High Line Phase II

So despite the fact that the second phase of the High Line Park opened last summer, and I have been to NYC probably dozens of times since then, I had yet to visit the newest leg of the park, extending from 20th to 30th Street.  I finally got there last week (though sadly, idiotically, I forgot to bring a decent camera, so these pics are with my very old, very slow iPhone 3GS). 

For the most part, the second phase is more of the same, though there are some unusual changes to the previous plant palette (more on that in a future post).  But what I enjoyed seeing most was this fantastic bird coop/co-op.

Built with steel wires and rods, the structure most be relatively heavy (and thus stable) and no doubt it's on footings.  But yet the whole thing looks quite light.  It provides ample opportunity for perching and the assortment of small stakes and boxes allow passersby to deposit apple cores for the birds and for small amounts of water to collect.

My only frustration was that the bird apartments (there were two, on each side of the path) were placed, no: squeezed, on a straight and narrow part of the park, creating bottlenecking and traffic.  Not only does that placement stifle circulation, but I kinda want to see this structure over a larger area so that there's more opportunity for birds to visit, deposit seeds and create a more complete model of urban ecological succession, which is of course what the park is all about.  

The somewhat clumsy placement makes me wonder if this was not an add-on.  I can imagine a city agency or organization bringing this to the program after design was already complete, and the designers needing to struggle to find a place for it.  And don't get me wrong, I love the structure!  I just wish it didn't feel like it was shoehorned onto an existing design. 

Strelitzia nicolai and the Japanese White Eye

The Saturday before I left town for Hawaii, I met my students at Brookside Gardens.  If you remember, Saturday the 29th was snowy, sleety, rainy and cold.  To wit, we covered some plants in the conservatory.  One of which was the giant bird of paradise, or Strelitzia nicolai.  While looking at it, we wondered what kind of pollinators would frequent it, and its relative, the regular bird of paradise, or Strelitzia reginae.  We suspected perhaps birds, due to the large, perchable flower and in the case of S. reginae, the parrot-colored flower.

While it's not certain that this bird, the Japanese White Eye, is the primary pollinator, its relationship here is pretty clear.  The bird, also known as Zosterops japonicus, is an introduced bird to Hawaii, originally brought to the islands with the good intent of using it to control populations of destructive insects.  As you can guess, this did not work out too well and now the bird is a vector for avian diseases that affect the native bird species. 

Back to the plant -- this may look familiar -- in fact the plant is very similar to traveler's palm, which I blogged about on NYPAOS.  Aloha!

Joe Pye Weed

This is one of my favorite North American wildflowers -- Eutrochium purpureum (formerly Eupatorium), commonly known as Joe Pye Weed.  Eutrochium is a tall (6-7') summer flowering perennial, typically with pink flowers as seen below.  Part of the reason that this plant is now Eutrochium and not Eupatorium is because the former has whorled leaves (indeed, trocho is Greek for wheel-like, thus whorled) and the latter has opposite leaves. Both genera remain in the Asteraceae family.

Below, a white flowering variety, less common than the purplish pink flowers.  One way to distinguish E. purpureum from E. maculatum (these plants are often confused) is the presence of pink spots along the entire stem of E. maculatum, as opposed to the clear green or purple stems on E. purpureum.

Joe Pye weed is a pretty terrific common name, too.  It's named for a Native American who was known by colonists as Joe Pye.  As legend goes, he used the roots of this plant to aid a colonist who was ill with typhus.  The plant induced sweating which broke his fever. The plant was also used by Native Americans as an ailment to "breakbone fever" (which is now known as dengue fever), thus another common name of boneset (though boneset is usually considered the common name for Eutrochium perfoliatum, a close relative). 

You need a fair amount of real estate to use this plant, as large as it gets.  But if you have the space, it's a great addition as it provides habitat to bees, butterflies and birds.

More Bird Stuff

A few weeks ago, I saw this bird while running along the Potomac.  I was fairly sure it was a great blue heron (Ardea herodias), but couldn't be sure that the beak was yellow, which is one of the tell-tale ways to positively ID the bird.  

That's about as close as I got to it, before the bird took off.

 

Last week I was running near through the Constitution Gardens and saw the same species of bird.  This time, I could spot the beak.   

 

I was able to get much closer to him, too, as he (or she) was transfixed by something below the water's surface.

 

Not sure how much longer the bird would stay in that spot though, since a fleet of ducklings were quickly making their way over for a visit. 

 

Viburnum plicatum 'Popcorn'

Viburnum plicatum - or doublefile viburnum - is a terrifically handy plant.  It's deer resistant, has great fall color and no real pest problems.  It's in bloom right now and typically can be spotted by its large, horizontal branches that seem to extend from the plant parallel to the ground plane, as you can see in this specimen at Tompkins Square Park in New York.

It's called doublefile because typically the flowers and the showy bracts appear in a double line along the branches.

The specimens below belong to the same species, but these cultivars are called 'Popcorn' -- because of the round head of flowers which are actually quite similar to a Hydrangea.

