A Showy Little Orchid

Posted on May 24, 2020 by Mary Anne Borge

Blooming in mid-spring, Showy Orchis (Gaelaris spectabilis), also known as Showy Orchid, peeks out from its home on the forest floor from beneath the leaves of other species that tower above it.

Showy Orchis (Gaelaris spectabilis) in bloom, with Perfoliate Bellwort (Uvularia perfoliata)

A stem rises from two broad, firm, almost succulent leaves at the base of the plant, presenting a cluster of lovely flowers, typically purple and white.

Showy Orchis (Gaelaris spectabilis)

The purple hood-like structure at the top of the flower is made up of three sepals abutting each other. The sepals acted as bud scales that protected the flower before it opened; in bloom, the sepals are part of the showy floral display, and at the same time they continue to protect the flower’s reproductive parts. Each flower also has three petals, two of which are tucked up on the underside of the hood, the third is the long, white petal hanging down below the hood. This petal is called a lip or labellum, and makes a good landing platform for visiting insects.

Showy Orchis (Gaelaris spectabilis). If you look carefully, you can see where the edges of the sepals touch each other to form the hood.

While the flowers are usually purple and white, occasionally they are all white (forma gordinierii) or all purple (forma willeyi), like the plant in the photo below.

Showy Orchis (Gaelaris spectabilis) forma willeyi

This native orchid grows to a height of about 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm), but its beauty is arresting. Both the common name, Showy Orchis, and the scientific name accurately reflect the appearance of this petite beauty. Showy Orchis’s genus, Gaelaris, means helmet, referring to the helmet-like hood at the top of the flower. Spectabilis means spectacular or showy, something these flowers certainly are, proving once again that you don’t have to be large to make a statement. (See American Hazelnut and Purple Milkwort flowers.)

Showy Orchis (Gaelaris spectabilis) in bloom. To give some size perspective, notice the Round-lobed Hepatica leaf to the left of the Showy Orchis flowers.

Plants that have bright showy flowers have evolved to attract animals to be pollen couriers, since the animals have the ability to carry pollen from one plant to another. This assistance is necessary for the plant species to accomplish its objective of cross-pollination. Showy flowers attract potential pollinators with the promise of food, much like signs for our favorite restaurants attract us. In North America, insects are the most common target audience for this display.

While some plants can self-pollinate, including Showy Orchis, cross-pollination yields a stronger genetic result. (It’s the same reason people are told not to marry a cousin or other close relative.) Plants can bend, but they can’t move from the spot where they are rooted. They have to enlist a third party to assist them in transporting pollen.

Insects don’t help with pollination out of altruism. They are foraging the flowers for food for themselves, and in the case of female bees, they also need to bring food back to their nests to feed their kids (larvae). They expect to be compensated for their visits, usually in the form of nectar or pollen, or both. If a plant species wants a potential pollinator to keep visiting enough flowers to help with cross-pollination, it will likely have a higher success rate if it provides payment for services rendered.

Not all plants play by this rule. The Lady’s Slippers and Puttyroot orchids are among the thirty percent of orchid species that rely totally on deception to entice potential pollinators; they don’t actually offer any payback. They have attractive flowers that advertise a reward, but they don’t deliver. This could explain their low rate of pollination success.

Pink Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium acaule). A deceptively attractive flower that doesn’t deliver a reward to pollinators

Showy Orchis has evolved to take a less risky approach. This lovely species provides nectar to pay its pollination partners for their services. The white petal, or lip, extends into a long nectar spur at the back of the flower, accessed at the flower’s throat from beneath the hood.

Showy Orchis (Gaelaris spectabilis). Note the long white nectar spur extending from the back of each flower.

Queen Bumble Bees are the primary pollinators for Showy Orchis. In spring they can often be seen flying a few inches above ground when woodland wildflowers are blooming.

Pollen is an important part of a bee’s diet, so a visiting queen Bumble Bee would also love to be able to harvest and eat the orchid’s pollen in addition to drinking nectar. But Showy Orchis pollen is not dispersed in loose grains that can be accessed easily by a pollinator. Instead, its thousands of tiny pollen grains are packaged in pollinia, which are a little like tiny saddle bags of pollen. Milkweed pollen is also packaged this way.

