Sept. 2000

Revised 02/27/08

Red Cedar Chapter Newsletter

September 2000

NEXT MEETING - Tuesday, September 5, 2000 at 7:30 p.m.
Room 168 Plant Biology Building, Michigan State University

Edible Wildflowers
Presented by Kathy Kelley, Ph. D., MSU Horticulture Department
The public is invited to attend this free talk sponsored by
the Red Cedar Chapter of the Michigan Botanical Club, Inc.

Twenty people attended the May 2nd meeting of the Red Cedar Chapter. The meeting featured presentations from two graduate students from the MSU Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. Below are summaries of their talks.

Genetics of the Michigan Monkey Flower
Presented by Amanda Posto, May 2, 2000

By performing genetic testing and researching Mimulus glabratus var. michiganensis, the Michigan monkey flower, Ms. Posto hoped to find insight into its taxonomic origin and information to help to conserve this rare plant, found in only 15 sites in six counties in Michigan.
Only one of the 15 sites of Michigan monkey flower had plants with fertile pollen, and of that group only 30 percent were found to have fertile pollen present. Ms. Posto grew sample plants in the greenhouse and found that even plants with fertile pollen could also self-pollinate.
Ms. Posto compared the chromosomes of the Michigan monkey flower to the common monkey flower and the James monkey flower. She found that the Michigan monkey flower was morphologically and genetically different the others. Most likely it is an ancient hybrid of the James and common monkey flower, because each taxon is unique.

Oriental Bittersweet, the Kudzu of the North
Presented by Tim Tibbets, May 2, 2000

Oriental bittersweet, Celastrus orbiculatus, was introduced from Asia in 1860 to help control erosion. It turned out to be a pest species that has now become a weed in Michigan.
Similar to American bittersweet it is distinguished by rounder leaves and fruit formed in the axils. C. orbiculatus produces more and smaller seed that germinate easily. In 1962 American bittersweet officially became a protected species due to over collecting.
Because of the small quantity of American bittersweet available, Mr. Tibbets compared C. orbiculatus with Vitis riparia (riverbank grape) to determine why oriental bittersweet forms such large infestations and V. riparia does not. V. riparia has been found to rely on root pressure to survive winter freezes and Mr. Tibbets theorized that C. orbiculatus therefore, should produce greater or more frequent root pressures than V. riparia. In fact, the reverse proved to be true and Mr. Tibbets concluded that other factors must be the reason for oriental bittersweet's prolific growth habit.
Chemical and mechanical controls of oriental bittersweet can be effective, but need to be repeated year after year.

Special thanks to Tom Trana for providing refreshments.

BUSINESS MEETING

The Red Cedar Chapter is responsible for planning the fall meeting of the Michigan Botanical Club. The meeting is always held on the 3rd Saturday in October and the White House Nature Preserve in Albion was selected as the location. Jason Kilgore will contact Dan Skean to make the necessary arrangements.

Please remember to use the north entrance of the Plant Biology Building for access to RCC meetings. All other doors will be locked for security reasons. If you arrive after 7:30 PM please knock on the window.

LIVING HISTORY

Three moth mulleins, Verbascum blattaria, from the continuation of Professor Beal's seed viability experiment have been planted in W. J. Beal Botanical Garden on the MSU campus. The plants were selected from among the many germinants of the 120 year-old seeds.
The flower of the moth mullein is depicted in the logo for Beal Gardens and Elaine Chittenden plans to gather seeds from these biennial plants and develop a larger display with an interpretive label explaining the seed experiment. The plants are currently located in bed 69.

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