Black Cherry – for Wildlife, and People, too!

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Mary Anne Borge

Black Cherry or Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) is a bountiful tree for wildlife, and an important species for humans, too. It blooms in spring, with a profusion of long, slender, densely packed flower clusters.

Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) in bloom

The flowers offer nectar and pollen as enticements to a variety of bee and fly species who need this food to survive. The insects become Black Cherry’s unsuspecting pollination partners. In return for the food provided to these insect floral visitors, the flowers benefit by having some of their pollen transported on the insects’ bodies and deposited advantageously for pollination on other Black Cherry flowers. Successful pollination will result in fruit that ripens in late summer and fall.

A broad spectrum of animals eat Black Cherry’s fleshy fruit. Many thrushes, woodpeckers, sparrows, bluebirds, tanagers, orioles, and Cedar Waxings are among the dozens of bird species that eat the fruit.

Wood Thrush

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Mammals as diverse as fox, squirrels, chipmunks, mice and even Black Bears eat Black Cherry’s fruit.

Eastern Chipmunk

The fruit has evolved to lure animals to help Black Cherry spread its seeds. In exchange for the meal, the seeds are ‘dispersed’ after traveling through the animals’ digestive tracts.

Hundreds of insect species depend on Black Cherry for food, and in some cases, shelter.

In spring, finger galls caused by a mite (Eriophyes cerasicrumena) are conspicuous on Black Cherry leaves. A gall is a plant’s reaction to being used as food and shelter by an insect. The mite will feed on the tissue inside the gall until the mite matures and emerges from the gall.

Finger galls caused by a mite (Eriophyes cerasicrumena) on Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) leaves

You may be used to seeing Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies feeding on nectar from a variety of plants.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail nectaring at Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) flowers

But Eastern Tiger Swallowtail caterpillars have a completely different diet. They depend on the leaves of several woody plants species as their food source, including Black Cherry.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar in Black Cherry leaf

Eastern Tiger Swallowtails are just one of 456 species of butterflies and moths whose caterpillars eat the leaves of Black Cherry and other Prunus species, according to research from Douglas W. Tallamy and the University of Delaware. These caterpillars are in turn an important source of food for birds, especially when they are raising their young.

Tufted Titmouse – one of many bird species that harvest caterpillars from Black Cherry

Tent caterpillars favor Black Cherry, a practice that gardeners usually view unfavorably.

Tent Caterpillar egg mass in winter

But even Tent caterpillars have redeeming qualities, since they are an important food source for both Yellow- and Black-billed Cuckoos.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Adult butterflies and moths may also become food for birds or other insects, and in the case of night-flying moths (including Tent caterpillars that survive to become adult moths), for bats.

In addition to the nectar offered by its flowers, Black Cherry provides nectar from glands on its leaf stems. These nectaries are not targeting pollinators. Instead, they are there to lure a mercenary army of ants to protect the tree from herbivores, especially caterpillars. The nectaries entice ants to visit the trees for a drink. While there, the ants may also help to keep the caterpillar population in check, since ants also need insect protein as part of their diet.

Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) in bloom

People benefit directly from Black Cherry trees. In addition to the beauty of its flowers, fruits and foliage, Black Cherry’s wood is an important timber crop, primarily for use in furniture and cabinet making. Black Cherry’s fruit is used to flavor brandies and to make a liqueur called cherry bounce. The fruit is somewhat bitter, but with added sugar it can be used to make jellies. Eating the raw fruit is not advisable, since the seeds can be toxic. Medicinally, Black Cherry’s inner bark has been used in cough suppressants.

Black Cherry can grow to a maximum height of 80-100 feet (24-30 meters). Its range is primarily eastern North America, from Canada through the United States and south into Mexico, although it is an adaptable species and may also be found in some areas of the Pacific Northwest.

Providing beauty, timber, food and medicine for humans, food for birds, mammals, pollinators and hundreds of other insects, Black Cherry is among our most productive native trees.

Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) in bloom

Resources

Eastman, John. The Book of Forest and Thicket. 1992.

Eiseman, Charley; Charney, Noah. Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates. 2010.

Foster, Steven; Duke, James A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. 2000.

Hoffmann, David. Medical Herbalism. 2003.

Peterson, Lee Allen. A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America. 1977.

Rhoads, Ann Fowler; Block, Timothy A. The Plants of Pennsylvania. 2007

Tallamy, Douglas W. Bringing Nature Home, 2007,

Illinois Wildflowers

USDA Plant Database

Spring Azures

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Mary Anne Borge

Spring Azures spent the winter as pupa, cozy in their chrysalises, poised to take the final step to adulthood when spring conditions were right, with longer days and warmer temperatures. Their fluttering flight showing flashes of azure began lighting up woodlands and gardens earlier than usual this year, when unseasonably warm March temperatures encouraged them to complete their metamorphosis and emerge as early as the last week of March.

