Monarch butterfly on Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa), in the meadow at Pennswood Village, Newtown, PA
In the past week, I’ve seen Monarchs in three different locations. (This is the only one that would pose for me!) Cause for optimism? Have you seen any Monarchs this summer?
Juniper Hairstreaks are sprightly little butterflies with varying color forms that predominate in different parts of their range. Where I live in the east, the ‘Olive’ Juniper Hairstreak is present, sporting a sparkling bright green and brown coloration. The Juniper Hairstreak is named after its caterpillar food plant, which is Eastern Red Cedar in much of the eastern two thirds of the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains. To understand the origin of the butterfly’s name, it helps to know that this plant is actually a juniper, reflected in its scientific name, Juniperus virginiana.
Juniper Hairstreak nectaring on Short-toothed Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum)
Juniper Hairstreak’s distribution is sometimes described as ‘locally common’, because this butterfly is usually found in close proximity to its caterpillar food plant. Male Juniper Hairstreaks spend their time perched on the branches of their caterpillar food trees, waiting for a receptive female to appear. Eggs are laid singly on the tips of the tree branches.
Juniper Hairstreak nectaring on Narrow-leaved Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium)
Adult Juniper Hairstreaks visit flowers of many perennials for nectar, but this is most often in the vicinity of their caterpillar food plants. In my area, they seem especially fond of nectaring at Mountain Mints (Pycnanthemum species), but I have also seen them feeding on coneflowers and other aster family members.
Juniper Hairstreak nectaring on Eastern Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida)
Eastern Red Cedar is an evergreen tree with a shape that is generally pyramidal or columnar. It usually grows to a maximum height of about 40 feet (12+ meters), although in the right conditions it can grow taller. It does best in full sun. Eastern Red Cedar can tolerate moist to dry soils but is especially well adapted to dry conditions, making it a good candidate for locations where drought is a concern. It is effective alone as a specimen tree, or on larger properties it can be used for privacy screening or to line a driveway. Its deep root system enables Eastern Red Cedar to stand up to strong winds, so it also makes an effective windbreak. It can even stand up to tropical storms.
Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
The evergreen foliage of Eastern Red Cedar provides year-round visual interest. It is accented by the changing color of its fruit, which begin to develop in pale shades of grayish blue by mid to late spring, ripening throughout the summer to a deep blue. Often some fruits will remain on the trees through much of the winter. While these fruits look like luscious berries, they are actually cones. Although there are occasional exceptions, Eastern Red Cedar generally has male and female reproductive parts on separate plants. At least one male is needed in the neighborhood to produce pollen. Only the female trees will have the showy berry-like cones. Eastern Red Cedar relies on wind to achieve pollination.
Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) cones
In addition to being a caterpillar food plant for Juniper Hairstreaks, Eastern Red Cedar is great for birds. The berry-like cones provide food from late summer through much of the winter for many bird species. The social Cedar Waxwings, for whom fruit is a larger part of their diet than it is for most birds, were named for their love of these cones. Eastern Red Cedar’s dense foliage provides good coverage for small to medium sized birds who are looking for a place to perch safely out of view and reach from larger predators.
Cedar Waxwing
Eastern Red Cedar is a hardy tree that reproduces readily. It is sometimes referred to as a pioneer species, since it is often one of the first tree species to appear in fields and meadows. This is usually the result of its seeds passing through the digestive system of birds, a process that increases the chance that the seed will germinate successfully.
What do Juniper Hairstreaks and Cedar Waxwings have in common? Both depend on Eastern Red Cedar for food. Juniper Hairstreak caterpillars rely for their survival solely on this tree species . Cedar Waxwings have a strong preference for the cones of Eastern Red Cedar, but also eat many other fruits. The names of both of these animals reflect the strong association between them and Eastern Red Cedar.
Watch to see how many different bird species dine or take shelter in Eastern Red Cedar. If there are good nectar plants nearby, you’ve found a hospitable home for Juniper Hairstreaks, too.
Juniper Hairstreak on Hoary Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum incanum)
Resources
USDA Eastern Red Cedar Plant Fact Sheet
USDA Eastern Red Cedar Plant Guide
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Butterflies and Moths of North America
Sibley, David Allen. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. 2001.
Spring unfolds more slowly in northern Vermont than it does where I live in the mid-Atlantic. So we were able to catch some late spring action in the Stowe area recently. The show started in the gardens at Trapp Family Lodge, where an Eastern Chipmunk foraged among the Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) and Wild Bleeding Heart (Dicentra eximia),
Eastern Chipmunk with Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) and Wild Bleeding Heart (Dicentra eximia)
while a Groundhog family watched nearby.
Groundhog family in the garden at Trapps
The woods at Trapps and the other natural areas we visited were lush with ferns, with a bounty of other diverse plants peaking through them.
