Blooming Today in the Mid-Atlantic - Trailing Arbutus

Article & photos by Capital Naturalist by Alonso Abugattas

Trailing Arbutus is also referred to as Plymouth Mayflower, or just Mayflower. Since it is one of the first plants to bloom, well before May, the name is actually derived from a legend. It is said that the first bloom the pilgrims trying to settle in Plymouth in 1621 saw was this plant, whom they named after their ship. This member of the Heath family (Ericaceae) is also sometimes called Winter Pink, Mountain Pink, Gravel Plant, or Shadflower (supposedly blooming in time with the influx of migrating shad fish).

Although this plant has leathery evergreen leaves, it is best known from its small clusters of 5-petaled white or pink flowers. These often bloom in March through April & are very fragrant. They hold good supplies of nectar, enough to lure bumblebee queens (their primary pollinators) into looking for them even if they are sometimes covered in leaves. If a bumblebee is able to find 2 flowers of different sexes & pollinate them, then a berry-like capsule is formed. The seeds they contain are very attractive to ants who act as the main seed dispersers.

The flowers are said to be edible & quite tasty, but the plant is getting so rare, that to eat them is a shame, & an actual crime in some areas. I've never tried to taste one. But Trailing Arbutus has been used by people for more than just food in the past. The Algonquian Quebec tribes used a leaf infusion to treat kidney ailments. It turns out that the leaves do contain a substance called arbutin that has been used medicinally to treat kidney stones & urinary tract disorders.  The Cherokee also made use of the plant, to treat abdominal pain, induce vomiting, treat diarrhea, indigestion, in addition to kidneys. The Haudenosaunee (sometimes called the Iroquois) thought it could be used for labor pains, rheumatism, kidney issues, & indigestion. For the Potawatomi, it was a sacred tribal flower.

So there's a lot to this little woodland creeper, though it gets harder to find every year. Though sometimes sold commercially, please make sure that it is not collected from the wild. If its is disturbed, the symbiotic fungal relationship is usually broken & the plant soon dies. So please never remove it from the wild. If you are lucky enough to find it, enjoy its beauty & fragrance, it is well deserving of being the floral emblem of Nova Scotia & state flower of Massachusetts.

Thomas Jefferson, a florist...

“When I return to live at Monticello ... I believe I shall become a florist.” Thomas Jefferson wrote to Madame de Tesse, Jan 30, 1809.  Peggy Cornett tells us that “florist” had a different meaning in Jefferson’s day. The florist in the 18th century was a serious gardener who wanted to cultivate flowers to high degree of perfection. In the foreground is 17th century variety Lac Van Rijn tulip. Closer to the house are two historic tulip varieties: Keizerskroon (1750) & Duc van Thol Max Cramoisi (17th century)

Blooming Today in the Mid Atlantic - Similar Dicentras

Dutchman's Breeches

Article & photos by Capital Naturalist by Alonso Abugattas

We have 2 local spring wildflowers that are very similar: Dutchman's Breeches Dicentra cucullaria & Squirrel Corn Dicentra canadensis. This makes sense as they are after all in the same genus, the name referring to their flowers having 2 spurs. Both are spring ephemerals (blooming & reproducing before the trees completely leaf out, then going dormant underground). Both have toxic leaves (another name for both is "Lambkill") that protect them from many herbivores. Both are myrmecochorous, having their seeds dispersed by ants. Both are primarily pollinated by long-tongued bees like bumblebees, have white flowers, & very similar leaves. Both like to grow in moist, often riparian woodlands as well. They also have some differences however that are apparent, particularly when they are in flower.

Dutchman's Breeches are the more common of the 2 & they also tend to bloom a week or two earlier. Their most common name comes from the flowers resembling pantaloons hanging out to dry. These plants tend to form small colonies. They usually have two compound leaves per flower stem that are longer than their look-alike cousin..

Squirrel Corn is less commonly seen & tends to bloom a week or 2 later. Their most common name is derived from their yellow clusters of bulblets just below the soil surface. They are also called White Bleeding Hearts, & the heart-like flowers are the most obvious difference between them & Dutchman's Breeches. They also normally have only 1, shorter compound leaf per flower stem.
   
Both these flowers are open right now, their bloom times briefly overlapping this year. Go check out their differences in person. But hurry, or you will have to wait another year before they emerge & flower again.

