Reviewed by Jonathan O.C. Kubesch, University of Tennessee
I work in the space between traditional agronomy and ecology with my career in grasslands. While I refer to journal articles for the bulk of my work, a reference book holds an important place for my field. Generally, I go to the library or through hearsay to come across some obscure text with a great description of this species or that agricultural practice. Ah, the life of a graduate student! However, in the case of Reed Noss’ Forgotten Grasslands of the South: Natural History and Conservation, I could not have found a better time to dive into a well-assembled dissection of these oft-overlooked ecosystems. My copy comes courtesy of Dwayne Estes (Southeastern Grasslands Initiative), and came it to me while in the field looking for running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum) in Davidson County, Tennessee. After an unsuccessful hunt, I poured over the book in concert with my own travels around the Southeast.
Noss thoroughly expands the conceptual grassland well
beyond the tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies of my background to include the
glades, buffalo traces, and barrens. Following the author’s same journey as an
Ohio buckeye gone south, I happened to visit Myakka State Park in Florida as
part of my best friend’s wedding and got a similar feel for Southern grasslands
that Forgotten Grasslands highlights
in an interweaving description of basic ecology and applied conservation. While
broad in geographic range, the book gives a great description of the Bluegrass
Region and some of the floral diversity present within the relatively developed
region. Having just sampled the native clover in the region, I then read into the
magic of my travels within the wider context.
The grassland ecological model put forward is a strong
one for natural systems and is explored in the context of systems dominated by
fire, soil, water, and herbivory. Kentucky’s ecological diversity offers
examples of all these natural processes. KNPS members might think of river
scours in comparison to calcareous glades. Colorful plates showcase the
diversity of ecosystems and the species richness within these systems. Land
Between the Lakes and the inner Bluegrass are featured alongside Blue Licks
Battlefield State Park.
Conservation is a key concern in Kentucky’s native
plant sphere. In addition to the floral diversity of the Southeast, the
economic opportunity, favorable climate, and social hospitality have led many
to move here. Rather than running out these recent arrivals, highlighting this
biodiversity and the backyard endemism is seen as a promising strategy to improve
the future of these plant species. While not everyone will push through a Solidago key, we can all appreciate the
various forms that grace the state. Even outside of the strict grassland
context, Daniel Boone National Forest and Big South Fork offer well-marked
sandworts for beginners and a diversity of pignuts (Carya spp.) for the initiated.
Forgotten Grasslands of the South appeals to the reader as a primer on these often overlooked ecosystems. Most of us have a collection of carefully-chosen botanical curations and do not generally gather the wider system. However, Reed Noss has succeeded in seeing the grassland through the trees.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to John A. Lodi of Ann Arbor, Michigan for inspiration and suggestions on this review. Thanks to the Chance and Lodi family for giving me a relaxing time to read and discuss this book with a wider popular audience.
Jonathan Omar Cole Kubesch is a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in crop science at the University of Tennessee. He studied evolution and ecology—as well as agronomy—at the Ohio State University. He works on forages, grasslands, and prairies with a particular passion for native clovers.
As April showers will soon bring May flowers, this year has proved to be a challenge to maintain a focus on native plants as it seems the world is falling apart right before our eyes. However, I hope every plant enthusiast is trying to get out in the forest and botanize as much as possible. This year has been a great one botanically for me as I have added a few more species on my life list including Pedicularis canadensis/Canadian Wood Betony and Erythronium albidum/White Trout Lily among many others (see pictures at the end)!
The exploration from this year has inspired me to become more involved with the Kentucky Native Plant Society through The Lady Slipper. This has been a great way for me to learn more about native plants and natural history in Kentucky.
Susan Harkins (Managing Editor) and I are always looking to individuals to write to The Lady Slipper and wish for people from beginners just getting into the plant world all the way to life-long botanists to write to the newsletter.
If you simply have a budding idea for an article or already have a full-fledged write-up, we welcome and encourage you to email us: ladyslipper@knps.org
Nick Koenig
White Trout Lily (Erythronium albidum) from March 26, 2020, in Madison County, KY.
Canadian Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis) from April 20, 2020, in Madison County, KY.
In any list of the top five invasive plant threats to Kentucky’s native plant communities, bush honeysuckle would appear in all of them. There are three species of bush honeysuckle commonly found in Kentucky: Amur (Lonicera maackii), Morrow’s (L. morrowii), and Tartarian (L. tatarica). Another two, Standish’s (L. standishii) and Fragrant (L. fragrantissima), are less common. All are members of the Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle) family. All of them are similar in appearance and effect. Because of the similarities and because it is the most widespread of the bush honeysuckles, the rest of this article will concentrate on Amur honeysuckle. There are slight differences in appearance between Amur honeysuckle and the other bush honeysuckles, but in general they are similar enough to easily recognize.
