Extinct Plants of northern North America 2018

Posted on 2018-11-30 by admin

I’m limiting this list to northern North America for two reasons:

Restricting this list geographically is in keeping with my specialization in plants native to northeastern North America.
There are many more tropical plants, and plant extinctions, than I can manage; for example, Cuba alone has lost more plant species than I’ve listed on this blog post.

If you have additions to this list, please let me know, and provide a link which I can research.

Astilbe crenatiloba, Roan Mountain false goat’s beard, Roan Mountain, Tennessee, 1885
Narthecium montanum, Appalachian Yellow Asphodel, East Flat Rock Bog, Henderson County, North Carolina, before 2004?
Neomacounia nitida, Macoun’s shining moss, Belleville, Ontario, 1864
Orbexilum macrophyllum, bigleaf scurfpea, Polk County, North Carolina, 1899
Orbexilum stipulatum, large-stipule leather-root, Falls-of-the-Ohio scurfpea, Rock Island, Falls of the Ohio, KY, 1881
Thismia americana, banded trinity, Lake Calumet, IL, 1916

Extinct in the wild (IUCN Red List code EW)

Franklinia alatamaha, Franklin Tree

Extinct versus Extirpated

I often come across misuse of the word “extinct,” as in: native plant extinct in New York City.

“Extinct” means globally extinct. No living specimens exist anywhere in the world, not even in cultivation.
“Extirpated” means locally extinct, while the species persists in other populations outside of the study area. To correct the above example: extirpated in New York City. Any regional Flora lists many extirpated species.

When a species is known only from one original or remaining population, as those listed above were, loss of that population means extinction for the species. In this case, extirpation and extinction are the same thing.

Another category is “extinct in the wild,” when the species still exists under cultivation, like an animal in a zoo. A famous example of this is Franklinia alatamaha.

Links

Wikipedia: List of extinct plants: Americas
IUCN Red List: List of species extinct in the wild
The Sixth Extinction: Recent Plant Extinctions
Extinct and Extirpated Plants from Oregon (PDF, 5 pp)

Plant Blindness and Urban Ecology

Posted on 2018-08-19 by admin

A small patch of biodiversity – i.e.: weeds – from my driveway.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal has people talking about it, e.g.: on the Twitter. The term “plant blindness” has been in use for a while, especially among those of us intensely interested in the subject of plants, from gardeners to botanists.

“Apps” and Social Media

I’ve seen folks get more interested in plants when they can reduce, or eliminate, the risk of being shamed by others for ignorance. (Which is nothing to be ashamed of, nor to shame others for. We all start out ignorant. Choosing to remain so, on the other hand …)

I’ve been on BugGuide for a decade. This is an expert-curated Web site where you can upload observations of any insect – and many other arthropods – seen in Canada and the continental United States. I’ve learned a tremendous amount from the experts there, both professional and “amateur”, and continue to do so. However, it is curated; I’ve had many of my photos “Frass”‘d – trashed – because they did not meet someone’s standards for image quality. (“Frass” is caterpillar excrement.) So I can’t rely on BugGuide as a record of my observations, even for insects. Even so, I’ve often wished for the equivalent for plant identification.

The widespread availability of handheld computers with visual processing capabilities – i.e. “smart” phones with cameras and displays – has given rise to applications such as PlantSnap to help people ID plant “on their own”, without having to ask others for help. I’ve not been impressed with the accuracy of such apps. And better alternatives are available.

The rise of iNaturalist has been astonishing, and refreshing. Anyone can upload any observation of any living organism anywhere in the world. The technology behind iNaturalist is also a decade ahead of BugGuide. Geotagging and labels are automatically picked up, you can explore observations by region or place, or even just be exploring a map.

Anyone can assist in identification. This community aspect raises it up to the level of social media. I know a lot of conventional garden plants; I can help those who don’t know a Rhododendron from a Hydrangea by identifying their observations. I may even be able to go back to the same plant to confirm what it is, using the geolocation. In this way, I’ve made more identifications of others’ observations, than observations of my own.

Countering Plant Blindness in Urban Settings

When I’m sharing my knowledge, informally or formally, I find that people welcome the opportunity to learn new ways of seeing. It could be discovering that there are different kinds of bees, or that an asteraceous “flower” like a daisy or sunflower is not a single bloom, but hundreds of flowers. I’ve yet to come across someone who wasn’t excited to learn something new about living things that have been there all the time, right around them, where they live, not in some distant, inaccessible “preserve”.

We’ve had an unusually rainy year. The first half of this August gave us twice as much rain as the average month. A good time for the weeds; not so much for the gardeners.

