Happy Mystery Monday! Can you guess what is pictured in photo below?

The answer to last week’s mystery is river birch, Betula nigra, pictured in photo below:

Native to the eastern United States, river birch is found in Maryland along stream banks and in moist locations. It’s a fast-growing, highly adaptable tree, especially in its tolerance to heat and flooding.

River birch is a pioneer species, meaning it rapidly colonizes exposed, bare stream banks and gravel bars, stabilizing the soil and developing a forest for other trees to succeed. It tolerates deer, drought, clay soil, wet soil, and is very resistant to air pollution.

River birch is the only Spring-fruiting birch tree species. Female river birch flowers develop in the Spring as shorter, upright catkins on spur-shoots develop into cone-like structures containing winged seeds. Male flowers develop in the Fall as drooping catkins at the tips of twigs.

Unlike most birches, the seeds of this species mature in late Spring to early Summer, and are distributed immediately. The seeds are winged and are distributed to some degree by wind, but also rely significantly on water for distribution.

River birch seeds are eaten by songbirds and mice, while the twigs are eaten by deer, and beavers use it to make their lodges. Birch bark is an incredibly versatile material. It has been used as a form of paper, as a building material, and even clothing. Break a twig during the growing season, and you’ll smell a sweet wintergreen odor. And yes, birch beer has been made from these trees!

Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.

Happy Mystery Monday! Can you guess what is pictured below?

The answer to last week’s mystery is partridge berry, Mitchella repens, pictured below:

Partridge berry is a delicate, creeping vine that does not climb. Instead, it forms a low mat of evergreen leaves. Indigenous to the woodlands of eastern North America, partridge berry looks very much like teaberry.

Partridge berry plants produce flowers with both male and female parts, but they are arranged in pairs, where each flower needs to be pollinated by the other to produce a berry. There are two types of partridge berry flowers, those with long stamens and short styles, and those with short stamens and long styles. However, only one type of flower can be found on any individual plant.

Pollination happens via insects. Each flower pair produces one red berry. There is a pair of shallow dimples toward the tip of each berry, an identifiable feature of the plant.

Partridge berry fruits are eaten by various birds, including ruffed grouse, northern bobwhite, sharp-tailed grouse, prairie chicken, wild turkey, and the now-extinct passenger pigeon. Mammals also enjoy the berry, including raccoon, red fox, eastern skunk, eastern chipmunk, white-footed mouse, and woodland deer mouse. The plant’s foliage is also eaten by deer.

Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.

Happy Mystery Monday!  Can you guess what is pictured below?

The answer to last week’s mystery is a sweetgum ball from a sweetgum tree, Liquidambar styraciflua, pictured in photo below:

Sweetgum balls are the fruit of the sweet gum tree. Each sweetgum ball is actually made up of dozens of fruits that have fused together. Upon close inspection, the gum ball’s spikes are arranged in pairs, which point toward one another.

As the gum balls dry, they turn from green to brown. During the drying process, holes appear. If you peer into a recently-opened hole, you will see two winged seeds measuring about .25 inches long. Each gum ball will produce 30-50 seeds. Fertile seeds are black with wings on either side, while infertile seeds are yellow and wingless. The seeds disperse by the wind and by animals.

To harvest the sweetgum balls, wait until they are fully brown, but before they dry out. Lay them on a sheet of paper to allow them to dry. Once they dry, they’ll open and release the seeds. These seeds are a food source for many birds and mammals, including mourning doves, finches, chickadees, towhees, chipmunks, squirrels, and rabbits.

Researchers have discovered that the unripe fruit of the sweetgum tree contains a key ingredient used in Tamiflu called shikimic acid.

Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.