Volume 6, Number 3

e Turk's Ca>

The newsletter Of The dela ware na t/ve plant Society Autumn 2003

In This Issue

A Call For Articles

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

A Call for Articles

New Members

Letter From the President

Letter From the Editor
Plant-animal Highlight
Event Highlights

1 Letter From the President continued
1 Feature Article

Native Plant Highlight
Natural Community Highlight
Resources and Reviews

1 Plant Sale Announcement

1 Feature Article continued
' Event Highlights continued

Page 7 " Upcoming Events

o o o o o

How Can I Get Involved?

If you would like to write an article for The
Turk’s Cap, we would love to print it. With like minded
individuals as an audience. The Turk’s Cap is a great
venue for plant or habitat oriented writings.

We’ll take just about anything from gardening
tips to book reviews to poetry. Of course, it has to be
about native plants, or issues related to native plants; just
a minor constraint. Your imagination is the real key.

Contact Eric Zuelke (ezuelke@juno.com), or
Keith Clancy at 302.674.5187 for more information.

A Meadow Of Golden Asters
Welcome To Our Newest Members

July through September

Heather Baker
Danielle Downs
Jessie Keith
Annie Larsen
Joseph McLaughlin
George O'Shea
George & Barbara Pettyjohn
Mary Ellen Sauser
Quentin Schlieder, Jr.
Marion Zuefle

The Delaware Native Plant Society is open
to everyone ranging from the novice gardener to the
professional botanist. One of the primary goals of
the society is to involve as many individuals as
possible.

The DNPS is working on some significant
projects at this time. We are in the midst of several
reforestation projects, using a “direct-seeding” ap-
proach at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge,
and along Blackbird and Cedar Creeks during Octo-
ber and November, 2003. In addition, help is needed
with our native plant nursery at the St. Jones Re-
serve with the monitoring and watering of plants in
our recently acquired greenhouse.

For more information on how to get in-
volved, E-mail us at

dnps@delawarenativeplants.org. Or visit our web-
site at www.delawarenativeplants.org. Our website
will have all of the past issues of The Turk ’s Cap
along with a large section on native plants, as well
as links to other environmental and plant related

Letter From The President

I hope everyone is enjoying the last few
weeks and days of warm weather before the deep
freeze of winter takes hold. As usual, the summer
flew by and autumn is quickly disappearing. Is it
just me, or is time going by too fast for you too?

The Society will be active throughout
October and into November with reforestation pro-
jects. These projects are taking place in three wa-
tersheds: Blackbird Creek (in New Castle County),
and Cedar Creek and Prime Hook Creeks (in Sus-
sex County). The sites are within tire Blackbird
Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve, the
Cedar Creek Natural Area and the Prime Hook
National Wildlife Refuge, respectively. We are
planting mostly acorns and hickory nuts on nearly

35 acres of former agricultural fields. The nuts

have

been and will be collected from nearby intact forest

The DNPS
Vision

T he purpose of the
Delaware Native Plant
Society (DNPS) is to
participate in and encourage
the preservation,

conservation, restoration, and
propagation of Delaware’s
native plants and plant
communities. The Society
provides information to
government officials, business
people, educators, and the
general public on the
protection, management, and
restoration of native plant
ecosystems. The DNPS
encourages the use of native
plants in the landscape by
homeowners, businesses, and
local and state governments
through an on-going
distribution of information and
knowledge by various means
that includes periodic
publications, symposia,

conferences, workshops, field
trips, and a growing statewide
membership organized by the
DNPS.

The Turk's Qp, Volume 6, Number 3

Letter From The Editor

Autumnal travail

As Autumn descends upon us, so has a lot of hard
work for the Society. If preparing for our annual plant sale
wasn’t enough, we’ve also dived into a reforestation project on
three sites for which we got grant money from the Partnership
for the Delaware Estuary Program. Of our 3 sites, Blackbird
creek. Cedar Creek, and Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge,
the Prime Hook site is shaping up to be very challenging simply
because of it’s size (about 18 acres), but the work is very grati-
fying and we know it will all be successful. We’re very excited
about these reforestation sites because they are a direct, palpa-
ble way to do something good for the earth.