I’ve been joking that the weeds are so out of control that I should do a “Bio-Blitz” of my own driveway. And why not?! Let’s get started.

Here is a small section, maybe 10 square feet in total, of the broken up concrete we call a driveway. How many different plants can you find in this photo? (Don’t worry, we’ll get some closer looks.) If, at first, your eyes glaze over and just see green, let’s practice. Are there any differences among all that green?

Is it all green? I see some yellow and brownish spots (aside from the leaves) in there.
Even among the green, is it all the same shade of green? Some is lighter, some darker. Maybe some has more yellow in it.
How about texture? Some seems coarse, some seems fine. Maybe those are different leaves, warranting closer inspection.

Instead of looking down, let’s look from the side. Now we can see there are many different heights and shapes of the plants themselves (and more evidence of an inattentive Gardener). The field of green starts to distinguish itself into groups of vegetation, even individual plants.

Let’s start to look at some groups. Let’s call them A, B, and C.

Group A: How many different kinds of plants can you see in this photo?

Group B: How about this one?

Group C: Feeling confident? Let’s go back to the photo at the top of this post. How many different plant species are in this small patch, no more than two or three square feet in area?

My answers:
A: 2 (maybe 3): crab grass, and Euphorbia (might be two different species)
B: 3, at least: The above two, plus Oxalis stricta, a native weed.
C: 7, at least: The crab grass and Euphorbia, plus Viola sororia, a foxtail grass, horseweed, and two I’m going to iNaturalist to ID to species: an Acalypha, copperleaf, and the one with pretty little yellow flowers (seems like a Sonchus, a sow-thistle, but the flowers don’t look right).

Now, I’m still a native plant gardener, and it is a driveway, not a garden bed. Once I’m done with my IDs, I’ll pull all the weeds. But knowing which weeds are native, and which are not, I can “edit” my weeds more selectively elsewhere in the garden, leaving the natives to pop up where they like, and reducing the competition from the non-native species. Thread by thread, I can weave ecological associations back into the landscape, even if it’s just a few square feet at a time.

Links

Rhododendron? Hydrangea? America Doesn’t Know Anymore, Douglas Belkin, Wall Street Journal, 2018-08-14 (PAYWALLED)

NPILC 2018 – Speaker Notes and Handout

Posted on 2018-06-17 by admin

2018-06-23: Updated with more links.

Following is the outline, speaker notes, and references of my talk at this year’s Native Plants in the Landscape Conference. This was to have been published as a speaker handout for attendees, but it never made it to the conference Web site. So I’m publishing it here.

This isn’t intended to stand alone. This post has many links to my blog posts and photos for further reading and viewing. And the presentation itself is available on Slideshare.

About Me

My New York City Gardens

1981-1992: East Village, Manhattan
Lesson: Buildings -> Shade
1992-2002: Park Slope, Brooklyn
Lesson: Concrete -> Containers
2002-2005: Park Slope
Lesson: Weeds and Invasives
2005 to Present: Flatbush, Brooklyn
Lessons: all of the above

Genius Loci

Geography is Destiny

Long Island

PLACE: Long Island Geography > NYC Eco-Regions > Flatbush

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Long_Island

NASA Landsat satellite global mosaic image of Long Island, New York

URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Long_Island_Landsat_Mosaic.jpg

Long Island

Wisconsin Glaciation: ~21K years ago

Bennington, J Bret, 2003. New observations on the glacial geomorphology of Long Island from a digital elevation model (DEM). Long Island Geologists Conference, Stony Brook, New York, April 2003.

• Rpm: Roanoke Point Moraine – North Fork
• Rm: Ronkonkoma Moraine – South Fork
• HHm: Harbor Hill Moraine – North Shore, into Brooklyn and Staten Island
• Kd: Kame Deltas

Central Brooklyn

The Wooded Plain

“Flatbush”: Anglicization of old Dutch:
• “vlachtebos” (vlacke bos, vladbos, flakkebos)
Land use History:
• Home of Lenape and Canarsie. https://native-land.ca/
• Dutch “settled” in early 1600s
• Primarily used for agriculture: woodland -> pasture, meadow
• Railways provided access from “the city” (Brooklyn) through “the country” (Flatbush) to beach resorts, e.g.: Coney Island
• 1870s: Prospect Park
• 1880s: Brooklyn Bridge
• One of five townships consolidated into the City of Brooklyn (Kings County) in 1890s.
• Last farms converted to residential in 1890s, early 1900s: pasture/meadow -> savannah
• Excursion railways converted to commuter lines

Ground Truth (My Neighborhood)

My garden is located roughly ½ mile south of Prospect Lake.
Landscape vernacular:
• Mow&Blow
• Green Death

