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Revised 02/27/08 |
Red Cedar Chapter NewsletterA newsletter for the Red Cedar Chapter of the Michigan Botanical Club, Inc December, 2005November meeting Vice-President, Ron Priest chaired the meeting. The first item of old business was the proposed by-laws amendment to change our Annual Meeting from April to December. This makes it possible to elect a slate of officers in December so they can begin their terms of office in January. The motion passed. The first item of business for our December meeting will be the election of officers. Ron announced that the plant inventory at Bengel Center has been delayed until after hunting season because Bengel is open to hunters. November Program Dr. Dennis Fulbright presented an interesting and tasty program on chestnut blight. Dennis is a plant pathologist at MSU. He has been working with growers to overcome chestnut blight. An introduced fungus causes this disease. It has been as destructive to chestnut trees as the emerald ash borer has been to ash trees. The fungus enters wounds, grows in and under the bark and eventually kills the cambium all around the twig, branch, or trunk. Cankers on an imported tree from Japan were first reported in 1904 in New York City’s Central Park. By 1926 the fungus had spread throughout the native range of American chestnut trees. None of the early control attempts (chemical treatment, clearing and burning around infected trees, etc.) were successful. There has been little chance for disease resistance to evolve in the American chestnut trees. Without successful treatment the American chestnut tree will become extinct in the US. An imported parasite, a virus, has given pathologist a partial solution to the control of chestnut blight. Hypovirulent strains of the blight fungus from Italy were found to lack the ability to kill chestnut trees. Inoculation of these strains into existing cankers resulted in remission in the infected trees. After four or five years of intensive therapy, hypovirulent strains began to spread thru chestnut orchards in France. This does not seem to happen in forest conditions where individual trees are often too far apart. Dennis has been involved in experiments designed to determine the most effective strategies of using these virus strains in US orchards and forests. Progress has been slow but about ten per cent of treated infected trees have been saved. As he began his talk, Dennis passed around chestnuts for us to prepare for roasting. He showed us how to cut slits to release steam as the chestnuts roasted. These were roasted while he completed his talk. We didn’t actually finish the song but did sing the first line of “Chestnuts roasting by an open fire…” before beginning to munch on the delicious chestnuts. It made us realize that chestnuts are indeed worth saving. As an additional bonus, Dennis gave each of us a chestnut recipe book, Chestnut Information & Recipes. (From: www.chestnutgrowersinc.com.) According to this cookbook, “…chestnuts are in fact very healthy and can form a valuable and nutritious part of anyone’s diet. They have a similar nutritional content to wheat or brown rice, containing less than three per cent fat compared to 50 per cent for other nuts… They are a good source of calcium, iron, potassium, sodium, vitamins B1, B2, and C.” Frozen, peeled, chestnuts are now available. Dennis recommended we try the soup recipes as well as using chestnuts in recipes for walleye, pheasant, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. And… listen to this, Pat. There are recipes for chocolate chestnut cookies, and chocolate chestnut cake. Thank you Dennis for an informative, delicious, and nutritious program. ITEMS FROM the Vice President: Board Meeting 7:00 followed by the regular meeting at 7:30 PM Our Chapter Annual Meeting is now held, officially, in December as we voted at the October meeting to do. This meeting takes a different direction than most by looking inward by looking a little back over the year then looking ahead by planning for the new year. The Board will meet prior to the regular meeting and finalize the 2006 slate of officers for member vote. All are welcome to attend the board meeting. We have candidates for all positions and hope to welcome new members to the Board along with their unique insights. Any other approved ideas from the Board will also be shared with members. We will have a short overview by Megan Daniels of her impressions of the 2005 Spring Foray. She and Abbie Schrotenboer were our sponsored students. Abbie is currently a graduate student at M.S.U. but teaches Tuesday evenings and likely will not be able to attend. As we traditionally do, we will again have a White Elephant sharing of botanical items. PLEASE CONSIDER BRINGING ANY BOTANICAL ITEMS TO THIS MEETING AS GIVE AWAYS. These might include: plants (preferably with identification tags), art, books, pictures, or anything else of a botanical nature. A sad note to share