We’re also very excited about our plant sale this year.
The addition of the greenhouse in our nursery has added a
whole new venue for germinating every native plant seed we
can get our hands on, and it has enabled us to have a wide di-
versity of plants for sale. We hope everyone can come out for
the fun.

On the education and Public Relations front, we’ve
had some excellent field trips and presenters lately. Our mush-
room foray was really interesting. We’ve also completely reno-
vated our display board which has resulted in a very profession-
al looking display to show at events around the state.

Have a great Autumn and enjoy the crisp, frosty air.
And definitely don’t forget to eat a lot of pumpkin pie! <r^

0000 Eric Zuelke, Editor

o o o o o o

Plant-animal Highlight

Don’t eat that mushroom

Though not plants-in fact they have been placed in
their own kingdom-mushrooms have just as an important role in
the global environment. The mycorhizal fungi that mushrooms
sprout from (mushrooms are just the fruiting bodies, or sporo-
carps) are one of the most important organisms on earth for
decomposing biological litter and wastes. The mushrooms
themselves serve as an important food source for many animals
such as deer, squirrels, mice, chipmunks, turtles, slugs, and
numerous species of insects.

It is commonly known that many species of mush-
rooms contain toxins such as cyclopeptides, orellanine, ibotenic
acid, monomethylhydrazine, muscarine, amatoxin, and psilocy-
bin that at best cause gastrointestinal distress and at worst death
in humans. However, many animals eat mushrooms with no ill
effect at all. In fact, some animals thrive on mushrooms. Ani-
mals have uniquely different digestive systems than humans
and some have evolved digestive mechanisms that can break-
down the chitin contained in mushroom cell walls to extract the
nutrients while at the same time breaking down toxins with
enzymes in their stomachs, or neutralizing toxins in their liver.
Mushroom cell walls are primarily made of chitin and other
indigestible complex polymers, and the cells need to be broken
down to extract the nutrients. Many animals such as deer and
some squirrels have foregut fermentation, or a functional cecum
pouch (similar to the vestigial human appendix) that houses
bacteria that begin to break down the chitin to release those
nutrients.

In researching this article, I found hardly anything on

Psge2

the topic of mushroom consumption by animals, and even less
on the physiologic process of toxin digestion. Scientists are
always looking for something to study, and here is a perfect
opportunity!

0000 Eric Zuelke, Editor

o o o o o o

Event Highlights

ST. JONES RIVER KAYAK TRIP, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6

Sixteen of us put in our canoes and kayaks at the pub-
lic access dock in the heart of Dover, just a stones’ throw from
the State’s capitol. The water was cool in contrast to the warm
air that would get hotter as the day wore on.

We paddled from Dover to Barker’s Landing along a
meandering river that would take us from freshwater forested
river banks to saltwater cordgrass marshes. With a brief stop at
Lebanon Landing for lunch the entire paddle took us nearly 5
hours. During the course of this trip we all got pretty spread out
on the water so I am not sure that everyone saw the same
things, and some of the species that I am discussing in this
highlight may not have been seen by all.

The low-lights included an abundance of excessive
algal growth in the water, especially near downtown Dover,
suggesting too much nutrient run-off and a super-abundance of
invasive non-native plant species. One of these included, what
we (I) first thought was the native Virginia virgin ’s-bower
( Clematis virginiana ), but upon closer inspection turned out to
be Japanese virgin ’s-bower (C. temiflora). This, admittedly
attractive flowering vine was smothering many native woody
and herbaceous plants along the river’s edge from Dover to just
upriver from Lebanon Landing. Another abundant invasive we
observed was the Asian vine known as porcelain-berry
( Ampelosis brevipedunculata ); this vine is appearing more and
more frequently throughout Kent County and probably else-
where in the state. Tree-of- heaven ( Ailantlius altissima ) and
empress-tree ( Paulownia tomentosa ) were 2 Asian trees that
seemed right at home along the St. Jones River.

