Restoring The Landscape With Native Plants: July 2011

Native Plant of the Week: Clammy Ground Cherry ~ Physalis heterophylla

Clammy Ground Cherry ~ Physalis heterophylla

I found a fairly large patch of this native perennial at a local park. It's growing near the edge of a railway in a somewhat disturbed site in partial sun. What drew me in was the noise coming from bees who were buzz pollinating the flowers.

The nodding light yellow, 5 parted flowers are quite beautiful. You have to turn them upwards to enjoy their dark purple-black markings on the inside.

Another very similar native Ground Cherry is the Virginia Ground Cherry (Physalis virginiana), the major difference between the two is leaf shape. The Virginia has narrow lance-shaped leaves, and the Clammy has wide oval leaves.

The stem and leaves are covered with fine hairs. Once finished flowering, the calyx forms a bladder-like enclosure around the green berry contained inside. It's very similar in appearance to a Chinese Lantern bladder.

Have you seen Clammy Ground Cherry before?

See map below for native range.

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP).
2011. North American Plant Atlas. Chapel Hill, N.C.

Mid Summer Flowering Prairie Natives

We have a lot of natives flowering right now in our yard, many of them prairie species. Here's a summary of just a few.

Canada Tick Trefoil
Desmodium canadense
This is tall perennial, reaching 3-4 feet in height. The 5 parted pea-like pink flowers are very showy (often two-toned). The flower clusters are arranged in branched racemes which makes this native quite showy.

A native of wetter prairies or along riparian edges. It produces seed pods that have many small hairs allowing them to be dispersed by animals.

Rattlesnake Master

Eryngium yuccifolium

Rattlesnake Master has yucca-like leaves that are silvery in color with edges that have small pines. The plant sends up long flower stalks up to 4 feet in height with round white flower clusters.

In our yard, it's a favorite of many types of bee and wasp species. It's habitat includes both dry and moist locations in prairies. It performs well in our yard in both a dry, sunny hillside and a more mesic location.

More photos and information.

Wild Petunia

Ruellia humilis

We planted Wild Petunia last year as part of a Cost Share Grant project. It's in sandy soil in full to part sun along the edge of a rock retaining wall

It's a very attractive, low growing (1-2 feet high) native with light blue to purple blooms that are 1-2 inches in width. The blooms last just one day, but are abundant on the plant.

Jagged Ambush Bugs - Stealthy Predators

Jagged Ambush Bugs ~ Phymata species
If you look closely on your flowering plants in full sun you'll most likely find an Ambush Bug lying in wait. These amazing predators look harmless at first with their lacy appearance and beautiful coloring.

On closer inspection though, you'll notice their enlarged forelegs with a "sickle-like tibiae, greatly reduced tarsi and huge swollen femora." (Insects Their Natural History and Diversity)

The coloring on Ambush bugs makes them extremely well camouflaged in amongst flowers. As their victims come in to nectar on flowers (most often bees and flies) they impale them with their long tubular mouthparts. These mouthparts are usually tucked up underneath their bodies when not in use.

"The Jagged Ambush Bug overwinters as an adult and lays eggs in the spring. Adults mature during summer." (Insects of the North Woods)

Have you seen Ambush Bugs in your landscape?

Native Plant of the Week: Hoary Vervain ~ Verbena stricta

Hoary Vervain ~ Verbena stricta

Hoary Vervain is flowering right now alongside our Gray Headed Coneflower and Wild Bergamot. A perennial native of sunny dry locations. It is found in prairies as well as disturbed sites such as along railways in sandy soils. It's a great candidate for hot dry locations.

The 5 parted blue to purple flowers are arranged in a spike that flower from the bottom upwards. The blooms open in July and often flower into September.

Many types of bees like to nectar on the flowers, but I find it's not their first choice when the Wild Bergamot is flowering.

The opposite arranged leaves are coarse to the touch and covered with white hairs. Hoary Vervain is a tall linear plant, reaching heights of 3 feet in years of good moisture and richer soils. It is very attractive massed together and goes nicely with Butterfly Milkweed, Gray Headed Coneflower and medium sized prairie grasses.

See map below for native range.

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP).
2011. North American Plant Atlas. Chapel Hill, N.C.

Wedge Shaped Beetles: Hitchhikers & Parasitoids

Wedge Shaped Beetle ~ Macrosiagon limbatum (Family Ripiphoridae)

Another new insect discovery in our yard, and this beetle is one devious insect. I thought this was perhaps a type of flower beetle but as it turns out it's a Wedge Shaped Beetle.

This photo is of a male hanging out on my Spotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata) which just started to flower. The lifecycle of these beetles is fascinating.