Description
Most of us have seen invasive Lonicera while hiking or even around town. They’re everywhere. Knowing how to identify them is the first step to removing them.
Appearance
Lonicera maackii is a woody perennial shrub that, at maturity, is typically 6’-20’ tall, but occasionally taller. The shrubs are upright and deciduous. Although deciduous, in Kentucky the bush honeysuckles retain their leaves longer in the fall than native shrubs and leaf out earlier in the spring. The pith of mature stems is hollow and white or tan.
Leaves
Leaves are opposite, ovate with a tapered tip, lightly pubescent, and up to 3½ in. long.
Flowers
Flowers are paired, tubular, white to pinkish, fading to yellow, less than 1 in. long, borne from leaf axils, five petals, upper 4 fused.
Fruits
Fruit
Fruits are red to orange-red berries produced in late summer and persist through the winter. This shrub can bear fruit when it is as young as 3 to 5 years old.
Habitat
Amur
honeysuckle is one of the most common and invasive bush honeysuckles
found in Kentucky. It occurs in most states in the eastern U.S.
except for Minnesota, Maine and Florida and has been reported to be
invasive in many. It is adaptable to a range of conditions from sun
to deep shade and wet to dry. It occurs in disturbed habitats
including forest edges, forest interiors, floodplains, old fields,
pastures, and roadsides. Disturbance increases the likelihood of
invasion. Amur honeysuckle grows especially well on calcareous soils.
It spreads by fruits that are abundant and highly attractive to birds that consume them and defecate the seeds in new locations. Vegetative sprouting aids in the local spread and persistence. It does not generally root sprout.
Where Found in KY
The
bush honeysuckles are found across Kentucky, in any just about any
suitable habitat.
How it Got Here
NE
China, Japan, Korea, and Russian Far East
Amur honeysuckle was imported as an ornamental into New York in 1898 through the New York Botanical Garden. It has been widely planted for wildlife cover and soil erosion control but long ago escaped from plantings and began reproducing on its own and spreading into natural areas. It was originally planted in the U.S. as an ornamental shrub, but it quickly escaped gardens and naturalized throughout much of the eastern U.S. to the Great Plains into a variety of sites including roadsides and railroads, woodland borders, some forests, fields, unused or disturbed lands and yard edges. Once spread into the wild, it can form dense, shrubby, understory colonies that eliminate native woody and herbaceous plants. Amur honeysuckle flowers late April to June, and the white and yellowish flowers produce red berries in the fall that may contain more than 1 million seeds on mature (25-year-old), 20-foot tall plants. The seeds are consumed and spread by some species of songbirds generally after other more nutritious native foods are gone. As with many invasive species, bush honeysuckle can grow and thrive over a wide range of habitats. In Kentucky, all shrub honeysuckles are exotic and invasive.
Ecological
Impacts
Amur honeysuckle impedes reforestation of cut or disturbed areas and prevents reestablishment of native plants. It leaves out earlier than most natives and form dense thickets too shady for most native species. Additionally, researchers in the Midwest found increased nest predation of robins using Amur honeysuckle as a result of plant structure, which facilitates access to nests by predators such as snakes. While the carbohydrate-rich fruits of exotic honeysuckles provide some nutrition for birds and rodents in winter, they do not compare to the lipid-rich fruits of native species that provide greater energy to sustain migrating birds. Few insects feed on the plant, but birds and mammals spread the fruits. It may have allelopathic effects on neighboring plant species.
How to Control
There are several methods for controlling–removing–invasive bush honeysuckle. They all take tenacity and a bit of effort.
Manual/Mechanical
Young plants can be pulled by hand. Larger plants either can be pulled using a weed lever-type tool or cutting repeatedly for a few years.
Grazing
Goats are particularly fond of this this plant and will rapidly consume young plants and any they can climb into. Cutting larger plants and allowing goats to eat the sprouts can be effective, but could take several years depending on what root reserves the plants have.
Fire
Fire will kill seedlings. Larger plants may be top killed, but mostly likely will sprout from the base. The sprouts must be treated as well.
Biological Control
No biological controls are currently available for this plant. However, the honeysuckle leaf blight fungus (Insolibasidium deformans) has been found in both northern and central Kentucky. It has been observed severely injuring and killing open grown populations of Amur honeysuckle.
Herbicides
Appropriate herbicides, when applied correctly, are known to effectively control bush honeysuckle through cut stem, foliar, and bark applications. Contact your local Extension Office, or Natural Resources Conservation Service office or Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife private lands biologist for recommendations concerning herbicide choice, application rate and application method that best suit your conditions and needs.
