Balsam-fir and Christmas

Already the wreaths are appearing at local markets. Christmas tree yards are advertising and we will see cut trees available on town and city corners very soon. The Christmas-tree industry in Nova Scotia began exporting in 1932 and the majority of the trees are balsam-fir. It takes 6-10 years to grow a 2-2.5m tree.

While the use of an evergreen tree to mark the winter solstice was a pagan tradition, by the mid 1800s Europeans were decorating trees inside with the Germans credited with originating it. Certainly Queen Victoria’s families popularized it and North America took notice.

Near the turn of the 20th century many German-made ornaments arrived here to decorate the floor-to-ceiling Christmas trees. Handmade ornaments were the norm and the Germans preferred to use edibles: nuts, fruit and cookies.

Balsam-fir has been used for probably a thousand years to decorate during festivals. It was originally hung upside down in homes in northern Europe. The resin has been chewed prior to the arrival of chewing-gum. The resinous knots in fir have been used as torches. The resin even served as a balm on injured limbs during the Civil War. Small fir boughs are used for stuffing ‘pine pillows’. It provides a deodorizing decorative item in homes. Many birds and animals use fir for browse, the cones for food and the thickets for shelter.

In our historic African Nova Scotian communities, many are gathering the balsam-fir boughs needed for Christmas wreath-making. Mrs. Mazie Simmonds explained to me that there are many teachers of the fir wreath-making and many of these teachers continue to make wreaths into their 70s and 80s.
Her wreaths use no frame except for the limbs themselves. They are tied in place and decorated with rose hips and a plant she called Running Christmas (one of our clubmosses), common in our forests and barrens. They too are evergreen. Sometimes she adds ribbon and even doubles two wreaths into one.

Mrs. Simmonds’ wreaths are available at markets in Dartmouth, or directly. She lives in North Preston and even delivers.

For more information on Christmas tree traditions, please refer to http://extension.illinois.edu/trees/facts.cfm and for industry information in Nova Scotia see http://novascotia.ca/natr/christmastrees/tradition.asp

Balsam-fir, photo by Beth Cameron

Mrs. Mazie Simmonds, grandsons and wreaths, photo by Marian Munro

Back of fir wreath, photo by Marian Munro

Botanary, part ii

Let us consider some common species epithets. Stellata, lanceolata and ovata are three that immediately come to mind. These ones refer to shape. Stellate, starlike, often refers to the form of the flowers. Think of stellar performances. They have starlike qualities. Think also of Maianthemum stellatum. The flowers look like white stars.

Lanceolata means of a lance-shape. Lanceolata is often a descriptor of leaves which are wider below the middle and taper to a narrow point at the other end. Solidago lanceolata orPlantago lanceolata should illustrate that.

Thirdly, ovata again often refers to leaves, but may mean seeds, petals or sepals. The English ending -ate is used and not -al because it is referring to a flat object. Leaves are mostly flat; an egg is not.

Next a few colour references for you: straminea, ochroleuca and viridis are all colours.Straminea or stramineum refers to something having the colour of straw, a rusty golden colour. Ochroleuca or ochroleucum is a compound word, meaning yellowish-white. Andviridis means green.

Refer to the images; they demonstrate the use of these words in botany. For all of your botanical word and lingo queries, try the Botanary here:http://davesgarden.com/guides/botanary/

A further note: whether or not the epithet ends in -us, -um, -a or other sometimes depends on the genus name and whether it is a masculine, feminine or plural word.

Maianthemum stellatum, by Ross Hall

Plantago lanceolata, by Sean Blaney

Spiranthes ochroleuca, photo by David Mazerolle

Alnus viridis, photo by Sean Blaney

Tar Spot of Maple may make Good Neighbours

Dozens of folks over the year have asked about the black spots on the maple trees around the city of Halifax-Dartmouth. These sooty black marks are rarely seen on only one tree. Usually all maples nearby will enjoy these additional adornment. Their presence indicates an infection by a fungus in the genus Rhytisma. Healthy trees can withstand these attacks, although heavy infestations can cause the tree to lose leaves early.

On urban trees we see it on the Norway Maples. The cycle begins by the appearance of small yellowish spots in June, which turn black in July and August as they expand in size.

Different maple species are attacked by different fungi species. As leaves drop and remain on the ground, the fungus overwinters in the leaves. Spores are released the next spring as the young leaves unfurl, completing the cycle. The spores land on newly opened healthy leaves and cycle renews. One can only imagine how far and wide the infection spreads with a municipal composting program and a city filled with maple trees.

Control by the home owner merely involves raking, gathering leaves and burning them rather than composting them. Spread is thus reduced. Sprays are not required. But this may require owners of nearby trees to do the same if a neighbourhood or street wishes to eliminate the fungus.

Should you compost your own leaves, make sure to turn the compost before leaves open in May.

If leaves are withering and turning brown before dropping, secondary infections may be present.

Norway Maple leaves with typical "tar spot" photo taken November 9 by Marian Munro

Norway Maple tree with leaves still on, showing large tarry spots, about 2cm across. Photo taken November 9 by Marian Munro

November's flowers

The Chrysanthemum represents the month of November. This birth flower symbolizes cheerfulness although a red one sends the “I love you” message. Giving someone a white ‘mum means innocence, purity and pure love. Yellow chrysanthemums mean a slighted or jilted love. I don’t make this up. These meanings are part of the Language of Flowers, a throwback to the Victorian era, when we didn’t say what we meant; we gave symbolic flowers instead. The Ox-eye Daisy with its white petals and golden centres seen on our roadsides is related, although not native to the province.

