Witch Hazel AKA Hamamelis Virginiana

While pondering my next subject for this blog, it occurred to me that even though it is nearly December, cold and likely to snow any day, there remains a native plant in the woodland that may potentially still be blooming. That plant is a shrub or occasionally a small understory tree commonly known as American witch hazel.  Its ovate blue green leaves transition to yellow in autumn months.  Late autumn is also when its somewhat bizarre spidery looking yellow flowers with four ribbon like petals come into bloom.  They remain in bloom for many weeks clinging relentlessly to the plant well after the leaves have fallen and first snow appears. Their lengthy bloom time is likely one of the plant's attempts to increase fertilization as there are fewer insects to complete that job during that late time of year.  Witch hazel flowers are visited by a variety of pollinators such as late season moths in the Eupsilia genus who have the capability of thermoregulating their bodies by shivering to survive in these chilly months.  Other visitors include flies, certain species of bees, and even gnats.  The resultant seed capsules are of the type that explode, catapulting the pair of seeds contained within a good ten-foot distance where they gradually germinate. It can take up to two years for them to finally do so. The seeds are a food source for a variety of birds such as ring-necked pheasant, wild turkey, grouse, and cardinals as well as cotton tail rabbits, beaver and even black bear. The late season pollinators also provide a food source for those birds who require protein.

The botanical name Hamamelis from the Greek, translates to hamma=together and melis=fruit.  This is in reference to the fact that the plant bears both its flowers and ripe fruit at the same time.  The Virginia portion of the name was added because that is where the plant was first observed by colonists.  The common name witch hazel is likely adapted from the Anglo word wych or wice which means to bend or be pliant. The hazel portion is likely used because in Great Britain a type of hazel tree with pliant branches was used as a divining tool and the American witch hazel had a similar appearance.  Witch hazel has had quite a variety of uses over the years, divining being but one.  Divining was an ancient practice used for locating underground water sources.  The Y shaped branches from the English hazel tree and in America, the American witch hazel were used as divining rods.  The sensitive branches when used in the right hands were said bend or shake when held above areas where water flowed below ground.  The practice is still in use.

American witch hazel as a long history of medicinal use by indigenous cultures.  The Mohegans produced a healing decoction by boiling the branches of this plant in water which produced a medicine used to treat such afflictions as inflammation, arthritis, and tumors.  Other Indigenous communities made a healing tea from the leaves.  This plant provided a wide variety of medicinal uses in many different Native American communities.  These uses were shared with the colonists.

Have you ever seen or perhaps used an astringent called Dickenson's Witch hazel?  It is part of Connecticut's industrial commercial history.  Commercial production of distilled witch hazel extract first began in Essex Connecticut in 1846 when Dr. Charles Hawes used a steam distillation process to extract various compounds.  He sold his product in a relatively small-scale manner under the name Hawes Extract through a druggist named Alvan Whittemore.  Theron Pond of Utica, New York was another entrepreneur who successfully created a cosmetic empire that began in 1846 with a product called Golden Treasure later marketed as Pond's Extract.  Both created from distilled bark of witch hazel. Back in Connecticut in the year 1866, Thomas Newton Dickinson Sr. manufactured a liquid product called Dickinson's Witch Hazel.  His son E.E. Dickenson became a partner in 1895, and his other son Thomas Newton Dickenson Jr. also ran a witch hazel distillery in Connecticut.  By the 1900's Dickinson manufacturing plants were operating in nine different sites in in Eastern Connecticut.  Their product was widely used by barbers to cool the skin after shaving.  Dickenson Sr.'s two sons continued the family business finally selling it in 1997 to the American Distilling Plant of East Hampton, CT.  I have a friend who still gathers branches of witch hazel during the winter months for this distilling company today.  Fortunately, large scale commercial production over the years in Connecticut has not put this plant into the endangered category.

