november-december 2008 vol. 23, no. 6 n monps board … · november-december 2008 vol. 23, no. 6...

November-December 2008 Vol. 23, No. 6

Petal PusherNovember-December 2008

NEWSLETTER OF THE MISSOURI NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY

MONPS board sets date to plan

Columbia, Mo., Saturday, Dec. 6

All Missouri Native Plant Society members and friendsare invited to attend the winter MONPS state board meet-ing on Saturday, Dec. 6.

If you want to have a voice in MONPS, now is yourchance. This is a business meeting, so plan to stay all day.

The meeting begins at 10 a.m. and will end no later than4 p.m. We will be meeting at the Dunn-Palmer Herbarium.

We will be ordering lunch in, or you may bring a lunch ifdesired.

The board will be planning the field trips associated withthe quarterly board meetings. If you have a favorite siteyou would like to visit with the society, join the board inColumbia or contact an officer or board member before themeeting with your ideas.

Directions to Dunn-Palmer Herbarium

From the east: Drive west on I-70 to U.S. Highway. 63South (Exit 128); head south towards Jefferson City to theStadium Blvd. exit. Turn right (west) and go to the fourth traffic light (the streetat this intersection is called College Avenue to the northand Rock Quarry Road to the south). Turn left (south) and go about 1/8 mile on Rock QuarryRoad.Turn right into the driveway of the Museum Support Center(parking in front or along side driveway).

From the west: Drive east on I-70 to Stadium Blvd. exit(Exit 124); turn right (south).Stay on Stadium Blvd. as it goes south and then turns east,past the MU football stadium and the Hearnes basketballarena.Turn right (south) on Rock Quarry Road (stoplight here).Drive south about 1/8 mile and turn right into the drivewayof the Museum Support Center (parking in front or alongside driveway).

Inside

Show your muscle, ironwood.Page 3

Indiana banana, indeed!Page 8

Perennis Chapter’s hunt forbeech drops meets success.Page 6

Native plants belong in gardens. Page 10

Fungi and more were found atthe September field trip toLaBarque Creek watershedarea in the eastern part of thestate. Page 11

Petal Pusher November-December 2008

Calendar of EventsHawthorn ChapterMonday, Nov. 10: Regular meeting at 7 p.m. at the UnitarianChurch, 2615 Shepard Blvd. Our speaker will be Chris Starbuck.He will discuss his research growing bare root plants in gravel. Saturday, Nov. 15: Wreath Workshop and cook out at the Ellifrits onCedar Creek. Workshop will start at 10 a.m. Plan to eat at 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20: Lunch with Native Plant Enthusiasts! 11:30a.m. at Felini's, 700 E. Broadway.Thursday, Dec. 13: Holiday party at Nancy Langworthy's home.We will also conduct a quick chapter meeting at this time to electofficers (chapter representative, vice-president, and treasurer). For more information contact Paula at (573) 474-4225.

Kansas City ChapterThursday, Nov. 20: Meeting at 7 p.m. at the Discovery Center,between KFC and Brush Creek at 4750 Troost, Kansas City, Mo.

Osage Plains ChapterMonday, Nov. 17: Chapter meeting at 7 p.m. at MissouriDepartment of Conservation Clinton Office, 2010 S. Second St. No meetings in December and January.

Ozarks Chapter Tuesday, Nov. 18: Chapter meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the MDCOzark Regional Office, 551 Joe Jones Blvd, West Plains.Susan Farrington will present a program entitled “Wildflowersof Glacier National Park.” This program will compare and con-trast Montana wildflowers with their Missouri cousins.No meeting in December. Regular chapter meetings arescheduled to resume Jan. 20.

Perennis ChapterSunday Nov. 9: 1 p.m. at Trail of Tears State Park Auditorium,Jackson, Mo. Jennifer Picker will present the results of her mas-ter’s thesis from Southeast Missouri State University titled “AComparison of Wet and Wet-Mesic Vegetation at Big Oak TreeState Park.” For more information, contact Allison Vaughn at (573)703-6448 or [email protected] or Kent Fothergill at [email protected].

St. Louis ChapterNo meetings in November or December.

INFORMATION ON JOINING THE MISSOURI NATIVE PLANT SOCIETYSOCIETY DUES

(Chapter dues additional)Student dues . . . . . . . . . . .$5Regular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10Contributing . . . . . . . . . . .$20Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$200

CHAPTER DUESColumbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$6Kansas City . . . . . . . . . . . .$5Osage Plains . . . . . . . . . . .$5Ozarks Native Plant . . . . . .$5Perennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5St. Louis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5

(Circle all above that apply)$______ Contribution for student research award (Hudson Fund)

All contributions are tax deductible

Make checks payable to Missouri Native Plant SocietyMail to: Missouri Native Plant Society

P.O. Box 20073St. Louis, MO 63144-0073

Name: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Street: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _City, state: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _9-digit ZIP: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Phone: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _E-mail: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Share your knowledgeThe core resource of the Missouri Native Plant Society

lies in the knowledge base of its members and the members’willingness to share it. Anyone who has been on a MONPSfield trip knows how willing people are in sharing their botani-cal savvy.

Many members of MONPS also have come forward toshare what they have learned in articles for the Petal Pusher.Each of them has found that it is an exercise not in just edu-cating others but in the process learning more about yourtopic. It is a growing experience for both writer and reader.