Native Alternatives
Lonicera simpervirens
Whether you were raised in Kentucky or you’re an implant, you’ve probably enjoyed the luscious fragrance of honeysuckle as the sun begins to set. It isn’t quite jasmine; not quite gardenia; it’s unique, powerful, and intoxicating. It’s easy to understand why homeowners planted the invasive Loniceras. Where alternatives are concerned, there’s good and bad news. The good news is that we have native Lonicera. The bad news is, they are pollinated by bees and hummingbirds, so the scent is weak. In comparison, the invasive is pollinated by moths—hence the strong evening scent. What the natives lack in fragrance, they make up for in color (to attract the bees and hummingbirds).
Across North America, there are over a dozen native Lonicera species. In Kentucky, we have one to consider: Lonicera sempervirens L., trumpet or coral honeysuckle. It prefers moist soil and full sun, but tolerates shade, although, in the shade, it will produce blooms for a shorter period of time.
Lonicera simpervirens
Lonicera sempervirens is one of the longest-blooming natives available to us here in Kentucky. It’s brilliant red trumpet-shaped flowers spring into life as early as late March and persist into fall, even early winter. Its leaves often persist throughout the cold, giving a bit of winter interest. The base is woody and gnarly (interesting to look at) but the vigorous upper vines are gentle and easily coiffed if necessary. You can train it to look like a bush if you prefer.
Unfortunately, Lonicera sempervirens won’t gift you with a glorious fragrance. If that’s what you’re after, consider Wisteria frutescens (L.) Poir., Kentucky wisteria. Similar to Lonicera, you’ll get the most blooms in full sun, but it will tolerate shade. It’ll grow in the same type of moist soil as well. It’s purple blooms are larger and showier, and it’ll grow a bit larger than Lonicera, but the native species isn’t as harmful to structures as the invasive Wisteria floribunda and Wisteria sinensis. Wisteria is stronger and woodier than Lonicera so it will require a stronger support, such as a strong arbor. (Resist growing it along a fence or up the side of your house because it’s difficult to remove.) It’s also more assertive than the native Lonicera, so it might require a bit more care to keep it under control.
There are several other species of Lonicera listed as native to Kentucky by the USDA plants database, but they’re rare or endangered. It’s unlikely you will find one in a reputable nursery.
Cover of Wildflowers and Ferns of Red River Gorge and the Greater Red River Basin
With Important Contributions by Halard Lescinsky
(Geology), Adam Rollins (Myxomycetes-Slime Molds), Alan Cornette (Cultural
History), Tara Littlefield (Plant Life of Red River Watershed), Julian Campbell
(Species List)
Illustrations by Elijah Hicks unless otherwise
stated
Photographs by Dan Dourson unless otherwise
stated
Published by South Limestone Books (an Imprint of the University Press of Kentucky), Lexington, 2019
Dan and Judy Dourson are avid botanists and naturalists, as well as active participants in the Kentucky Native Plant Society’s Annual Wildflower Weekend. In 2019, Dan and Judy co-authored a book that gives a reader an extensive snapshot into the plant life of the Gorge.
Wildflowers and Ferns of Red River Gorge and the Greater Red River Basin is an enjoyable book to throw in one’s hiking pack or place on a coffee table for perusing through after a day full of botanizing. Dourson and Dourson elude early on the purpose of their book — among many purposes — is to highlight this “lesser-majority” of organisms that may not be as eye-catching as eagles, but are often the overlooked yet the speciose majority of living things in the forest. While most of the book highlights the plant life, a prehistoric and cultural history lesson of the Gorge is first given, followed by an in-depth geological and biological background of the area.
The bulk of the book consists of pictures and drawings of the plant life in the gorge with a short description of the species following. The plants are broken down by taxonomic groups starting with the non-flowering organisms transitioning to the Fern and Fern Allies that have accompanying illustrations by Elijah Hicks that complement the pictures greatly.
The next part of the book makes it a great help if one is hiking in the Gorge and finds an unknown flower. Before the flowering plants is a color flower chart with the flowering time of the year, which can help narrow down the search to just a small chunk of pages to flip through. This makes locating the species much easier and more approachable than a traditional dichotomous key. The book ends with a glossary and an extensive species list.
Wildflowers and Ferns of Red River Gorge and the Greater Red River Basin is a wonderful addition to one’s botanical library especially for a naturalist looking for a deep understanding of the life forms in one of Kentucky’s most treasured natural areas.
Roger Tory Peterson described this midsummer bloomer as America’s favorite flower, and with good reason. Its blooms are an intense scarlet, which makes it attractive to both us and hummingbirds. You’ll hear Kentucky gardeners refer to Lobeliacardinalis as cardinal flower and red lobelia. Supposedly the name comes from the vestments worn by Roman Catholic cardinals; still others say it’s named for our state bird, the cardinal. The color is spectacular, regardless, as the blooms reflect one of the deepest, truest reds to be found in nature.