 November is also associated with the Poppy Campaign of the Royal Canadian Legion, a tradition in place since 1921. These familiar red and black flowers bloom on the lapels of Canadians as we remember those who gave of their service and their lives in military service. This association is international and dates back to Napoleonic times, when they commemorated the fallen.

Lt. Col. John McCrae immortalized the poppies in his emotional poem In Flanders’ Fields, first published in 1915.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place;
and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.
Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

I can still recite this from memory. Today and tomorrow many school children will assemble to pay their respects to events they study in history. November 11 at 11:11 won’t you give a moment of silence for those who gave?

Ox-eye Daisies, photo by Martin Thomas
Graphic by Stressed Jenny

Botany as a Forensic Science, part 2

I was going to write about the plant of the month, the Chrysanthemum, but something more timely occurred to me. As I was walking along the Run, on my way to work this morning, it occurred to me that people are cleaning up their yards for winter. The lawn mower may see one more use, the pruning shears are being honed, and furniture put it away.

Some are also assessing which plants to remove, either as weeds to be destroyed or as perennial divisions to trade. The second thing to occur to me, was the random thought of weeds and how to dispose of them. Sure enough, a call came in today about a new weed on the block, the Oriental Bittersweet. We have records from Wolfville, Digby and Upper Clements. Now we have a record from Halifax area. We may soon have more, as the caller admitted to composting the material cut out of the property through the municipal compost program.

SO, this note is a plea: do not, do not, do not compost material from plants you wish to dispose of. This ensures that other people will receive your unwanted weeds. In this case, Oriental Bittersweet, an invasive vine, may well arrive in your neighbourhood, via compost. The composting process does not heat up enough to destroy seeds. There are options: put them in the burning barrel, burn them and compost the ashes. Place in garbage bag and bake in the sun. Then they are thrown out for incineration. I notice some of our urban parks have substantial populations of Multiflora Rose, goutweed, Himalayan Balsam and Japanese knotweed. I wonder what percentage arrived from compost.

Please keep only grass clippings in the municipal compost. Or your problem weed becomes everyone’s problem weed that much faster.

Oriental Bittersweet, photo by Lisa Eggleston

Botany as a forensic science

Most people would not immediately view any given plant community, with an eye on the past. All plant communities indicate something about their environment. Individual species mature together, because they can. Their growth requirement for sunlight and nutrition are similar enough that competition may not occur. But as we view an assemblage of plants, we are viewing a habitat snapshot in time.

What led to the plant species mixture?

If one were in Hants County or parts of Inverness County, one would see very different plant communities than along the Atlantic coast. The two named counties are underlain by gypsum deposits, while the rock along the Atlantic coast tends to be acidic, resulting in different plant assemblages.
Bogs sustain plant communities that grow in infertile and acidic soil, often peat. Many plants have adapted to that environment such as the blueberry family, sundews and pitcher plants. Coniferous forests contribute to the lowering of pH of the soil beneath them as well. Deciduous forests are much more common on fertile soils, with deep horizons and increased fertility.

Humans have inserted themselves on the landscape, bringing with them a host of plant species, inadvertently or intentionally. In particular, plants such as Hawthorn, Daphne and Heather, entered the province deliberately as immigrants from western Europe wanted to bring reminders of home to their gardens here. Daphne is particularly associated with the French settlements. The English Hawthorn, or Mayflower, was a popular hedgerow tree, lining lanes leading to farms and homes. Heather is a rugged heath plant favouring acidic soils. There are urban legends claiming it was used in mattress ticking by British soldiers, hence its arrival at Point Pleasant Park. This urban park provided habitat for many plants that arrived on our shores, many not deliberate. The medicinal plant Chelidonium majus, is commonly reported from there and old gardens around the port city.

Other plants did not gain notoriety until they arrived here from the ‘old world’. One such plant is Senecio jacobaea, or Tansy Ragwort. This tall herb of the aster family proliferated in pastures and on roadsides of northern Nova Scotia. There it was grazed by pasture animals. Their ingestion of the plant caused a condition rendering the milk bitter and the animal in poor deteriorating health. This illness became known as Pictou disease. It was first described by farmers in New Scotland.

This cursory glance at forensics would not be complete without a mention of our newer arrivals. Many of those are deliberate and the result of the public’s desire for fast-growing groundcovers with flower. Of course, gardeners know I am referring to Japanese Knotweed, Multiflora Rose and Himalayan Balsam. We could through goutweed in as well. All are tenacious, well-established and invasive. Their presence in suburban gardens has ensured that our native plant communities will change drastically. All are fast-growing species that are strong competitors for light and nutrients.


Chelidonium majus, photo by Ross Hall
Crataegus monogyna, English Hawthorn, photo by Martin Thomas

Daphne mezereum, photo by Martin Thomas

Himalayan Balsam, Impatiens glandulifera, photo by Marian Munro
Tansy Ragwort, Senecio jacobaea, photo by Marian Munro
Rosa multiflora, photo by Martin Thomas