Ecological Regions (EcoRegions)

In these maps, dashed lines are state boundaries.
Bailey (Roman numerals for Levels) v. Omernik/EPA (3-digit #s + letters)
Bailey: Levels I, II, and III

Level I:
8.0 Eastern Temperate Forests
5.0 Northern Forests

Level II:
8.5 Mississippi Alluvial and Southeast USA Coastal Plains
8.3 Southeastern USA Plains
8.1 Mixed Wood Plains

Level III:
8.1.7/59: Northeastern Coastal Zone
8.5.4/84: Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens
8.3.1/64: Northern Piedmont

Level IV (Omernik)

http://ecologicalregions.info/htm/na_eco.htm
https://www.epa.gov/eco-research/ecoregions
https://www.epa.gov/eco-research/ecoregions-north-america

My Garden

Garden Where You Are
Backyard
Front yard
Biodiversity
2011 Garden Tours:
• NYC Wildflower Week
• Victorian Flatbush House (& Garden!) Tour
URL: http://goo.gl/8LgEN#mygarden

Garden #4

2009: Certificate in Horticulture, Brooklyn Botanic Garden
2011: National Wildlife Federation Wildlife Habitat #141,173
2012: Xerces Society Pollinator Habitat
2017: NABA Butterfly Garden #2348 and Monarch Garden

My Backyard Native Plant Garden

The Front Yard

I replaced most of the remaining front lawn in 2014.

Biodiversity

If you plant it, they will come

Plants

Native Plants
Species Acquisitions – “Plant More”
Can you tell from this chart the first year I attended NPILC?!

Insects in my Garden

Cumulative count of my observations of insects in my garden

Family	Common Name	# Species
Coleoptera	Beetles	19
Diptera	Flies	23
Hemiptera	Bugs	9
Hymenoptera	Bees	27
Hymenoptera	Wasps	26
Lepidoptera	Butterflies, Moths, and Skippers	22
		126

Excludes many other arthropod groups, including other insect families not listed here, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, etc.
1st BugGuide post: 2007! Neotibicen canicularis, dog-day/annual cicada
Joined iNaturalist in 2013, but posted my first observation in 2017

Allium triccocum, ramps

Aquilegia canadensis, red columbine

Limestone
Calcareous
Alvar
Grike

Aristolochia tomentosa, pipevine, Battus philenor, pipevine swallowtail

Coccinella novemnotata, C9

Glossary: Extirpated

Coleomegilla usurps Coccinella as New York State Insect, 2006-06-23
Coccinella novemnotata, nine-spotted lady beetle, aka “C9”, 2016-06-24

Timeline
1970: Coccinella novemnotata (C9) is the most common lady beetle species in the northeastern U.S.
1980: Nominated as New York state insect.
1980s: Begins rapidly declining. Speculation as to causes includes competition with introduced species, but no definitive answers have yet been found.
1982: Last seen in New York state.
1989: Designated NY State Insect, despite being apparently absent for 7 years.
1992: Last seen in the eastern U.S.
2000: The Lost Ladybug Project initiated as a citizen science project.
2006-06-15: Bill 2005-A06247 passes the NY State Assembly to change the state insect from Coccinella novemnotata, extirpated from NY State, to Coleomegilla maculata.
October 2006: C9 re-discovered in Virginia, first time it’s seen on the East Coast since 1992, 14 years.
2011-07-30: C9 rediscovered on Long Island, first time seen in New York since 1982, 29 years.
2016: Lost Ladybug Project launches program to re-introduce captively bred C9

Gardening for Insects

Stop using pesticides in the garden. Not just insecticides, but herbicides, fungicides, etc.
Grow more native plants, and more varieties of them. Many insects feed on plants in their larval stages, e.g.: caterpillars, and can’t feed effectively on plants with which they haven’t co-evolved.
A variety of native plant species also provides more flowers to provide nectar and pollen for adult insects. Choose plants that have clusters of small flowers, which will attract a larger diversity of insects than big, blowsy flowers.
Leave piles of leaf litter, old logs and branches, standing dead stems of plants. These provide shelter for eggs, pupae, and adults.

Colletes thoracicus, cellophane bee

Dioprosopa clavata, four-speckled hoverfly

NEW YORK STATE RECORD
Glossary: Adventive

Heuchera ‘Caramel’

Glossary:
• Native
• Hybrid
• Selection
• Cultivar
• Patent

Plant Patent (PP) #15,560
https://patents.google.com/patent/USPP16560P3/en
Sandrine Delabroye
“The inventor discovered the new cultivar, ‘Caramel’ as a chance seedling in a cultivated nursery bed in Hantay, France, CT in 2003. Although the parentage is unknown, the characteristics of the new cultivar and the proximity of plants of Heuchera villosa ‘Autumn Bride’ (not patented) suggests that ‘Autumn Pride’ is a probable parent.”

