Elaeagnus pungens

Last week, I gave my students a tour of Dumbarton Oaks, so we could catch the last of autumn color and see what was otherwise notable in the gardens. We were passing the shrub below with little interest until we were almost knocked over by the fragrance.

The fragrance was a touch more pungent than a gardenia, and incredibly strong.  I recognized the smell right away as an Elaeagnus.  This particular species is appropriately named Elaeagnus pungens. It's a large spreading evergreen shrub with rough scratchy green leaves and brown stems (the stems are worth noting since - as you can see in the above pic - it does muddy up the overall color of the plant).  The undersides of the leaves are silver with the occasional brown scale.

This time of year the plant is teeming with small tubular white flowers - the source of the fragrance.  The flowers are very easy to miss, were it not for their scent (and on an evolutionary angle, that makes sense - the fragrance is key in drawing in pollinators when the flowers are relatively unremarkable).

In April, cherry like drupes occur on the plant in modest quantities - they are easy to miss, though the birds usually find them.  Native to Japan, this plant is not as invasive as its cousins, E. umellata and E. angustifolia.

Mahonia, again

Last week, I blogged about Berberis haematocarpa and it's resemblance to Mahonia.    I illustrated this by posting some photos of Oregon grapeholly, or M. aquifolium, but another common Mahonia species is M. bealei or the leatherleaf mahonia.  Here's a shot of one growing in northern Virginia.

 

Leatherleaf mahonia has, as the common name implies, thicker, larger leaves with sharp spines.  It's stiffer plant than M. aquifolium though is also far hardier. You're more likely to encounter this performing well in zone 6, which makes sense when one considers this species is native to China. 

 You can see the small yellow flower buds have already taken shape on this plant.  Mahonia bealei does bloom much sooner than M. aquifolium, and will display yellow, slightly fragrant flowers as soon as January.  After they bloom, the plant sets large blue berries which tend to languish on the plant, since its non-native status means local wildlife generally avoid the fruit.  (Read: deer-resistant.)

Though it's tempting to use a broadleaved evergreen - especially one that deer avoid and has showy flowers and fruit - I'd pass on Mahonia bealei.  The plant is invasive and threatens to become a management problem in forests where it's begun to appear. 

Mormon Tea, or Ephedra

I saw this small, raggedy shrub all around the edges of the Grand Canyon and it was part of the reason I was compelled to quickly find some decent books detailing the flora of the region.  To me, it closely resembled Cytisus, but as it turns out it was an altogether new genus for me, Ephedra.

The genus name should sound familiar, since when one gets congested it's likely they are buying a product with pseudoephedrine in it.  Of course, if you buy too much pseudoephedrine, you may be flagged as a potential drug dealer, since the drug is often used to make methamphetamine.

The Chinese Ephedra (E. sinica) is perhaps the most notorious; it has the alkaloids pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, both of which have been marketed as 'herbal remedies.'  These products were often abused by athletes as stimulants to enhance performance.  Most notably, Ephedra was linked to the deaths of Baltimore Oriole Steve Bechler and Minnesota Viking Korey Stringer.  Many sports leagues, and ultimately the FDA, have banned the use of Ephedra.   

This native species E. trifurca is less potent than E. sinica, but was still used by southwestern settlers as a tonic, tea, diuretic and decongestant.  It was even used to treat syphilis (though I'm not sure how effective it was).  Mormons, who abstain from caffeinated beverages, often drank the brew made from this plant thus accounting for Ephedra's common name - Mormon tea.

Ephedra is derivative of the ancient Greek work for horse's tail - 'Hippuris.'  I have no idea what trifurca means!

Berberis and Mahonia

Here's a shot of the desert scrub outside of Sedona, taken during the jeep tour I mentioned in previous posts.  Exploring the desert plants growing here was a delight -- some were familiar, like the prickly pear and mesquite, some were new, like pinyon pine.  Other plants straddled between the two categories - they were vaguely familiar and in some cases I was able to make a guess at their genus or family.

This scrubby plant below was one such specimen.  The pinnately compound, waxy leaves reminded me immediately of Mahonia and when I returned to the East Coast, my bag a bit heavier due to a load of plant books I had bought, I started researching.

Indeed, the plant is in the same family as Mahonia but is actually Berberis haematocarpa, or red barberry.  Both genera exist in the Berberidaceae family, though the leaf reminded me far more of Mahonia.  One supposes that the structure of the small yellow flowers, which bloom from February until April, are genetically more similar to Berberis and that is why they are grouped as such.

 

After the plant flowers, small purple berries form and are evidently quite tasty.  They are quickly eaten by birds and small mammals but if leftovers exist they are often used to make jellies.  The plant has never been 'domesticated' however, because it is a secondary host for black stem rust, a disease that affects grains. 

Back on the East Coast, in Central Park Zoo, we have the more refined looking Mahonia, possibly M. x media or M. aquifolium.  Commonly called Oregon grapeholly, the plant (the straight species, that is, not the hybrid) was discovered by Louis Lewis* and Clark during their expedition of the Pacific Northwest.  The plant is similar to the red barberry, not only in leaf type but in flower color and fruit as well.  However, the fruit on Oregon grapeholly, as the common name would suggest, are larger and look like concord grapes.
 

It is puzzling why the Arizonan plant is classified as Berberis considering how much more it looks like Mahonia.  Chances are you are familiar with other species of Berberis: B. thunbergii and B. julianae, though I would be hard-pressed to endorse the use of either; the former being invasive and the latter being prohibitively thorny.  

*Oof.  How embarrassing.  

Blithewold and Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Aurea'

This week and next I'll be posting a few photos from Blithewold in Rhode Island.  Blithewold is a mansion outside of Providence that was finished construction in 1896.  I went there in August while visiting a friend and took scads of photos.

The first I'm sharing is of Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Aurea.'  I saw this majestic specimen towering next to the mansion no sooner than two days after teaching it to my students.  The words still haunt me: 'Filifera Aurea Nana' is the dwarf cultivar of this plant, and is most common.  'Filifera Aurea' can get very tall - up to 80' - but not around here.  Perhaps in Japan you can find the species getting that tall, but not here.

Yep, nevermind. As you can guess by scaling the workers, this specimen is well on its way to reaching 40' plus.  When I saw it, I think I actually blushed with shame!

In my defense, this is a rarity on the east coast and I suspect the plant was installed shortly after the mansion was built; it only grows a few inches a year.  If we said the plant was 40' high (480") and grew at 6" a year (optimistic), we could age this tree at about 80 years.  I'd say it grows more slowly than 6", too.

That said, Blithewold is located on a peninsula near Bristol Harbor and the water would create milder winters and more humidity, both of which would suit this plant well.

Above is another specimen - in a size you're more likely to encounter - in Bryant Park in New York.  It's clear from the long, threadlike branchlets why this plant is called 'Filifera' and the gold color easily accounts for 'Aurea.' Pisifera literally means "bearing peas" and is referring to the very diminutive cones that the species will bear. Chamaecyparis is derivative of the Greek word chamai which means "on the ground" and kuparissos which is the Greek word for cypress.