What are drupes? In botany a drupe is a plump fruit which does not split open when ripe, with a thin skin and a central shell containing a single seed. Examples are Almond, Cherry, Peach, Elderberry, Olive, Coffee, and Coconut. And of course Blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium) seen in the picture above.
Right now in the mountains there are many Blackhaw bushes or small trees with loads of drupes ripening from a pinkish red color to blue-black, sometimes with a white bloom. The drupes, if they last long enough, will dry and take on a raisin appearance. There is a long list of birds that enjoy the drupes including many of my favorites. A few of them: the Hermit Thrush, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Bluebird, Cedar Waxwing, and Red-eyed Vireo. Autumn brings changes in the color of the leaves too, on these deciduous bushes. They really get into the spirit of the season with leaves turning many shades of red, purple, yellow and orange.
Honey Bee (Apis), surrounded by autumnal color in the center of a Gaillardia, collecting both nectar and pollen. Honey Bees need nectar and pollen for their colony. As they collect the pollen it is unwittingly distributed among other flowers, providing a helping hand, pollinating those flowers. The pollen provides nutrients including protein, which is used mostly for their larvae. The nectar provides the bees energy. Honey Bees are not a single species. Historically 7 to 11 species are acknowledged. A small number, compared to the 20,000 known bee species of the world.
Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana). A poisonous, herbaceous, perennial plant with red stalks that can grow to be 3 to 10 feet tall. And under perfect conditions can reach more than 20 feet tall. It’s native to eastern North America, the Midwest, the South, through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona to the West Coast. All parts of the plant are highly toxic resulting in a variety of symptoms including death in rare cases. The berries are especially poisonous. If you must handle pokeweed, use protective gloves.
But Pokeweed does have a good side. The attractive green to dark purple berries are a good food source for many songbirds and other bird species. Small mammals, impervious to the toxins, also benefit from the berries. Pokeweed multiplies exclusively by seed which birds help to distribute. Those little seeds have an incredible viability of up to 40 years in the seed bank.
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). Beautiful and exceptionally intelligent birds. They’re mimics. Included in their repertoire, are the calls of many hawks, particularly the Red-shouldered Hawk, and some owls. Predators that Blue Jays will avoid.
Males and females are alike except that males are a bit larger. They are monogamous, staying together for life. Both participate in nest building and raising their young, and have strong family bonds.
At your backyard feeder Blue Jays will eat most anything that you’ll put out for all the birds with the exception of Nyjer seed. I haven’t had my feeders out since late spring and plan to put them out tomorrow. I’m looking forward to seeing the Blue Jays that I’ve been hearing in the woods.
Sycamore Tree (Platanus occidentalis). In fall, a speckled symphony of autumnal color.
A tree seeming to have a marble trunk.
A tree that enjoys a riparian life. Streams become easy to spot. Marbled trunks meandering through the woods following the stream.
A bark that drops off in patches. Patches that might be perfect for writing a letter if one were to have no paper. Write your note, add a stamp and drop it in the mailbox.
Seeds in balls. Appear in November. Dropping to the ground in late spring.
A leaf of the Sycamore tree. One speck, part of a symphony of autumnal color.
Stopping by for a meal on the way south. A Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens) enjoys the seeds of Purple Coneflowers that I’ve left for the travelers. My gardens may look untidy, but they are a way of welcoming these birds as they pass through. Birds that are migrating long distances during the dark of night. Aiming for the Greater Antilles, the Bahamas, the Caribbean coast of Mexico and Central America.
The Black-throated Blue Warbler is 5 inches in length, with a wingspan of 7.5 to 8 inches. In comparison to other birds, they are larger than a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and smaller than a Hermit Thrush. I wish them well on their way to their winter home.
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UPDATE: There was great surprise when these cute miniature watermelon looking things were discovered in the vegetable garden. The two of us scratching our heads. What in the world could these be? I immediately put on my detective hat and began digging through the vast world of the Internet. I thought I found the answer and wrote and published the article you have seen, on September 29, 2021.