There are nurseries that sell witch hazel plants, and there are a variety of cultivars, and some are of Asian descent.  If you are looking to grow the native variety, check the label carefully before making a purchase

  

Pink lady's slipper AKA Cypripedium acaule,  Large yellow lady's slipper AKA Cypripedium parviflorum pubescens,  Small yellow lady's slipper Cypripedium parviflorum makasin

One often thinks of orchids as exotic and tropical plants, but there are eleven varieties of slipper orchids native to the United States.  In Connecticut, if you are fortunate enough while hiking through the forest, you may encounter a few of them.  These incredibly showy flowers bloom during the months of May and June. You are most likely to find the pink variety, but several varieties of yellow lady's slippers may cross your path as well.  They are Cypripedium parviflorum parviflorum the lesser or shorter of the two and Cypripedium parviflorum pubescens a taller yellow flowered variety covered in a fine fuzz and Cypripedium parviflorum makasin which has a strong fragrance. If you encounter any of these gorgeous plants, be certain not to disturb their growth.  They will not transplant successfully.  They are very slow growing plants taking up to five years to flower, and many require very specific growing conditions.  It is best to just take a photo with your phone and remember their beauty that way.  

The pink variety can be found growing from Canada south to Alabama.  It is found in all of New England and is New Hampshire's state flower.  All lady's slipper plants are considered terrestrial orchids as they get their nutrients from the ground rather than from the air as some other orchids do.  Though lady's slippers may not yet be considered endangered, they are becoming progressively scarcer, a result of plant poaching and habitat loss.  The pink variety prefers well drained acidic soil under pines and hemlock or oak trees.  

The flowers of these plants are pollinated by a variety of insects depending on the plant variety. The pollinator in the case of the pink variety is called the solitary bee. It is attracted to the flower and enters by parting the petals.  When it is inside it soon realizes that pink lady's slipper is a trickster.  There is no nectar, and it has been trapped as the pouch is not easily opened from the inside.  Seeing light through a small opening, the bee makes its way to it and wiggles its way out gathering a small bit of pollen from the anthers of the flower in the process.  A bit foolishly, that same bee enters another lady slipper flower distributing the pollen to its sticky stigma located at the opening thereby fertilizing the plant.  Some studies show it is only young bees that enter these flowers.  They do eventually learn it is not in their best interest to do so.  The tiny seeds borne on many Cypripedium plants do not carry sufficient nutrients to reproduce.  They lack an attached endosperm deposit.  Endosperm is the starchy portion of a seed that provides it with the jolt of nutrients and energy needed to break dormancy and begin its growth. Since its seeds lack endosperm, they need to get that nutritional boost another way.  Lady's slippers have a symbiotic relationship with a soil borne fungus called Rhizoctonia.  In the beginning the plant relies upon nutrients it obtains from this fungus for the seed to germinate and the plant to begin its growth cycle.  Once the plant is capable of photosynthesis, it returns the favor to the fungus by supplying it with sugar and nutrients that the fungus requires. This symbiotic relationship is called a mycorrhizal relationship.  It is a common relationship between many plants and fungi.  In addition to seed germination, at least some of these plants reproduce by rhizomes or roots that travel laterally underground.  This is why when you encounter one pink lady's slipper plant you will likely find others growing, forming a beautiful colony.

There is an Ojibwe legend about a brave young girl who rescues her tribal members from sickness by traveling across a frozen lake mid-winter to obtain mashkiki or medicine.  On the return trip, her feet which have become frozen and bloodied, leave footprints along the trail.  In the spring the path she took becomes lined with lady slippers to honor her bravery.  To listen to the legend, click on the link.  You will be redirected to the story Bing Videos.  Native Americans had medicinal uses for the roots of this plant which are said to provide a calming effect, however it is no longer sustainable to harvest the roots since the plant is becoming scarce, again from poaching and habitat loss.

Reputable nurseries have been successfully germinating seeds of these orchids in laboratories so it is now possible to purchase plants from them, but keep in mind the plant's slow growth habit and fussy nature as it may prove challenge to grow.

