grows in every county appearing wild. This plant’s white spikes are producing pollen so it is truly flowering, a last bloom of the year. It looks out of place, growing among the browning, leafless, milkweed stems with their empty pods.

Common Powder Horn Lichen

Several lichens are found on the Balsam Poplars at the cedar swamp’s edge. Common Powder Horn Lichen (Cladonia coniocraea) resembles a half-inch tall deer antler. Looking closely, I see the spikes are tipped with tan sporing bodies. A few mosses complete this miniature world that could be covered with a quarter. Boreal Oakmoss (Evernia mesomorpha), a lichen not a moss, hangs from the branch tips. These clusters of small gray branches cling for their lives. Lichens live on the moisture and nutrients that they gather from rain and air.

Boreal Oakmoss

Cottony, waxy, white tufts hang from the underside of the alder branches. They are insects, Wooly Alder Aphids (Prociphilus tessellatus). Normally, the masses of insects will move slightly; however, on this cold morning they remain motionless. As I study the clusters of insects, I realize that the droplets of water on the branches are frozen. A shaft of sunlight appears through a hole in the cloud cover, backlighting the aphids. They are beautiful.

Wooly Alder Aphids

Returning to home, 200 miles south, we discover a woodchuck gathering leafy branches and disappearing down her burrow. I say her because this Woodchuck has a distinct reddish-brown back and is the female that had four young last spring but failed to raise any to maturity. Possibly she is an inexperienced mother. She is plump to the point of needing to dig a small trench to fit under our gate. Bypassing the Norway Maple leaves she chooses to line her nest with leaves from an Eastern Cottonwood. Does instinct cause her to choose the native Cottonwood over the imported Maple? Soon she will disappear for her winter nap.

Baby Woodchucks in Spring

I hear the soft “crak-crak” call notes of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. These birds, smaller than a sparrow, are one of the first to migrate north and one of the last to leave in the fall. A dozen small dull green birds flit in the Bladdernut thicket. I see their white eye-ring but not their red crown. Every few minutes they call a few notes. A “tsee” call draws my attention to a Brown Creeper spiraling its way up an Eastern Cottonwood. Studying every crack in the bark as it ascents, it finds small insects to feed on. This small, brown bird with its incurved bill might spend the winter here in my tiny woodlot if I’m lucky.

As winter comes, nature’s signs change. Flowers disappear, some of the bird species change, but Nature’s wonder still remains. Her signs are there if we only look for them.
Copyright 2013 by Donald Drife

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Common Michigan Milkweeds

Posted on September 28, 2013 by admin

Eleven species of milkweeds are native to Michigan. All species except the Butterfly-weed possess milky sap. Monarch butterfly larvae feed on the milkweeds’ foliage and the adults feed on the nectar of the flowers. The pod is correctly called a follicle that is a fruit that splits in half when it is mature along a single joint. Attached to the seed is a feather-like pappus allowing the seed to travel via the wind. Flower clusters are in umbels meaning the individual flower stems all come from the same point. Michigan’s five common species are:

Poke Milkweed

Poke Milkweed (Asclepias exaltata) is a woodland species, having smooth, thin, opposite, leaves that are pointed on each end. Its white flowers, tinted with lavender or green are some of the largest of our milkweeds. Hanging in loose umbels that come from the leaf axils, they are quite distinctive.

Swamp Milkweed

Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) grows where its feet can get wet. The two-toned (whitish and pink or rose) flowers, in upright clusters, bloom over a long period of time. You can often find plants with follicles that still have flower buds. Smooth, opposite, lanceolate leaves, smooth stem, and narrow upright follicles are good characters to use to recognize this species.

Common Milkweed

Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) has flowers in dense spherical umbels. Their color varies from white to pink to rose to almost green. The leaves are hairy, opposite and blunt tipped. Warty, fleshy, follicles are covered with fine dense hair. This species is common in fields, woodland edges, and waste places.

Butterfly-weed flowers

Butterfly-weed (Asclepias tuberosa) has non-milky juice, alternate leaves and orange or yellow upright flower. The three photos showing the variation in flower color are all from the same stand. It grows in the Lower Peninsula and is most common in the south half.