But there was more to be uncovered, more to be remembered. Several days after I wrote my article on what I believed to be the native plant, Creeping Cucumber (Melothria pendula), which I figured had magically appeared in the garden as natives often do, he had a recollection. Turns out, several weeks before, he found a diminutive plant labeled “Mexican Sour Gherkin” at the Greene Farmer’s Market. He bought it, brought it home and planted it in the vegetable garden. Not giving it much thought beyond the planting and nary a word to me. He had no idea what the plant would look like. What the plant would produce. But it quietly grew, unbeknownst to either of us. Then the discovery of a mystery. Until today. The meeting of minds. The sharing of thoughts. Realization.
The scientific name for Mexican Sour Gherkin is Melothria scabra. A plant nearly identical to the plant I thought we had. Mexican Sour Gherkin is native from Mexico to Venezuela. AND there is no worry about its edibility. We can now enjoy these tiny watermelon looking things with no concern at all.
Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia). If Virginia Creeper had the ability to party, this would certainly be its time. Sunlight shining through brightly colored leaves of vermilion.
Glowing way up in the tree tops. Decorating the woods. For that long list of party attendees.
If Virginia Creeper had the ability to party, this would certainly be its time.
Autumn brings along surprises with native Poison Ivy. The plant’s leaves become beautiful, luminous colors.
Some reach out from tree trunks disguising the fact that it is a vine and one that humans should avoid. It’s not a tree but a climbing vine. Easy to think as the vine wraps round and climbs the tree that those leaves are innocent.
While the plants on the ground will impersonate not a vine but a small bush.
Those leaves mainly turning a rich crimson or a vibrant yellow. The crimson bringing back memories of the new plant’s spring emergence with shiny new red leaves.
You may not have noticed. Poison Ivy has berries. As the leaves turn color, and then, as they fall to the ground, the berries will become more obvious.
If you’re really fortunate you may live next to a patch of woods, or you might even be surrounded by forest. That’s the case for me. My yard is totally encircled by woods. This will give you the ultimate opportunity to see birds enjoying an important wildlife food plant, Poison Ivy. Yes, remove it from your formal gardens but leave it in the woods. Let those birds reap the benefits of the berries. I’ve been fortunate to see many different species of woodpeckers enjoying the berries, along with many other birds like this Chickadee.
Birds you might see: Bobwhite Quail, Brown Thrashers, Mockingbirds, Wild Turkeys, Crows, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Northern Flickers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Chickadees, Blue Grosbeaks, Eastern Bluebirds, and Catbirds. And mammals too will benefit from the Poison Ivy. Deer, Bear, Raccoons, and Muskrats, just a few of the many that will eat leaves, stems and berries.
And then there are the butterflies that I pursue for my photographs. They invariably choose to land on Poison Ivy rather than some other less offensive plant. Here a Northern Pearly-eye is teasing me, landing on Poison Ivy and daring me to reach out.
Looking up from beneath a Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) reveals a splendid, captivating pattern against the sky. Now that pattern has an added element, a change in color. Each leaflet of every compound leaf is changing little by little. Emerald to chartreuse green to chartreuse yellow and everything in between.
Black Walnuts dropping everywhere staining hands that remove the outer husks. My Mom tells us of a time when as a child, she and her sister, my Aunt Kay, helped my Grandpa remove husks from Black Walnuts. Though they thoroughly washed their hands the stain remained. The next day at school my Mom got a failing grade in penmanship because of her stained hands. I guess that teacher didn’t know of the staining qualities of Black Walnuts.
Several times a week I see these Black Walnut trees outside the yoga studio where I am a student. Absolutely nothing growing beneath them but grass. This is because of allelopathy. Allelopathy is one plant limiting the growth of another through harmful chemicals.In the Black Walnut tree the chemical is juglone, which is found in the roots, buds, leaves and nuts. Some plants will not do well with exposure to juglone, other plants it does not phase.
During the winter one is left with little in the way of clues to identify a tree. One thing I depend on is the bark. Sometimes that works. Black Walnut’s bark is gray-brown and is the color of chocolate if cut. It has somewhat deep channels with ridges that often create diamond shaped motifs across the bark.
Soon all the color changes will have taken place. Patterns against the sky will be gone. Leaves will be on the ground, as leaf litter, becoming homes for various stages of insects to overwinter. And that bark will tell me the name of the tree.