Bees don’t knowingly move pollen from one flower to another, they typically have to be manipulated by the plant to carry out this task. Showy Orchis is capable of such manipulative behavior. The flower’s reproductive parts are sheltered in a column under the hood of the flower. The stigma, the female flower part where pollen must be deposited in order to initiate the pollination process, is close to the opening for the nectar spur. A small projection called a rostellum tops the stigma, and the male reproductive parts are next to the rostellum.

Showy Orchis (Gaelaris spectabilis). The entrance to the nectar spur is at the throat of the flower, just below the hood. The flower’s reproductive parts are suspended from the hood. The rostellum is the small projection with two rounded humps. The sheaths that hold the male reproductive parts are above the rostellum, the stigma is behind it.

As a bee moves into position at the flower’s throat to drink nectar, its head touches the rostellum, breaking it open. This triggers the release of the pollinia from sheaths in which they developed on the underside of the flower’s hood, and of sticky pads concealed in the rostellum that attach the pollinia to the bee’s forehead between its antennae.

As Showy Orchis (Gaelaris spectabilis) flowers age, their hoods lift, revealing the reproductive parts that were hidden. In this photo, the reproductive parts viewed together look like a boxer whose outsized arms and hands are raised in victory. What appears to be the boxer’s body is the rostellum, the stigma is below, as if it were a podium hiding the rest of the boxer’s body. The stamens (male reproductive parts) were enclosed in what look like arms, the pollinia in the ‘gloves’.

Showy Orchis (Gaelaris spectabilis). In this photo, it appears that the pollinia were not released, and are still enclosed in their sheathing.

The pollinia is now attached to the bee in the perfect position to deposit on the stigma of the next Showy Orchis flower she visits. She will unwittingly aid Showy Orchis in cross-pollination.

If a flower is successfully pollinated, it will produce a dry, woody fruit capsule containing thousands of dust-like seeds.

Showy Orchis (Gaelaris spectabilis) fruit capsules

The fruit capsule persists through the winter months and even into the following spring. When it finally breaks open, these weightless seeds are dispersed by the wind.

Showy Orchis (Gaelaris spectabilis) fruit capsules are often still visible the following spring.

The seeds don’t have any food reserves of their own, so in order to get the nutrients they need to develop into a viable plant, the seeds have to find the right mycorrhizal fungi with which to partner. Mycorrhizal fungi live in the soil and partner with plants, providing nutrients from the soil to the plants. In return the plants provide carbohydrates to the fungi. The fungal network may also help plants share nutrients with each other. Current scientific thought is that Showy Orchis partners only with fungi in the genus Ceratobasidium. Without this fungal partnership, Showy Orchis won’t survive.

Showy Orchis is often found growing in the company of Mayapple, Perfoliate Bellwort, Solomon’s Seal, False Solomon’s Seal, Rue Anemone, Hepatica, Spring Beauty, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Bloodroot, Spicebush, and other spring blooming wildflowers and ferns.

Showy Orchis (Gaelaris spectabilis) in bloom, with Bloodroot (Sanguineria canadensis), Perfoliate Bellwort (Uvularia perfoliata), violets (Viola species) and a fruit capsule

Showy Orchid is native in the rich, deciduous woods of the United States from Maine to Minnesota in the north, south to southeastern Oklahoma and northwestern South Carolina, and in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick provinces in Canada. Look for its showy display in mid-spring.

Showy Orchis (Gaelaris spectabilis) in bloom

An Orchid in Winter (Puttyroot)

A Tantalizing Promise – Cranefly Orchid

Signs of Spring – Hazelnuts in Bloom

A Small Beauty: Purple Milkwort

Milkweed – It’s Not Just for Monarchs

Resources

Consortium of Midwest Herbaria

Dieringer, Gregg; The Pollination Ecology of Orchis Spectabilis L. (Orchidaceae); 1982

Encyclopedia Britannica

Flora of North America

Hutchings Bee Service

Living in the Dunes

U.S. Forest Service Plant of the Week

Native Plant Trust Go Botany

North American Orchid Center Orchid Science

North American Orchid Center Gaelaris spectabilis

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

Stearn, William T. Stearn’s Dictionary of Plant Names. 1996

USDA NRCS Plant Database

Wikipedia

Wildflowers of the United States

Your Dictionary.com

Oaks Have a Lot of Gall!