Please share your fascination of a plant, biome or hikingarea with members of MONPS. Let the editor know if youhave an idea or want to talk about some suggestions for anarticle. Please also send the editor names and contact infor-mation of people you think should write something for thePetal Pusher.

Contact Chuck Robinson at [email protected] or callhim at (816) 507-8328.

New members

Is your MONPS membership about to expire?To find out, check the top line of your mailing label. If it shows

the date 20080630, we have not received your dues for our newmembership year, which begins in July. Unless we receive yourdues renewal soon, this issue of the newsletter will be your last.

To renew, please use the form below or the form on theMONPS website. If you have questions about your membershipstatus, please contact Ann Early (see back page for contact infor-mation).

Beth Harlan, St. LouisLouis Ngeger, Warson

Woods, Mo.Ruth Lewis, Osceola, Mo.Pam Schnebelen, Pacific, Mo.Wayne Drda, St. Louis

Shirley Ellul, MontgomeryCity, Mo.

Ted MacRae, Chesterfield, Mo.Paul Nelson, Bonnots Mill,

Mo.June Silverman, St. Louis


By Rex HillMONPS president

When I am walking with people whomay be less familiar with Missouri florathan many of our members, I have a ten-dency to try to use common names,maybe followed by the scientific name,when pointing out a plant. It’s always a fineline between being precise and frighteningoff potential new members.

Such was the case recently on theSaturday of our fall field trip at the LaBarque Creek watershed near St. Louis. Inone of the sandstone canyons were grow-ing two understory trees that are oftenfound in close proximity in creek bedareas. One, Carpinus caroliniana, is mostoften found there because of the wettersoils. The other can be found growing updry slopes adjacent to wet areas but,because seeds travel downhill, like somany other things subject to gravity,Ostrya virginiana, also is found in thesedrainages. I referred to both of them as“ironwoods.” Chuck Robinson, our inquisi-tive editor, was curious about my use ofthis common name.

Indeed, the use of common names forour plants can be deceptive, ambiguous atbest. If I were to use “ironwood” in theSouthwestern deserts that Martha and Ifrequent, I would be referring to the desertshrub, Olneya tesota. But in the West, Ihave also seen this common name usedfor New Mexico olive, Foresteria neomexi-cana, and birchleaf cercocarpus,Cercocarpus betuloides. This can be veryconfusing, particularly when trying to accu-rately name a plant. However, commonnames have been given to plants becauseof characteristics that served usefully todescribe the value or use or appearanceof a plant.

The name ironwood was used for all ofthese woody plants in reference to the per-ceived toughness of the wood. Indeed, inMissouri, the wood of Ostrya virginiana issecond only to that of the dogwoods forstrength and durability. In fact, its woodand that of Carpinus caroliniana, are at, orabout, 50 pounds per cubic foot (lb/ft3) dryweight. White oak, Quercus alba, weighs

in at 48 lb/ft3 and tulip poplar, Liriodendrontulipifera, at 28 lb/ft3. Water, by the way, is62.5 lb/ft3 in density. Were it not for theirrelatively small size, these trees would bemuch more valuable for their lumber.

As you can see from the specific epithetsfor each of these Missouri trees, they areEastern species, probably named early inthe history of our country by people whorelied on plant features and qualities fortheir existence. The common name, mus-clewood, is used for Carpinus carolinianabecause its smooth-barked, fluted trunkresembles the sinewy limbs of a muscularperson performing some difficult task. Thisbark is such a distinguishing characteristic,that it brings a sense of comfort when hik-ing in a creek bed, in that, all is right withthe world and things are in their correctplace. It is also called American hornbeam,blue beech, and smooth-barked ironwood,a common name listed in one of my favoritetree references, “A Natural History of Treesof Eastern and Central North America” byDonald Culross Peattie. This book and itscompanion on Western trees were my firstintroduction to trees, and his vignettes oneach species are short stories of the tree’svalue and importance in earlier times.

Ostrya virginiana has been dubbed withthe common names eastern or Americanhop hornbeam, the “hornbeam”, in thecase of both trees, being a loose equiva-lent to “hard tree”. The “hop,” in the com-mon name of this tree, refers to the fruitwhich resembles that of hops. For me, thistree has special affinity, because it holds itsleaves well into winter and a late seasonhike almost always has the dry, brownleaves of this tree in one’s sight. This treealso has the common names eastern iron-wood, and rough-barked ironwood, its barkappearing in longitudinal, stringy platesalong the trunk. Both trees are members ofthe birch, Betulaceae, family and producesmall nutlets that provide food for wildlifebut are not sufficient in size to be of muchvalue to larger mammals, such as humans.

These two trees were the source ofmuch mystery, or at least confusion, whenI was first trying to separate one tree fromanother. Both have simple, alternate,

somewhat oval leaves. They have relative-ly fine, or multiple teeth, and could easilybe confused with the elms were it not forthe relatively symmetric base of the leavesin both cases. Were I put in a room withsamples of leaves from each of these twotrees, I could easily confuse them. It is theother characteristics, the smooth, “muscu-lar appearing” bark in one case, and thestringy, longitudinal plates, along with thepersistent winter leaves in the other thathelp me to separate these species fromothers in the Missouri woods.

