February 2006 Vol. III No. 7

Directors & Officers

Ruth Loper, Director

Lynn Sherrod, Director

Jim Showen, President

3312 Gail Tyler, TX 75701

jimshowen@aol.com

Roberta Gustafson, VP Programs

Sonnia Hill, Secretary/Treasurer

Elizabeth Parks, VP Field Trips

Jane Washburn, VP Membership

Kay Fleming, Newsletter Editor

FROM THE PRESIDENT

I went to the Native Plant society of Texas quarterly State Board Meeting with Ron and Ruth Loper last weekend. Ron was nice enough to drive us down in his big dually pickup. We got to Fredericksburg at about 3:30 PM and found the new office for the Society. The building is a small, asbestos covered frame house located on the grounds of the Gillespie County Historical Society. The core of the building was built in the early 1880s as a Sunday House. It had one room on the ground floor and another for the children in a second story connected by a narrow staircase. The building had not been used for several years and was leased on an “as is” basis for $200 per month. The inside has been cleaned up, unnecessary cabinets removed and it is generally ready to have filing cabinets and office equipment moved in. It is promised to us for 3 years, at which time the whole Gillespie County Historical Society compound will be renovated and restored. Presumably, we will be provided some kind of space during the renovation operations. We may be able to work out arrangements for permanent offices on the premises later. We should also have space for a large native plant exhibit on the compound. I have a feeling that much of the space we now occupy will not be deemed suitable for the historical renovation.

In the meeting, State President Lindeman presented a proposed budget for 2006. He noted that the existing dues structure had not been increased in several years and that a small change in the dues would support the present budget. After numerous proposals and discussions the following dues rates were approved:

· Student rate of $15 (remained the same)

· Senior Individual (65 and over) rate $20

· Senior Couples Rate $40

· Individual Rate $25

· Family/Couple Rate $40

· Group Rate $50

· Patron $100

· Benefactor $250

· A new (unnamed at this time) category of $500 was added. 

· Lifetime Membership and Corporate Sponsor Rate remains the same at $1000.

We agreed to eliminate all complimentary memberships while noting that for $5, a club or individual may purchase an annual newsletter subscription for an honoree if desired. The advertisement rates for the newsletter were increased. The job description for the McBride Consulting services and Webmaster jobs were defined and a $2,000 start up bonus was authorized.

The budget was adopted and authorization to purchase necessary office equipment granted.

A donation of $1,000 was authorized to the Big Bend Museum in Alpine for a native plant and native plant habitat exhibit. The exhibits will be credited by appropriate signage to the Texas Native Plant Society. Jim Showen

FEBRUARY PROGRAM

Our February 6th program is titled “Edible and Useful Plants” and will be presented by Dr. Charles Allen. His program had previously been scheduled in October but the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina prevented his travel to Tyler.

Dr. Allen is a Research Associate with Colorado State University stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana. He is a retired Professor of Biology from the University of Louisiana at Monroe and a charter member of the Louisiana Native Plant Society. He served as President of the Society from 1995 through 1997 and has organized and led many field trips throughout Louisiana. He is the co-author of “Trees Shrubs and Woody Vines of Louisiana” and “Grasses of Louisiana, 3^rd ed.” His latest book, “Edible Plants of the Gulf South”, was to be published in late 2005 and a new book, “Wildflowers of Louisiana”, is scheduled for release this year.

He has presented his program “Edible and Useful Plants” to many groups throughout Louisiana. The program is a hands-on (actually mouth-on and nose-on) presentation with fresh and dried samples of edible and useful plants. A brief overview of each plant is presented and then participants are encouraged to graze on the salad plants. Freshly brewed teas from an assortment of dried plants such as New Jersey Tea leaves, blackberry leaves, persimmon leaves, and others will be prepared for sipping. Jars of dried leaves of red bay, mountain mint, and other spices will be available for all to smell. Each participant will depart with a list of plants that includes common and scientific name, part used, and how it is used.

At 5:15 P.M. on the evening of the presentation the Tyler Chapter will treat Dr. Allen to dinner at Posados Mexican restaurant on 5th St. in Tyler. If you would like to join the group for dinner, please call Jim Showen at 903-566-0733 or email him at: jimshowen@aol.com before 3:00 PM on February 6^th so we can reserve a place for you. Roberta Gustafson

FIELD TRIPS

As spring is surely to be blown in eventually, it is time to start thinking again about field trips.  Dr. Charles Allen is to speak with us at our February meeting and has graciously agreed to lead a field trip in Louisiana.  We will be speaking with him after our meeting to work out the details. If you have suggestions, let us hear from you. 