with you. Bertha Daubendiek, co-founder and first Director of the Michigan Nature Association, died on 18 November. Jeremy Emmi, an active RCC member is currently the Executive Director. Please look for more extensive information about her in this issue. Looking forward to seeing you on 6 December. Remember, we are meeting in room 244, Natural Science Building November Fieldtrip: Williamson Red Cedar River FloodplainClub member, and director of the Michigan Nature Association (MNA), Jeremy Emmi was our fieldtrip leader. MNA’s goal is to preserve land that provides habitat for every plant and animal in Michigan. It is the only group that owns land protecting all the federally threatened and endangered plants in Michigan. MNA has saved over 8000 acres in 161 sanctuaries throughout 53 counties since 1952. Recently, ten ecologically significant properties became available for purchase. Jeremy led us through one of them, a ten-acre piece of ridge and floodplain habitat along the Red Cedar River within the city limits of Williamson. . The ten-acres are surprisingly intact. The Red Cedar meanders as it did when settlers first arrived in central Lower Michigan. Although the land all around it is being rapidly developed, the flood plain located along bends in the Red Cedar has remained in its natural state. When acquired, this site will become the first MNA acquisition in our area. On this quiet, sunny day in November, tree leaves littered the ground and bare branches were in relief against the unusually clear blue sky. We walked along the high bank over looking the Red Cedar River and made forays into drier parts of the marshy floodplain. The wetland is full of native species such as marsh marigold, blue flag iris, skunk cabbage and blue beech. On the ridge grows black cherry, red oak and ash tree saplings. . The site is relatively free of invasive species. As we stepped out onto the marshy area just below the ridge line, Bob Peebles asked us which scrub is one of the latest to flower in Michigan? Clue: when warmed, its seedpod explodes, casting seed in all directions. In answer, Bob pointed out the tight clusters of spider-like yellow flowers on a witch hazel branch. The witch hazel flowers in mid to late November making it one of the latest to do so. The flowers appear side by side with seed husks from the previous year. “Botanists deem the common witch hazel Hamamelis virginiana. The generic name, Hamamelis, comes from a name that Hippocrates applied to the medlar (a small hawthorn-like fruit). The name combines two Greek word roots meaning fruit (apple) and "together," referring to the plant's habit of producing flowers at the same time the previous year's fruits mature and disperse seed. Witch hazel produces a capsule-like fruit enshrining two shiny hard black seeds with white, oily, edible interiors” (From Google: “Witch Hazel” by Stephen Foster) Further along the ridge trail, Jeremy pointed to a small tree. Although already leafless, it was covered with a prominent 4-lobed red fruit. Jeremy asked if any of us knew what it is? Ron Priest was able to identify it as an Eastern Wahoo tree. Euonymus atropurpureus jacq. (Celastraceous) Some of you may know it as American spindle tree, arrow-wood, bitter ash, bleeding heart, pegwood, or purple strawberry bush. It is a small tree with green 4-sided branches and purplish flowers. What else did we learn? From Ron Priest: Did you know that an insect, Limnaecia phragmitella lays its eggs in cattail heads where it winters in one of nature’s best-insulated havens? These ten acres are indeed a spot worth saving. Thanks Jeremy for sharing it with us. We ended our fieldtrip with lunch and good fellowship in one of Williamson’s downtown restaurants. The MNA is in the midst of raising $3 million for their Statewide Land Protection Campaign. These funds will be utilized to purchase the ten properties as well as provide for organizational and long term stewardship considerations of the sanctuaries. For more information how you can partner with MNA in preserving Michigan’s greatest natural treasurers visit their Web site at www.michigannature.org or contact them at their office at 517 655-5655. The purposes of the organization shall be: Conservation of native plants.
Education of the public to appreciate and preserve plant life.
Sponsorship of research and publications of plant life of the state.
Cooperation in programs concerned with the with, and conservation of all natural resources and scenic feature.
Sponsorship of legislation to promote the preservation of Michigan native flora and to establish suitable sanctuaries and natural areas.
2005 Red Cedar Chapter Officers President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Shared Ron Priest Barbara Mead Roy Wesselman priest@msu.edu barbara.mead@att.net wesselma@msu.edu Directors at Large: Robert Bloye, Bob Peebles, and Betty Peebles Publicity Chairperson: Mary Leys, mibotpress@aol.com
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