Ironwood by anothername might be clearer

Carpinus — smooth-barked ironwood

Ostrya – rough-barked ironwood

Carpinus – bracts with nutlets


Hawthorn ChapterSubmitted by Nancy Langworthy, chapter president

The Hawthorn Chapter took August and September much moretemperately, without the bustle of the preceding months. Besides,of course, it rained and rained and flooded.

Members enjoyed our monthly lunches at a downtownColumbia restaurant, talking plants, exchanging plants, brain-storming hike possibilities, and generally developing broader rela-tionships with each other. That lunch at Felini’s was the extent ofour chapter activity for August; we used it to plan for our booth atthe EcoArtFest at Cooper’s Landing on the Missouri River southof Columbia in early September.

Eleven members helped at the all-day Cooper’s Landing event,enjoying a great spot looking at the forested borders of the lazyMissouri, good food, a variety of great music, and a seriouslydiverse crowd of folks came to enjoy it all. The rain never materi-alized; we sold a number of plants propagated by our membersand a few books along with hours of gardening and landscapeadvice.

Former Hawthorn president Nadia Navarrete-Tindall offered usa special guided tour (by photo) of her native El Salvador and itsnative plants as a focus of our September meeting. As you allknow, the deluge hit the following weekend. Those of us whoplanned to go to the State Board meeting, were very disappoint-ed.

Late in September Nadia organized the first Native Plant andConservation Field Day at Busby Farm outside of Jefferson City.This event was sponsored by Lincoln University CooperativeExtension and was part of Nadia’s responsibilities in her workthere.

Our September lunch allowed us to finalize arrangements forour next hike and to start planning for the rest of the year. Westarted canvassing members for interest in serving as our chap-ter representative as well as other roles. We also discussedprogress on the pocket park being established in Rocheportwhere we will plant a tulip tree and bench as a memorial toMarge McDermot, a longtime Hawthorn member who died lastspring.

The chapter celebrated a glorious end to September with abotanizing and seed collecting walk through Marshall-Diggs CA inAudrain County. The prairie remnants there have been regularlyburned, offering a great view of the effects of woodlands that havebeen opened and the prairie species that bloom in the clearings.Besides the predictable but collectable big and little bluestem,Canada wild rye, and mountain mint, we found Virginia les-pedeza, prairie and rough blazing star, tall coreopsis, wood reed,quinine, and white indigo.

We learned the differences among six goldenrods still in glori-ous bloom: tall, stiff, gray, showy, grass-leaved, elm-leafed. Weended it with a great lunch at Bek’s in Fulton, still pulling off stick-tights.

Kansas City Chapter Submitted by Daniel Rice, chapter representative

The Kansas City Chapter has had two events so far this fall. The first was our Sept. 18 chapter meeting. Our guest speak-

er was Dr. Paul Klewinski, professor of biology at William JewelCollege in Liberty, Mo. He has been conducting research onone of our invasive exotics, Lonicera mackii, otherwise knownas amur bush honeysuckle.

As I have written before, KC Wildlands has been waging waragainst this plant in several locations. Paul represents WilliamJewel College on the Partnership Council for KC Wildlands,and our war piqued his interest. With the help of his students,he began studying the plant in depth.

Several interesting facts were discovered. First, a 22-year oldbush can produce more than 103,000 seeds. Second, the plantbegins reproducing at age 4, when it will produce 2,000 to3,000 seeds. Third, the greatest impact on the population is byremoving four-year-old plants. This seems counterintuitive, butthe math was there to back this up. This means that a greatereffect in population control of the honeysuckle will be causedby removal of 4-year old plants instead of focusing solely onthe older, larger ones! It was a great presentation.

The second event for the Kansas City Chapter was a plantsale at the Prairie Days celebration at Jerry Smith Park.Several members took the opportunity to divide the nativeplants growing in our gardens, and they sold well. In fact, wemade $218.00 to donate to the Hudson Fund. We did have afew plants remaining (22 to be exact), so I contacted KimmHenry of the Urban Project to see if they would like them as adonation. She was thrilled to get them. They will be used in theoverall plan of converting an 80-year old home in North KansasCity to an environmentally friendly home, using solar panels, awind turbine and composting toilets.

The Kansas City Chapter’s next meeting is scheduled forThursday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. at the Discovery Center, 4750Troost, Kansas City, Mo. Everyone is welcome to attend!

Osage Plains ChapterSubmitted by Brian Mohr

Late summer activities included two more field trips organizedby the Harlans. Small but eager groups travelled to PaintbrushPrairie in July and to Chapelview Prairie in August.

The weather was warm, but it didn’t stop the intrepid groupfrom producing lengthy species lists from both outings. Manythanks to the Harlans for their dedicated effort arranging thetrips and documenting the findings with both lists and photo-graphs!

Our September meeting featured an interesting report fromMelissa Underwood on blowout penstemon in the Nebraska sand-hills. She participated in an ongoing research project during hertime at the University of Nebraska, and the members found herdiscussion very informative. Marlene Miller was able to attend themeeting and gave a report on the state field trip to LaBarqueWatershed.

Everyone was happy to see Marlene as her husband, Jack,continues to fight serious illness. The chapter has been lucky toenjoy Marlene’s tireless work representing the chapter at the statelevel and wishes all the best for Marlene and Jack.