Another non-native that we all saw was one that I had
found while doing reconnaissance the day before. It was a pros-
trate, mat-forming plant growing on the base of a black gum
tree. I had not seen it before and did not have time to identify it
by the next day. So, we stopped at the tree where this plant was
growing and I asked one of the kayakers to grab a piece of the
plant and pass it around for everyone to get a good look at.
Someone said it looked like a Sedum; and sure enough that’s
what it was: Stringy stonecrop ( Sedum sarmentosum ). As far as
I can tell, this is the first record of this species in the wild in
Delaware.

Lest the reader think the only plants we saw were inva-
sive, non-natives let me assure you that we did see many na-
tives typical of Delaware’s coastal plain rivers, too many to list
them all here. But a few of the more significant ones included
some individuals of bald cypress ( Taxodium distichum), grow-
ing at or near the northern-most edge of its range, and the only
known Delaware population of the impressive, beautiful and
remarkable American lotus ( Nelurnbo luted). We had to take
turns paddling into a small cove to get a close look at this
aquatic with its large round, peltate leaves and huge white to

Continued on page 6

The Turk's C3p, Volume 6, Number 3

Continued on page 3

Letter From The President

Continued from page 1

communities. By planting nuts we hope to establish a more de-
sirable oak-hickory forest rather than a pine, sweet gum or red
maple-dominated forest. Your help is still needed, so please
come out and join the die-hards in these important restoration
projects. 1 want to thank everyone that has helped with these
projects so far. And I want to especially thank the hard work
done by Annie Larsen, in coordinating and planning for the
planting at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge; on our first
day at the Refuge (during Prime Hook’s Waterfowl Festival)
we were able to plant 2,404 nuts! Stay tuned for upcoming
planting dates.

We are also busy preparing for the DNPS’s 3 rd Annual
Native Plant Sale scheduled for Saturday, November 1, 2003.
Many species of native plants will be available, and all of these
have either been propagated from seeds collected from local
indigenous natural communities or are plants that have been
rescued from sure doom on sites about to be destroyed. What I
especially like about the plants we have, aside from their wild-
life values and aesthetic beauty, is that we know the ages of
many of these plants and so one will know (if you keep track of
such things) that 50 years (or whenever) from now, exactly how
old that tree is that’s in your yard and that was planted in the
fall of 2003.

During November we will finish our reforestation pro-
jects and will be preparing our nursery for the long winter
ahead, including collecting and potting-up numerous seeds of
many species of native plants. We are going to follow the meth-
ods of one of our members, Bob Edelen, who had great success
last year in germinating thousands of seeds. His method was
rather simple: he prepared a long wooden cold frame, within
which he placed many plastic pots full of potting soil and native
plant seeds, he covered these with a layer of mulch and a sturdy
sheet of hardware cloth to protect against seed poachers. In es-
sence, he was trying to mimic (and 1 think he did a superb job)
the natural conditions that these seeds would be going through
in nature (e.g., the long cold period provided during the winter
months, followed by fluctuating daily temperatures of cool
nights and warm days that characterize the spring). We will also
be trying our hand at propagating many new native plant spe-
cies, including swamp rosemallow ( Hibiscus moscheutos ), yel-
low passion-flower {Pass if lorn luted), turk’s-cap lily {L ilium
superbum ), black-eyed Susan’s (Rudbeckia hirta), and Ameri-
can lotus ( Nelumbo luted), to name a few. It is very exciting to
collect seeds from the wild, plant them and then to wait with
anticipation for the emergence of the first leaves signaling a
successful germination. We are learning much as we attempt to
propagate more and more species. For example, did you know
that if you collect black-eyed Susans in early fall and then plant
them immediately, they will start to germinate in just a week or
two? I just found that out after Eric Zuelke planted hundreds of
seeds in pots out at the nursery.