Squirrel Corn

Plant Lists - Fruit Trees planted by Virginian St. George Tucker 1784-1792

St. George Tucker (1752-1827), was born in Port Royal, Bermuda. In 1771, he went to Virginia to attend the College of William & Mary, where he studied law.  St. George had attended William & Mary in Williamsburg during the eventful 1770s, & the Revolution inspired him to join the Virginia militia, where he rose to the rank of Colonel. After the Revolution he became a professor of law at the College of William & Mary. He served as a judge of the General Court of Virginia & on the Court of Appeals.  Following the war, Tucker supported the gradual emancipation of slaves, which he proposed to the state legislature in a pamphlet published in 1796. He wrote an American edition of Blackstone's "Commentaries" that became a valuable reference work for many American lawyers & law students in the early 19C. President James Madison in 1813 appointed Tucker as the United States District Court judge for Virginia.

Fruit Trees planted by St. George Tucker at the Matoax plantation of his wife Francis Bland Randolph Tucker (1752-1788), near Petersburg, Virginia, 1784-1792  Based on notations in St. George Tucker Almanacs, 1784-1789, Tucker-Coleman Papers, Swem  Library, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.  Compiled by Peter Hatch.  Southern Garden History Plant Lists

Fruit Trees

Almonds [Prunus dulcis var. dulcis]

Apples [Malus pumila]
 Cheese
 Clarks Pearmains
 Doctor
 Early Bough
 Esopus Spitzeburg
 [?Gilsies]
 Hughes’s Crabs
 Large Early
 Longstems
 Newtown Pippin
 Old Town Creek Crab
 Rhode Island Greening
 Royal Wildings
 Westfield Seek-No-Further
 Yellow Bellflower

Apricots [Prunus armeniaca]
 Brussels
 Early (from Sabine Hall)
 Large Early
Cherries [Prunus avium and cerasus]
 Black Heart
 Bleeding Heart
 Carnation
 Honey
 Kentish
 May
 May Duke
 Ox Heart
 White Heart

Nectarines [Prunus persica var. nucipersica]
 Large Green Clingstone
 Red Roman

Peaches [Prunus persica]
 Canada
 Early White Cling
 Green Catherine
 Heath (White Heath)
 Large White Clingstone
 Large Yellow Clingstone
 Newington
 November Soft Peach
 Nutmeg
 Pineapple Clingstone
 Red Clingstone
 Red Pineapple Clingstone
 Small Yellow Soft
 White Clingstone
 White Soft [freestone]

Pear [Prunus communis]
 Beurre de Roi
 [Brocaus Bergamot
 Catherine
 [?Cuifse madam]
 Jargonelle
 July
 Large Bell
 Large summer baking
 Large Winter
 Lent St. Germaine
 Summer Bergamot
 Swan’s Egg
 Virgouleuse

Plums [Prunus domestica, etc.]
 Apricot
 Cherry
 Drop d’Or
 Green Gage
 Jean Hative
 Large blue (clingstone)
 Orleans
 Philan’s
 Red Imperial
 Red Magnum Bonum
 Smaller blue (parts from the stone)
 Yellow Egg
 Saponi
 White Magnum Bonum

History Blooms at Monticello - Woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata)

Keith Nevison at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello tells us that blooming today is the woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata) in a weathered terra-cotta planter. They’ve been producing nectar for weeks now & the tiger swallowtail butterflies are loving it.

A Bug's Perspective

Photograph Bugs Eye View by Tracey Whitefoot

Plant Lists - Tho Jefferson's (1743-1824) Herbaceous Ornamentals

Thomas Jefferson by Tadeusz Andrzej Bonawentura Kosciuszko (1746 - 1817)

Thomas Jefferson’s Plant List From His Garden Book, 1767-1821 Dates refer to first mention of a plant in Jefferson’s documents, which include Thomas Jefferson’s Garden Book, edited by Edwin Betts, 1944, unpublished memoranda at the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Library of Congress and Princeton University Library. Quotation marks designate varieties undescribed in the literature and are generally Jefferson’s personal names.

List compiled by Peter Hatch.