 

Tiny flowers

 

Jack in the Pulpit AKA Arisaema triphylum

As a young child my mother would take my friends and I on a hike through the woods to a swimming spot.  Along the way, we would always be on the lookout for Jack in the pulpit and lady slippers, each of us kids wanting to be the first to spot one. Jack in the pulpit is a plant appropriately named with its appearance of a preacher standing and delivering a sermon from a pulpit.  This native plant grows in damp loamy woodland settings.  It is an interesting plant with some unusual capabilities.  When considering this plant, what you likely visualize is the purple and brown striped hood, or spathe visible in the spring.  The hooded spathe shields "Jack" who is the spadix.  What you may never have noticed is a number of tiny flowers that form inside the spathe at the base of Jack. Though the tiny flowers are well hidden, they have a carrion like scent, drawing pollinators like flies who enter the tube-like spathe looking to lay their eggs on decaying flesh for the hatchlings to consume. The flies land on "jack" and then bumble around on the floor of the "pulpit" gathering pollen from the flowers on their bodies.  The male plants offer a simple escape route, a small opening in the bottom of the pulpit.  Once the flies find their way out, they enter another "pulpit" where their gathered pollen fertilizes any flowers inside.  The flies can sometimes become trapped inside the pulpits of female plants as there is no escape route at the floor of their spadix.  These plants don't benefit in any way nutritionally from trapped insects as they aren't carnivorous. After being fertilized, the flowers inside the spathe die back and the spathe and spadix disappear, the plant more or less blends unobtrusively into the woodland landscape bearing just its remaining three leafed foliage. Late in summer and early autumn this plant once again stands out, as the female plants produce stalks holding clusters of bright red berries.  Each of those berries contains up to five seeds.  

This important native plant provides food for black bear who when foraging in the spring pull up and consume the corm type of root at the base of the plants.  Later in the year, the berries are consumed by a variety of birds such a wild turkey and ring-necked pheasant.  As they pass through their digestive systems, the seeds from the fruit are spread as these birds go on their travels. The pollinator flies, well sometimes they just don't fare as well.  Certain times of the year Scotland has more than enough flies, so I don't mind in the least!

Indigenous people used this plant for food, medicine and created dye from the fruit.  In fact, another common name for Arisaema triphylum is Indian turnip.  A name given because the round bulbous corms were consumed by Native Americans after being dried and cooked thoroughly to extract their high concentration of calcium oxalate which would otherwise cause an intense prickling and burning sensation to the mouth and throat.  Calcium oxalate is found in lower concentrations in many leafy greens and is a factor responsible for producing kidney stones in humans.  

 A rare feature of this plant is its ability to change its gender over time.  The botanical term for this is dichogamy.  The young small Jack in the pulpit plant produces only male flowers. Over the years, through the process of photosynthesis, the plant stores more nutrients in its corm, and the corm gradually grows larger.  After the corm stores enough nutrients, the plant begins to produce both male and female flowers.  Through several years of continued photosynthesis, the corm finally stores enough nutrients that the flowers produced on the plant are only female.  The female plants finally have sufficient nutrients so that they are able to produce the clusters of red fruit that you see in late summer and early fall. After bearing the fruit, the plant, drained of its energy, reverts the following year to producing only male flowers. This process accounts for yet another of the plant's common names which is Jill in the Pulpit.  Take a closer look the next time you see this fascinating plant!

 OUR TOWN IS APPLYING FOR A CONNECTICUT RECREATIONAL TRAILS PROGRAM GRANT!

The Invasive Species Working Group will be meeting on Wednesday November 19th at 3:00PM, at the Scotland Public Library, to discuss developing a grant application to the state.  All are invited to attend.  We’d love for you to contribute your ideas!

The Connecticut DEEP has made grant money available for towns to design, develop and maintain recreational trails.  The grant money can also be used for equipment, amenities and educational outreach, as well as future maintenance. Our town has decided to focus on the boardwalk and trail through the wooded area between the Scotland Public Library and the firehouse and community room, and to connect the trail to the Scotland Elementary School property.  We held an event several months ago where some of us volunteered to begin clearing an area along the path that had become overgrown with invasive plants.  That event drew attention to the potential that area has for improvement and the town's board of selectmen agreed to move forward with the project if we get the grant.  The grant application is complicated, but we have experienced grant writers working on the project. 