Well, I better wrap-up this letter. But before I do, I
again want to extend my invitation to all members to become
more involved in their society. Come on our field trips or out to
the nursery, help with our reforestation projects, and come
to our meetings; we welcome and need your input.

Page 3

s

1

Natural Quotes

1

1

“I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees, for the trees have
no tongues.”

Dr. Seuss

1

i

Feature Article

Alien invaders

Delaware’s flora appears to be undergoing a sea
change. Species not previously known from Delaware are ap-
pearing on a regular basis; and most of these are non-native, or
exotic species. The most recent publication on Delaware’s Flora
is McAvoy and Bennett’s (2001) The Flora of Delaware: An
Annotated Checklist. This publication lists a total of “ ...2,175
species, varieties, and hybrids of native (1,565) and non-native
(610) vascular plants....” 1 would like to report on the discov-
ery, during the 2003 field season, of several newly documented
non-native vascular plants found in the wild in Delaware.

While undertaking surveys in a field at Prime Hook
National Wildlife Refuge on June 5, 2003, with wildlife biolo-
gist Annie Larsen of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, we ob-
served a curious-looking plant that formed a carpet of dense
growth. The low-growing, herbaceous plants were rather small,
and consisted of alternate and sub-opposite, oblong leaves and,
small axillary, pale purple flowers. I had not seen it before and
after keying it out, determined it to be a plant called annual or
hyssop-leaved loosestrife, Lythnim hyssopifolia. When 1 related
the identification to Annie she recalled that she and George
O’Shea had collected this plant in the same field in 2001 and it
had been identified, by USFWS biologist Laura Mitchell, also
as L. hyssopifolia; at that time it was not recognized as being
new to Delaware.

This species has a rather unusual distribution. Accord-
ing to Gleason and Cronquist’s (1991) Manual of the vascular
plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, L.
hyssopifolia occurs from Maine, to New Jersey, eastern Penn-
sylvania, southern Ohio, the Pacific coast, in South America,
and common in the Old World. In a 1997 paper in The Canadi-
an Field-Naturalist it was newly reported to occur in Ontario,
Canada by Blaney et al. The discovery in Delaware extends its
range further south in the eastern United States. The plants were
so dense and covered such a large area (estimated at more than
5 hectares) that their appearance reminded one of a low-
growing Spartina marsh. Larsen mentioned that the field we
were surveying was a popular “eat-ouf ’ area for Snow geese
and we speculated that the plants could easily have been trans-
ported to Delaware by these birds. 1 discovered a second popu-
lation for this species, on June 24, 2003 in a field at Bombay
Hook National Wildlife Refuge.

On June 15, 2003 while surveying a field at Bombay
Hook National Wildlife Refuge, I spied a curiously Eurasian
blue- flowered scarlet pimpernel, Anagallis arvensis var. caeru-
lea. I had never seen one with blue flowers before. I discovered

Best wishes,

Continued on page 6

The Turk's Qp, Volume 6, Number 3

Natural Community Highlight

Smooth Alder-Arrowwood Shrub Swamp

Alnus serrulata-Viburnum dentatum Shrubland
Smooth Alder-Arrowwood Shrubland

Description

Found along freshwater tidal rivers, these shrub swamps are
seldom visited by anyone, as they are some of the most inhospi-
table communities in Delaware. Typically characterized by a
tall layer of dense shrubs, and often resting upon mucky soils
with the consistency of thick soup, these habitats generally
don’t make for a pleasant excursion. However, these communi-
ties are a distinct habitat unto themselves, and are frequently
quite diverse. The dominant species in the shrub layer are
smooth alder ( Alnus semdata ) and airowwood (Viburnum den-
tatum), and are joined by other common species such as winter-
berry ( Ilex verticil-lota), silky dogwood ( Comus amomum), red
maple (Acer mb mm), spicebush (Lindera benzoin) and swamp
rose (Rosa palustns). Vines such as poison ivy (Toxicodendron
radicans ), Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia ) and
climbing hempweed (Mikania scandens) are often abundant.
The herbaceous diversity is attributable to hummock and hol-
low microtopography, which provides suitable spots for herbs
to germinate. Characteristic species include orange jewel weed
(lmpatiens ca pens is), tussock sedge (Carex strict a), arrow-
leaved tearthumb ( Polygonum sagittatum), wild rice ( Zizania
aquatica), groundnut (Apios Americana), long-leaved aster
(Symphyotrichum novi-belgii ), hemlock water -parsnip (Siam
suave), stout wood-reed (Cinna amndinacea), arrow arum
(Peltandra virginica), and rice cutgrass (Leersia oryzoides).