Butterfly-weed plant and seeds

Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) has narrow leaves in whorls of 3 to 8 and umbels of white flowers that normally appear along the upper third of the plant. This is one of our shortest milkweeds, appearing slender in habit. It grows in dry fields, roadsides, waste places, and prairies; often in large stands, that can be spotted from a moving car. It is more common in southern Michigan but there are several records from the Upper Peninsula.

Whorled Milkweed

I would encourage you to plant a few milkweeds in your landscape. Plants are available from many nurseries, the flowers are unique as well as colorful, and the Monarch Butterflies could us the help.

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Prickly-ash and the Giant Swallowtail

Posted on September 19, 2013 by admin

For the last forty years (on and off), I have searched for the larva of the Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) which feed on Prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum americanum.) Prickly-ash occurs in Tenhave Woods, Oakland County and I have seen adult Giant Swallowtails in the woods for many years. I was helping identify and measure trees in the swamp forest when I found three larvae, the first that I have seen. They resemble bird droppings. A few days later, I found another group of Giant Swallowtail larvae at a highway rest area in Genesee County. This seems to happen to me often, that once I find an insect or plant for the first time I will start finding it at other places.

Giant Swallowtail Larva

Prickly-ash is not an ash but a member of the Rue family (Rutaceae) that includes the citrus. The odor of the flowers and fruit is similar to that of lime and the unripe fruit looks like a tiny lime. The plant is armed with prickles and a stand is painful to walk while doing fieldwork. The twigs and the main leaf stalk have prickles. Prickly-ash grows mainly in the Lower Peninsula but recently a few stations in the Upper Peninsula have been discovered.

Prickly-ash flowers and fruit

The adult Giant Swallowtails have an impressive six-inch (15 cm) wingspan. When it alights on a flower it must continue to flap its wings or the flower stem bends under the butterfly’s weight. This makes the butterfly easy to identify and difficult to photograph. The Giant Swallowtail ranges north to Saginaw. Go out and look for it in southern Michigan.

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Michigan’s Wild-banana

Posted on September 8, 2013 by admin

Pawpaw leaves and fruit

Pawpaw or Wild-banana or American Custard-apple (Asimina triloba) occurs in the southern third of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. We are at the northern edge of its range. It is Michigan’s only member of the largely tropical Custard-apple Family (Annonaceae).

Pawpaw is a shrub or small tree that can bear fruit on plants as little as a meter (3 feet) tall. In Michigan, they normally grow along rivers in floodplains but also occur in rich deciduous forests and swamps.

Pawpaw flowers

The dark maroon flowers, with three long outer petals and three much shorter inner petals, appear before the leaves expand, and look quite tropical to me. Their foul smell attracts flies that pollinate them.

The leaves are alternate, broadest near the tip and 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 inches) long.

Pawpaw fruit

Pawpaw has the largest fruit of any native Michigan plant, up to 13 cm (5 inches) long and 2cm (1 inch) thick. It is a large berry containing four to twelve flattened black seeds about the size of a lima bean. The flesh is edible, my favorite wild fruit to eat, although I have friends who hate the taste. The fruiting season is short. Raccoons love them, and have climbed into baskets of Pawpaws as I was carrying them. The picking technique I use is stand to one side of a fruit cluster (so the falling fruit does not hit me), gently shake a small tree and catch the falling fruit. I pick them when they are slightly green but they ripen in a few days.

Pawpaw fruit

The Pawpaw Foundation is developing commercial cultivars. Local farmers’ markets sometimes have them for sale. My preference is to eat them raw or cooked into a custard or Pawpaw bread. See the Foundation’s website for recipes.

Now is the time to pick Pawpaws. Get out and explore a river floodplain and look for Pawpaws with their ripe fruit. Only one of these large berries is needed to provide a sample of their unique taste.
Copyright 2013 by Donald Drife

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Planthoppers

Posted on September 3, 2013 by admin

Flatormenis proximais and Acanalonia bivittata

Northern Flatid & Two-striped Planthoppers

Recently I observed two Planthoppers in a local woods. I mistakenly thought they were the same species and just different sexes or different growth stages. On further study, they were found to be not only different species but also species in different families.

