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A Heath of Bogs and Wetlands

Posted by Gary on June 7, 2019 in Trees and Shrubs

The last few blogs, I featured some of the members of the heath family of plants including blueberry, huckleberry and swamp sweet bells. Another member of this family and sometimes mistaken for blueberry because of its white bell-like blossoms is the leatherleaf.

Leatherleaf has dark green leathery leaves on arching shoots often growing along the edges of streams and ponds. This shrub’s white bell-like blossoms bloom in a five-inch raceme at the tip of the plant. These flowers do not produce berries; its fruit is a dry woody capsule.

This shrub thrives in bogs and wetlands from the Arctic south to Georgia.

 

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Looks Like a Blueberry, But It is Not a Blueberry

Posted by Gary on June 4, 2019 in Trees and Shrubs
Swamp Sweet Bell Blossoms grow tightly on one sided racemes.
Blueberries have hanging bell-like blossoms.

A shrub often mistaken for high-bush blueberry because it grows in the same habitat and also has white bell shaped-blossoms that bloom in the spring is swamp sweet bells.

Sometimes called fetterbush, its blooms are clustered at the tip of its branches in one sided four-inch long racemes. Bees, butterflies and other pollinators visit the flowers for nectar. These blossoms grow into woody capsules that drop seeds in the fall.

This shrub can be found in wetlands and along the edge of streams from the mid-Atlantic States to the Gulf Coast States. There are many species of plants with the name “fetterbush” with similar characteristics, some have pink blossoms and some are evergreen.

The next time you take a walk in the woods in the spring and see white bell-like blossoms, don’t assume the flowers are from blueberry.

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The Blue Huckleberry

Posted by Gary on June 2, 2019 in Trees and Shrubs

There are many species of blueberries and huckleberries. In the last two blogs, I focused on several species of blueberry – lowbush blueberry and highbush blueberry and one species of huckleberry – the black huckleberry. There is another species of huckleberry that grows in the pine barrens and unlike the black huckleberry that has black fruit, the dangleberry huckleberry grows blue fruit.

This shrub is found in the U.S. coastal plain from New Hampshire to Georgia and thrives in acidic sandy soils. Its blossoms are greenish buff with tinges of orange. Its berries are powder blue.

It, too, has edible berries. Birds and wildlife enjoy these blue fruits and so do I. But again, be cautious as to what you eat in the wild. There are poisonous berries everywhere!!!

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Orange Bells in the Forest

Posted by Gary on June 1, 2019 in Trees and Shrubs

The other day, I talked about walking through a pine barrens woodland where I saw blueberries in the understory of the oak forest. (See: “White Bells in the Pine Barrens”.) In addition to the white bells, I saw the reddish bells of another shrub with similar attributes growing amongst the blueberries – the black huckleberry.

Black huckleberry looks similar to the low bush blueberries, but it grows taller reaching up to three feet tall. This huckleberry species has orange-red blossoms that, if pollinated, will produce black fruit.

Unlike blueberries, huckleberries have resinous leaves. If you look at the underside of the huckleberry leaf you will see tiny yellow resin dots. This resin reduces the loss of water via transpiration which is important to a plant that grows in dry, sandy, acidic soils.

Huckleberries can be found in the eastern U.S. in places with dry acidic soils. Yes, huckleberries are edible, but be sure it is a huckleberry and not some random poisonous berry that will make you sick.

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White Bells in the Pine Barrens

Posted by Gary on May 29, 2019 in Trees and Shrubs
Blueberries have hanging bell-like blossoms.

In pine barren forests on Long Island in New York, May is the time of year for an explosion of growth in the spring woodlands. The leaves of red maples, scarlet oaks, black gums and various heaths have fully extended to absorb the sun’s energizing rays.

As I walk down a path through freshwater wetlands, I see shoulder high shrubs with small white bell-like blossoms. A bumblebee flies from one flower to another to sip nectar and in doing so pollen rubs off on its legs. It unknowingly disperses this pollen to other flowers that helps in pollination. Those pollinated blossoms will grow into a plump blueberries.

There are many species of blueberries. It is the highbush blueberry that thrives in wetland environments. The trail leads me to an upland area where the soil is sandy and acidic. White and scarlet oaks along with pitch pine tower over heaths of varying heights. There are white bell-like blossoms on short woody plants that grow six to twelve inches. Upon closer examination I discover this is the low bush blueberry. Bees are also busy pollinating the blueberry flowers. Occasionally, I come across an intermediate sized blueberry plant. It has off-white blossoms with a tinge of pink.

By late June and early July, the blueberries will be ripe and I look forward to eating them fresh off the bushes.

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