Both the male and female are found hanging out on flowers, where the female lays her eggs. "Eggs hatch into an active larva that attaches itself to a visiting wasp. It is carried back to the wasp nest where it burrows into a wasp larva and lives as an internal parasite." (BugGuide.net)

"Instead of eating both the bee's egg and the pollen stored in the nest, the wedge-shaped beetle larva waits for the host's egg to hatch, then burrows into the bee or wasp larva. It consumes the larva from the inside for a while, then rips its way out of its still-living host, wraps itself around the poor host's neck like a spiny collar, and proceeds to eat away at its victim from the outside, eventually killing it." (Insects Their Natural History and Diversity)

The larvae target many types of wasps and bees including Vespids, Bumble Bees, Thread-Waisted wasps and Spider Wasps. (BugGuide.net)

It's no surprise that this beetle chose the Spotted Beebalm which is a favorite of many types of wasps in our yard, including the Great Black Wasp (middle photo) and Northern Paper (bottom photo) wasps.

Protect Your Living Soil

Want to learn more about how to protect and improve your soil?

Check out my post today at Native Plants Wildlife Gardens blog.

A New Long Horned Beetle Visitor

Typocerus velutinus

Every year, we see more and more new insects in the yard. The latest arrival was a type of Long Horned Beetle.

A colorful large beetle with long antennae, it's medium brown in color with yellow markings. This beetle likes to feed on pollen on many of native prairie species, the Coneflowers (Echinacea) being the preferred plant of choice.

Love was in the air last week as a pair held still long enough for me to photograph. The larvae are borers of both new and decaying wood as well as herbaceous plants.

Some types of Long Horned Beetles "have very long development times - sometimes decades - and some species have symbiotic microorganisms that help them digest woody meals." (Insects Their Natural History and Diversity)

What kind of Long Horned Beetles do you see in your yard?

Native Plant of the Week: Purple Prairie Clover ~ Dalea purpurea

Purple Prairie Clover ~ Dalea purpurea (Petalostemon)

Purple Prairie Clover was in full bloom along the highway on our drive back from Colorado in Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota. One of my favorite mid-season native perennials, it has bright purple conical shaped blooms with orange stamens that stick out beyond the petals.

Purple Prairie Clover starts to flower from the bottom upwards. The flower spike is light gray in color before the five parted purple flowers emerge. A major attractant to many bee species, the bees like to travel in circles around the flower spikes collecting pollen.

Here is a bumble bee about to enjoy the nectar.

At my local park in the restored prairie, many honey bees were nectaring upon the Prairie Clover as well. The first I've seen any number of honey bees this season.

Purple Prairie Clover grows between 12 and 36" in height, this year with all of our rainfall it's almost 3' tall. The fine linear pinnately divided leaves are light gray in color and contrast nicely with neighboring prairie grasses and broad leaved forbs.

We have tried to establish Purple Prairie Clover in our yard for several years, but had it browsed heavily by rabbits. This year though, now that the surrounding plants have filled in it is flowering nicely.

Purple Prairie Clover is a native of dry to medium well drained soils in prairies and open sunny locations.

It is native to Alberta southwards to Arizona and east to Ontario in the north and Georgia in the south.

Rocky Mountain Wildflowers

We just returned from a hiking trip in Colorado. Here are a few of the many wildflowers we saw.

Narrowleaf Puccoon
Lithospermum incisum

Twinflower
Linnaea borealis

Colorado Columbine
Aquilegia coerulea

Scarlet Paintbrush
Castilleja miniata

Rocky Mountain Loco
Oxytropis sericea

Golden Banner
Thermopsis divaricarpa

Alpine Clover
Trifolium dasyphyllum

Heartleaf Arnica
Arnica cordifolia

Parry Primrose
Primula parryi

Greenflower Pyrola
Pyrola chlorantha

Elephantella
Pedicularis groenlandica

Western Red Columbine
Aquilegia elegantula

Mountain Parsley
Pseudocymopterus montanus

Western Scarlet Gilia
Ipomosis aggregata

Tall One Side Penstemon
Penstemon virgatus

Giant Lousewort
Pedicularis procera

Spotted Coralroot
Corallorhiza maculata

Discoveries Out & About: Bog Beauties

Grass Pink
Calopogon tuberosus

I was recently invited to tour a local bog by City staff. This bog is very small, located in a local park and is about 3 acres in size. The center portion which is about 50 feet in diameter was the most diverse. Cattails ring the outer portion of the bog.

This bog is comprised of Sphagnum moss and many acidic loving bog plants. Two orchid species were flowering, a small cluster (4-5 plants) of Grass Pink (Calopogon tuberosus) as well as Rose Pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides) which was dotted throughout the center bog area.

Bees and numerous Bog Copper (Lycaena epixanthe) butterflies were actively pollinating the Small Cranberries (Oxycoccus quadripetalus).

Small Cranberries were abundant amongst the Sphagnum moss. These Cranberries are woody, with layering stems that reroot across the bog. The fruit is surprisingly large for the size of the flower - almost 1 cm wide maturing in late September.

You had to look closely at the Sphagnum moss to see the Round Leaved Sundews (Drosera rotundifolia). These Sundews utilize the sticky substance on the ends of the leaf hairs catch insects, break them down with enzymes and consume the resulting nutrients.

A few Marsh Cinquefoil (Comarum palustre) plants were also present and in full bloom. The flowers were a dark maroon fading to a light maroon on the tips of the petals.

This was a great glimpse of some bog species here in the metro area which are more typically found in the northern part of Minnesota.