C H A P T E R R E P O R T S

Continued next page



Ozarks ChapterSubmitted by Susan Farrington, chapter representative

Our August meeting was an evening field trip to Tingler Prairie,south of West Plains. Bill Summers gave us a great tour, not onlyhelping us to identify both common and rare plants but also shar-ing with us the history of the property. We especially enjoyed thestory he told about a previous owner finding a man at the sinkholepond in the 1940’s, a metal bucket strapped to his back, pullingplants and plopping them in his bucket. The curious farmer wentto talk to the man, who turned out to be none other than JulianSteyermark. Thanks, Bill, for making this a great trip!

At our September meeting, Betty Queen taught us all aboutelderberries. We never knew there were so many uses for oneplant! We especially enjoyed learning about the history of elder-berry uses. Betty’s elderberry tonic was especially popular: it wastoo tasty to be a “medicine.”

We had a small but enthusiastic group for our September fieldtrip to see the rare and beautiful southern monkshood (Aconitumuncinatum). Casey Galvin drove down from St. Louis for the trip,and Bob and Ruby Ball drove from Springfield to join four of us

Continued next page

Photos by Susan FarringtonEllen Kaufman, Dearndia Higgins, Ruby Ball, Casey Galvin and Dan Drees share observations during a break during a Sept 21field trip to see the rare Southern monkshood (Aconitum uncinatum) in Shannon County, pictured below. Missouri is the only statewest of the Mississippi River to have Southern blue monkshood.

from the Ozarks chapter. We visited a monkshood site that wasdiscovered two years ago. The population consists of about 200plants, but only a small handful of stems were blooming. Thisspecies is reasonably shade tolerant, but appears to require somecanopy openings to bloom well, and seems to be more of a dry-mesic woodland plant rather than a true forest species.

We also visited another known population which Casey hadobserved seven or eight years ago. He reported that there hadbeen numerous blooming plants at this site, but we were disap-pointed to discover that the site has become very overgrown withbrush, and we found only one blooming stem. There was evi-

dence of old beaver activity, so we surmised that beavers hadpreviously opened up the canopy, but have since moved on andceased their “management”.

On the way out of this site, we stopped along the dirt road tolook at some tall larkspur (Delphinium exaltatum), another beauti-ful and rare plant. We thought we saw some blooms on the plants(which usually bloom in July-August), but it turned out to be moremonkshood. So our little group discovered the sixth known popu-lation of monkshood in Missouri, growing right along with the talllarkspur. All six populations are in a very small geographic area,and it appears that we’ll need to do some management to openup the canopies somewhat to encourage reproduction.

Perennis ChapterSubmitted by Allison Vaughn, chapter representative

Members gathered at the Trail of Tears Visitor Center the morn-ing of Oct. 5 where we were treated to a brief discussion on thepark’s natural history by Park Naturalist and Perennis memberDenise Dowling. Having worked at the park for several years now,Denise knew exactly where to find the beech drop populations.Last winter’s ice storm and the spring’s 12 inch rain event (whichled to at least 9 landslides in the park) have had serious impactson the park’s natural resources, with downed trees and branches



Continued next page

Photo by Alllison VaughnChris Crabtree holds a Hen-of-the-woods (Griphola frondeosa)that he found on the Shepherd's Point Trail at Trail of Tears StatePark during a Perennis Chapter beech drop viewing field trip.

Photo by Alllison VaughnBeech drops (Epifagus virginiana), one of hundreds of plantsfound along the Shepherd's Point Trail at Trail of Tears State Parkon Oct. 5. Beech drops are parasitic on beech trees ("Epifagus"translates to "upon the beech.") They lack leaves. The flowers arereddish, brown or yellowish, and E. virginiana flowers August toOctober.



scattering the woodland floor.Nevertheless, the beech dropswere thriving and the increasedlight encouraged a woodlandfloor rich with broad beechferns (Phegopteris hexa-gonoptera, formerly Thelypterishexagonoptera).

The beech drop fieldtrip coin-cided with President KentFothergill’s BioBlitz of Trail ofTears S.P. Member ChrisCrabtree offered his mycologi-cal expertise, finding a finespecimen of hen-of-the-woodsalong the way and severalother mushrooms next to thetrail. Kent and his wife, memberKelly Tindall, collected aninsect that closely resembled asort of wooly aphid to discoverwhich species lives in the park(and in high numbers on beechtrees). Solidago petiolaris wasin full bloom that day, and doll’seyes (Actaea pachypoda) werein fruit on a steep north facingslope.

St. Louis Chapter Submitted by Martha Hill, chapter representative

George Yatskievych, our chapter president, has once againcome through to schedule some very interesting speakers for ourAugust and September meetings.

On Wednesday, Aug. 27, we heard Malinda Slagle, a restora-tion ecologist, give a talk on “The Plants and Pollinators of theLitzsinger Road Ecology Center.” Although many of us knowMalinda from our chapter meetings, I believe most of us didn’tknow that she is also an entomologist. Malinda’s photos of bees,butterflies, wasps, and other pollinators of many of our commonnative plants were fun and interesting to look at, and her presen-tation of facts about the numbers of these insects present in localstate parks and the Shaw Nature Reserve (and Litzinger, ofcourse) caused a good amount of questions and discussion at theend of the hour.

