Taking back the forest

You might have this "wild licorice" plant in your area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycyrrhiza_lepidota

Common names are really worthless aren't they?!

Yes, that is the Wild Licorice that we have around here. And here is a link to what I was always told was skunk cabbage ( and for good reason!) but author is calling corn lily:

http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/White%20Enlarged%20Photo%20Pages/veratrum%20tenuipetalum.htm#Top

I guess our Colorado species would be more accurately this one:
http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=VETE4

The reason we call it skunk cabbage is because it tastes exactly like a skunk smells - and you can't get the taste out of your mouth. I don't know whether it is poison or edible.

I haven't noticed that our skunk cabbage smells bad, maybe because it grows in swampy places that never smell very good anyway!
According to http://virginiawildflowers.org/2015/03/08/skunk-cabbage, our local skunk cabbage "gets its name from the fact that the plant smells pretty darn skunky if you break off one of the leaves and take a whiff. The flowers are likewise odiferous, but at least in their case, the strong odor of rotting flesh is functional in attracting pollinators–like carrion flies."

common names being what they are, if people want to call that Veratrum/ corn lily 'skunk cabbage' in Colorado, they have every right. But it's a whole different genus than what we call skunk cabbage on the East Coast. Different family too, I expect (Liliaceae versus Arum family?)
Not trying to be picky, it's just a good example of using Latin when one wants to be accurate.

Hear hear!!

I went to the forest clearing today intending only to quickly plant 2 of the Juniperus virginiana that Sally gave me, but had to clear non-native vines and Privet out of the area first so, as usual, I spent much more time there than I intended.

It was worth it, though! I liberated 2 American Hollies of the vines that were strangling them and planted the Juniperus in areas formerly occupied by the Japanese : - )

This area is not turning out as I had planned, but that's okay! While pulling out Japanese Stiltgrass, I had visions of a meadow full of beautiful flowers growing from seeds I had sowed, but deer eat the buds so I'm letting go of Plan A.

Native plants I hadn't seen before are appearing, however, like Campsis radicans and Lysimachia (Loosestrife), and Amphicarpaea bracteata (Hog Peanut) is blanketing the area. There's a Polygonum I'm hoping is a native species; I'm going to check it out.

yay!

So the pictures didn't post! I'll try again....

#1 - I found this Salix nigra (Black Willow) growing in my yard last year and finally found a perfect spot for it down by the creek in the forest. If I had known how incredibly easy it was going to be to dig in that area (no rocks!!), I would have planted it months ago.

#2 - I was on a roll, so I decided to plant this Tulip Tree seedling - another volunteer found in my yard - in the same area.

This message was edited Jul 10, 2015 9:52 PM

Hmm...I wonder if the pictures will post this time?

I found Solanum carolinense (Horsenettle) growing nearby. It's got some pretty wicked spines! Check out the ones on the underside of the leaf.

This message was edited Jul 10, 2015 9:59 PM

the Salix is pretty big - what dedication!

It was pretty big; it was in a 3 gallon pot. The place where I planted it isn't far from the end of the road, however, so I didn't have to haul it too far. It was already about 2' tall when I spotted it growing in my yard and I didn't have the heart to compost it, so I was glad I thought of the stream bank. It'll be a great help in controlling erosion there.

As I looked around my yard yesterday, I realized that I'm sort of turning over the choice of which trees to plant where to the birds! They've "planted" several Dogwoods, NOID Prunus species, American Hollies, Oaks and a Redbud. I leaving the ones that are reasonably well-sited and trying to find and pull the new ones while they're still little.

Yikes! I went to check on the Black Willow I planted by the creek a month ago and found that insects had eaten almost every leaf (photos 2 and 3)! Obviously, something was really happy to have a food source plunked down nearby. There are a few almost whole leaves left towards the top, so I think it'll live. I gave it gallons of creek water to help it along.

I saw a few native plants I hadn't seen before. Photo 1 shows one of them: I think it's Hypericum punctatum (Spotted St. John's Wort).