Impatiens capensis, orange jewelweed

Volunteers and urban habitats – the “moist meadow”

Oxalis stricta, yellow wood-sorrel

What’s a “weed”?
Other native weeds:
• Acalypha virginica, Virginia Copperleaf, Virginia Threeseed Mercury
• Ageratina altissima, white snakeroot
• Amaranthus retroflexus, Redroot Pigweed (Amaranth)
• Conyza canadensis (Erigeron canadensis), Horseweed
• Erechtites hieraciifolius, American burnweed
• Juncus tenuis, Slender Rush, Path Rush, Poverty Rush
• Lepidium virginicum, Virginia pepperweed, peppergrass
• Lobelia inflata, Indian tobacco, puke weed
• Oxalis stricta, Upright Yellow Wood-Sorrel, Common Yellow Oxalis
• Phytolacca americana, Pokeweed
• Plantago rugelii, blackseed plantain
• Solanum ptycanthum, Eastern Black Nightshade
• Viola sororia, Common Blue Violet

Pycnanthemum muticum, mountain-mint

Pollinator magnet
https://vimeo.com/136679893

Sphecius speciosus, cicada killer

Viburnum dentatum, arrowwood, Pyrrhalta viburni, Viburnum leaf beetle

Yucca filamentosa, Adam’s needle, Carpophilus melanopterus, Yucca beetle

Why Bother?

Living (and Gardening) in the Anthropocene

Population Urbanization
Habitat Loss
Globalization -> Invasive Species, Emergent Diseases
Injustice and Inequity: Environmental, Economic, Social

Climate Change

2018 = 60th anniversary of the Keeling curve
CO2 has increased by 32% IN MY LIFETIME
65 people died in New York state, 44 of them in New York City, 8 in Brooklyn, as a result of Sandy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_Hurricane_Sandy_in_New_York
https://whitneyhess.com/blog/2012/11/05/the-people-who-were-killed-by-hurricane-sandy/

The Sixth Extinction

Extinction Symbol
Lost Species Day of Remembrance: November 30th
Extinct Plant Species of Northern North America

Defiance and Resistance

Links

Native Plants in the Landscape Conference

Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve

NPILC 2018 – Books

Posted on 2018-06-08 by admin

I spoke this year at the Native Plants in the Landscape Conference at Millersville University in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The organizers asked speakers for a list of books we recommend.

This is my list, grouped roughly by category.

Science

Brian Capon, Botany for Gardeners, 3rd Edition
2010, Timber Press
Paperback, ISBN-13 978-1-604690-95-8

Steven B. Carroll and Steve D. Salt, Ecology for Gardeners
2004, Timber Press
Hardcover, ISBN-13 978-0-88192-611-8
Paperback, ISBN-13 978-1-604694-45-1

James B. Nardi, Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners
2007, The University of Chicago Press
Paperback, ISBN-13 978-0-22656853-9

See also: Tallamy, Bringing Nature Home

Plants

Lauren Brown, Grasses: An Identification Guide
1979, Houghton Mifflin Company

Paperback, ISBN 0-395-62881-4

C. Colston Burrell, Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants
2006, Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Region Guides

Paperback, ISBN-13 978-1-889538-74-7

William Cullina, Growing and Propagating Wildflowers of the United States and Canada
2000, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Hardcover, ISBN-13 978-0-39596609-9

Eric Lee-Mäder, Jarrod Fowler, Jillian Vento, Jennifer Hopwood, 100 Plants to Feed the Bees: Provide a Healthy Habitat to Help Pollinators Thrive
2016, The Xerces Society/Storey Publishing Paperback, ISBN-13 978-1-61212-701-9

Lawrence Newcomb, Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide: The classic field guide for quick identification of wildflowers, flowering shrubs, and vines
1977, Little, Brown and CompanyPaperback, ISBN-13 978-0-316-60442-0

Richard H. Uva, Joseph C. Neal, and Joseph M. DiTomaso, Weeds of the Northeast
1997, Cornell University Press
Hardcover, ISBN-13 978-0-8014-3391-6
Paperback, ISBN-13 978-0-8014-8334-9

Insects

Eric Grissell, Bees, Wasps, and Ants: The Indispensable Role of Hymenoptera in Gardens
2010, Timber Press
Hardcover, ISBN-13 978-0-88192-988-1