HERBACEOUS ORNAMENTALS

Alcea rosea Hollyhock 1767
Amaranthus caudatus Love-lies-bleeding @1800
Amaranthus hybridus Prince's Feather 1767
Amaranthus tricolor Joseph's Coat 1786
Amaryllis belladonna Belladonna lily 1812
Anemone coronaria Poppy Anemone 1807
Anemone pulsatilla Pasque flower 1771
Anthoxanthum odoratum Sweet-scented Grass 1807
Antirrhinum majus Snapdragon 1771
Aquilegia canadensis Native Columbine @1800
Argemone mexicana Prickly Poppy 1767
Belamcanda chinensis Blackberry Lily 1807
Bellis perennis English Daisy 1771
Calendula officinalis Calendula 1767
Campanula medium Canterbury Bells 1812
Celosia cristata Cockscomb 1767
Centaurea cyanus Cornflower @1800
Centaurea macrocephala 1812
Chasmanthe aethiopica 1812
Cheiranthus cheiri Wallflower 1806
Chimaphila maculata Spotted Wintergreen @1800
Consolida orientalis Larkspur 1767
Convallaria majalis Lily of the Valley 1771
Crocus angustifolia Cloth of Gold Crocus 1812
Crocus sativus Saffron Crocus 1807
Crocus vernus Spring Crocus 1812
Cypripedium acaule Pink Lady Slipper @1800
Cypripedium calceolus Yellow Lady Slipper 1791
Delphinium exaltatum American Larkspur 1811
Dianthus barbatus Sweet William 1767
Dianthus caryophyllus Carnation 1807
Dianthus chinensis China Pink 1807
Dictamnus albus Gas Plant 1807
Dionaea muscipula Venus's Fly Trap 1786
Fritillaria imperialis Crown Imperial Lily 1786
Fritillaria pudica Yellow Fritillary 1807
Galanthus nivalis Snowdrop 1808
Gladiolus communis Gladiolus 1812
Glaucium flavum Yellow horn Poppy 1807
Gomphrena globosa Globe Amaranth 1767
Hedysarum coronarium French Honeysuckle 1786
Helianthus divaricatus Wild Sunflower 1771
Heliotropium arborescens Heliotrope 1786
Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus Lemon Lily @1820
Hexaglottis longifolia 1812
Hyacinthus orientalis Hyacinth 1766
Hypoxis hirsuta Yellow Stargrass 1800
Impatiens balsamina Balsam 1767
Ipomoea quamoclit Cypress Vine 1791
Iris germanica German Iris 1771
Iris persica Persian Iris 1812
Iris pseudoacorus Fleur de lis Iris 1767
Iris sp.
 "Highland" 1820
 "Madeira"  1820
Iris xiphium Spanish Iris 1812
Jeffersonia diphylla Twinleaf 1807
Lathyrus latifolius Perennial Pea 1771
Lathyrus odoratus Sweet Pea 1771
Lavatera olbia Tree Lavatera 1807
Lavatera thuringiaca Lavatera 1807
Lilium canadense Canadian Lily 1786
Lilium candidum Madonna Lily 1782
Lilium chalcedonicum Scarlet Turk's Cap Lilly 1782
Lilium superbum Turk's Cap Lily 1809
Lobelia cardinalis Cardinal Flower 1807
Lunaria annua Money Plant 1767
?Lupinus texensis Texas Bluebonnet 1807
Lychnis chalcedonica Maltese Cross 1807
Malva sylvestris French Mallow @1800
Matthiola incana Stock 1771
Mertensia virginica Virginia Bluebell @1800
Mesembryanthemum crystallinum Ice Plant 1808
Mimosa pudica Sensitive Plant 1767
Mirabilis jalapa Four O'clock 1767
Mirabilis longiflora Sweet Four O'clock 1812
Momordica balsamina Balsam Apple 1812
Muscari comosum Tasseled Hyacinth 1767
Muscari comosum var. monstrosum Feathered Hyacinth 1767
Narcissus sp. Daffodil 1782
 "double Polyanthus @1820
 "double jonquil” @1820
 "single jonquil” @1820
Nigella sativa Nutmeg Plant 1810
Paeonia officinalis Peony 1771
Papaver rhoeas Corn Poppy 1807
Papaver somniferum Opium Poppy 1812
Pelargonium inquinans Geranium 1808
Pentapetes phoenicia Scarlet Pentapetes 1811
Physalis alkekengi Chinese Lantern 1807
Podyphyllum peltatum Mayapple @1800
Polianthes tuberosa Tuberose 1807
Primula auricula Auricula 1812
Primula X polyantha Polyanthus Primrose 1812
Primula vulgaris Primrose 1771
Ranunculus asiaticus Persian Buttercup 1807
Reseda odorata Mignonette 1786
Saponaria officinalis Soapwort @1800
?Scabiosa atropurpurea "Mourning Bride" 1811
Sisyrinchium angustifolia Blue-eye Grass @1800
Solanum pseudocapsicum Jerusalem Cherry 1808
Sprekelia formosissima Jacobean Lily 1807
Swertia caroliniensis American Colombo 1810
Tagetes erecta African Marigold 1810
Tagetes patula French Marigold 1808
Tritonia hyalina 1812
Trollius europaeus Globeflower 1771
Tropaeolum majus Nasturtium 1774
Tulipa sp. Tulip 1782
Verbesina encelioides Golden Crownbeard 1811
Viola sp. Violets 1767
Viola tricolor Johnny-jump-up 1767
Watsonia meriana Bugle Lily 1812
Zephyranthes atamasco Atamasco Lily 1812

Research & images & much more are directly available from the Monticello.org website.