Ramble Report September 20 2018

Today's Ramble was led by Linda Chafin.

Here's the link to Don's Facebook album for today's Ramble. (All the photos in this post are compliments of Don.)

Today's post was written by Linda Chafin (plants) & Dale Hoyt (insects).

Today’s Focus: Grasses and wildflowers in the ROW, plus a few critters and activity on the deer fence passionflower vines

19 Ramblers met today.

Announcements:

Andrea Wulf, historian and award winning author of The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World; Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens; and Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation and the Shaping of the American Nation, will be speaking at the Chapel on the UGA campus at 4 pm on October 18^th. Some Ramblers may remember her appearance here a few years ago. If you missed that presentation this will be your chance to see what a brilliant speaker she is! For more information visit this website.

Dead Monarch caterpillar

Show and Tell: Carla brought a dead Monarch caterpillar, still attached to a leaf, that appears to have been attacked and relieved of much of its internal fluids.

Ramble poet laureate explains life to a friendly squirrel

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Today's reading: Bob Ambrose graced us with another of his fine poems, this one entitled On the Care and Feeding of Rodents.

Today's Route:   We left the plaza and passed through the conservatory and made our way across the Herb and Physic Garden to the edge of the Native American Southeastern Tribes section at the head of the Purple Trail.  We took it down to the river and headed upstream (west) on the Orange Trail and White Trail, ending up in the powerline right-of-way. We then enjoyed air conditioning, refreshments, and conversation at the Cafe Botanica.

LIST OF OBSERVATIONS:

Visitor Center Plaza:

Red-spotted Purple resting on the hood of a pitcher plant.

A Red-spotted Purple butterfly was seen nectaring on a pitcher plant leaf in one of the fountain plantings. Pitcher plants produce nectar around the rim of their pitchers to entice insects, many of which then slide or fall into the pitcher. It’s unlikely that a butterfly of this size would fall into a pitcher, but it could happen.

It’s very unusual to see this species taking nectar. They usually are found on dung or overripe fruit and fermenting sap flows.

Giant Swallowtail butterflies are visiting the flower heads of Mexican sunflower.

Flower heads of Perfoliate-leaf Boneset

It looks like the stem runs through a single leaf of the Perfoliate-leaf Boneset

Perfoliate-leaf Boneset is growing at the edge of the woods between the Physic Garden and the top of the Purple Trail. There are three species of Boneset (sometimes called Thoroughwort) growing wild at the Garden, including this one, all with very similar white inflorescences – the easiest way to tell them apart is by their leaves. Late Boneset has large, toothed, lance-shaped leaves with long stalks. Hyssop-leaf Boneset has short, narrow leaves lacking stalks. The large perfoliate leaves of Perfoliate-leaf Boneset are the oddest:  the bases of a pair of leaves are fused together around the stem so that it appears that the stem is growing through a single leaf. The leaves are coarsely toothed and have a network of very obvious veins on the upper surface. Typically found in wetlands, these plants seem to be thriving here in dry upland soils. Like the other Bonesets, its flower heads attract a wide range of pollinators, including bees, flies, wasps, butterflies, and beetles. Its bitter foliage discourages browsing by deer.

Purple Trail:

We were happy to note that Japanese Stilt Grass is no longer growing on the green roof of the garden shed at the top of the Purple Trail. Gary, who is working part time for the Garden as an invasive plant specialist, recently sprayed the Stilt Grass with a grass-specific herbicide that did not damage the other plants on the roof.

False Turkey Tail

False Turkey Tail fungi have populated the decaying wood of a downed Northern Red Oak. False Turkey Tails have smooth lower surfaces, which on the “true” Turkey Tails are rough and grainy. Northern Red Oaks are the mostly frequently wind-thrown tree at the Garden, likely due to the droughts, heat, and strong storms that have plagued the southeast in the last decade.

Orange Trail, heading upstream:

Small White Aster

Small White Aster is just coming into bloom. It is one of at least four “confusing fall asters” in Georgia that are bushy with nearly woody stems, tiny leaves on their branches, much larger leaves on the main stem, and small heads of white ray flowers and red or yellow disk flowers.

Goldenrods, in the genus Solidago, are abundant in Georgia–we have at least 36 species, with half of these in the Piedmont, and they are usually hard to identify.

Wreath Goldenrod

One of the easiest is Wreath Goldenrod because its flower heads are in small clusters held at the base of the leaves (most goldenrods have flowers in a large spreading cluster at the top of the stem).

Heats-a-Burstin' (AKA American Strawberry Bush, Hearts-a-Bustin' )

Hearts-a-Burstin' is in full glory now, with the orange-coated seeds dangling beneath the bright pink, warty fruit that has opened out into 4 or 5 segments. The brightly colored fruits attract birds that are beginning to migrate south this time of year.