If you remember, our March meeting is usually at the Loper's house with a covered dish brunch and a trip to their bog to see the white trilliums.  This year, at Ruth's suggestion, we will go instead to the Soutendijk's bog to see what's blooming there.  We will have the covered dish brunch as we have in the past and plan to meet March 18th at about 10 am.  Next month, we will have a map or directions in the newsletter for those who have never been to the Soutendijk's preserve. Elizabeth Parks

NEW MEMBERS

We want to welcome new members to the Tyler Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas. Its great to have you with us! If you haven’t come to one of our meetings or our field trips you are missing out. Also if you have recently joined our chapter and not listed below, let Tyler Chapter President Jim Showen know. Sometimes our State office is slow in getting the word to us.

RECENTLY JOINED MEMBERS

Clyde& Fran McKinney Merwyn & Eileen Bartlett

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

SPRING JOINT SYMPOSIUM “NATIVE PLANTS AS HABITAT”

The Symposium will be hosted by NPSOT and Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center on Saturday, February 25, 2006, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin.

The Spring Symposium will include a plenary session reviewing the ecological aspects of native plants as habitat, followed by an in-depth afternoon of breakout sessions.  We will address specific animal and plant relationships and review current biological research as related to native plant ecology.  Visit the LBJ Wildflower Center website (www.wildflower.org) for complete information and registration.

PONDERERINGS

THE AMENTIFERAE

The Families with catkins

By Lynn Sherrod

The above designation is no longer used to designate a single family but is used as a vernacular term to refer to a group of families that share a common feature – an inflorescence that is a catkin or ament. This type of inflorescence is composed of only stamens or only pistils. No petals or sepals are present. The entire structure may be an inch to several inches long and takes the overall form of a wooly caterpillar. In many plants, only the male inflorescence is a catkin with the female flowers being arranged in a different configuration. Since the male and female flowers are separate, a given plant may have both (monoecious) or they may be found on separate plants (dioecious).

The term Amentiferae no longer has formal status in the classification scheme. Before the turn of the 20^th Century, classification was based almost entirely on morphological features. We knew nothing of genetics and very little about physiology. Evolution was a new idea and its ramifications were not even dreamed about let alone understood. The most influential botanists of the late 19^th Century were two Germans by the names of Engler and Prantl. They wrote a monumental, multi-volume series entitled “The Natural Families of Plants” in which they attempted to describe and classify every type of plant known to them. In this work, which remained the dominant influence in taxonomy until well into the 20^th Century, evolution was used as a guiding principle. They believed that the most primitive flowering plants were represented as those with a catkin and because morphology was the basis of taxonomy, they created the Amentiferae to include all plants with catkins.

Today we understand that this group of plants actually should be divided into several families based on a better understanding of genetics, physiology, and evolution. They are probably not even closely related although in addition to catkins they share the following features. All are woody trees or shrubs, which are mostly wind-pollinated though insects may pollinate some as well. Beyond that, there are few similarities. The families that have now been separately designated are the Salicaceae (willow), Myricaceae (bayberry and myrtle), Betulaceae (birch and alder), Fagaceae (oak and beech), and Juglandaceae (pecan, hickory, and walnut).

SALICACEAE -- In this family, both male and female inflorescences are catkins and the plants are dioecious. There are only two genera, Salix (willow) and Populus (poplar, cottonwood, and aspen). Most species are north temperate. Dwarf willow may be found in the Arctic. Since the wood is very soft, this family has limited economic importance. Some species are used in landscaping because the trees grow very fast. However, the soft and easily broken wood makes them undesirable for this purpose. In addition, the roots seek out water and septic lines and the trees are generally short-lived.

Populus deltoides is cottonwood. Everyone has seen the light, fluffy seeds that come from this tree. P. tremuloides, the quaking aspen, is a tree found in high mountain locations especially in the Rocky Mountains. It produces spectacular fall color. The leaves are attached to the tree in such a way as to cause them to tremble or “quake” even in the slightest breeze. Aspens produce abundant “suckers” from underground stems creating large groves from single trees. A grove is likely a single genetic entity (a clone). It has been determined using genetic tests that the largest single entity on earth is a grove of aspen in Colorado. This grove encompasses over 50 acres and the total weight (biomass) of this clone far surpasses any other living organism.

FAGACEAE – In this monoecious family, only the male inflorescence is a catkin. The female flowers are very tiny and inconspicuous and manifest themselves only after the fruit begins to mature into a nut with cup-like or bur-like woody bracts underneath. The most well known examples are acorns.

This family includes 7 genera and almost 1000 species spread throughout the North American temperate zone and extending into the tropics of Central America, Southeast Asia, and the East Indies. The most familiar example to us is Quercus or oak. Correll and Johnston in “Vascular Plants of Texas” list 42 distinct species of oak in Texas alone. In addition, they list a number of hybrid varieties. Some species are notorious hybridizers and exactly what a species is and how many of them there should be is an unanswered question. Oaks dominate in north temperate forests and range south to Central America along the slopes of the Sierra Madre Mountains. The most southerly occurring oak is Q. costaricensis, found in Costa Rica.