Posted on November 27, 2018 by Mary Anne Borge

In late fall and early winter, oak (Quercus species) trees often stand out from their forest companions, refusing to let go of their richly colored russet and brown leaves long after other deciduous trees are completely bare. Oaks are members of the Beech (Fagaceae) family, and winter leaf retention, or marcescence, is a family trait. American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) trees tenaciously hold their leaves until early spring when new leaves are preparing to emerge.

Oak trees, retaining their leaves, stand out in a woodland in late fall.

No one knows exactly why some deciduous trees exhibit this characteristic, but there are several theories. It may be that the dry leaves are a deterrent to winter browsing by deer, moose and other mammals. Holding on to leaves until spring may be the trees’ way of time-releasing nutrients for recycling into the soil. Or the leaves may capture and funnel more snow melt to the tree’s root system.

There are about 600 species of oaks (Quercus) worldwide, with 87 in North America, as well as numerous hybrids. Oaks are usually categorized in two groups, the white oak group and the red oak group. They can be distinguished by their leaves. Trees in the white oak group have leaves with rounded lobes,

White Oak (Quercus alba)

while trees in the red oak group have leaves with pointed lobes or with very narrow ‘pins’ at the tips of their lobes.

Red Oak (Quercus rubra)

Oaks are among the most valuable species for supporting both wildlife and people, in many different ways.

The wind-pollinated flowers of oaks produce acorns, an important food for wildlife.

Acorn of Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor)

Many birds depend on this bounty of food, including Jays, Tufted Titmice, Red-headed and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Ruffed Grouse, Lesser Prairie Chickens, Bobwhite and other quails, and Wild Turkeys.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers are among the many birds that eat acorns.

White-breasted Nuthatches are most often seen foraging for food, mostly insects, in the crevices of tree bark, but they also like fruit, and are named for their habit of tucking seeds and nuts like acorns into a crevice and hacking away at them to consume the tasty treat inside. They may also cache some acorns for later consumption.

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Even Wood Ducks consume acorns. They primarily live in forested wetlands where oak trees and acorns may be present. Wood Ducks are just one of the many animals that nest in tree cavities such as those found in oaks.

Wood Duck in fall

Acorns are an important food source for many mammals, from mice, chipmunks, raccoons and squirrels, to bear and deer.

Raccoons are among the many mammals that eat acorns, and may find shelter in oak or other tree cavities.

Eastern Gray Squirrels have a special relationship with oaks. Not only do they consume acorns and shelter in oak cavities, but in return they help to disperse oak seeds (acorns). Like the White-breasted Nuthatches, Gray Squirrels cache acorns for later consumption. Squirrels typically have a very good memory for where they stashed each acorn, often recovering as much as 95% of their hoard. But the other overlooked 5% may germinate and prosper in their new location. Oaks also tend to have ‘mast years’ when they produce more acorns than can be easily eaten even over the long winter. In such years, many acorns may live to become trees.

Eastern Gray Squirrel

Acorns are at their most nutritious before they germinate. Acorns of trees in the white oak group germinate in their first year. Squirrels can detect this, and are likely to eat acorns from the white oak group as soon as they are available rather than cache them. Trees in the red oak group produce acorns that take two years to germinate. Squirrels are likely to cache acorns from trees in the red oak group, since they remain a viable food source for a longer period of time.

When acorns are plentiful, Gray Squirrels, Blue Jays, White-footed Mice and other acorn consumers tend to eat only about half of each acorn, the half at the opposite end from which the tree seedling will emerge (the end without the ‘cap’). This part of the acorn has a higher lipid content, the food these animals are seeking, and a lower tannin content, a bitter tasting compound that is off-putting to potential consumers. The discarded uneaten half acorn will often germinate and produce a seedling.

Studies have shown that in the mid-Atlantic United States, oaks are food plants for the caterpillars of more butterfly and moth species than any other genus of trees, supporting more than 500 species.

