Hemiparasites

Last year, walking in the woods at lunch, I found an odd plant with fern-like foliage and tubular, lipped yellow flowers. I took photos and noted the location for future visits. It turned out to be Pedicularis canadensis, wood betony, a hemiparasitic plant. What is a hemiparasitic plant? In the case of wood betony, it has leaves that photosynthesize nourishment for the plant, but if you were to look underground, you would see that its roots attach to the roots of another plants, stealing water and minerals and avoiding the hard work of sending down its own deep roots.

Wood betony (Pedicularis canadensis), hemiparasite

Flowers.

Many beautiful wildflowers are parasitic. One of my favorites is Indian paintbrush, with plumes of flowers that look like they've been dipped in bright red paint. I saw large swaths of it on the side of the Interstate last Friday.

Maybe the most famous hemiparasitic plant is mistletoe, though it attaches to tree branches instead of roots.

A few other things blooming on my walk:

Coreopsis

Coreopsis

More white wild indigo.

White Wild Indigo

White wild indigo (Baptisia alba), found in the wild, with thigh-high spikes of white flowers, is a sight to behold. This native member of the bean family, along with other members of the Baptisia genus, have become popular in native and perennial gardens. I'm lucky to have found two Baptisiae growing in the woods near my dad's house. 

(The other is an endangered species, Baptisia megacarpa, with yellow not-as-pretty flowers that arrive in early summer followed by bean pods that look puffed up like balloons.)

I took a few photos of white wild indigo this morning:

Cucumber magnolia

The cucumber magnolia (Magnolia acuminata) is a large deciduous tree with greenish-yellow flowers, followed by oblong, bumpy green fruit that look like little cucumbers (hence the name). Since the tree is so large, and the flowers mostly unnoticeable, one could argue that this tree is more of a curiosity for the collector than something you'd want to plant as a specimen in a front yard. It is native, however, and if found on-site I would keep it if it were in good shape. This one is growing in the arboretum at Auburn.

Cucumber Magnolia (Magnolia acuminata) in flower.

Another gem flowering in the arboretum is the Alabama azalea (Rhododendron alabamense). It has white fragrant flowers with a yellow blotch in the center. I planted one in my mom's yard a long time ago and it died eventually. It probably grows best on a high site in moist, acidic soil, and pine shade (that high-light, diffuse shade found under groves of pine trees - the best shade for most azaleas). I planted mine on a lower site with denser oak and sweetgum shade. No bueno.

Alabama azalea (Rhododendron alabamense)

Finally, I couldn't resist a photo of one of the young grancy greybeards they planted in the arboretum. Chionanthus virginicus is also known as white fringe tree, but I prefer the less prosaic common name "grancy greybeard". It's in the olive family and dioecious; that is, each tree is either male or female. Although, some trees have both male and female flowers. The male flowers are more showy than the female, so when buying a tree,  it's best either select it while in flower, or find out whether it is a male tree (Good luck with that at Wal-Mart or Lowe's).

Grancy Greybeard (Chionanthus virginicus)

Florida Anise, Carolina silverbell, Atamasco Lilies

Spring wildflower season is still in full swing.

Florida anise (Illicium floridanum) belongs to a group, along with Magnolias, of some of the most ancient lineages of flowering plants. It is not closely related to the culinary anise, but has the name because many species in the genus Illicium have an anise-like fragrance. (Star anise - from Illicium verum - is a spice from China). I was just reading that Illicium is derived from the Latin verb illicio, meaning "entice, seduce".

Florida anise, though cousins with the enticing star anise, is not itself enticing, at least fragrance-wise. The anise scent upon crushing the leaves has overtones of rotten fish that persisted on my fingers for quite some time. The flowers, however, are quite lovely. One finds these in the woods in damp shady areas and near streams.

Florida anise (Illicium floridanum)

Florida anise, flower.

Florida anise, close-up.

Another spring beauty found in shady spots near streams is the Carolina silverbell (Halesia carolina). It's a small tree that flowers in spring, followed by wing-like fruit in summer.

Carolina silverbell (Halesia carolina)

Carolina silverbell - aptly named.

Just over the bank from the silverbell I spotted a large colony of Atamasco lilies - the largest I've seen yet. I took off my shoes, rolled up my pants, and crossed to the other side. It was a magnificent sight for wildflower hunters like me.

Atamasco lilies (Zephyranthes atamasco)

They were growing along what looked like an old creek bank, at the base of an oak tree.