State grants help equalize opportunities and amenities for small towns like ours that don’t have the resources of larger, wealthier towns like the New York suburbs and shoreline communities, so it’s important that we take advantage of these opportunities. The town of Scotland could never pay for a project like this on its own.  This is a matching grant, which means we need to contribute 20% of the cost, but don’t worry, this will not have any effect on your property taxes!  We can use volunteer hours toward the 20% match at a rate of $34.79 per hour per volunteer.  We can also use any hours on the project spent by the department of public works at their pay scale.  Any monetary donations, should we be that fortunate, would of course also count.

The trail has the potential to provide an educational opportunity for our children in the Scotland Elementary School, and Parish Hill too for that matter.   For example, perhaps we might provide the elementary school with raised beds and covers making small greenhouse structures so the students can grow some native species to plant along the trail.  We plan to increase public awareness about invasive plants and native plants as well among all ages.  Also in our plans is the repair of sections of the boardwalk, which has the engraved names of present and past Scotland residents.  

The grant money can provide for continued maintenance so the boardwalk will not fall into disrepair again and we can continue to keep out the invasive species.  The grant can pay for the cost to hire a consultant to help us plan and design the path and plantings.  We can add benches along the trail as well as signage pointing out various native plants.  With the grant money, we plan to hire a company that is licensed and has the ability to really tackle the invasive species that have taken over in areas along the trail.  Come to the November 19th meeting and bring your ideas!

 Skunk Cabbage AKA Syplocarpus fotidus

Last night as I lay awake, I wondered if I might have actually heard the world crumbling, I quickly realized I was probably just hearing a collective snore from man and dog.  Lying there I began to think of this blog, and then I thought of skunk cabbage, because well why not.  There’s a quirky plant that doesn’t ever get enough recognition.  I always thought this plant was native to Connecticut, but it is not.  It is native to eastern North America though and thought to have naturalized in Connecticut during colonial times.  Unfortunately, at this point it is naturalized to the point that it is considered potentially invasive.  Either way, it is a fascinating plant.  It is first to emerge proud and erect every spring appearing almost as though it could be carnivorous.  It probably deserves a better common name than skunk cabbage for its efforts. 

The plant has an interesting growth habit.  The tiny flowers of each individual plant are both male and female.  They are contained within a leafy purple and green sheath, botanically termed a spathe.  The spathes contain a spadix which is a spongy like growth that holds the cluster of tiny flowers. Both the spadix and flowers are capable of chemically producing heat which allows them, as they emerge from the earth to burn through the remaining snow cover during late winter and early spring.  The off-putting carrion like scent wafting from the opened flowers is spread further aloft by the heat produced.  The fetid unpleasant scent, hence, the Latin portion of the name fotidus, attracts flies and beetles seeking the cozy warmth and possibility of a tempting a meal.  Unfortunately for them, the reverse can perhaps hold true, as the flies and beetles may actually become the meal for opportunistic spiders who are known to spin their webs near the entrance to those flowers.  

After the flowers begin to die back clusters of heart shaped leaves emerge from the ground.  It is at this time large patches of skunk cabbage can be easily seen growing along the forest floor resembling a field of green Hosta.  As the flowers become pollinated, they produce a strange looking connected fruit which resembles a miniature pineapple.  In Latin syplocarpus means connected fruit which is the first part of the Latin name for this plant.  Each cluster of fruit contains approximately 50 seeds.  The seeds fall into the swampy earth and germinate or are carried away by birds or small mammals.  As the plant goes through repeated growing cycles.  The stems get sucked deeper into the swampy earth and the roots become extremely difficult to remove. 