Heather Holm, Pollinators of Native Plants: Attract, Observe and Identify Pollinators and Beneficial Insects with Native Plants
2014, Pollination Press
Paperback, ISBN-13 978-0-9913563-0-0

Eric Mader, Matthew Shepherd, Mace Vaughan, Scott Black, and Gretchen LeBuhn, Attracting Native Pollinators
2011, The Xerces Society
Paperback, ISBN-13 978-1-60342695-4

Paul H. Williams, Robbin W. Thorp, Leif L. Richardson, and Sheila R. Colla, Bumblebees of North America: An Identification Guide
2014, Princeton University Press
Paperback, ISBN-13 978-0-69115222-6

The Xerces Society, Gardening for Butterflies
2016, The Xerces Society
Paperback, ISBN-13 978-1-60469598-4

Inspiration

Rick Darke & Doug Tallamy, The Living Landscape: Designing for beauty and biodiversity in the home garden
2014, Timber Press
Hardcover, ISBN-13 978-1-60469-408-6

Kenneth I. Helphand, Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime 2006, Trinity University PressHardcover, ISBN-13 978-1-59534-021-4 Paperback, ISBN-13 978-1-59534-045-0

Thomas Rainer and Claudia West, Planting in a Post-Wild World Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes
2015, Timber Press Hardcover, ISBN-13 978-1-60649-553-3

Douglas W. Tallamy & Rick Darke, Bringing Nature Home: How native plants sustain wildlife in our gardens
Timber Press
Hardcover, 2007, ISBN-13 978-0-88192-854-9

Paperback, 2009, ISBN-13 978-0-88192-992-1

Links

Native Plants in the Landscape Conference

Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve

Native Plant Acquisitions, Gowanus Canal Conservancy Plant Sale

Posted on 2018-04-22 by admin

Today I made my way to my first Gowanus Canal Conservancy Native Plant Sale. Today is Earth Day 2018, and today’s sale was held at their nursery location, the Salt Lot where Second Avenue ends at the Gowanus Canal. They have two more sales this season. The next, on May 19th, conflicts with the NYC Wildflower Week tour of my garden.

A wide range of species are listed are available on their nursery page. Not all of them are still in stock. In compensation, they had other unlisted species available at today’s plant sale.

I used their published list of species to make a shopping list, always a good idea when heading out to plant sales. I cross-checked their list for species that 1) I didn’t already have, and 2) were native to New York City. Since they list the Greenbelt Native Plant Center as a partner, I suspected many of their species would be NYC-local ecotypes. I made a few exceptions for cases where I have the species, but not a NYC-local ecotype, e.g.: Solidago sempervirens, seaside goldenrod.

I had the chance to speak with a few of their staff and volunteers, including Diana Gruberg, their Horticultural Manager for the whole operation. I was pleased when she confirmed that some 90% of their species originated with Greenbelt. They are now successfully propagating many of these species themselves, both vegetatively and from seed.

Today’s acquisitions, listed alphabetically by botanical name:

Carex albicans, white-tinged sedge
Carex comosa, bristly sedge
Euthamia graminifolia, common flat-topped goldenrod
Juncus greenei, Greene’s rush
Monarda fistulosa, bee-balm
Oenothera biennis, common evening primrose
Quercus bicolor, swamp white oak
Schizachyrium littorale, dune blue-stem
Solidago sempervirens, seaside goldenrod, N YC-local ecotype
Symphyotrichum ericoides. heath aster
Veronicastrum virginicum, Culver’s root

I confirmed with Diana that the seaside goldenrod was propagated from a Greenbelt collection, so it’s a local ecotype. I don’t know for sure which of the others also are. Odds are good that it’s most, if not all, of them.

Links

Gowanus Canal Conservancy

Blooming Now

Posted on 2017-04-30 by admin

NYC-Native Species

Asarum canadense, wild ginger

Fragaria virginiana, Virginia strawberry

Geranium maculatum

Geum rivale, purple avens

Podophyllum peltatum, mayapple

Polygonatum biflorum

Rhododendron periclymenoides

Thalictrum thalictroides

Vaccinium angustifolium, lowbush blueberry

Vaccinium corymbosum, highbush blueberry

Viola lanceolata, bog white violet

Viola sororia, dooryard violet (several different varieties)

Zizia aurea, golden alexanders

Eastern Regional Native Species

Dicentra eximia

Fothergilla major

Phlox stolonifera (in bud)

Polemonium reptans, Jacob’s ladder

Sedum ternatum

Stylophorum diphyllum, woodland poppy

Tiarella cordifolia, foamflower

Trillium grandiflorum, great white trillium

A milkweed by an other name …

Posted on 2016-08-07 by admin

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
– Juliet, Romeo and Juliet, Wiliam Shakespeare

A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.
– Gertrude Stein, various

I started to get into a little tiffle on a post (since removed) on one of the insect ID groups in Facebook. The original poster was trying to ID a tight cluster of orange eggs on a leaf of a plant she identified as “milkweed vine.” One of the responders commented: “Milkweed vine? Not likely.” And then we were off.