Spring Azure butterfly

Nectar was scarce in those early days of emergence, especially when weather whiplash sent the temperatures in the opposite direction, dropping below normal. During the lean times, Spring Azures got their nourishment from a variety of mineral sources, including mud puddles, rocks, leaves, and even bird droppings.

Spring Azure getting nutrients from bird droppings

As temperatures soared again, nectar supplies became plentiful.

Spring Azure dringing nectar from Wild Plum (Prunus americanus) blossoms

Now their priority is reproduction – making sure their species has a future. After mating, female Spring Azures look for plants appropriate for egg-laying, plants whose leaves their caterpillars can eat and on which they will thrive. Spring Azures evolved to use the newly emerging leaves, flowers and buds of a variety of woody plants as their caterpillars’ food, including viburnums, dogwoods (Cornus species), and New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus). For the past week, I’ve watched Spring Azures flitting from plant to plant, and from leaf to bud of Maple-leaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium), taking only seconds to lay each egg.

Spring Azure laying an egg on Maple-leaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium) flower buds

The eggs will hatch and caterpillars will emerge, nibbling on the newly developing leaves and buds. Not all of the caterpillars will complete metamorphosis to fly as butterflies, however. Caterpillars are very vulnerable to predators, including other insects, spiders and birds. Caterpillars are an essential source of food for birds, especially when they are feeding their young. It may take thousands of caterpillars to feed a hungry clutch of growing birds.

Hungry young Tufted Titmouse looking for food

Normally, ants would be among the insects that would love to eat a tasty caterpillar treat. Even when fully grown Azure caterpillars are small, the perfect snack size for an industrious ant on the hunt. To protect themselves, Azure butterflies have developed a way to enlist the ants to protect them rather than eat them. Azures produce delicious honeydew that ants love. The ants guard the Azure caterpillars, palpating them to trigger the honeydew payment.

Ant guarding/palpating an Azure caterpillar for honeydew. They’re on New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus).

Ants will work for the highest bidder, and in this case they help some of those caterpillars live to become butterflies.

Spring Azure butterfly on Maple-leaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium)

‘Will Work for Food’ – Extra-floral Nectaries

Maple-leaf Viburnum

Gray Dogwood for Butterlies, Bees and Birds

Resources

Butterflies and Moths of North America

Cech, Rick; Tudor, Guy. Butterflies of the East Coast. 2005.

Slippery Elm in Bloom

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Mary Anne Borge

Color is slowly easing back into the deciduous woods. Branches that were bare all winter are beginning to show the subtle reds, greens and yellows of early blooming trees and shrubs.

Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra) in Bloom

Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra) is among the early flowering trees, often blooming sometime in March. Before blooming, its rusty colored, fuzzy-hairy flower buds are visible throughout winter.

Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra) Buds

Slippery Elm blooms before its leaves appear, making it easier for the wind to carry Slippery Elm’s pollen to another flower, helping this species to achieve successful pollination. Wind pollination is a good evolutionary adaptation for an early blooming tree, since wind is a more reliable pollination partner in the usually cool blustery days of March than insects are. (Although this spring is exceptionally warm in the Northeastern United States!)

Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra) in Bloom

Flowers that are successfully pollinated produce fruits that many birds eat, including Carolina Chickadees, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and Purple Finches.

Female Purple Finch. Purple Finches are among the birds that eat elm seeds

Squirrels and other small mammals also eat Slippery Elm seeds.

Red Squirrel – a consumer of elm seeds

Slippery Elm leaves are large and rough, with distinctly toothed edges.

Slippery Elm Leaf

These leaves provide food for many insects that in turn provide pollination services for other plants, or food for other animals. Over 200 species of butterfly and moth caterpillars (Leipidoptera), including those of Mourning Cloak, Question Mark and Eastern Comma butterflies and Polyphemus moths may eat the leaves of Slippery Elm and its close relatives.

Eastern Comma Butterfly

Polyphemus Moth caterpillar, looking for a place to pupate. What a plump, juicy treat for a hungry bird!

Birds depend on these insects as protein for themselves and their growing offspring.

Male Black-throated Blue Warbler. Warblers, Chickadees, Titmice and most other birds depend on insects for a large percentage of their diet.

Cavity nesting birds or small mammals may find a suitable home site in Slippery Elm, while other birds, like Baltimore Orioles, may build their nests in its branches.

Natural cavity in a Slippery Elm. Some strings of nest material are draped below the opening.