Juvenal’s Duskywing nectaring from Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica). Several Duskywing butterfly species use oaks as caterpillar food.

Red-banded Hairstreaks use the fallen leaves of oaks and sumacs as caterpillar food. The spend the winter in the fallen leaves.

Saddleback moth caterpillars eat oak leaves

Several giant silk moths like this Polyphemus Moth and Luna Moths depend on oaks for caterpillar food.

Insects, and especially caterpillars, are an important source of food for birds and other animals. It takes thousands of caterpillars to feed a young bird family. As a result, many of those caterpillars will become a meal before they get a chance to become a butterfly or moth.

Carolina Chickadees need thousands of caterpillars to raise a single brood.

Carolina Wrens need food in the form of the many caterpillars and other insects found on oak trees.

There are other insects whose presence in oak tissue stimulates the oak to produce a gall, an abnormal plant growth with more nutrients than are found in normal tissue. The insect develops inside the gall, feeding on the nutrient rich tissue inside. Some oak galls are caused by midges, but many are caused by members of a sub-family of wasps called gall (Cynipid) wasps. The galls take some of the plant’s resources, but they typically don’t cause any harm to the plant. Often these galls house additional insects, free-loaders (inquilines) that didn’t stimulate the tree to produce the gall but who live and feed in the gall, sharing it with the original tenant.

The galls on these Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) leaves are caused by a midge, Polystepha pilulae.

This gall on Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor) is called a Lobed or Pine Cone Oak Gall. It is caused by a wasp.

This summer my attention was drawn to a Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor) branch by ants rapidly climbing around on several ‘bumps’ that could only be galls. At this point the galls were somewhat nondescript little growths that turned out to be Oak Bullet Galls.

Ants patrolling galls on Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor)

But what attracted the ants to the galls? Ants are omnivorous. Other insects are important food for them, but they also eat plant material and sweet tasty treats, like nectar. Since they didn’t have access to the insects inside the galls, I speculated that there was something on the exterior of the gall that enticed them. When I looked at my photos, they did appear to be eating something, but what?

Ants with Oak Bullet Galls galls on Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor)

When I checked on the galls about a week later, their appearance had changed dramatically; they now looked like red Hershey’s Kisses. The ants were still on duty, and this time when I checked my photos, I could see droplets of nectar oozing out from the sides of the galls. Mystery solved! The wasp inside the gall had stimulated the tree to not only produce its home and food, but the home came equipped with a security system – nectaries to lure and pay for protection from predators.

Ant drinking nectar from Oak Bullet Gall on Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor). The glistening nectar droplets are especially visible just below the tip of the ant’s right front leg.

My next visit was about two weeks after the Hershey’s Kisses phase of the gall development. Their appearance had changed again; now each gall had a tan, almost perfectly round exterior. This time the ants were joined on patrol by several wasp species, each capable of discouraging predators of the gall wasp.

Paper Wasp drinking nectar from Oak Bullet Gall on Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor).

Cuckoo Wasp drinking nectar from Oak Bullet Gall on Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor).

This seems like an expensive security service for the tree to provide if it only benefits the gall wasp. It is likely that many of these insect guards also protect the tree itself from other herbivores. For example, Paper Wasps, like ants, are caterpillar predators.

Oaks also have relationships with many fungi, including species that are edible or provide medicine for humans, insects and other animals.

Hen of the Wood is just one of the many fungi that have a relationship with oak trees.

There is a plant called Squawroot or Cancer-root (Conopholis americana) that depends on oaks for its survival. Squawroot doesn’t produce its own food through photosynthesis. Instead it taps into the roots of oak trees for its food.

Squawroot or Cancer-root (Conopholis americana)

How are oak trees beneficial for people? If prepared correctly, some acorns are edible. The wood is used for building, furniture and cabinet making. The bark of some species is used for tanning. Oak trees, especially the inner bark, have numerous medicinal uses. Most importantly, through photosynthesis, oak trees and other plants produce the oxygen we need in order to breathe. They help mitigate climate change by removing carbon dioxide and other pollutants from our air and water, providing cooling shade, producing moisture through transpiration, and helping to manage stormwater.

Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor)

Not only do oaks have a lot of gall, but they provide immeasurable value to life on earth.

Oak trees stand out in a woodland in late fall

American Beech

Resources

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

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

Eastman, John. Birds of Forest, Yard, & Thicket. 1997.

Eastman, John. Birds of Lake, Pond and Marsh. 1999.

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

Eastman, John. The Book of Swamp and Bog. 1995.

Eaton, Eric R.; Kauffman, Ken. Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. 2007.

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

Martin, Alexander C.; Zim, Herbert S.; Nelson, Arnold L. American Wildlife & Plants A Guide to Wildlife Food Habits. 1951.

Nelson, Gil; Earle, Christopher J.; Spellenberg, Richard. Trees of Eastern North America. 2014.

Sibley, David Allen. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. 2001.

Steele, Michael A.; Koprowski, John L. North American Tree Squirrels. 2001.

Tallamy, Douglas W. Bringing Nature Home. 2007

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

Buckeye Yard and Garden Online: Bullet Galls and Their Guards by Joe Boggs, October 2018

Capital Naturalist by Alonso Abugattas

Illinois Wildflowers

Minnesotaseasons.com

Missouri Botanical Garden

Naturalis Historia

Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, Winter Leaves That Hang On

Combating Japanese Beetles

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Mary Anne Borge

Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica)

Japanese Beetles (Popillia japonica) are especially prolific this summer, voraciously consuming the leaves, flowers and buds of herbaceous (non-woody) plants, shrubs and trees. They were first discovered at a nursery in New Jersey in 1916, probably introduced here with imported nursery stock. Now widespread east of the Mississippi River in the United States and southern Canada, these insects are destructive pests in North America because the natural predators with which they evolved are not present here to keep them in check.

Red Chokeberry (Photinia Pyrifolia) leaves skeletonized by Japanese Beetles

What can you do to combat these critters? Enlist the help of some predatory insects that are native to North America.

Scolia dubia on Boneset (Eupatorium species). Scolia dubia is known to prey on the larvae of Japanese Beetles.

Scoliid wasps prey on the larvae of scarab beetles to feed their own larvae. Japanese Beetles are a species of scarab beetle. Female Japanese Beetles burrow a few inches into the ground to lay their eggs. Their larvae, often called grubs, develop underground and feed on the roots of plants. Female scoliid wasps find and enter the underground burrows of Japanese and other scarab beetles, and lay an egg on each grub. The wasp larva hatches and consumes the grub. Two species of scoliid wasps are shown in this post, Scolia dubia and Scolia bicincta.

Scolia dubia on Grass-leaved Goldenrod (Euthamia graminifolia)

How can you entice these beneficial wasps to patrol your property? They can be bought with food. The adult wasps drink nectar from flowers, usually flowers that have short tubes, arranged in dense clusters that provide a landing platform for the wasp. Mountain mints and many aster family members fit this description. They seem especially partial to goldenrods and bonesets, in addition to the mountain mints.

Scolia bicincta on Hoary Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum incanum). Scolia bicincta may also be a Japanese Beetle predator.

These beneficial wasps are hairy, helping to make them to be effective pollinators of the plants they visit for nectar. The pollen is likely to adhere to their hairy bodies and be carried to another plant for deposit.

Scolia bicincta on Hoary Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum incanum).

You may be worried about having wasps around, because of their reputation for stinging. While that reputation may be deserved for some social wasp species, like the Yellowjackets, it’s more a case of guilt by hasty generalization for solitary wasps like the scoliids. Social wasps live in colonies, which they aggressively defend from intruders. But scoliids, like many wasp species, are solitary. So there is no colony to defend. Stingers are really ovipositors (egg laying structures) that can be used for two purposes. Females may use the ovipositor to sting and subdue their prey, and also to lay their eggs. Male wasps and bees don’t lay eggs, so the don’t have ovipositors, and can’t sting. Solitary wasps like the scoliids are quite gentle, and would generally have no reason to sting a person.