The woods from Fox Track trail at the Trapp Family Lodge
Narrow Beech Fern (Phegopteris hexagonoptera) with Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) and Hooked Crowfoot (Ranuunculus recurvatus)
Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) at Wiessner Woods
Pink Lady’s Slippers (Cypripedium acaule) shyly raised their heads for our viewing pleasure.
Pink Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium acaule)
Pink Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium acaule)
Goldthread (Coptis trifolia) had finished blooming, and was setting fruit.
Goldthread (Coptis trifolia) with Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense) leaves
Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense) shown in the sun’s spotlight,
Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense)
while the delicate blossoms of False Solomon’s Seal (Maianthemum racemosum) lit the trails.
False Solomon’s Seal (Maianthemum racemosum)
A White-tailed Deer was unfazed by our visit to her domain.
White-tailed Deer
Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) was in various stages of its bloom cycle in different locations. We often found it close to water.
Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)
In the woods, most of the potential pollinators were flies of various species. In the photo below, the fly on the Foamflower is harvesting pollen, a food source for some fly species.
Fly harvesting pollen from Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)
Bluebead Lily (Clintonia borealis) was just beginning to bloom, often visited by the fly shown here.
Bluebead Lily (Clintonia borealis)
Bluebead Lily (Clintonia borealis) with flower visitor
A Robber Fly, better know for its diet of other insects than for drinking nectar, visited Dwarf Ginseng (Panax trifolius) flowers.
Dwarf Ginseng (Panax trifolius) with Robber Fly
Dwarf Ginseng was popular with another fly visitor who unknowingly gathered pollen on its hairy body for possible dispersal to other flowers.
Dwarf Ginseng (Panax trifolius) with potential pollinator
Near Stevenson Brook in Little River State Park,
Stevenson Brook at Little River State Park
Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophylum virginianum) bloomed a deep violet, pictured here with a flower visitor coming in for a landing.
Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophylum virginianum)
Southern Pygmy Clubtail dragonflies rested on a fern at Sterling Falls Gorge.
Southern Pygmy Clubtail dragonflies
Sterling Falls Gorge
Bluets (Houstonia caerulea) brightened a meadow at Trapps, the yellow nectar guides at their throats attracting a variety of visitors, incuding Bumble Bees, Eight-spotted Forester moths, Bee Flies and a Mustard White butterfly.
Bluets (Houstonia caerulea)
Bluets (Houstonia caerulea) with Bumble Bee
Bluets (Houstonia caerulea) with Bee Fly (Bombylius major)
Bluets (Houstonia caerulea) with Mustard White butterfly
The Mustard White was a new butterfly for me. Its numbers have diminished in recent years because of habitat loss, and possibly also due to the increase of the invasive Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata). Mustard White caterpillars rely for food on our native mustards, such as Toothwort (Cardamine diphylla) and Cut-leaved Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata). Toothwort is present along the trails near the clearing where we saw the Mustard White, and Garlic Mustard was nowhere to be seen.
Back in the woods, two crane flies mated, doing their part to ensure that the show will continue.
Crane Flies mating
The existence of Yellow Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum) orchids is like winning the lottery, on so many levels. Their bright yellow moccasin shaped petals, complemented by deeply veined lush green leaves, are strikingly beautiful.
Yellow Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum) orchids
Yellow Lady’s Slipper uses its showy floral display to entice bees to assist in its pollination. In addition to the bright yellow pouch, the flowers have two more petals, one on each side of the slipper, usually twisted, with striping varying from green to dark maroon or purple. They look like they should be the ties that would be used to keep the slipper on a lady’s foot. The sepals, which can be seen above and below the back of the slipper, resemble the petals. Together, they create a display designed to entice potential pollinators.
Yellow Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum)
Bees visit flowers in the expectation of a food reward in the form of nectar, or pollen, or both. Yellow Lady’s Slippers don’t produce nectar, so pollen is the only possible reward. Once a bee has discovered the flower, more direction is provided. At the back of the opening to the slipper, there is a triangular structure dotted with maroon, pointing downward. This advertisement is the kind of sign the bee is expecting, promising it a reward if it enters the slipper.
Yellow Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum) Note the shield-shaped ‘nectar’ guide at the back of the flower
There is maroon-purple striping inside the slipper, pointing to the reproductive parts of the flower, which are behind the triangular structure beckoning the bee to enter the slipper. Gland-tipped hairs nudge the bee toward the receptive female flower part (the stigma) first. If the bee has already visited a compatible flower, pollen will be scraped off and deposited, fulfilling the bee’s role in the pollination process. The bee must then pass by one of two anthers, the male flower part where the pollen is found. In many flowers, this would be the bee’s payback. The bee would be able to harvest pollen to bring back to its nest to feed its offspring. But all of the pollen grains of a Yellow Lady’s Slipper’s anther, of which there are thousands, are packed together in a single pollinium, which is attached to the bee as it passes the anther, preparing to exit the flower from the side of the triangular advertising structure. The pollen grains are not available to the bee to harvest for its own use. The bee has been duped! The flower advertised falsely, and the bee leaves without a reward.