The showiest flower blooming by the creek right now is Conoclinium coelestinum (Blue Mistflower).

Poor black willows!! If they survive, they'll apparently fill a good niche for some insect, hopefully native!

Chances are they will survive. Most plants can recover from temporary defoliation and most species of insects have a fairly brief period of time when their problematic life stage is present in abundant numbers. There are, of course, exceptions.

If the defoliator is a native insect, there is something that eats them. That is (many times) the local bird population, which subsist substantially on insect larvae for feeding themselves and raising their young.

Everyone should resist the temptations to destroy something that continues that cycle of life.

I couldn't agree more! As a bird lover, I'm excited at the prospect that the Black Willow will provide food as well as shelter and nesting spots for them. I'm also very glad that deer didn't eat it; they would have killed it for sure.

I found the plant below growing in the creek bank; I think it's Lactuca floridana; if not something very similar.

Looks like Lactuca-like leaves...

Here's another photo of the stem. It's very smooth and, as you can see, fairly dark. I'm surprised deer haven't eaten it; I would think the high-moisture content would make it prime pickings. They might not have spotted it yet.

I found an area by the creek populated mostly by native plants; what a nice surprise!
The thin-bladed grass in photos 1 and 4 is mostly Leersia virginica (Whitegrass), although there's some very similar-looking Japanese Stiltgrass mixed in.

There's also Dichanthelium clandestinum (Deertongue), Conoclinium coelestinum (Blue Mistflower) and Elephantopus carolinianus (Carolina Elephant's Foot).

#2 shows two Penthorum sedoides (Ditch Stonecrop) I planted side-by-side in a suitably wet, mucky area last weekend. There are deer hoof prints near them but no signs of nibbling; yay!

#3 - Agastache nepetoides (Yellow Giant Hyssop) on the left and the recovering Black Willow on the right. The Willow has more leaves than it did a week ago, so I think it'll be fine as long as another horde of hungry leaf-strippers doesn't find it.

looks good!

Thanks, Sally.

It is unfortunate that there are too many deer. They of course mostly eat native plants; though they do eat some Eurasian plants as Hosta. Two other plants that may work well in the forest that deer won't eat are Canadian Wild-Ginger, Asarum canadense, and Canada Horse-Balm, Collinsonia canadensis. They leave the Spicebushes alone and ferns also.

Deer usually do not like plants with fragrant foliage.
When the drought was most severe here, we found that desperate animals will eat anything, even plants that are deer and rabbit resistant.

Thanks for the ideas, Rick. I have some Calycanthus floridus (Spicebush) seedlings that I can plant in the woods.

Our deer aren't desperate, but they're lazy and definitely eat things along the creek that they don't eat when they find it in people's yards. For example, they don't touch the Conoclinium coelestinum (Blue Mistflower) growing in my front yard, but they nip the buds from the ones growing several blocks away by the creek. They also eat buds from Mint family plants like Monarda fistulosa when they find them in the forest, but leave my Monarda alone.

I think Rick meant Lindera benzoin (Spicebush) rather than Calycanthus floridus - which goes by Carolina Allspice and/or Bubbybush (which no other plant wears as a common name).

VV, you're the first person I've heard, other than my North Carolina stepmom and family, who call it Bubbybush- yay.

I'm glad I could stimulate some good memories...

Other noms de bouche include Common Sweetshrub, Strawberry-shrub, Bubby Blossom, Sweet Bubby, Sweet Betty, and...Spicebush. I should henceforth hesitate to speak for Rick.

I humbly apologize to the good lady from Vienna...

No need to apologize...I got my Spices mixed up...I'm glad I thought to put in the scientific name of the seedlings I have available!

This plant caught my eye today when I was down at the creek. I think it's Lycopus virginicus (Virginia Bugleweed, Water Horehound).

Edited to add that deer seemed to have nipped the top of this plant.....

This message was edited Aug 28, 2015 9:41 PM