Eastern Yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons) on Goldenrod (Solidago species)

The Wheel Bug (Arilus cristatus) is a type of assassin bug that is happy to devour adult Japanese Beetles. Wheel Bugs hunt their prey by blending in with a plant. They wait for a hapless victim to come close enough to grab it with their somewhat hairy and sticky front legs, then stab it with their beak, injecting enzymes that paralyze and then liquefy their victim’s innards. The Wheel Bug then slurps up the resulting insect smoothie, with the victim’s exoskeleton acting as a to-go cup.

Wheel Bug (Arilus cristatus) preying on Japanese Beetle; more Japanese Beetles continue to eat in upper left.

Japanese Beetle grubs (larvae) are especially fond of eating the roots of lawn grasses. As a result, lawns are the favored location for Japanese Beetles to excavate a burrow for their eggs. Replacing as much lawn as possible with a mix of herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees will minimize the habitat available to Japanese Beetles for reproduction. Reduced habitat means fewer Japanese Beetles.

Japanese Beetles (Popillia japonica)

What can you do to combat Japanese Beetles? In order to attract beneficial insects like those shown here, be sure you have a variety of plants native to your area. Take away the Japanese Beetle’s preferred habitat by minimizing the size of your lawn. There will be a corresponding reduction in the number of Japanese Beetles you see.

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) leaf skeletonized by Japanese Beetles

Mountain Mints are Pollinator Magnets!

Asters Yield a Treasure Trove

Fall Allergies? Don’t Blame Goldenrod!

Resources

Eaton, Eric R.; Kauffman, Ken. Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. 2007.

USDA Japanese Beetles

Beneficial Insects in the Garden

American Beech

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Mary Anne Borge

American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)

It can be surprising to see leaves clinging to deciduous trees in mid-winter. In eastern North America, some oak species and American Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) may retain their leaves but American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) trees are among the most conspicuous to do so. By January its leaves are bleached to a papery pale tan, catching the bright winter light while fluttering in the winter wind. The leaves look delicate, but give one a tug and you’ll see how tenaciously they adhere to their branches. American Beech leaves typically stay on the trees until early spring, withstanding the effects of even ice and snow.

American Beech (Fagus grandifolia), in March

Why do American Beech and other trees keep some of their leaves in winter? There are many theories: the dry leaves may be a deterrent to winter browsing by deer, moose and other mammals; holding some of the leaves until spring may be the trees’ way of time-releasing some nutrients for recycling into the soil; the leaves may funnel more snow melt to the tree’s root system. But no one knows for certain what caused this trait.

The smooth, pale gray bark is an unmistakable characteristic of American Beech, often tempting passers-by to carve their initials. A more interesting possibility is a sighting of animal ‘tracks’ – claw marks from animals that may have climbed the tree at some point.

Animal ‘tracks’ on American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)

Trees are susceptible to frost cracks in winter, caused by warming from the low-angled rays of the winter sun, followed by rapid cooling when the sun sets or disappears behind a cloud. Both the bark and the wood it encompasses expand in the warm sun, but the bark may cool more quickly than the wood when the sun disappears, causing lengthwise cracks to occur in the bark. If temperatures are warm enough, portions of the inner bark may become active, only to be killed if a rapid refreeze occurs. American Beech evolved to minimize the harsh effects of the sun by having light-colored bark that reflects the sun’s rays. The winter leaves may provide an additional layer of protection from the warm sunlight.

American Beech’s long, sharply pointed copper-colored buds are another distinctive winter identification feature.

American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) buds

As spring approaches, American Beech buds grow longer and plump, eventually opening to reveal newly unfurling leaves, accordion pleated and hairy as they first emerge. The long silky hairs are an adaptation to make the new leaves less appealing to the many species of hungry caterpillars and other insects that may eat the leaves later as the hairiness dissipates.

Newly unfurled leaves of American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)

According to Bringing Nature Home by Douglas Tallamy, American Beech provides food for the caterpillars of over 100 species of butterflies and moths. Among them is the Early Hairstreak butterfly, a rare species found in deciduous or mixed woodlands from the maritime provinces of Canada to northern Michigan and Wisconsin through the Appalachians to Tennessee and North Carolina. Early Hairstreak caterpillars can only eat the leaves of American Beech and Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta). The presence of caterpillars attracts predatory insects and arachnids to feed on them, including many species of spiders, wasps, ants and flies. These insects are beneficial to the trees, because they help keep the caterpillar population in check.