What’s a “milkweed,” anyway?

Responding in a comment, the original poster specified that the plant was Morrenia odorata, an introduced, and invasive, vine in the Apocynaceae, the dogbane family. (Some authorities still list it under Asclepiadaceae, the milkweed family, which is now considered a sub-family, Asclepiadoideae, of Apocynaceae.) Its common names include latex plant, strangler vine, and, yes, milkweed vine.

The responder’s objection was that “Aclepias is milkweed.” Period. Final. Absolute declaration.

It’s not that simple.

Common names like “milkweed” have no authority. Many plants have “milkweed” as part of their common name, not just Asclepias species. Cynanchum laeve, a native vine in the same family as Morrenia and Asclepias, has a common name of climbing milkweed, among several others.

Noone can claim that only Asclepias species can be called “milkweed.” To insist so is, at best, dismissive. I would use stronger language. (I blocked the responder on Facebook to avoid future tiffles with them.)

Why plant ID matters for insect ID

Why did the original poster include the id of the plant in their requesting for identifying insect eggs? Because they understand that many insect species depend on different types of plants. Specialist insect-host associations are common in the co-evolutionary biochemical arms race between insect herbivores and their host plants.

Only five years ago, I didn’t have any knowledge of insect-host plant relationships. Marielle Anzelone (@NYCBotanist on Twitter – follow her!) clued me in on what was going on when I observed this in my backyard in May 2011:

I recognized it as a swallowtail. Knowledge of the plant – Aristolochia tomentosa, wooly dutchman’s pipevine – id’d the butterfly as pipevine swallowtail, Papilo troilus. The caterpillars of this species feed only on plants in the Aristolochiaceae, the pipevine family, primarily – but not exclusively – Aristolochia species.

And so it is with “milkweeds” and their most famous herbivore, the caterpillars of monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus.

The butterflies nectar on a wide variety of flowers. Their caterpillars, however, are specialized feeders on plants in the Apocynaceae. While they are most commonly associated with Asclepias species, they have also been observed on Cynanchum and Apocynum species. They have even been observed on a few plants outside of this family.

So, when trying to identify insects, knowledge of plants, plant families, and their ecological associations is also important. Being pedantic about common names, not so much.

Battus philenor, Pipevine Swallowtail, Flickr photo set
Danaus plexippus, monarch butterfly, Flickr photo set
Aristolochia tomentosa, Wooly Dutchman’s Pipevine, Flickr photo set

Battus philenor, Pipevine Swallowtail, BugGuide

Battus philenor, Pipevine Swallowtail, Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA)

Battus philenor host plants, HOSTS: World’s Lepidopteran Hostplants Database
Danaus plexippus host plants, HOSTS: World’s Lepidopteran Hostplants Database

Aristolochia tomentosa Sims, woolly dutchman’s pipe, USDA PLANTS Database (Synonym: Isotrema tomentosa (Sims) Huber)

Isotrema tomentosum (Sims) H. Huber, NY Flora Association Atlas (Does not list as present, let alone native, in NY)

Eastern Native Groundcovers

Posted on 2016-05-28 by admin

2022-10-20: Please refer to the new, updated list.

I started to reply to a Facebook post and quickly realized I had enough content for a blog post.

Hello from Long Island NY..looking for suggestion for ground cover that won’t eat my plants. I would like somthing a bit tamer the vinca . The area is slightly damp..part sun/part shade. Any suggestions. See posted pics! Thanks!!

The accompanying photos show a mix of young trees, shrubs, and perennials in a nice non-lawn streetside garden. The photos show a lot of sun, with some shade. The shade will increase over time as the trees and shrubs fill in.

Another commenter suggested Lamium and Galium, neither of which I would describe as “tame.” Either can take over an area in the right conditions.

These are some of the Eastern North American species I’ve grown and can recommend as groundcover. Some of these prefer shade, some prefer sun. Most of these will spread by runners, stolons, and the like, as “true” groundcovers. Others are effective as groundcovers because of their habit and crown expansion over time.