Our last speaker for the year was Casey Galvin, a noted naturephotographer, who gave a program on “Plants of theSoutheastern U.S. and their Regions.” We met on Wednesday,Sept. 24, and were treated to a delightful slide show of manyplants we don’t normally see in the St. Louis area, but that areconsidered rare or are found only occasionally in the southeast.Casey talked about the area that includes the southeast piedmontand Appalachians and the different types of terrain and soil. With

that in mind, it was easy to see how the plants could be so differ-ent from our own in Missouri. We got a chuckle from hearing thatDicentra cucullaria (Dutchman’s breeches) is considered excep-tionally rare and that people congregate to find even one in a sus-pected location. Ah, the things we take for granted!

George Yatskievych has had a very busy month. In addition togiving a curator’s talk at the Missouri Botanical Garden on plantsof Missouri, he gave a class at Meramec Community College onthe Asteraceae family and how to identify its members with keysand visual clues. We had a nice size group of about 18 students(most from the St. Louis MONPS Chapter), meeting for twonights and a field trip to the Shaw Nature Reserve on Saturday,Sept. 27.

Keys have always been a little daunting (at least to me), butGeorge helped us go through the keys very easily, and I can hon-estly say that many of us found them easy enough to try on ourown. We keyed out several species of Symphyotrichum andSolidago, along with a few Eupatorium. I don’t think I’ve ever heardthe term “chaffy bracts” before, so that was a new one on me.Surprisingly, he brought in some Ambrosia (ragweed) for us to dis-sect, but also some prettier stuff (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae).

October Member’s Night: The audience was scheduled toshare slides and/or pictures with everyone and usually there is a“guess what this is” thrown in the mix. Meet on Wednesday, Oct.22, at 7:30 p.m., at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center,11715 Cragwold Drive, Kirkwood (off Geyer between Watson andBig Bend, just north of the bridge over I-44).

From the previous page

Photo by Martha HillGeorge Yatskievych leads a class at Meramec Community College on how to identify members ofthe Asteraceae family by using keys and visual clues


By Retha MeierSt. Louis Chapter

When I was a small child, my familygathered pawpaw fruit in the fall. Thesmall, slender trees grew close togethernear a creek. I remember that the clus-tered fruits were soft and sweet and had alot of brown seeds. Of course we sang the“picken’ up pawpaws, puttin’ ’em in yourpocket” song.

The name “pawpaw” is thought to bederived from the word “papaya”, eventhough the two plants are not related. Thefruit is also called poor man’s banana,prairie banana, Indiana (Hoosier) banana,West Virginia banana, Kentucky banana,Michigan banana and Ozark banana. Yes,the fruit resembles a banana, somewhat.

The genus Asimina belongs to the tropi-cal family Annonaceae. Asimina is the onlygenus of this family that lives in a temper-ate climate. Tropical fruit produced bymembers of this family include sugar apple(Annona squamosa L.), custard apple(Annona reticulata L.), and soursop(Annona muricata L.). Annonaceae has 14species (three species of Annona, twospecies of Deeringothamnus and ninespecies of Asimina) that are native to theUnited States. The Annonas and membersof the genus Deeringothamnus are nativeto Florida. Seven of the nine species ofAsimina grow in Florida and southernAlabama and Georgia. Asimina parviflora(Michx.) Dunal can be found growingthroughout the Southeastern UnitedStates. Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal has adistribution range over the Eastern UnitedStates and even into southern Canada.

Asimina triloba is a Missouri native.These are the plants that produced thedelicious fruit that I consumed as a youngherbivore. Foxes, squirrels, raccoons, andopossums are also known to eat the fruit.Larvae of the Zebra Swallowtail butterflyfeeds exclusively on young pawpawfoliage. Deer and rabbits avoid consumingleaves and twigs. A chemical compoundwith active pesticidal and neoplastic prop-erties has been isolated from certain partsof the A. triloba plants. In the past, NativeAmericans dried and pulverized pawpawseeds. The resulting powder was used tocontrol head lice.

Interest in cultivating Asimina triloba forcommercial fruit production exists. Its long

taproot, however, makes it difficult totransplant. Chip budding is the most com-mon method of vegetative propagation.Seeds can also be used to grow more

pawpaw trees. The fruit has not caught on as a com-

Tasty pawpaw elicits fond memories

see PAWPAW, next page

Photo by Brian ChadwickMONPS members hiking the La Barque Creek Conservation Area found some ripepawpaws for a late afternoon snack.

Places to find pawpawsThe Weldon Spring Conservation Area

in St. Charles County has many pawpawgroves but most require some off-trailexploration through the woods, reportsMark Grueber of the MissouriDepartment of Conservation.

In southeast Missouri around the CapeGirardeau County area, lots of pawpawcan be found at Apple CreekConservation Area, General WatkinsConservation Area, Cape GirardeauNature Center Campus, Trail of TearsState Park and Big Oak State Park,according to MDC’s Rocky Hayes. TheCape Girardeau Nature Center Campushas an extensive trail with pawpaw alongit. Big Oak State Park also has a boardwalk trail with lots of pawpaw.

The Anderson Conservation Area along

the Mississippi River has lots of pawpawsalong an access road that borders therailroad tracks which borders theMississippi River, says Kristen Goodrich,MDC resource forester in Hannibal. Thisarea is off of Highway 79 in Ralls andPike counties and is open to foot travelonly.