Slippery Elm gets its name from its inner bark (the phloem) which is part of the vascular system that transports food throughout the tree. Slippery Elm’s inner bark is mucilaginous (thick, sticky) and fibrous. Indigenous North American peoples used the inner bark fibers to make rope or other cordage.

Slippery Elm’s inner bark has also been used to make a tea that is easy to digest and high in nutrients; it was given to people who had difficulty consuming food. The inner bark was also dried and ground to make a flour high in nutritional value.

Slippery Elm has many medicinal uses. As a demulcent it is well suited for treatment of inflamed mucous membranes throughout the digestive tract. It also has anti-inflammatory and astringent properties, and has been used externally to treat skin problems including wounds, ulcers and boils. Slippery Elm is available as an over the counter supplement, and has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in throat lozenges. Even plant-derived supplements can have unwanted side effects, so careful research or consultation with a physician should take place before consuming Slippery Elm.

Slippery Elm can be found in much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States and Canada, often in moist woods, stream banks, and woodland edges. Look for it blooming now in a natural area near you.

Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra) in Bloom

Resources

Beresford-Kroeger, Diana. Arboretum America: A Philosophy of the Forest. 2003

Eastman, John. The Book of Forest and Thicket. 1992.

Foster, Steven; Duke, James A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. 2000.

Hoffmann, David. Medical Herbalism. 2003.

Rhoads, Ann Fowler; Block, Timothy A. The Plants of Pennsylvania. 2007

Tallamy, Douglas W. Bringing Nature Home, 2007,

Illinois Wildflowers

USDA Database

Evening Primrose

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Mary Anne Borge

By late February, the spent stems of many herbaceous plants are beginning to fall to the ground and break down, adding to the nutrients in the soil, or making nesting material available for birds and other animals. Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) is an exception, with stems still upright, and fruit capsules still dispersing seeds – via wind, or scattered on the ground near parent plants. Evening Primrose is a biennial, a characteristic reflected in its scientific name, ‘biennis’. This means that it typically lives only two years, the first as a ground-level rosette of leaves. If it gathers enough energy, the second year of life it will bloom, develop fruits, and die. Replacing the parent plant with offspring in the same location is a good evolutionary strategy for the plant.

Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) fruit capsules

Not all seeds are destined to grow into another Evening Primrose plant, since some will become a snack for hungry birds. Evening Primrose can afford this loss. There are plenty of seeds, with potentially hundreds produced by each fruit capsule.

Eastern Goldfinches eat Evening Primrose seeds.

Evening Primrose can be found throughout most of the United States (some Rocky Mountain states are an exception) and Canada, blooming from late June through much of the fall, often in disturbed areas. ‘Evening’ in this plant’s name refers to the fact that the flowers open late in the day, usually blooming from dusk until the early morning hours, although they may stay open longer on cloudy or overcast days.

Evening Primrose in bloom

Plant species that bloom at night have generally evolved to partner for pollination services with an animal that is active at night, usually moths or bats. The flowers are fragrant, which is another characteristic of night blooming plants. Many moth species can detect fragrances from long distances, and will follow the fragrance to find their nectar reward. Moths, particularly some sphinx moths, are among Evening Primrose’s pollinators.

During those daylight hours that the flowers are open, butterflies may drink nectar from Evening Primrose flowers.

Little Glassywing drinking nectar from an Evening Primrose flower.

Many bee species also visit the flowers, including some that specialize on Evening Primrose and other related species.

Sweat Bee, probably Lasioglossum oenotherae, on Evening Primrose

Sweat Bee, probably Lasioglossum oenotherae, harvesting pollen from Evening Primrose. These bees have evolved scopa that are efficient for handling Evening Primrose’s stringy pollen.

Some of these specialists are able to fly in dim light during dusk and dawn, and even into the night when there is enough moonlight. In addition to the large compound eyes on each side of their faces, bees have ocelli, simple eyes at the top of their heads. Ocelli help the bee in positioning and orientation, with the aid of light from the sun or even a full moon. These specialist bees are aided by larger ocelli than the typical bee, so they can function in low light.

Sweat Bee, probably Lasioglossum oenotherae, on Evening Primrose. These bees have evolved scopa that are efficient for handling Evening Primrose's stringy pollen. Look for the ocelli (eyes) at the top of its head. They look like little dots.

Sweat Bee, probably Lasioglossum oenotherae, on Evening Primrose. These bees evolved scopa on their hind legs that are efficient for carrying Evening Primrose’s stringy pollen. Look for the ocelli (eyes) at the top of its head. They look like little dots.

Caterpillars of several moth species feed on the leaves or flowers of Evening Primrose.