Asarum canadense, wild ginger
Athyrium filix-femina, lady fern
Carex pensylvanica, Pennsylvania sedge
Chrysogonum virginianum, green-and-gold
Geranium maculatum, wild geranium
Onoclea sensibilis, sensitive fern
Pachysandra procumbens, Allegheny spurge
Packera aurea, golden ragwort
Phlox subulata, mosspink
Phlox stolonifera, creeping phlox
Sedum ternatum
Thelypteris noveboracensis, New York fern
Thelypteris palustris, marsh fern
Tiarella cordifolia, hearttleaf foamflower
Zizia aurea, golden alexanders

I’m sure I will add to this list as I think of some I’ve overlooked. There are lots more I’ve never grown myself.

NYC-Regional Native Plant Sales, Spring 2016

Posted on 2016-04-02 by admin

2016-04-12: Added the LINPI Plant Sale dates.

Seasonal sales are one of the best ways to acquire a wide variety of native plants. It’s best to do your homework before you go, so you have an idea of your conditions, the kinds of plants that would do well on your site, and your goals for your native plant garden, e.g.: habitat, fall foliage, flowers for cutting. If you’re planting to attract insects and wildlife, prefer straight species over cultivars, and local growers over mass-market names.

All the events listed here are within a 90 minute drive from my home in the geographic center of Brooklyn. If you know of any that aren’t listed here that you think should be, please let me know, either with a comment below, or by sending me a link to the event on Twitter.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

9am-2pm
Musconetcong Watershed Association (MWA) Native Plant Sale
MWA River Resource Center, 10 Maple Avenue, Asbury, NJ. 08802
Includes plants that are only distantly native, e.g. Midwest natives, and more cultivars than straight species. But they also offer plants from local growers.

11am-2pm
Pinelands Preservation Alliance (PPA) Earth Day Native Plant Sale
PPA Headquarters, 17 Pemberton Road, Southampton, NJ 08088
Growers include Pinelands Nursery and New Moon Nursery.
Hit or miss. Two years ago they had a great selection. Last year was a complete bust. They were already sold out of nearly everything when I arrived there shortly after they opened. For this reason, I’m reluctant to waste the time, fuel, and tolls to return on what’s essentially a gamble. They have a members-only preview sale the day before, but that’s a work day for me.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Time TBA
Great Flatbush Plant Swap
Flatbush Food Co-op, 415 Cortelyou Road (between Rugby & Marlborough Roads), Brooklyn, New York 11226
You don’t to bring anything to take home a plant, and all plants are free! Quantities are limited; bring plants or seedlings from own garden to add to the swap, and “earn points” to take home more plants!
I will bring native plants from my own garden, and curate the native plants contributed by others.

Saturday, April 30, 2016

10am-1pm
Manhattan Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society (MCNARGS) Annual Plant Sale
El Sol Brillante Community Garden, 522-528 East 12th St (between Avenue A & B), New York, NY 10009
While not specifically a native plant sale, they have a wide selection of native plants. The garden is also beautiful in its own right, and worth a visit.

10am-1pm
Westchester Community College Native Plant Center Native Plant Sale
Westchester Community College, 75 Grasslands Road, Valhalla, NY 10595
Parking in Visitor Lot #1
Wide variety of plants, from many different sources. Many/most are cultivars, rather than straight species.

May 20 & 21

Friday, May 20, 3-6pm, Saturday, May 21, 9am-12noon
D&R Greenway Land Trust Spring Native Plant Sale
D&R Greenway Johnson Education Center, One Preservation Place, Princeton, New Jersey 08540

Saturday, May 21, 9am-1pm
Hudson Highlands Nature Museum Native Plant Sale
Outdoor Discovery Center, Muser Drive, across from 174 Angola Road, Cornwall, NY 12518

June 3-4

Friday&Saturday, June 3&4
Long Island Native Plant Initiative (LINPI) Native Plant Sale Fundraiser
Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) Eastern Campus, 121 Speonk-Riverhead Road, Riverhead, NY 11901
Offers Long Island regional ecotypes propagated by NYC Parks’ Greenbelt Native Plant Center, the only retail source for these plants.

Saturday, June 4
New Jersey Audubon Native Plant Sales
Two sales the same day, at two different locations:
9am-4pm, NJ Audubon’s Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary, 11 Hardscrabble Rd, Bernardsville, NJ 07924
11am-3pm, NJ New Jersey Audubon’s Plainsboro Preserve, 80 Scotts Corner Road, Cranbury, NJ 08512

June 10&11

Friday&Saturday, June 3&4
Long Island Native Plant Initiative (LINPI) Native Plant Sale Fundraiser

Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) Eastern Campus, 121 Speonk-Riverhead Road, Riverhead, NY 11901
Offers Long Island regional ecotypes propagated by NYC Parks’ Greenbelt Native Plant Center, the only retail source for these plants.