Despite Gary’s efforts, some Japanese Stilt Grass remains along the Orange Trail. Its sprawling habit and silvery, off-center midveins distinguish it from several look-alikes.

Cross-vine is abundant along the river levee and is easy to spot with its opposite leaves, each bearing two leaflets and a curling tendril.

Burls on Winged Elm

A Winged Elm, covered with burls, is growing on the river bank. Burls are woody, rounded masses on the trunks and roots of trees caused by a pathogen – bacteria, fungi, virus, or egg-laying insects–that has invaded the live tissue beneath the bark. The pathogen releases chemicals that stimulate the production of tumor-like tissue. This tissue isolates and contains the invader so that the damage is limited to the burl. Burls are usually not fatal and will continue to grow with the tree, laying down annual rings like the rest of the tree. Burls are much sought after by wood turners, who turn the crazy growth pattern of burl cells into works of art.

Nimblewill Grass is one several native plants that can be mistaken for Japanese Stilt Grass. A small, inconspicuous grass found in lowlands, Nimblewill shares none of the dramatic beauty of its close relative, Pink Muhly Grass.

Dotted Smartweed

Dotted Smartweed is one of several very common smartweeds at the Garden. All belong to the genus Persicaria (recently changed from Polygonum) and all have ocrea, a small sleeve of tissue that surrounds the stem at the base of the leaf. Dotted Smartweed has white, pink, or pale green flowers scattered along a short spike. With a 10x hand lens, you can see that the flowers are covered with tiny depressions called gland dots.

Pennsylvania Smartweed

Pennsylvania Smartweed (or Common Smartweed) have pink, non-glandular flowers in a small, crowded spike.

Smartweeds are also called water-peppers, for the same reason: most have a compound in their leaves that “smart” or burn your tongue. Their edibility is addressed in this article:

In spite of their small size and relative small fruits, smartweeds are an important food source for wetland birds.

Sweet Autumn Clematis (L) and Virgin's Bower (R)Credit: University of Wisconsin-Extension Master Gardener Program

There are two clambering vines–one native, one Asian–growing along the river levee and in the right-of-way with the common name of Virgin’s Bower. (The Asian species is also known as Sweet Autumn Clematis.) They have similar flowers, but their leaves are different: the native Virgin’s Bower has three toothed leaflets, each with a pointed tip; the Asian species has 3-7 leaflets with entire margins and rounded tips. This time of year, when the vines are covered with fruits, it’s easy to distinguish them: the native species has 18 or more curving fruits in each head, while the Asian species has only 5-10. The long curving beaks on the fruits help with seed dispersal.

Tall Ironweed

Tall Ironweed is becoming established in the Chinese Privet removal locations along the Orange Trail. We continue to be amazed at the plant diversity (and resulting insect diversity) that has followed the removal of the privet thickets.

Bur Cucumber flowers

Bur Cucumber’s long, brittle stems are sprawling over other vegetation in the privet removal area, and bearing small, greenish-white flowers. Female and male flowers occur on the same vine. We will keep an eye out later in the season for the spiny fruits that inspired its common name.

Climbing Hempvine

Climbing Hempvine is one of only two members of the Aster Family that can be called vines. It sprawls over other plants in wetlands, bearing clusters of flower heads that look very similar to those of Boneset, with disk flowers only (no ray flowers).

Sensitive Fern

Sensitive Fern has arrived in the wetter areas of the privet removal area.

Climbing Buckwheat

Climbing Buckwheat is a vining member of the Buckwheat Family, its small fruits bearing three, frilled wings. It is a fast grower and tends to overwhelm the vegetation it climbs over.

A Spotted Sandpiper was spotted on the sand bar across the river.

River Cane

The small stand of River Cane, at the intersection of the powerline right-of-way and the river, is flourishing and expanding. It’s a mix of plants that grew there on their own and others that were planted by the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society.

Tall Thistle plants in the right-of-way were thronged with Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and Cloudless Sulphur butterflies

Yellow Crownbeard

White Crownbeard

Wingstem

Blue Mistflower

White Morning Glory

Caterpillars: Caterpillar identification is difficult because there are few guides available and those that are available don’t have any easy method for finding the caterpillar you have in hand or photo. That means flipping through a 500 page book, one page at a time. We do our best and rely on help from people who are more familiar with caterpillars than we are. One of our best local resources is Carmen Champagne, who works at Sandy Creek Nature Center and is always very helpful.

Today we found four kinds of caterpillars, including one that we were unable to identify. Here they are:

Neighbor Moth caterpillar

Neighbor Moth, Haploa contigua, found clinging to a Late Boneset, which is its foodplant.

Virginia Tiger Moth caterpillar (AKA Yellow Bear)

Virginian Tiger Moth, or Yellow Bear, Spilosoma virginica, is a bear only in the sense that a Wooly Bear caterpillar is a bear. The caterpillar feeds on a wide variety of food plants varies in color from yellow to reddish brown.