With all this natural beauty comes an unfortunate reality: They can be difficult to grow in our own gardens. L. cardinalis isn’t as forgiving as other natives that seem to thrive on our neglect. Providing what it needs is the key to success. But first, let’s take a short botany lesson.
Botany and wildlife
Not only are the red flowers attractive to hummingbirds, but the bloom’s shape plays a part in its success. Each bloom is a long tube, and at the bottom is a few drops of nectar. This shape is perfectly suited to the hummingbird’s long beak and tongue. When a hummingbird visits, it touches its head to the pistil and stamen, (reproductive organs), which stretch beyond the tube’s outer edges.
Culture and propagation
I’m combining these two topics because this is where L. cardinalis is a bit unforgiving. You can plant dozens and they might be gorgeous that first summer, but they might not return the next year—they might never return. Some gardeners love them so much that they treat them as an annual, replanting every year. This species needs good sunlight, but more importantly, moist soil, if you want them to return every year.
Lobelias aren’t true perennials; after setting seed, the stem and root system dies. New plants grow from the plant’s axil (the angle between the upper surface of a leaf and the stem it’s attached to). Although they grow quickly, they remain close to the ground and are obscured by the foliage above. Instead of seeds lying dormant in the soil all winter, you have evergreen seedlings that need tender loving care that first winter.
Keeping the new growth free of debris is vital, otherwise, the small rosettes don’t get the sunlight they require. Unfortunately, many of us add mulch in the fall and winter and unknowingly cover the new rosettes and they starve. Don’t add new mulch to L. cardinalis at this time of year. Instead, look for the new rosettes and remove mulch and debris that cover them. You don’t have to remove mulch from around them, just make sure the new leaves can get sunlight.
Debris is only the first hurdle to jump when trying to cultivate this native in your own gardens. This species self-sows only in moist soil. In Kentucky, that can spell a bit of trouble for gardeners because about the time this flower goes to seed, our climate often dries up. Keep the area moist if you want your flowers to reseed.
Never let them dry out for long. They are one of the few natives that will require additional water during hot spells and droughts. In nature, they grow along streams and ponds, and in swamps and wetlands. They prefer lots of sun but will tolerate and even thrive in shade as long as the soil is moist.
Propagation from both seeds and cuttings is easy. Collect seeds after the pods ripen and split, usually three to four weeks after blooming. It’s common for open blooms to persist toward the top of the stalk while pods near the bottom are ready to drop seeds. Take cuttings of two nodes early in the season so they’ll have time to produce a rosette.
Seeds require 60 days of cold moist stratification. Like many species with small seeds, they need light to germinate, so sow right on top of loose dirt. The seeds are tiny so it’s difficult to control them while sowing. If a new plant tries to bloom its first fall, clip the stalk to encourage more rosette growth.
To increase the chances that your L. cardinalis returns year after year, plant it in good sunlight, keep the area moist, and keep the bed free of debris once you spot new growth. They will thrive in some shade, as long as the soil is moist. It’s not difficult; knowing what to provide is the key. If you’d like a more reliable lobelia, consider Lobelia siphilitica. Its blue blooms are a true blue, the plant adapts well to most gardens, and hummingbirds like it.
Photo credits: Common license via Biodiversity Heritage Library
Anyone who is interested in native plants will soon come across the term “invasive.” Invasive species and habitat loss are the main causes of biodiversity loss and destruction of native plant species worldwide. Although most of us have a general sense of what is meant when a species is deemed invasive, there is also a lot of confusion as to what an invasive plant is, what it does, and what should be done about it.
Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii)
With this introduction, we are beginning a series of articles about invasive plants. In this first article we will define what is meant by an “invasive plant.” We will discuss why they are bad for our native ecosystems and discuss, in general, how they can be controlled. We will also point you towards online resources about invasive plants. In each subsequent article we will concentrate on a single type of invasive plant, giving information on how to identify the plant, where it came from, how it got here, the specific damage it does, how best to control it, and some native alternatives to plant when it has been removed.
Every year, at Wildflower Weekend, we offer people a $5 discount on renewals or new memberships. This year, because of the cancellation of the Wildflower Weekend, the Board has decided to make the $5 discount available to everyone through the month of April.
Education about Kentucky’s native plants is one of the Society’s primary missions. The Society fulfills this mission through a variety of learning opportunities. Each year, knowledgeable leaders take members on field trips conducted in all parts of the state. You will see special plants and visit unique and interesting natural areas. The Society also periodically conducts workshops and symposiums on native plant studies and native plant identification. Workshops are narrowly focused, with a single instructor. Symposiums generally cover a broad range of topics with multiple presenters. Members are given the opportunity to register for these events before they are opened to the general public.
Member dues also provide funding for the student research grants that the Society awards each year to students researching native plants in Kentucky.