In addition to butterfly and moth caterpillars, a few of the insects that use American Beech include Leaf-footed Bugs,

Leaf-footed Bug (Acanthocephala species) on American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)

leaf-rollers,

Insect shelter, likely leaf-rolling weevil nest

and Woolly Beech Aphids.

Woolly Beech Aphids (Phyllaphis fagi)

The Woolly Beech Aphids’ honeydew in turn attracts other insects who eat it, including wasps and ants.

Ants harvesting Woolly Beech Aphid Honeydew

Ants help protect the tree from the insects that feed on its leaves, by aggressively attacking them.

The Harvester butterfly also feeds on the Woolly Beech Aphid’s honeydew, although its first choice is Wooly Alder aphids. The Harvester’s caterpillars eat the aphids themselves.

Harvester Butterfly

A non-native scale insect (cryptococcus fagisuga) introduced through the nursery trade on European Beech threatens the health of American Beech by providing an opening in the bark that together with a fungus enables beech bark disease. This is a good example of the importance of using native plants in your own garden, and the danger of using introduced exotic plants.

There is a fungus species that grows exclusively on the Woolly Beech Aphid’s honeydew, a sooty mold descriptively named Beech Aphid Poop-eater (Scorias spongiosa). Some studies have shown that leaves covered in sooty molds are more effective at removing pollution from the air than other leaves are.

Beech Aphid Poop-eater (Scorias spongiosa)

Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) and Burnt-Orange Bolete (Tylopilus ballouii) mushrooms, both edible, are among the other fungi that may be found on or near American Beech.

American Beech develops natural cavities that provide nesting sites for cavity nesting birds like Titmice, Chickadees, Woodpeckers and Nuthatches, all of whom rely on insects for a large part of their diet, and will help protect the tree from insect leaf-eaters. Chipmunks, squirrels, porcupines and other mammals also take advantage of the natural shelter American Beech offers.

Gray Squirrel in cavity of American Beech

Other birds, like the Wood Thrush below, may nest on the limbs of American Beech, using some of the previous year’s fallen leaves as nesting material.

Wood Thrush on her nest in an American Beech. Some old Beech leaves have been used as nest material.

American Beech’s fallen leaves may offer insect protein for ground-feeders like the Ovenbird.

Insect nest on fallen American Beech leaf

Ovenbird in American Beech

Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana) depends on American Beech for its survival, since it gets its food from the tree’s roots. Look for the flowers in late summer or early fall, and the brown seed capsules throughout the winter.

Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana) flowers

Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana) in winter

American Beech flowers are wind pollinated, with separate male and female flowers both on the same plant. They bloom as the leaves are opening.

Male flowers of American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)

Nuts are produced if the flowers are successfully pollinated, usually 2 or 3 three-sided nuts per husk.

American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) nuts

The nuts are a source of high protein and fat for mammals and birds, including red, gray and flying squirrels, chipmunks, bears, Blue Jays, Tufted Titmice, Wild Turkey, and Ruffed and Spruce Grouse.

Tufted Titmouse eating American Beech nut

Nothing goes to waste in nature, so an empty beechnut husk may be reused as a shelter by an insect.

Insect nest in husk of American Beech

As the nights get longer and the temperatures drop in the fall, the American Beech begins to prepare for winter. The leaves gradually stop producing chlorophyll, which reduces the green color visible in the leaves, revealing the yellows and oranges of carotenes, and the brown tannins, .

American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) leaf in fall

American Beech is native in moist woodlands in the eastern United States and Canada. The bounty of insects supported along with its nutritious nuts makes it one of our most valuable tree species for wildlife.

Golden-crowned Kinglet in American Beech

Resources

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

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

Eaton, Eric R.; Kauffman, Ken. Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. 2007.

Lincoff, Gary H. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. 1981

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

Tallamy, Douglas W. Bringing Nature Home, 2007,

Wojtech, Michael. Bark A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast. 2011.