Fall Webworm caterpillar

Fall Webworm, Hyphantria cunea, builds silken nests that usually enclose the ends of branches.

Fall Webworms in their "tents" or nests on a small Box Elder tree.

These nests are on Box Elder. The caterpillars in each nest are siblings, hatching from a mass of eggs laid by a single female moth. As they grow in size and eat more of their food plant they enlarge their nest so that it covers more and more leaves. Sometimes nests that are on the same tree will enlarge to the point that they fuse. The nest protects them from predators by making access to the caterpillars more difficult. When they reach full size they leave the nest and search for a place to make a cocoon and pupate. There are up to four broods a year.

The three species above belong to a group known as the Tiger Moths. This group has moths that can make clicking noises in the ultrasonic frequencies. Such noises are thought to jam the sonar sounds that bats use to locate their prey. The Tiger Moths can also hear – they have ears on their thorax, very useful for detecting the hunting sounds of bats. The clicks the moths produce may also serve as warning signals to bats, signaling distastefulness.

A mass of newly hatched caterpillars suspended on silk threads from a Yellow Crownbeard leaf. At this early stage most caterpillars are unidentifiable.

Unidentifiable: Katherine found a large group of tiny caterpillars hanging from silk threads beneath a Yellow Crownbeard leaf. These are much too small to identify; the guides only illustrate the later stages of caterpillar development.

Butterflies: In addition to the already mentioned species (Red-spotted Purple, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Giant Swallowtail) we saw a Question Mark.

Question Mark butterfly

This species and the closely related Comma are two of the so-called  Anglewing species found in our area. Anglewings get their name from the projecting points and curves that make the outline of their wings, well, “angley.” The upper surface of the wings bears beautiful shades of brown, orange and black. The undersurface resembles a dead leaf and the “angley” projections and indentations enhances that similarity. In addition, these butterflies fly rapidly and the eye follows the color of the wings. When they suddenly alight on a tree trunk or branch they fold their wings vertically over their back, suddenly disappearing from your vision – your eye follows the color and it suddenly vanishes!

I once was walking up the power line ROW when I disturbed an Anglewing. It flew rapidly around me and disappeared. I continued up the hill and saw something moving on my shadow. I stopped and watched the shadow of a pair of wings on my hat slowly opening and closing. Suspecting that the Anglewing had landed on my hat, I slowly reached up and removed it. Sure enough, it was the butterfly, but now it was intent on sucking up the salty perspiration that saturated my hat. I stood motionless for several minutes, watching the butterfly feed, before it flew away.

SUMMARY OF OBSERVED SPECIES:

Red-spotted Purple	Limenitis arthemis astyanax
Giant Swallowtail	Papilio cresphontes
Perfoliate Boneset	Eupatorium perfoliatum
Northern Red Oak	Quercus rubra
False Turkey Tail	Stereum ostrea
Goldenrod	Solidago sp.
Smooth White Aster	Symphyotrichum porteri
Wreath Goldenrod	Solidago caesia
Strawberry Bush/Burstin'- heart	Euonymous americanus
Wingstem	Verbesina alternifolia
Japanese Stiltgrass	Microstegium vimineum
Crossvine	Bignonia capreolata
Winged Elm	Ulmus alata
Nimblewill Grass	Muhlengergia schreberi
Neighbor Moth	Haploa contigua
Dotted Smartweed	Polygonum punctatum syn Persecaria punctata
Late Boneset	Eupatorium serotinum
Yellow Bear caterpillar	Spilosoma virginica
Virgin’s Bower	Clematis virginiana
Sweet Autumn Clematis	Clematis terniflora
Tall Ironweed	Vernonia gigantea
Bur Cucumber	Sicyos angulatus
Climbing Hempvine	Mikania scandens
Sensitive Fern	Onoclea sensibilis
Carolina Anole	Anolis carolinensis
Box Elder	Acer negundo
Fall Webworm	Hyphantria cunea
Pennsylvania Smartweed	Polygonum pensylvanicum (= Persicaria pensylvanica laevigata)
Yellow Crownbeard	Verbesina occidentalis
White Crownbeard	Verbesina virginica
Blue Mistflower	Conoclinium coelestinum
Climbing Buckwheat	Fallopia scandens
Virgin's Bower	Clematis virginiana
Virginia Buttonweed	Diodia virginiana
Gulf Fritillary	Agraulis vanillae
Golden Garden Spider	Argiope aurantia
Greater Anglewing Katydid	Microcentrum rhombifolium
White Morning Glory	Ipomoea lacunosa
Sandpiper	Strophostyles helvola
River Cane	Arundinaria gigantea
Sand Bean	Strophostyles helvula
Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus
Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae
Tall Thistle	Cirsium altissimum