Significance

These shrub communities typically form a transition zone be-
tween tidal marsh or open water and the tidal swamp forest ad-
jacent to the upland. There are a number of bird species which
specialize in shrubby habitats, one of the most conspicuous of
which is the common yellowthroat.

Distribution

This community is restricted to freshwater sections of tidal riv-
ers. In Delaware, this is most notably the Nanticoke River and
its larger tributaries, such as the Broadkill. There may also be
occurrences along some rivers that drain into Delaware Bay,
particularly the Murderkill and its tributaries.

References

This description comes primarily from a report by ecologists
Jason Harrison and Peter Stango, who have done a tremendous
amount of work on these communities in Maryland. ^

a 000 Peter Bowman, DE Natural Heritage Program Ecologist

o o o o o o

Na tive Plant Highlight

Gentians

The gentians of early to late fall are some of the most
lovely wildflowers to be seen at this time of year. Their showy,
light to dark blue flowers are always a pleasure when encoun-
tered.

The gentians represented in Delaware are in the genera
Gentiana and Gentianopsis, and all are in the family

Psge 4

Gentianaceae. Another genus in the eastern U.S. considered to
be a gentian is Gentianella, but species within this genus are not
known from Delaware.

In Delaware, there are currently 6 species of native
gentians known to occur and all are either uncommon to rare. In
fact, one species is thought to be historical (not reported for 20
or more years), and two are considered to be extirpated from
the state. Uncommon species include: the soapwort gentian and
Elliott’s gentian (both found in all three counties of the Coastal
Plain province). The rarest of our gentians that can still be
found is the fringe- top bottle gentian, known from only two
populations in the Piedmont province of New Castle County.
The historical species is the striped gentian, last collected in
1878 from the Piedmont province of New Castle County. Spe-
cies considered to be extirpated are the fringed gentian (last
collected in 1928 from the Piedmont of New Castle Co.), and
the pine barren gentian (last collected in 1875 from Sussex
Co.).

Gentiana andrewsii Griseb. fringe-top bottle gentian

Gentiana autumnalis L. pine barren gentian

Gentiana catesbaei Walt. Elliott's gentian

Gentiana saponaria L. soapwort gentian

Gentiana villos a L. striped gentian

Gentianopsis crinita (Froel.) Ma fringed gentian
(synonym = Gentiana crinita Froel.)

All of Delaware’s gentians are perennial plants with
the exception of the fringed gentian which is a biennial.

Gentians in Delaware can be found growing in habitat
such as, moist meadows and edges, open woods, seeps, sandy
swales, and stream banks.

The fringe-top bottle gentian, Elliott’s gentian, soap-
wort gentian, and the striped gentian are also known as bottle,
or closed gentians. This is because the flowers are shaped like
bottles and are closed to partially open. An insect with the de-
sire to obtain nectar from one of these species must wiggle and
squeeze its way into the interior of the flower to reach the
sweet taste of nectar it covets.

o o o o o o

Resources And Reviews

Introduction to DE based plant book reviews

What do the authors Hal Bruce, Lorraine Fleming, William
McAvoy, Claude Phillips, William Taber and Robert Tatnall
have in common? They all have written about the flora of Dela-
ware! Their publications are important for a variety of reasons;
some increase awareness with respect to which native Delaware
plants are common, rare, or extinct, the books/booklets provide
gardeners with a list of native plants that can be successfully
grown in Delaware, and certain publications are helpful in plant
identification. Selected works from these authors are available
for purchase and most are found in libraries around the state.
Starting with the January issue of The Turk ’s Cap I will be re-
viewing Delaware flora books and booklets.