USDA NRCS Plants Database

Tom Volk’s Fungi

iNaturalist.org
http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/144013-Scorias-spongiosa

Butterflies and Moths of North America http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Erora-laeta

Illinois Wildflowers
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/trees/plants/am_beech.htm

Penn State Extension Natural Resources
http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/forests/news/2012/winter-leaves-that-hang-on

Northern Woodlands
http://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/why-do-some-leaves-persist-on-beech-and-oak-trees-well-into-winter

Invasive.org
http://www.invasive.org/browse/subinfo.cfm?sub=300

An Orchid in Winter

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Mary Anne Borge

On a walk in the woods the other day, I found what I was looking for: a leaf! It may seem like it should be pretty easy to find a leaf on the forest floor, but I was looking for something very specific, not a fallen leaf, but the newly unfurled leaf of a native orchid called Puttyroot (Aplectrum hyemale).

Puttyroot (Aplectrum hyemale) leaf

‘Hyemale’ means winter, a reference to the fact that the leaves of this plant emerge in late November or December and are visible until spring. Puttyroot is found in rich deciduous woodlands, often in the company of Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) and American Beech (Fagus grandifolia). It gathers its energy from the sun during the months when the forest canopy is open, while the leaves are off the trees. Photosynthesis occurs in this plant at temperatures as low as 35ºF (2ºC). During this time, Puttyroot also benefits from the nutrients released to the soil from the blanket of decomposing leaves from the neighboring trees.

In ideal conditions, Puttyroot sends up a single striped, accordion-pleated leaf in late fall, about 3-8 inches (.75 – 2 dm) long and 1-3 inches (.25 – .75 dm) wide. The leaf dies back by the time the single flower stalk blooms in May or early June. The flower stalk height can vary from about 6 to 20 inches (1.5 – 5 dm).

Puttyroot (Aplectrum hyemale) flowers

Bees are likely the pollinators of Puttyroot, enticed to visit by the showy flowers, but they aren’t rewarded for their efforts, since the flowers don’t offer any nectar. If bees don’t come through, the flowers can also self-fertilize if necessary. Puttyroot’s many tiny seeds are dispersed by the wind.

Puttyroot (Aplectrum hyemale) flower

There may be years when a Puttyroot plant doesn’t bloom, its presence only revealed by the winter leaf. Some years the plant may be completely dormant, without even the leaf visible above ground.

This orchid species is native throughout the eastern half of the United States (except Florida) and in Quebec and Ontario provinces in Canada, but it is listed as rare, threatened or endangered throughout much of its range, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Massachusetts.

Non-native, invasive plants like Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and Japanese Stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) are a serious threat to Puttyroot and its companion woodland plants. Not only do these invasive species compete for resources with native plants, they also alter the soil chemistry in a negative way, interfering with the mycorrhizal fungi that is present. Most plants don’t get the nutrients they need directly from the soil, but rather through a partnership with mycorrhizal fungi. Plants provide sugars to the fungi, and the fungi in turn make nutrients available to the plants. If the fungi aren’t present, the plants won’t get the nutrients necessary to continue to be viable. The good news is that both Garlic Mustard and Japanese Stiltgrass are easy to remove by pulling. Garlic Mustard is edible, so you can reward yourself for removing it by eating your ‘harvest’. Garlic Mustard pesto, anyone?

Early settlers used a mucilaginous substance obtained from Puttyroot’s corms (part of the underground food storage system) to repair broken pottery, a practice that resulted in the plant’s common name. Another common name, Adam and Eve, also refers to the plant’s corms, which are usually paired.

Puttyroot (Aplectrum hyemale) leaf

Go for a walk in the woods and see if you can find a Puttyroot leaf. If you’re successful, make a mental note of its location. Then visit the spot again in May or June, to see if you can find the flower stalk in bloom. Repeat the process until you find this buried treasure!

Resources

Capon, Brian. Botany for Gardeners. 2005

USDA Plants Database

Go Botany

New England Plant Conservation Program Aplectrum hyemale (Muhl. ex Willd.) Nutt. Puttyroot

Illinois Wildflowers

USDA National Invasive Species Information Center:
Garlic Mustard
Japanese Stiltgrass

The Natural Web

Exploring Nature's Connections

Category Archives: Conservation

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