Northern Flatid Planthopper Flatormenis proximais

The first one is in the Flatidae family and is a Northern Flatid Planthopper (Flatormenis proximais). It has a greenish tint under its waxy secretions. It is 1 cm (3/8 inches) long and feeds on a large number of plant species. This one was on Goldenrod. The Citrus Planthopper (Metcalfa pruinosa) is similar but with a grayish-blue to purple tint and a bright yellow or orange eye.

Two-striped Planthopper Acanalonia bivittata

The other species was in a different family, the Acanaloniidae. It is a Two-striped Planthopper (Acanalonia bivittata). This species hides by mimicking a leaf. It is also 1 cm (3/8 inches) long. Although it feeds on plant juices this species occurs in small numbers so it is not considered an insect pest.

Candy-striped Leafhopper Graphocephala complex

The Harlequin or Candy-striped Leafhopper, in the genus Graphocephala, is a colorful little leafhopper. The species in this genus are difficult to tell apart, requiring accurate measurements and the correct determination of their sex. I am content knowing only an insect’s genus, especially when collecting and dissecting it is required for identification. I think this is part of the G. coccinea complex. The family is Cicadellidae and its members have a row of spines along the leg (the tibia to be exact, which is the second segment from the unattached end of the leg). This group also has short antennae located between their eyes.

Candy-striped Leafhopper closeup Graphocephala closeup

The Planthoppers and Leafhoppers are fun to find. Many more species occur in Michigan, some are drab and others are colorful. The casual observer normally does not discover them. I had not noticed the planthoppers before; however, after seeing one I have now found them other places. Get out and look for them. Late summer and early autumn is the time to find them right after the nymphs have metamorphosed.

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Identifying a Banded Net-winged Beetle

Posted on August 27, 2013 by admin

Banded Net-winged Beetle

I found a group of three insects, whose species I did not know, on a Bracken Fern near Grayling, Michigan. After returning home, I consulted Insects of the North Woods by Jeffery Hahn and saw a photo of a yellow Net-winged Beetle that shared its shape with my mystery beetle. So I searched the Internet for “brown net-wing beetle” and found a photo that looked like my beetle, a banded net-winged beetle named Calopteron discrepans. I searched bugguide.net (a great insect website) for Calopteron discrepans and discovered a similar species Calopteron reticulatum. I consulted the Peterson Field Guide to the Beetles and it said, “C. discrepans, 9.5-15mm, is similar to C. reticulatum” but did not explain how the two species are differentiated.

Banded Net-winged Beetle

Several websites explained that the black band closest to the head is uniform in width on C. discrepans and wider in the middle on C. reticulatum. This means my beetle is C. reticulatum. The two species have the same common name Banded Net-winged Beetle and might not even be distinct species but only subspecies. This species is also called Reticulated Net-winged Beetle.

Banded Net-winged Beetle

The beetle does possess an interesting shape. This is one of the moth mimics. Supposedly, the moth tastes bad and birds do not want to eat you if they think you are that moth. It also proves that even after thirty-years of fieldwork in the Grayling area there are still new things to find.
Copyright 2013 by Donald Drife

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A Weedy Orchid (Epipactis helleborine)

Posted on August 2, 2013 by admin

Broad-leaved Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine) is a European Orchid that is invading many woodlots and gardens in Michigan. In 1968, Ed Voss wrote an article for the Michigan Audubon Newsletter titled “A Weedy Orchid?” Ed’s prediction proved to be correct so I removed the question mark from my title.

Profile of flower, an opening flower showing the green sepals which form the outer bud covering, close-up showing droplets of nectar

Imported for its supposed medicinal values, it has colonized much of the state. The oldest specimen for the state was collected in 1919, in Berrien Co., in the southwest corner of the state. In the 1930s it was found on the campus of Michigan State. When Fred Case wrote the first edition of his Orchids of the Western Great Lakes Region this was one of the few orchids growing wild in the state that he had not found. I first found it in 1973 in the lawn of the main branch of the Detroit Public Library. A few weeks later I saw it in the Porcupine Mountains in the Upper Peninsula. It is now recorded from 40 counties in Michigan and doubtlessly occurs in many more.

It is now common in the eastern part of the Upper Peninsula. Large groups can be found in Hartwick Pines State Park especially among the old growth pines. It occurs in Royal Oak’s two Nature Parks. I am starting to see it as a garden weed. My church in Huntington Woods has several hundred plants in one flower bed. Lewiston Lodge in Montmorency Co. has this plant throughout its landscaping. It is a weed that has invaded my garden in Troy. The Michigan State Extension even has a post on controlling this species.