oooo Q wen dolyn Elliott, DNPS Member

When: Saturday, 1 November 2003, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Where: DE Native Plant Society’s native plant nursery. Directions: St. Jones Reserve, take
Route 1/Route 1 13 to just south of the Dover Air Force Base to the Route 9/Kitts Hummock
Rd. intersection; go east on Kitts Hummock Road about 1 mile to the entrance of the St. Jones

Reserve (located right next to the John Dickinson Mansion).

What’s for sale: Hundreds of trees (oaks, hickories, maples, pines), shrubs (blueberry,
chokeberry, inkberry, pepperbush, viburnum, magnolia), and many native herbaceous species
will be available at very reasonable prices. Come early, some quantities are limited!

For more information: Call 302.674.5187, email dnps@delawarenativeplants.org, or on the

web at www.delawarenativeplants.org.

We had a great sale last year and hope to have an equally great sale this year.

So come out and join the fun!

Psge 6

The Turk's Qp, Volume 6, Number 3

Feature Article

Continued from page 3

that Gleason and Cronquist recognized blue-flowered plants of
scarlet pimpernel as a variety of A . arvensis. The typical varie-
ty, var. arvensis , as the common name implies, has scarlet flow-
ers. Gleason and Cronquist noted the distribution of the blue
variety as “. . ..rare in our range, mostly more southern. ...” This
occurrence appears to be the first record for this variety in Dela-
ware.

While driving along Rte 9 A in an industrial area of
south Wilmington on July 1 1, 2003, I stopped to get a closer
look at an attractive composite with highly dissected leaves and
numerous small yellow-flowered heads, the foliage reminded
me of tansy, Tanacetum vulgare, but the inflorescence and
flower heads looked more like a yarrow. In fact, it turned out to
be a yellow-flowered yarrow, fern-leaf yarrow, A chillea fili-
pendulina. There was only a small population growing in a
weedy lot adjacent to an electric sub-station. This species is not
even mentioned in Gleason and Cronquist. It’ s undoubtedly an
escape from cultivation and whether or not it persists in the
wild is not presently known, but we should keep our eyes on
this one to see just how persistent it is.

While driving along country roads in Kent Count pho-
tographing wildflowers on August 29, 2003, 1 drove into the
small town of Felton and alongside the railroad I observed a
large population of the distinctive cup-plant, Silphium peifolia-
tum. I did not think this plant, with its very large, distinctive
perfoliate leaves, was known for Delaware. I checked McAvoy
and Bennett’s Flora of Delaware and its absence was con-
firmed. Although these plants were growing along the railroad r
-o-w they were also at the edge of the lawn on the east side of
the Felton Post Office. I still need to check with the Post Office
staff to see if perhaps it was planted there. On October 10, 2003
I observed a large population of this species at a second site:
along the edge and in a drainage ditch on the north side of NW
Front St. just west of Truitt Ave, in Milford. According to a Mr.
Ormond Hobbs, who lives on Truitt Ave., this plant was not
planted along this ditch but just showed up one year. It still
needs to be determined if these populations of cup-plant repre-
sent escapes from cultivation or were planted in the locations
mentioned above.