Yellow Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum) Note the maroon striping inside the ‘slipper’. The bee is only able to exit the slipper from the openings on either side of the triangular structure whose nectar guides first enticed it to enter the slipper.
It is usually a medium sized bee, possibly a Little Carpenter, Halictid, Mason or Andrenid, that successfully navigates a Yellow Lady’s Slipper, since the pollinator must be small enough to fit through the flower’s exit hole. If the bee is too large, it may be trapped inside the flower.
Perhaps not surprisingly, successful pollination does not often occur. (How many bees are gullible enough to fall for the false advertising twice, the minimum number of times necessary to achieve pollination? Probably not that many.) So Yellow Lady’s Slipper makes every successful pollination event count, enabling fertilization of thousands of ovules in the plant that receives them.
The result is a fruit capsule that contains thousands of tiny, dust-like seeds that are wind dispersed through slits in the capsule. But only a small percentage of the seeds find their way to a location that is hospitable to the plant. The presence of the right mycorrhizal fungus in the soil is especially important, since it is only through the fungus that the orchid is able to obtain the nutrients it needs to survive. Even if the seed finds the right conditions to establish itself, it can take ten years or more to be mature enough to produce a flower.
Yellow Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum) fruit capsule
Yellow Lady’s Slipper is fairly widespread, but not common, and is considered threatened or endangered in some states. This lovely orchid can be found in a variety of habitats, from woodland understory to meadows and bogs, primarily in the eastern United States (excluding Florida), the Rocky Mountain states, most Canadian provinces, and even Alaska.
If you see it, you know you’ve won the lottery.
Yellow Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum)
Note: There are three varieties of Yellow Lady’s Slipper. The most common is Greater Yellow Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens). Cypripedium parviflorum var. makasin is often, but not always, smaller, and may have a musty scent. It can be found in the northern part of the range. Lesser Yellow Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum var. parviflorum) tends to be smaller, and has more consistently dark markings on the lateral petals and sepals. It’s range is more southern.
Resources
Eastman, John. The Book of Forest and Thicket. 1992.
Gracie, Carol. Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast. 2012.
Willmer, Pat. Pollination and Floral Ecology. 2011.
Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium)
Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium) begins to bloom about a week after Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida), its profuse rounded clusters of creamy white flowers visited by a variety of bees, flies and butterflies for their nectar and pollen. Although less well known than some of its woodland neighbors, such as Dogwood and Redbud, Blackhaw Viburnum’s subtle beauty is a common and essential element of the forest’s palette in spring.
Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium)
Spring Azure butterfly caterpillars may eat the flowers or buds of many woody plant species, including the viburnums.
Spring Azure
Hummingbird Clearwing moth caterpillars may feed on their leaves.
Hummingbird Clearwing nectaring on Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
In their later development stages, even Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillars may migrate from the leaves of their preferred food plant, Turtlehead (Chelone glabra) to eat viburnum leaves.
Baltimore Checkerspot
The caterpillars may be lucky enough to attain adulthood, or they may become food for another animal somewhere along the way. Caterpillars are an important source of food for many animals, but especially for birds. It can take thousands of caterpillars to feed a hungry brood of young Chickadees or Titmice.
Tufted Titmouse
If Blackhaw Viburnum’s spring visitors successfully pollinate its flowers, dark blue fruits (called drupes) are produced, maturing in fall.
Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium) fruit
Chipmunks, squirrels and many bird species, including Hermit Thrush, Cardinals, Bluebirds and White-throated Sparrows, are among those that eat the fruit.
Northern Cardinal
Blackhaw Virburnum can be single or multi-stemmed, and grows to a maximum height of about 15-25 feet (4.6-7.6 meters). It tends to grow taller when single-stemmed. Its natural habitat is generally medium to dry upland areas, even growing in rocky soil, like the Sourland Mountains of New Jersey where I live. Its range is from New York to Michigan and Wisconsin in the north, to the south from Texas to Georgia.
Blackhaw Virburnum makes a great landscape plant. Look for it blooming in a forest near you, or better yet, add it to your garden and enjoy it and its visitors throughout the seasons.
Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium)
Resources
Cech, Rick; Tudor, Guy. Butterflies of the East Coast. 2005.
Wagner, David L.; Caterpillars of Eastern North America, 2005.
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/trees/plants/blackhaw.htm
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