Though this plant is not native (it is from China) the berries it sporadically forms in the fall are good food for birds.  I also love the deeply recessed venation in the leaves -- a feature common in many Viburnum species.

Drunken Birds

A few weeks ago in class I related a story to my students regarding the berries of Cornus florida.  After the first frost (or soon after) the juices in the berries of the tree ferment.  The birds then flock to the tree and eat them, consequently getting a bit drunk and falling out of the tree.  I've seen this happen at my folks' place on the occasional lazy Sunday when I was growing up and it's pretty remarkable. 

After class, one of my students asked me where I had heard documentation of this phenomena (a fair question!) I remember hearing something, perhaps on All Things Considered about the dogwood specifically, but I went looking on line. And while I didn't find much specific to Cornus, there is no shortage of reports of birds getting drunk on fermented Hawthorne, Photinia and other plants.

It seems the cedar waxwing has the most tendencies to enjoy a tipple. In 2005, USA Today reported that in Columbia, SC, dozens of the birds died by accidentally flying into glass buildings after eating fermented holly berries.  The same species was reported drunk and disorderly in Memphis in 2009, as indicated in an AP report.  And, just this past winter, in Romania, dozens of dead starlings were found in town.  They were autopsied and it was determined they got drunk on grape 'marc' which is a leftover pulp in the winemaking process.

Of course all this talk about bird death brings to mind the blackbirds that had been found dead in shocking numbers in Arkansas.  According to Science News, they died of blunt force.  Some speculation exists that a noise disrupted and scared them after dark.  They are not good nighttime navigators and thus may have crashed into buildings, trees or each other and then died.

As for the partying I saw on my parents' dogwood, fortunately the tree was quite small so the birds weren't injured when they fell off the branches. 

From Australia: Christmas Bells

First up, let me introduce Planted Cloud's Australian correspondent, Garry Thomas. 

Garry Thomas is a practicing ecologist with over 20 years of field survey and scientific reporting experience.  Living on the Sunshine Coast in South East Queensland he specializes in plant ecology and his research work involves extensive travel throughout Australia, often to remote locations.  Garry has a comprehensive understanding of the Australian flora and is particularly interested in the ecology and distribution of regional ecosystems, threatened species as well as the environmental impacts of naturalized species.  In the field of conservation biology his discoveries have helped secure key biodiversity areas.  Some specific examples of his outstanding botanical achievements include the discovery of the most northerly populations of the threatened species Eucalyptus conglomerata, Triunia robusta and Baloghia marmorata, as well as the rediscovery of Romnalda strobilacea in Kin Kin, another threatened plant which had not been recorded from the area since 1917.  In addition to his extensive field experience, Garry has successfully tutored in plant identification and ecology.

This is Garry's first contribution to the blog -- I'm happy to have him here so he can keep us up to date on Australian botany!

Christmas Bells - Blandfordia species

During the summer festive season here in Australia, around December to January, small herbaceous plants belonging to an endemic genus of only 4 species burst into flower.  These species, which are often difficult to separate morphologically, belong to a genus that was named by English botanist James Edward Smith in 1804 as recognition of George Spencer-Churchill’s (1766-1840) contribution to botany, plants and landscaping in general.  This aristocrat, who became the 5th Duke of Marlborough, was given the title Marquis of Blandford at birth.  Hence the plant’s name Blandfordia (bland-FORD-ee-a); the only genus in the family Blandfordiaceae.

Blandfordia grandiflora growing amongst the wet heath land plants in SE Queensland

 Small remnants of the Marquis of Blandford’s historic and famous ‘fairy-tale’ landscaping can be seen in what is now known as the Whiteknights Park in Berkshire England.  The park is situated within the largest campus (Whiteknights) of the Reading University and includes a large lake, a grotto and scattered old trees.

Christmas Bells are geographically restricted to southeastern Australia; predominately they are found in coastal regions, but also occur on the nearby ranges and extend from Tasmania in the south to around Fraser Island (SE Queensland) in the north.  Generally they inhabit areas of high rainfall; but to some extent, specific ecologically restrictions can occur; these include south facing slopes; sandstone substrates; sandy, wet, peaty heath land; clayey sands with moderate acidity and so on.

The species, Blandfordia cunninghamii, B. grandiflora, B. nobilis and B. punicea, are slow-growing, grass-like plants.  They have narrow strappy leaves arranged in a clump; the much sought after, brightly coloured, red and/or yellow bell-shaped flowers arise on stems springing from the centre of the leafy cluster.  The plants are repeatedly visited by honey eating birds for the nectar contained in their flowers.

From time to time Blandfordia species are cultivated as garden features in Australia, North America and Europe; they are also very popular as cutflowers.  Interestingly, Blandus is a Latin word meaning caressing, flattering.   Perhaps a species of Christmas Bells, tolerant of cooler climates such as B. punicea, would be a fitting addition to the landscaping within the fairy-tale gardens at Whiteknights.  Whitenights Park was once a renowned attraction, a desire of kings and a place harboring many rare plants.