Yellow Bear (Virginian Tiger Moth) caterpillar on Evening Primrose

For human consumers, the young leaves, flowers, shoots and first year roots of Evening Primrose are edible, with the proper preparation. The leaves and roots are thought to have a peppery taste. Evening Primrose is cultivated for its oil, which contains some essential fatty acids (Omega-6 fatty acid, linolenic acid and gamma-linolenic acid). Evening Primrose oil has been licensed in several countries for treatment of eczema and breast pain. Native Americans used it to treat a broad range of ills.

Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)

Look for Evening Primrose fruit capsules now,

Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) fruit capsules

and watch for new plants blooming at nearby locations this summer.

Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) in bloom

Resources

Foster, Steven; Duke, James A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. 2000.

Peterson, Lee Allen. A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America. 1977.

Wagner, David L.; Caterpillars of Eastern North America, 2005.

Wilson, Joseph S.; Carril, Olivia Messinger. The Bees in Your Backyard. 2016.

What Winter Reveals: Hoptrees

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Mary Anne Borge

A winter walk reveals things that might be missed during the growing season, when leaves densely cover the trees. The fruits of Hoptrees (Ptelea trifoliata), or Wafer-ash, are among those potentially hidden treasures, hanging in clusters like seasonal ornaments from otherwise bare branches throughout the late fall and winter months. The fruits are samaras, a type of dry fruit (not fleshy like a berry), each with a single seed encased in a papery covering with a winged edge surrounding the seed, designed to help the wind disperse it.

Hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata) samaras in winter

Many of the Hoptree’s aliases refer to these fruits. The common name ‘Hoptree’ is a nod to the use of the fruits as a substitute for hops in brewing beer. Another common name for this small tree or shrub is ‘Wafer-ash’, a name that refers to the wafer-like shape of the samaras. Female ash trees also display clusters of fruits through late fall, although ash samaras are shaped like a paddle. Hoptree samaras look more like the samaras of elm trees, a resemblance that is reflected in its genus, ptelea, which means elm tree.

Hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata) samaras in summer

In spite of these superficial similarities to elm and ash trees, Hoptrees are not related to either. The Hoptree is a member of the Rue (Rutaceae) family, which also encompasses the genus citrus. Because of this, the Rue family is often called the Citrus family.

Like many plant species, Hoptrees produce chemicals to protect themselves from being eaten by foraging animals. All parts of the plant, including leaves, branches and twigs, have glands that release volatile oils when crushed, spraying a light mist on any critter naive enough to browse them, much like the mist produced when pealing a citrus fruit. Fragrant and bitter chemical compounds are discharged, discouraging most potential consumers. For good measure, this spray also contains chemicals that irritate the skin and make it photosensitive. Altogether, it makes for an effective package of deterrents. This is not a plant that is likely to be browsed by deer.

But there are a few insects that have evolved to be able to consume these leaves, synthesizing the deterrent chemical compounds in their bodies. These sequestered chemicals help protect the insects from being eaten by other animals. The Giant Swallowtail butterfly is one of the few insect species that uses this and other Rue family members as food plants for their caterpillars.

Attacks on Hoptrees by insects or fungi prompt the production of phytoalexins, which are additional protective compounds that have antimicrobial and antifungal properties.

Hoptrees produce many chemical compounds that have powerful medicinal uses. Some Native American tribes, including the Menominees, used Hoptree constituents as a general health panacea or tonic. The Hoptree, like ginseng, is one of a small number of plant species that are believed to be effective in improving the functioning of the human body as a whole. Hoptrees have also been found to have properties that make other medicines more effective.

Hoptree flowers bloom in mid-spring, typically May. The flowers are very fragrant, attracting many insect visitors to drink their nectar and potentially assist in pollination, including bees, butterflies, flies and wasps.

Hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata) flowers, being visited by a fly, a potential pollinator

The northern border of the Hoptree’s native range includes Quebec and Ontario provinces, and Nebraska, Colorado and Utah. The range extends from there to all states to the south from Arizona to Florida. Hoptrees can be found in a variety of habitats, including open woods, thickets, stream banks and prairies. They like well-drained soil, and prefer shade to part-shade, but can tolerate full sun. They are endangered in New Jersey and New York, and threatened in Pennsylvania.

Resources

Beresford-Kroeger, Diana. Arboretum America: A Philosophy of the Forest. 2003

Hoffmann, David. Medical Herbalism. 2003.

Lewis, Walter H.; Elvin-Lewis, Memory P.F. Medical Botany. 2003.

Illinois Wildflowers

Missouri Botanical Garden

USDA Plants Database

The Natural Web

Exploring Nature's Connections

Category Archives: Butterflies

Black Cherry – for Wildlife, and People, too!

Spring Azures

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Slippery Elm in Bloom

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Evening Primrose

What Winter Reveals: Hoptrees

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