Hungry bears emerging in early spring will forage and consume the young leaves. They are one of few animals that will consume this plant as the leaves produce a burning sensation in the mouth and throat.  This is caused by the calcium oxalate contained in them.  In Native American culture this plant was used for food and medicinal purposes.  I would not recommend consuming it though as preparation of this plant is lengthy, and there are far better alternatives to forage both in the forest and in the supermarket.

 Bloodroot AKA Sanguinaria canadensis

This is one of the first flowers to bloom in my yard in the spring.  The plant grows in a woodland setting and though it is fairly common it always seems a bit of a surprise to see it.  The low growing plant has relatively large flowers with eight to twelve white petals and bright yellow stamens in the center.  The flowers first arise securely wrapped in a broad leaf.  

Bloodroot contains a red sap most concentrated in its rhizome. The sap is what gives the plant both its common name bloodroot, and its Latin name Sanguinaria. Sanguinarius means bloody in Latin.  The plant has had traditional uses in Native American medicine.  The red sap contains a high concentration of alkaloyds.  These have been studied and explored for use in modern medicine as well however to date nothing has been medically approved from those substances.  In fact, the sap is quite powerful and dangerous as it causes skin necrosis so don't mess with it!  

The flowers are beautiful, and their pollen attracts certain bees. The foliage is exotic looking especially when fully opened.  It opens fully after the flower fades.  The plant then goes dormant toward the middle of summer. Bloodroot has an interesting way of spreading called Myrmecochory.  The seeds contain an attached fleshy portion called an eliasome.  Ants transport the seed to their nests where they consume the eliasome then discard the remainder of the seed to their little "ant compost piles".  The seed is protected there in that rich soil until it germinates the following spring.  There is a cultivated double form of this flower that is especially prized, and though it is very beautiful, I am satisfied enough with the single version. It is one of the first signs of spring!

NATIVE PLANT GERANIUM MACULATUM

I have not covered all of Connecticut's invasive plants yet, even so I think it may be time to change the focus to some native plants; plants we can keep an eye out for and possibly help to protect by removing encroaching invasives. 

There are so many beautiful native plants it is a bit difficult to find a starting place! I think the best method for making that decision is to follow the months of the calendar, so I will start with some of the first flowers we are likely to encounter when the spring season is once again upon us. Writing about these plants will also help me keep the grueling winter months that lie ahead in perspective.  Keep in mind it is not legal to remove these plants or their seeds from the wild without a permit. Here is a link that explains why. https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/ethics/index.shtml .  

It is still entirely possible to grow native plants though, as there are nurseries that have procured these plants legally.  They propagate them and offer them for sale.  Here is a link that includes a list of native plants and suppliers.  This 2025 list was compiled by UCONN.  2025 Connecticut Native Tree, Shrub, and Perennial Availability List

The first plant that comes to my mind is wild geranium or Geranium maculatum.  It is a very ornamental native perennial plant that grows prolifically all over our town during the first spring months and even into early summer.  It is a plant so attractive that you would think had been cultivated, and there are slightly fancier cultivars of it, but in its unadulterated form it is a native plant. It is native not only to Connecticut but also to many states in eastern North America.  Here in Scotland, it is often found adorning woodland edges where there is rich humus type soil, and shade or dappled sunlight.  Wild geranium is a low growing plant with deeply divided leaves. When in bloom it is covered in pink flowers, followed of course by abundant seed pods.  Though left to its own devices, the plant often frequents semi-shaded spots it will also tolerate a location that receives full sun so long as the soil remains moist.  The flowers are host to a multitude of bee and beetle pollinators. These insects in turn provide food for mourning doves, robins, juncos, and even quail.  Deer will occasionally browse the foliage, and chipmunks have been known to fill their cheeks with the seeds. So, this pretty little native plant feeds a good size crowd!

Wild geranium behaves well in a garden.  It spreads, though gradually, via its rhizomes.  Of course, it also spreads by seed.  The seeds are contained within a sharp beak shaped pod.  The seed pods give the plant another of its common names crane's bill geranium.  The cleverly designed seedpod has the capability of catapulting the ripened seed a good distance eventually creating another stand of the plant.