There is a nice patch of pawpaw inColumbia at the Missouri Department ofConservation’s Central Regional Office,1907 Hillcrest Drive, reports MDC urbanforester Ann Koenig. The office sits onWater’s and Moss Wildlife Area and con-sists of 100 acres of old field andGrindstone Creek riparian area. This areais open to the public. There is a nicepawpaw patch at the bottom of the hillrunning along the Grindstone Creek bot-tomland fields.


mon fruit in the supermarkets primarilybecause it does not ship or store well. Asolution to this problem has been to pulpthe fruit and freeze the pulp. The pulp isused in dessert recipes, such as pawpawchiffon pie.

Historically, pawpaws were first docu-mented in 1541 during the DeSoto expedi-tion. At this time, Native Americans werecultivating this plant east of the MississippiRiver. Pawpaws were eaten during theLewis and Clark expedition. A favoritedessert of George Washington was chilledpawpaw fruit. Thomas Jefferson evenplanted pawpaw trees at Monticello.

Understory treesPawpaw trees in Missouri are about 6

meters tall. These plants typically grow in adense patch and could very well be a sin-gle-clone patch. They grow as understorytrees. The large, smooth leaves are ovate,measuring approximately 24 centimeters inlength and 12 centimeters across.

Flowers appear in the spring and havesix petals arranged in two whorls. Velvety-appearing flowers measure 5 centimetersacross and are purple, brown, or maroonin color. Flower fragrance is reported toresemble rotting meat. What could possi-bly pollinate these flowers? Carrion fliesand beetles! Rotting meat is often placednear the trees by growers at bloom time toincrease the number of blowflies andhence the possibility of pollination.

Poor pollination has been reported asbeing a concern. Pawpaw flowers are per-fect, implying that both male and femalereproductive parts are found within thesame flower. The female stigma maturesfirst and is not receptive when the pollen isreleased from the anther. This mechanismprevents self-pollination. Pawpaw flowersare believed to be self-incompatible.

For fruit production, the stigma must becross pollinated. Home gardeners oftenprefer to hand pollinate, using a smallbrush to transfer pollen between two differ-ent flowers of unrelated trees. Researchresults from a study done in the 1980sindicate that 17% of hand-pollinated flow-ers set fruit while only 0.41% of flowersproduced fruit on plants that were naturallypollinated. It is obvious that more researchneeds to be done by pollination biologiststo understand the reproductive mecha-nisms of this species.

PAWPAW, from the previous page A fascination bloomswith native orchidsBy Chuck RobinsonPetal Pusher editor

Those of us who have been introducedface to petaled face with western prairiefringed orchid, like many of the hikers onthe MONPS field trip in June to the prairiesof the northwest corner of the state, comeaway a bit smitten.

The western prairie fringed orchidoccurs in moist tallgrass prairies. I plan togo back to Little Tarkio Prairie Conserva-tion Area near Mound City, Mo., next Juneto show some friends this beauty.

I also am intrigued by the relationship oforchid and mycorrhizal fungi. CarlSlaughter, in an article published in theArkansas Native Plant Society Claytoniafrom spring 2006, noted how orchids havetiny seeds that have no endosperm, thelayer of cells in a seed coat that feed thegerminating embryo. He asks how orchidseeds can do without this food source. Hisanswer is the relationship between theorchid plant and the fungus.

“(The mycorrihizae) penetrate theseed’s testa and invade the embryothrough its suspensor region. After penetra-tion, they produce pelotons, which aretightly interwoven coils of proliferating fun-gal hyphae. The seed, either in search ofnutrition or as a protective measure, pro-duces a substance that dissolves the pelo-tons, causing the release of nutrient matterthat the seed uses for growth and germina-tion,” Slaughter wrote.

In the 1995 book “Terrestrial Orchids:From Seed to Mycotrophic Plant,” authorHanne N. Rasmussen refers to the seedsbeing infected with the fungi.

Slaughter suggested that the mycorri-hizal relationship sustains the seeds ofladies tresses (Spiranthes) that spendyears in the ground before sprouting.

Missouri has 36 species of nativeorchids in 17 genera, says EdgarDenison’s “Missouri Wildflowers.”

I have so much to learn.Among them, of course is the western

prairie fringed orchid, Platanthera praeclara.They are erect plants growing 2½ feet tall.The lower petal, which can be more thanan inch long, is a fringed lip and has threelobes. The plant has 10-inch long strap-like

leaves that taper to a point.Doug Ladd, in the 1995 Falcon Guides

book “Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers,” notesthe eastern prairie fringed orchid is closelyrelated. Besides some internal details of theflower structure, the western species haslarger flowers. He said these orchids oncewere widespread but have become endan-gered because of lost prairie ecosystems.

A slightly less showy but similar Missouriorchid is the ragged fringed orchid,Platanthera lacera. It has green flowers,and Ladd in the guide says its abundancevaries greatly from year to year. It growsslightly shorter than the western fringedprairie orchid. The lowest leaves can be 6inches long but upper leaves are smaller.The lower petal is similar in form to P.praeclara but smaller.

The orange fringed orchid is found inwet acid sand flats and bogs, according tothe “Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers.” A coupleof feet tall, with leaves similar to the raggedfringed orchid. Each flower is amber-col-ored. The fringed lower lip is more spade-shaped instead of the three lobes of itscousins above.