While kayaking along the St. Jones River, just south of
Dover on September 5, 2003, in preparation for a Society field
trip the following day I observed two very interesting species
that were new to me, and is it turns out, to Delaware. The first
one I observed was a, low-growing mat forming herb with very
interesting fleshy leaves that occurred in 3 ’s at each node; there
were no flowers or fruits on the plants. The plants were grow-
ing on the base of the trunk of a black gum overhanging the St.
Jones. During the field trip the next day I showed this plant to
everyone and someone, 1 apologize but I did not find out who,
said they thought the plant was a sedum. And indeed, it was a
scdum called stringy stonccrop, Sedum sarmentosum. The
USDA PLANTS database website noted that this species was
present in all states east of the Mississippi except for Mississip-
pi, Delaware and Rhode Island; we can now add Delaware to
the list. Robert Clausen, in his 1975 book Sedum of North
America North of the Mexico Plateau wrote that this Sedum
“....has spread from cultivation and become widely naturalized
in temperate, eastern North America.” This may be another
species we need to monitor for its potential spread and

invasiveness.

The second new species that I found along the St.

Jones was observed about 1 km further down river on the west
side of the St. Jones. A very attractive evergreen holly with
dark green narrow, spiny-margined leaves was growing next to
a large bald cypress, Tax: odium distichum tree. It resembled, but
I knew that it was not, our native American holly. Ilex opaca. A
perusal of specimens at the Claude E. Phillips Herbarium at
Delaware State University turned-up specimens that looked just
like the collection I had made of this holly. These were labeled
Ilex x attenuata (I. cassine x7. opaca), a hybrid known as Fos-
ter’s #2 Holly. The one parent 7. cassine, or dahoon holly, is a
southern species found from North Carolina to Florida. I
checked for this hybrid at Willey’s Nursery north of Smyrna
and found several specimens for sale. And I also showed my
specimen to Dr. Art Tucker of the C. E. Phillips Herbarium, an
expert on cultivated plants, and he immediately identified it as
7. x attenuata.

These are just a few of the most recent new arrivals to
Delaware’s shores. In the past ten years the state has seen an
influx of dozens of non-natives or alien plant species. Most of
these seem to be plants that have probably escaped from culti-
vation, while a few may have been dispersed here by animals,
principally by birds. We already have many intractable alien
plants that are wreaking havoc with our natural communities
and now we have new aliens to contend with. We can expect to
continue to find non-native plants new to the state that just
haven’t been discovered yet. Likewise, we can expect an influx
of new aliens in the years to come as barriers to their introduc-
tion are non-existent or ineffectual. efct

0000 Keith Clancy, DNPS President

o o o o o o

Event Highlights

Continued from page 2

creamy blooms and curious fruits set on tall peduncles.

The trip did drive home the fact that Delaware’s eco-
systems are under assault from non-native invasives. This is a
problem that I think is much bigger than anyone realizes and
will get much worse before it gets better.

Mushroom foray

Our mushroom field trip on 27 September 2003 to the
Maidstone Branch old growth forest started out great for the
nine people in attendance, but then it rained, and then we got
off the trail and got lost, and then had a hefty hike back to our
cars! But we didn’t care, and neither did the mushrooms, in fact
they were out in their height of glory. We saw over 27 species!

This trip was part II of a mushroom series we had in
September given by Mr. Michael Maciarello. Mr. Maciarello is
a noted fungi expert in this region and offered decades of his
experience as a mycologist. We learned a great many tidbits of
information about our fungal friends and we learned some basic
identification skills to boot.

Some highlights were the honey mushroom, poison
Amanita, puffballs, shelf fungi and the related shellac shelf fun-
gi, turkey tail, and fairy umbrella. We also saw fairy rings
which are circular patterns of mushrooms around the parent
underground fungal mass.

The Turk's Qp, Volume 6, Number 3

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Wednesday, 22 October 2003 - Enjoying fall color. From 10 AM to 12 Noon. Ever wonder about
THOSE AMAZING FALL COLORS? FIND OUT WHERE THE COLORS COME FROM AND WHAT TRIGGERS THE CHANGES.

