Propagation Team Strikes Again!

This ones coming in a little late. My apologies for that. I'm currently working on a manuscript and it has consumed a lot of my free time.

The propagation team continues to do good work. This time we started some seeds in cold moist stratification in addition to upsizing our backlog of donations. We had a major contribution from master plantsman Brett Auttenberry this time around.

Lots of lead plant, redbud, cardinal flower and frostweed, thanks to Brett Auttenberry.

Folks that attended:
Pat Villemavette
Dale Bryan
Leif Remo
Alan Pringle
Ken Bosso
Brett Auttenberry
Dick Erlicher
Matthew Herron
Lauren Hull

I've updated the webpage to include links to our propagation plant tracking list. Check out the updated webpage: http://canps.weebly.com/propagation-program.html



Plants we worked on:

Amorpha	fruiticosa	Leadplant	10
Asclepias	tuberosa	Butterfly Milkweed	7
Asclepias	viridis	Antelope Milkweed	4
Chamaechrista	sp.	Patrige Pea	30+
Decumaria	barbara	Woodvamp	6
Liatris	pycnostachya	Prairie Blazing Star	50+
Lobelia	cardinalis	Cardinal Flower	55
Opuntia	sp.	Prickly Pear	7+
Penstemon	digitalis	Foxglove Beardtongue	100+
Pinus	glabra	Spruce Pine	2
Serenoa	repens	Saw Palmetto	1
Stokesia	laevis	Stokes Aster	100+
Verbesina	caroiniana	Frostweed, Crown Beard	19

Allan Pringle heading up the seed stratification operations with his daughter and Lauren Hull.

Loading up the goods!

We are quickling filling up this hoop house. We will have to make arrangements as we get more plants. We are also noticing some major effects of the heat and lack of rain on the plants. Overhead irrigation has not really been able to keep up with the plants as they have changed containers. Volunteers are still needed to check on the plants. I've tried to go at least once a week, but that is not enough. Any help is appreciated.

Frenchtown Field and Propagation Day

 It was a fine day, if hot and humid, to get out and hike the trails at Frenchtown Conservation Area (FCA). The FCA is Baton Rouge's largest conservation property, coming in at 496 acres with Sandy Creek just behind at 386 acres and Waddill Outdoor Education Center next at 237 acres. Owned and operated by BREC Conservation Department, this property is full of surprises. Summer months do not typically boast a wide variety of woodland flowers but along edges and openings and into open woodlands, savannahs and prairies, the procession of blossoms that began in the spring continues. Open swamps are also a great place to look for summer blooms.

On drive in down Frenchtown Road, for example, I pointed out a patch of Bear's Foot or Hairy Leafcup (Smallanthus uvedalius) that I had only discovered a few days before while visiting to do trail work for BREC. It was in full bloom. Unfortunately, I couldn't grab a photo from my position in the backseat so I offer you this one down for you from the internet.

I like S. uvedalius. It's leaves remind me of Oakleaf Hydrangea. The fat, round rays stand in great contrast to the foliage. When I see it I think of its mesophytic relative Polymnia canadensis and the rich deciduous forest in which the leafcups tend to grow. 

Upon arrival, we took a nice group shot. We visited two separate, unique botanical areas. One follows an escarpment from loess terrace into backwater sloughs of the Comite River. There, steep slopes between 10-20 ft can be found where a number of plants uncommon to our area can be found. Wild Comfrey (Cynoglossum virginianum), Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa), Woodvamp (Decumaria barbara) were some of the main targets. The area is also quite rich in fern species. On our way out to this point, one of our members stumbled upon a large Xystodesmid Millipede, a diverse family of colorful millipedes many of which excrete hydrogen cyanide compound reminiscent of wedding cake.

Here I'm passing it around to let everyone get a good wiff. Cyanide compounds are also found in many plants in the Rosaceae family, including plums, apricots, apples, cherries and almonds. The crushed leaves of our native Cherry Laurel and Black Cherry give that distinct aroma as well. It is actually an evolutionary adaptation meant to deter insects, much as the millipede intends it to be used.

With a thick canopy cover most of the plants I wanted to show people were hard to find, but I think people enjoyed learning about an area where such topography can be found. I found another S. uvedalia specimen, another great addition to list in this area. There are numerous ridges in the area that still need to be combed through for cool plants. Getting out in March and April next year will be important to future botanical surveys. On our way out to next area we found several Virginia Snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria) plants and some blooming Anglepod (Matelea gonocarpos).

Next we visited the second botanical area: the azalea patch.

In the above picture I am taking some cuttings of Rhododendron canescens. There are likely more patches in East Baton Rouge, but I have not seen any others on public land. We took several cuttings and a slough filled with Golden Club (Orontium aquaticum), a parish record that has not been been recorded in the annals of science. Again, they're not in bloom right now, so I offer this picture from the internet instead.

Hard to believe that in all the years of botanical exploration in this area, this plant was never documented. I will be returning when they are flowering to gather specimens to be entered into the LSU Herbarium.

On our way out, we found an interesting plant in a ditch. I had not seen this one in Baton Rouge yet: Coastal Rose-gentian (Sabatia calycina). I'd never seen this plant period and only seen one kind of Sabatia down on coasts behind dunes and in marshes. There are however a few inland species. These specimes were not in optimal habitat and appeared to be hanging by a thread. I'd love to get seed and see if we could get a health population going somewhere.