Other members of this family include Fagus (beech), Chrysolepis (chinkapin), and Castanea (chestnut). Castanea americana was at one time the dominant tree in the forests of eastern North America. In the early 1900’s, an insect-transmitted fungus was imported accidentally and a disease known as chestnut blight wiped out the native American chestnut with a very few years. Today, there are almost no native trees left. A breeding program was instituted over 50 years ago to hybridize the American chestnut with its Asian counterpart because of the latter’s resistance to the disease. A few years ago, a hybrid variety of chestnut was released and it is being used in areas formerly decimated by the disease.

The importance of this family is hard to overstate. As vital components of forests, they offer food and cover to a variety of wildlife and birds. The wood of many is a durable lumber product. Tannins are extracted from some. One species, Q. suber, produces the cork of commerce. Indians extracted the tannins from acorns and ground them into nutritious flour. Finally, many species of this family are widely used as ornamentals.

JUGLANDACEAE – This monoecious family also has male flowers arranged in a catkin. The leaves are pinnately compound and alternate. The fruit is botanically a drupe (similar to a cherry). The outer fruit wall (mesocarp) dries at maturity releasing the seed inside a stony endocarp (similar to a pit). Although this is commonly called a nut, it is not the same as the nut formed by oaks.

Although there are 7 genera and about 50 species worldwide, only two genera occur in Texas. These are Juglans (walnut) and Carya (pecan, hickory). At one time, hickory was considered a distinct genus but is now considered as various species of Carya. Juglans nigra (black walnut) is our only East Texas native. It is widely distributed, being found from New England to Minnesota and from Texas to Florida. Carya illinoinensis is the native pecan. Even though it is the designated State tree of Texas it is also found from Texas to Illinois and Iowa and south to Alabama. All the cultivated forms of pecan are varieties/hybrids of this species. Several species of hickory occur here including C. ovata (shagbark), C. tomentosa (mockernut), and C. texana (black).

BETULACEAE – This is a family of monoecious trees or shrubs. The male catkin is thick and pendulous. The female inflorescence, while technically a catkin, takes on the appearance of a small, papery cone due to the presence of numerous bracts. The fruit may be a nut, achene, or samara.

This family is named after Betula (birch). The only species in Texas is B. nigra (river birch), which exhibits the scaly, papery bark of other species found further north such as B. papyrifera (paper bark birch), which was used by Indians to make canoes. River birch is a common tree along waterways and in damp forests. Like most birches, the wood is soft and the tree is rather short-lived.

The former name of this family was Corylaceae after Corylus (hazelnut or filbert). This small tree is cultivated in the Pacific Northwest for the tasty nut it produces.

Other Texas species include Alnus serrulata (smooth alder), Carpinus carolineana (hornbeam, ironweed, blue beech), and Ostrya virginiana (hop-hornbeam). While these are rather common, they are not generally well known because they are small and easily overlooked.

MYRICACEAE – This is a family of evergreen shrubs. Both male and female inflorescences are aments and are found on different plants. Only one genus is reported to occur in Texas – Myrica – but there are several genera and about 50 species worldwide. The species reported to occur in Texas by Correll and Johnston are M. heterophylla, M. cerifera, and M. pusilla. The first two may grow to heights of up to 12 meters but the latter is a smaller shrub not exceeding 2 meters. The most common species in our area is M. cerifera (wax myrtle). It is very common especially in low lying and wet areas. Its presence is indicative of a high water table. The leaves of all of them are shiny and covered with a waxy layer. There are obvious resinous dots on the surface and the leaves exude a fragrant smell when crushed. The “bay” leaves you buy to season meat are leaves of a species of myrtle. You may collect and use your own leaves from wax myrtle as they serve just as well. The wood of this plant has a beautiful grain and is used for carving and woodworking.

Contributions to Newsletter

The newsletter is normally printed monthly, September through May. Members are encouraged to submit articles for publication in the newsletter. Contributions will be considered on the basis of interest, suitability, and available space. Grammar and spelling corrections will be made at the discretion of the editor. Email your articles and announcements to the editor at kfleming@mycvc.net or mail to Kay Fleming, 809 E. Clinton, Athens TX 75751. If you are able to receive your newsletter by Email, please send Kay your Email address. This will save the Chapter mailing expenses.

If you have never attended one of our meetings, and you are interested in learning more about native plants and their habitats, we invite you to give us a visit. We have a good time! Our meetings are normally held at the Walter Fair United Methodist Church in Tyler on the first Monday of each month, September through May. Walter Fair United Methodist Church is located just off 5^th Street (Highway 64) at 1712 Old Omen Road, east of Loop 323.

NPSOT, Tyler Chapter

c/o: Kay Fleming

809 E. Clinton

Athens, TX 75751