Which trees, shrubs, and plants are responsible for the lovely reds, oranges, purples, and yel-
lows IN THE FALL SCENERY THAT WORK IN A HOME LANDSCAPE AS WELL? JOIN TWO OF OUR OWN ADKINS DO-
CENTS, Chris and Julianna Pax, for a slide presentation and a walk in the woods to observe our

FALL COLORS FIRST-HAND. CHRIS IS A MASTER GARDENER, A VOLUNTEER AT THORPEWOOD ENVIRONMENTAL

Center in Frederick County, and coordinator for the Catoctin Community Supported Agricul-
ture project. Julianna is a retired chemistry teacher and former nutrition science curriculum

DEVELOPER FOR MONTGOMERY COUNTY WHO LIVES IN CAMBRIDGE. $8 MEMBERS, $10 GENERAL PUBLIC. FOR
MORE INFORMATION CONTACT THE ARBORETUM AT 410.634.2847, OR ON THE WEB AT HTTP://
WWW.ADKINSARBORETLTM.ORG/

DNPS Bi-monthly meetings for 2003 - are currently scheduled the 3rd Tuesday of every other
month. Our next meeting will be: 18 November. Meetings will take place (unless otherwise noti-
fied) AT 7 PM AT THE ST. JONES RESERVE, KlTTS HUMMOCK RD. ABOUT 3/4 MILE EAST OF THE RT. 9/113/
Kitts Hummock Road interchange just at the southern edge of Dover Air Force Base. We plan to

HAVE GUEST SPEAKERS AT EACH MEETING (SPEAKERS AND THEIR TOPICS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT LATER

DATES). Check our website for additional details or email us at dnps@delawarenativeplants.org.

October and November 2003 - Reforestation projects. Want an opportunity to make a differ-
ence TO OUR ENVIRONMENT? THE DELAWARE NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY (DNPS) IS LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS
TO HELP WITH THEIR REFORESTATION PROJECTS. THE DNPS IS UNDERTAKING REFORESTATION PROJECTS ALONG

Cedar Creek, in Sussex County, and Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge also in Sussex County.
The DNPS WILL be employing a direct seeding approach for each of these FIELDS. DNPS MEMBERS
AND VOLUNTEERS WILL COLLECT SEEDS OF NATIVE TREE SPECIES (MOSTLY OAKS AND HICKORIES) FROM HIGH
QUALITY FORESTS NEAR THE SITES AND THEN WILL "DIRECTLY" PLANT THESE SEEDS IN THE HELDS THAT ARE TO
BE REFORESTED. THIS METHOD OF REFORESTATION WAS QUITE SUCCESSFUL IN AN EARLIER DNPS REFORESTA-
TION project. Dates remaining: cedar creek, oct17-18, 23-25, nov 8; prime hook wildlife refuge, oct
15, 17, 19, 23-24, 26, NOV 6-7, 9 (WE BEGIN AT 10 AM ON EACH DATE). FOR MORE INFORMATION (INCLUDING
DIRECTIONS) OR IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING FOR THIS PROJECT YOU CAN CONTACT KEITH CLAN-
CY AT DNPS@DELAWARENATIVEPLANTS.ORG OR 302.674.5187, OR ERIC ZUELKE AT EZUELKE@JUNO.COM. FET
US KNOW WHICH DAY(S) YOU CAN HELP OUT. ALSO, VISIT OUR WEBSITE, WWW.DELAWARENATIVEPLANTS.ORG,
FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS.

The Turk's Cap, Volume 6, Number 3

Page 8

l Membership Application

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L ». ». ». ». ». _ ,

Member Information

i

Delaware native Plant Society ,

i

Name:

Business Name or Organization:

Address:

City and Zip Code:

Telephone (home/work):

E-mail address:

" Full-time Student $10.00
"Individual $15.00
" Family or Household $18.00
" Contributing $50.00
" Business $100.00
" Lifetime $500.00
" Donations are also welcome $.

Membership benefits include:

* The DNPS quarterly newsletter. The Turk’s Cap

* Native plant gardening and landscaping information

* Speakers, field trips, native plant nursery and sales

Total Amount Enclosed: $

Make check payable to:

DE Native Plant Society
P.O. Box 369, Dover, DE 19903

Delaware Native Plant Society

P.O. Box 369

Dover, Delaware 19903

Complimentary Copy