Atamasco lilies everywhere.

I couldn't get enough. I filled my camera card.

Chewacla with Friends and Red Buckeyes

Yesterday, after work, I met two old friends who are in town and their baby at Chewacla. I asked if she (the baby) had been to Chewacla before. Not outside of the womb, they said. I think I was with them in Chewacla while she was in the womb, too. I suppose Chewacla is our place.

It was beautiful yesterday. I was there to identify all the plants; my friend was there to identify all the rocks (at the park one finds 1.2 billion year old foundation rocks and 900 million year old "new" rocks from one of the periods in which Alabama was covered in sea).

In any case, I had my camera and took photos of plants. The red buckeyes (Aesculus pavia) were amazing in bloom. I took (too) many photos of them. I selected three:

Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia)

Bumblebees loved the red buckeye. I've read hummingbirds love them, too, but didn't see any.

The forest floor was covered in red buckeye for as far as you could see.

A few weeks ago I posted photos of violet wood-sorrel (Oxalis violacea). Now one of her yellow cousins is blooming. There are several yellow species that grow in Alabama, and I am having a hard time distinguishing them. Based on photos, this one looks like the tufted yellow wood-sorrel (Oxalis priceae). Some may have heard of oxalates, which can form kidney stones. The dianion is named after Oxalis.  

A yellow wood-sorrel, possibly the "tufted" species (Oxalis priceae)

Other sights:

Native azalea, probably Piedmont azalea (Rhododendron canescens) growing in the wild. Fragrance level: intoxicating honeysuckle.

View from the highest point in the park, Chewacla Creek below. Ugly water tower in the distance.

Chewacla Creek (or a branch thereof)

Cherokee Rose

Dad took cuttings from Cherokee roses growing in the woods and planted them along our fence. Their fierce thorns augment the barbed wire. The Cherokee rose (Rosa laevigata) is the state flower of Georgia, but it's actually native to southern China and persists here as an invasive. The plant has canes that cling to trees with their thorns, growing long enough to scale a pine tree. Single while flowers cover the vine in spring.

Cherokee rose (Rosa laevigata)

Cherokee rose

Other beauties of the day:

Blue toadflax (Nuttallanthus canadensis), a native relative of snapdragon.

Blue toadflax, next to the pond.

Atamasco lily (Zephyranthes atamasco), our native Easter lily.

Triune Atamasco lily

White oak (Quercus alba) new leaves unfurling.

A Walk in the Woods

The woods were especially stunning on my walk this morning. Little fishes flapped over the dam of the pond. Bees and flies buzzed around. Flowers opened.

Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia) in bloom.

The sun made its way out.

Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens)

The fragrance is incredibly sweet. I see large trusses of this vine on both sides of the road on the way to work.

Atamasco lily (Zephyranthes atamasco), always one of my favorites. It's not actually a lily, but more closely related to Amaryllis. My grandmother calls them Easter lilies; there was a field of them beneath her childhood church.

Violet wood-sorrell (Oxalis violacea). Charming.

Close-up.

Garden Gems

I wish I had brought my good camera this morning. The mild, wet weather we've had recently has really brought out the blooms. I tasted my first fresh salad burnet leaf this morning, and what a flavor it was! Like cucumber, but with an herbal/peppery aftertaste. I want to try it in a salad. The nasturtium seedlings are beginning to poke into the light.

Here are some of the flowers that were blooming:

Tulipa bakeri 'Lilac Wonder'
One of the earliest-blooming species tulips, apparently named after someone named Baker. The species seems to be the same as Tulipa saxatilis, the Latin saxum meaning "stone" or "rock" and saxatilis meaning "that which lives among the rocks." I planted these among some rocks my dad brought me from the creek.

Narcissus 'Trevithian'
I take photos of these every year, but I've never caught their effect in the garden on camera. This fragrant selection from N. jonquilla has smaller flowers than larger daffodils commonly grown, but it blooms en masse, forming a vibrant block of glowing butter that beckons the eye from hundreds of feet away.

Camellia japonica 'Nuccio's Pearl'
The Nuccio camellias were bred in California and are not well-adapted to the cold snaps we get in our Southern springs (the plant is hardy but the bloom time is out of sync with our weather patterns). Most years this camellia has brown, soggy, frostbitten flowers. Our mild weather lately, though, has allowed this camellia to shine.