Dates to be announced

Audubon Greenwich Native Plant Sale
613 Riversville Road, Greenwich, CT 06831
Pre-Orders due April 30

Long Island Native Plant Initiative (LINPI) Native Plant Sale

Links

Long Island Native Plant Initiative (LINPI) Plant Sale
Pinelands Preservation Alliance Plant Sale

Spring Native Plant Sales Near Fairfield County (Warning: Site has pop-ups), Kim Eierman, Norwalk Daily Voice, 2016-04-18

Extinct Plants of northern North America 2015

Posted on 2015-11-29 by admin

I’m limiting this list to northern North America for two reasons:

Restricting this list geographically is in keeping with my specialization in plants native to northeastern North America.
There are many more tropical plants, and plant extinctions, than I can manage; for example, Cuba alone has lost more plant species than I’ve listed on this blog post.

If you have additions to this list, please let me know, and provide a link which I can research.

Astilbe crenatiloba, Roan Mountain false goat’s beard, Roan Mountain, Tennessee, 1885
Narthecium montanum, Appalachian Yellow Asphodel, East Flat Rock Bog, Henderson County, North Carolina, before 2004?
Neomacounia nitida, Macoun’s shining moss, Belleville, Ontario, 1864
Orbexilum macrophyllum, bigleaf scurfpea, Polk County, North Carolina, 1899
Orbexilum stipulatum, large-stipule leather-root, Falls-of-the-Ohio scurfpea, Rock Island, Falls of the Ohio, KY, 1881
Thismia americana, banded trinity, Lake Calumet, IL, 1916

Extinct in the wild (IUCN Red List code EW)

Franklinia alatamaha, Franklin Tree

Extinct versus Extirpated

I often come across misuse of the word “extinct,” as in: native plant extinct in New York City.

“Extinct” means globally extinct. No living specimens exist anywhere in the world, not even in cultivation.
“Extirpated” means locally extinct, while the species persists in other populations outside of the study area. To correct the above example: extirpated in New York City. Any regional Flora lists many extirpated species.

Another category is “extinct in the wild,” when the species still exists under cultivation, like an animal in a zoo. A famous example of this is Franklinia alatamaha.

Links

Wikipedia: List of extinct plants: Americas
IUCN Red List: List of species extinct in the wild
The Sixth Extinction: Recent Plant Extinctions
Extinct and Extirpated Plants from Oregon (PDF, 5 pp)

Extinct in the wild (IUCN Red List code EW)

Extinct versus Extirpated

Related Content

Links

“Apps” and Social Media

Countering Plant Blindness in Urban Settings

Related Content

Links

About Me

My New York City Gardens

Genius Loci

Long Island

Long Island

Central Brooklyn

The Wooded Plain

Ground Truth (My Neighborhood)

Ecological Regions (EcoRegions)

My Garden

Garden #4

My Backyard Native Plant Garden

The Front Yard

Biodiversity

Plants

Insects in my Garden

Allium triccocum, ramps

Aquilegia canadensis, red columbine

Aristolochia tomentosa, pipevine, Battus philenor, pipevine swallowtail

Coccinella novemnotata, C9

Gardening for Insects

Colletes thoracicus, cellophane bee

Dioprosopa clavata, four-speckled hoverfly

Heuchera ‘Caramel’

Impatiens capensis, orange jewelweed

Oxalis stricta, yellow wood-sorrel

Pycnanthemum muticum, mountain-mint

Sphecius speciosus, cicada killer

Viburnum dentatum, arrowwood, Pyrrhalta viburni, Viburnum leaf beetle

Yucca filamentosa, Adam’s needle, Carpophilus melanopterus, Yucca beetle

Why Bother?

Climate Change

The Sixth Extinction

Defiance and Resistance

Related Content

Links

Science

Plants

Insects

Inspiration

Related Content

Links

Related Content

Links

NYC-Native Species

Eastern Regional Native Species

What’s a “milkweed,” anyway?

Why plant ID matters for insect ID

Related Content

Battus philenor, Pipevine Swallowtail, Flickr photo setDanaus plexippus, monarch butterfly, Flickr photo setAristolochia tomentosa, Wooly Dutchman’s Pipevine, Flickr photo set

Links

Related Content

Links

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Saturday, April 30, 2016

May 20 & 21

June 3-4

June 10&11

Dates to be announced

Related Content

Links

Extinct in the wild (IUCN Red List code EW)

Extinct versus Extirpated

Related Content

Links

Battus philenor, Pipevine Swallowtail, Flickr photo set
Danaus plexippus, monarch butterfly, Flickr photo set
Aristolochia tomentosa, Wooly Dutchman’s Pipevine, Flickr photo set