Plant in natural cedar woods, group of plants in landscape (note domestic viburnums), close-up of spike

The plants look more or less like non-hairy lady’s-slippers. Helleborine is taller and the leaves are only twice as long as they are wide. In the wild it can be mistaken for Long-bracted Orchid which blooms earlier, has smaller flowers, much longer bracts, and a notched lip. At least two named flower color forms occur in Michigan. In the common form the flowers are reddish but a green flowered form (f. viridens) often occurs. Sometimes plants with flowers reddish-purple can be seem. Populations can have all color forms.

Three color forms of Helleborine

This orchid is expanding its range in Michigan and should be an early find for a beginning plant hunter. In time, we will tell whether it proves to be a pest.

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Common Buckthorn Invading Michigan

Posted on July 23, 2013 by admin

Common Buckthorn, also called European Buckthorn, (Rhamnus cathartica) was first collected in Michigan in 1914 but reported by Beal in the 1904 Michigan Flora. Billington in his Shrubs of Michigan, published in 1949, still recommends this species as “an excellent hedge plant;” although, he does admit that the “seeds do germinate easily” and they “create a green carpet under the bushes.” This invasive species should never be planted.

An aggressive invader of many habitats in Michigan, this shade tolerant shrub is choking out many native species. While distributed throughout the state, it is common only in southern Michigan, but seems to be spreading in northern Michigan.

It is one of the the first species to leaf out and one of the last to drop its leaves, resulting in a long growing season and giving it an advantage over our native species. The plants are allelopathic, meaning they inhibit the germination of other species. Their fruit is largely responsible for this characteristic so once the species becomes established it aggressively colonizes the habitat. I have seen colonies of Common Buckthorn that have one large “mother-tree” in its center. The seeds are also epigeal, meaning that they germinate on the ground without having to be buried. This allows large numbers of them to germinate.

Common Buckthorn thorns and inner bark

The twigs are tipped with a thorn slightly longer than the buds. The buds, and hence the leaves, are sub-opposite but opposite and alternate nodes occur. The nodes shown in the photo are three successive nodes on the same twig. The thorns occur along the branches and are sharp. These distinguish the plant from Wild Black Cherry, and Choke Cherry.

Common Buckthorn twig

The bark resembles the bark on a Wild Black Cherry but Buckthorn Bark is often redder. Choke Cherry bark is also similar but the lenticels (the large pores) are more prominent in the cherry. If you have doubts, then peel a little of the bark away from a branch and look for the orange inner bark. Most Common Buckthorns have this bark.

Common Buckthorn bark

The leaves are slightly folded, with fine teeth and 3-5 pairs of prominent recessed veins. They are normally a dark green.

The flowers have four yellow-green petals. Male and female flowers occur on different trees and the female trees outnumber the males. A few male trees in a given population can produce enough pollen to pollinate a large colony. I checked 60 shrubs in one colony looking for male flowers to photograph and could not find any. This same colony heavily fruited that year indicating there was no shortage of pollen.

Common Buckthorn flowers, leaves, and fruit

The fruit is a three to four seeded drupe that is eaten by birds. A drupe is a fleshy fruit that surrounds a hard pit or pits. Cherries are an example. Most Common Buckthorns fruit heavily, so once a few plants begin to colonize an area it can rapidly take over. The seeds remain in the seed bank for a relatively short period (three to five years). After we cut a large stand in Royal Oak, Michigan, seedlings continued to appear for the next three years.

Michigan Natural Features Inventory has an excellent site on Common Buckthorn.

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The Michigan Nature Guy’s Blog

To get people looking at, enjoying, and understanding the natural world around them.

Author Archives: admin

Michigan’s deciduous “Evergreen”

Seaside Goldenrod in Michigan

Nature Notes: Winter is Coming

Common Michigan Milkweeds

Prickly-ash and the Giant Swallowtail

Michigan’s Wild-banana

Planthoppers

Identifying a Banded Net-winged Beetle

A Weedy Orchid (Epipactis helleborine)

Common Buckthorn Invading Michigan