Another orchid, Missouri’s ladies tresses,Spiranthes cernua, is common in the state,abundant south of the Missouri River andscattered north of it. We look for its 18-inchtall stalks of white flowers in August throughNovember. “Missouri Wildflowers” says itcan be found it in dry acidic glades andupland prairies as well as wet meadows. Itsflowers have a pointed lip and are arrangedin a spiral up the stalk. The basal leavesdisappear before the flowers appear.

Grass pink orchid, Calopogon tuberosus,is a delicate, singled-stemmed plant growingless than 2 feet tall, according to “TallgrassPrairie Wildflowers.” The flowers are whiteto pink to vivid pink. There are three petalsand three sepals that look like petals. Two ofthe petals are narrower and a little shorterthan the sepals. We should look for it infens, moist sand prairies and upland prairiesthat are moist in the spring. It can be foundin a few eastern Ozark counties, accordingto www.MissouriPlants.com.

Another species with bright pink flowers,Oklahoma grasspink (C. oklahomensis) isfound in mesic prairie habitats in a fewwestern counties in Missouri.


By Cindy Gilberg

Many gardeners lament that there is amidsummer lull in the shade garden.Although there are numerous plants withattractive foliage, it’s the flowers and theircompanion pollinators that are the attrac-tion we are usually after.

The glorious spring and early summerblooms are just a memory — what now?

Turning to native plants will provide astrong, reliable palette of plants for the gar-den that are well-adapted to our Midwestclimate. The ideal shade garden (hopefully,this is your garden!) has light shade that isthe result of widely spaced trees with ahigh canopy. This is the kind of light thatallows a wide assortment of plants to workwith.

Determine first what the soil type is — isit dry or wet? Rocky or rich in organic mat-ter? The plants discussed here grow bestin dry to average soil with an average levelof humus. Adding a one- to two-inch layerof leaf compost once a year will help main-tain an adequate level of organic matter.

Nothing is quite as dramatic as the tall,light to dark cobalt blue spires ofDelphinium exaltatum (tall larkspur). Mostpopulations are found in average to rockywoodlands in Missouri near the Jack’sFork and Current River in Shannon Co.although populations can be found in otherstates, such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, aswell. It blooms at a height of 3-5 feetdepending on the soil (more organic, moreheight) in July and August. So manyMidwest gardeners think that delphiniumsare just for dreams, but no! This nativelarkspur is quite hardy and happily growsin light shade and average soils.

Another wonderful woodland speciesfrom the Ozarks, also found in average torocky sites, is Cimicifuga racemosa (blackcohosh). Its 5-foot white spires stand tall,resembling exclamation points above thesurrounding foliage in the shade.Cimicifuga has been renamed Actaea,though for the moment it is listed undereither or both names.

These two, larkspur and cohosh, punc-tuate the shade garden in a way that noother shade perennial does.

A great companion planting for these flo-

ral spikes is Phlox paniculata. Its flowersare structurally different, having full roundheads with blooms of soft pink. In late Julythrough August the flowers sway in thebreeze, adding a gentle fragrance that isalways welcome. Hummingbirds and but-terflies alike come to forage for nectar inthe tubular flowers of phlox.

On a recent walk through the openwoodlands at Shaw Nature Reserve (GraySummit, Mo.) I came across a large popu-lation of skullcap (Scuttelaria incana) inbloom with purple coneflowers. The soft,light sky blue flowers of the skullcap com-bined well with the large pink flowers of theconeflower . Both bloom at a height of 3feet or so and grow in similar woodlandsettings — light shade, open woodlandsand an average soil.

A little further down the path was someearly blooming goldenrod (Solidago ulmifo-lia). The golden yellow flowers of the elmleaf goldenrod are arranged on long arch-ing wands that offer a striking complementto the blue skullcap.

Complete the native shade garden withmass plantings of plants that function asground covers. Try the 1- to 2-foot tallsedges such as palm sedge (Carex musk-ingumensis), blue sedge (Carexglaucodea) or the white tinged sedge(Carex albicans). Sedges offer a fine,grass-like texture and when planted enmasse will tie the garden together visually.

Another group of plants that are usefulthis way are the native ferns such as theDryopteris (wood fern) or Polystichumacrostichoides (Christmas fern). Christmasfern is the better choice if your soil is drierand rockier and the other species do bestin average soils. Both of these woodlandnatives offer a pleasant contrast in foliageto the mid to late summer bloomers.

Fall is a perfect time to seek out andplant some of these woodland natives.Note where in your garden there are gapsand look into some of the plants men-tioned above. Ask at local independentgarden centers — the more gardenersrequest certain plants, the more likely thegarden center will begin to carry some ofthese natives for the garden. TheGrowNative site (www.grownative.org) hasa listing of nurseries, including mail order

sources, from which gardeners can buynursery-propagated plants or seeds.

Cindy Gilberg formerly owned with her hus-band Gilberg Perennials in the St. Louisarea. She works at Shaw Nature Reserveon the outskirts of St. Louis.

Late Summer Blooms for Native Shade Gardens

Tall larkspur (Delphinium exaltatum) hasblue flowers in July and August. It grows 3to 5 feet tall.

Photos from MissouriPlants. comPhlox paniculata can be found in Missouri

woods blooming July-October, especially inthe southern part of the state. It has pinkflowers, and there are many cultivated vari-eties.