Plant List from the Frenchtown hike:

Gulf Sebastian's Bush (Ditrysinia fruticosa)

Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa)

Virginia Snake Root (Aristolochia serpentaria)

Bear's Foot (Smallanthus uvedalia)

American Strawberry Bush (Euonymous americana)

Wild Comfrey (Cynoglossum virginiana)

Green Dragon (Arisaema dracontium)

Silverbell (Halesia diptera)

Piedmont Azalea (Rhododendron canescens)

Witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

...more to be added as I remember them. Send an email to canpsbr at gmail for others you remember seeing.

After lunch at McAlister's Deli, we headed over to Burden to clean up the cuttings. We had a great turn out: Kitty Bull, Janella Rachal, Brenda Baumgardner, Ken Basson, Mary Ann Atkinson, James Henson, J Edgar Hough, WIll McManus, Leif Remo, Helen Peebles, Brian Early, Dick Ehlricher. Several new faces, which was great to see. The Rhododendrons were only a small portion of the workday, however. We had a number of plants that were donated that needed to be separated and repotted. Just in the nick of time, too! Summer heat and overgrown root systems do not go well together and many plants desperately need room grown larger and healthier.

We finished with quite a shipment of plants. Some of the plants we divided:

American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)

Redbud (Cercis candensis)

Wooly Huckleberry (Gaylussacia mosieri)

Alabama Azalea (Rhododendron alabamensis)

Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)

Florida Anise (Illicium floridanum)

American Strawberry Bush (Euonymous americanum)

Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia)

Coralbean (Erythrina herbacea)

Winter Huckleberry (Vaccinium arboreum)

Foxglove Penstemon (Penstemon digitalis

Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens)

As you can see, this makes us very happy.

Our plants are currently protected under shade cloths and overhead irrigation. They still need to be monitored however and everyone in the propagation team is encouraged to swing by Burden to check on them. 

Afterwards, we went to the milkweed patch I mentioned in our previous propagation post.  CANPS member Brian Early donated some Aquatic Milkweed he had propagated himself from wild plants around the state. We planted some 15 seedlings into the patch. Those transplanted from Cleggs stock into the same area have been thriving so it seemed that this would be a good place to improve genetics. Hopefully this patch will thrive and produce a genetically healthy patch capable of re-seeding.

All in all, a great day. Can't wait for July. Summer party pot luck and movie screening.

Arbor Day and Restoration at Burden

On January 10, I had the pleasure of joining fellow CANPS members Brian Early and Allan Pringle and their co-worker Michael at the Burden Botanical Gardens. The weather was nice: cool, clear. I showed up a few minutes early to check out the trails and was surprised at what I saw. I had been several years prior for a Project Learning Tree workshop and remembered there being something of a forest there, though the canopy was heavily disturbed. What stood there now was a bit of an open, park-like environment. There were trees but the forest floor was relatively flat and covered with rye grass and weeds. My first reaction was, I have to admit, disappointment. I could have sworn that they were mowing in there. I thought to myself, 'Oh god, yet another forested area has succumb to the ceaseless mowing and tinkering of man'.

I was fortunate enough to later talk with Jeff Kuehny, who has been leading this project for several years now. He explained to me that they had a terrible privet infestation following Gustav and they had been getting rid of that and mulching the ground over to keep it from resprouting. An incredible undertaking. It is definitely the most ambitious ecological restoration project in Baton Rouge that I have seen yet. Each year, they take advantage of Arbor Day enthusiasm to stick as many trees in the ground as possible. Native trees, of course. This year some 400 trees were slated to be planted. On the list were Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanicus), Red Maple (Acer rubrum), Bald Cypress (Taxodium disctichum), Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides), Pecan (Carya illinoiensis), White Oak (Quercus alba), Swamp Chestnut Oak (Quercus michuaxii), Swamp Tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) and Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica). 

Our goal for the day was to take GPS coordinates at each stake so that visitors who plant trees can come back to their trees years later to watch it grow. Brian and I spent a few hours talking CANPS 2015, botany and restoration while we worked. I jotted down GPS locations to each planting location while Brian wrote numbers on the flagging on each stake where a tree would later be planted. 

Next week visitors would pick their tree, match the tree to the color-coded flagging somewhere out in the field, plant the tree and then tear off one of the numbers so that they could retrieve info on their tree, such as the species, growth habits and coordinates.

When arbor day came, I showed up early, enjoyed the free coffee and bumped into several folks that I had seen at previous CANPS meetings. You couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. Crisp and gently warming. Clear skies. I filled out my name tag and made sure to write Capital Area Native Plant Society. It caught a few folks attention and by the end of the day I was able to add several names to our mailing list. Master Gardeners and Burden Horticultural Society members, Ready Hands and others. Kindred spirit, for sure. We all delight in the idea of nurturing life, of cultivation and getting our hands dirty.

People came in waves all day, mostly young families with lots of children, but occasionally older couples and loners too. The kids brought so much excitement and energy to the experience. Like planting a tree was the coolest thing that anyone could be doing. I remember one boy couldn't contain himself and so, without waiting for instruction or considering which tree he wanted, ran up, grabbed a random tree and began running toward the open distance. I looked over to his mom, who was laughing with me. We grabbed a shovel and started chasing after.

I loved every second of it. The weather. The volunteers. The visitors. Getting my hands in native soil and doing good work. The children especially made my day. I couldn't think of a better way to spend a weekend. Could you?

By Matthew Herron