Lingering at LaBarqueThese photos were taken Saturday, Sept. 13, on the MONPSfield trip to the LaBarque watershed area near St. Louis. Raindoused Sunday plans and sent everyone home early, butSaturday held plenty of botanical treasures for hikers to find.

Ann Wakeman, Jack Harris and Nels Holmberg confer before hik-ers set out on one of four trails at the property of Don Robinson.Robinson has pledged his 849 acres in the LaBarque Creekwatershed to the Missouri State Park system.

Paul Konopacki leads part of the group on a trail at the LabarqueCreek Conservation Area Saturday afternoon.

Fearless leader Rex HIll lays out the options for hikers.

When a tree has beenwounded, disease and decaymay infect the damagedarea. To protect itself againstthe spread of decay tohealthy tissue, trees can sealoff or compartmentalize thewounded area like this.

Stinkhorns, likethese fungi in theMutinus genus, arepinkish to orangishspikes rising fromwhitish "eggs" inthe ground. At first,until insects attack,they are coveredwith brown or olivebrown slime

Coral fungus(Clavariaceae)appear in woodedareas, growing onthe ground or ondecaying logs inthe summer andfall.

Photos by Brian Chadwick

Missouri Native Plant Society Officers and Board MembersPPRREESSIIDDEENNTTRex Hill4 Grantwood LaneSt. Louis, MO 63123314–849–1464 [email protected]

VVIICCEE––PPRREESSIIDDEENNTTTim Smith1704 W. MainJefferson City, MO 65109573–635–[email protected]

SSEECCRREETTAARRYYAnn Schuette 303 Spring Church Rd. Troy, MO 63379 636-528-6544 [email protected]

TTRREEAASSUURREERRBob Siemer74 Conway Cove DriveChesterfield, MO 63017636–537–[email protected]

IIMMMMEEDDIIAATTEE PPAASSTT PPRREESSIIDDEENNTTKathy Thiele4 Rodelle WoodsWeldon Spring, MO 63304636–300–9290

[email protected]

BBOOAARRDD MMEEMMBBEERRSSJames C. Trager, Ph.D. (‘05–’08)Shaw Nature ReserveP O Box 38Gray Summit, MO 63039636–451–3512 , Ext. 6002 (w)

Paul McKenzie (‘06–’09)2311 Grandview CircleColumbia, MO 65203573–445–[email protected]

Robin Kennedy (‘05–’08)University of Missouri HerbariumColumbia, MO 65211-3170573–882–[email protected]

John Oliver (‘07–’10)4861 Gatesbury Dr.St. Louis, MO 63128314–487–[email protected]

Bruce Schuette (‘07–’10)678 St. Rt. 147Troy, MO 63379636–528–7247 (w)[email protected]

Sherry Leis (‘06–’09) 533 S. Forest Ct. Springfield, MO 65806 660- 885-6981 (w)[email protected]

AARRCCHHIIVVEESSJack Harris9708 Green Park Rd.St. Louis, MO 63123314–368-0655

EENNVV.. AANNDD EEDDUUCC..John Oliver(see board members)

FFIIEELLDD BBOOTTAANNYYTim Smith(see officers)

MMEEMMBBEERRSSHHIIPPAnn Early1425 Bobolink Pl.St. Louis, MO 63144-1128314–963–[email protected]

PPUUBBLLIICCIITTYYKevin Bley4 Zinzer Ct.Grantwood Village, MO 63123314–[email protected]

MMIISSSSOOUURRIIEENNSSIISS,, CCOO––EEDDIITTOORRSSGeorge YatskievychMO Botanical GardenPO Box 299St. Louis, MO 63166314–577–9522 (w)[email protected]

Doug LaddThe Nature Conservancy2800 S. Brentwood Blvd.St. Louis, MO 63144314–968–1105 (w)

PPEETTAALL PPUUSSHHEERR EEDDIITTOORRChuck Robinson6911 NW Blair Rd.Parkville, MO [email protected]

DDIISSTTRRIIBBUUTTIIOONN MMGGRR..Bill Knight 5101 Dresden Ave.St. Louis, MO 63116314–832–[email protected]

EEDDIITTOORRIIAALL CCOOMMMM..David CastanerPaul RedfearnTim SmithStephen L. Timme

CCHHAAPPTTEERR RREEPPRREESSEENNTTAATTIIVVEESS

HHAAWWTTHHOORRNN

KKAANNSSAASS CCIITTYYDaniel Rice815 W. 31st St.Independence, MO 64055816–[email protected] PPLLAAIINNSSMarlene Miller949 NE HigHWay CCalhoun, MO 65323660–694–[email protected]

OOZZAARRKKSS NNAATTIIVVEE PPLLAANNTTSusan FarringtonMDC Ozark Regional Office 551 Joe Jones Blvd.West Plains, MO 65775417–255–9561 Ext. 307 (w)[email protected]

PPEERREENNNNIISSAllison [email protected], 311Ridgeway Columbia 65203,573-703-6448SSTT.. LLOOUUIISSMartha Hill4 Grantwood LaneSt. Louis, MO 63123314–849–1464 [email protected]

Printed onRecycled Paper

Vol. 23, No. 6November-December 2008

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:• Plenty of ironwoods to choose from• Fall is the time to taste pawpaws

Missouri Native Plant SocietyP.O. Box 20073St. Louis, MO 63144–0073

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

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