Woodland Wonders: A Tale of Two Vines

 

Vines are trailing plants that use stems, tendrils or adventitious roots to help them “climb” up surfaces like walls, bricks, stone, plants and trees to reach new heights.  The curious nature of two vining plants – Virginia creeper and poison ivy - came to light this past week. Both plants are native, herbaceous perennial vines with compound leaves commonly found throughout the woodlands of Ohio. Often, they grow near one another or even intertwined on the same tree. Can you tell these two plants apart?

 

 

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Authors
Beth Scheckelhoff

Woolly Aphids on American Elm

Thanks to the sharp eyes of Dave Bienemann (Municipal Arborist/Utility Forester, City of Hamilton), I was able to take some nice pictures of the woolly apple aphid (Eriosoma lanigerum) and it's characteristic damage on its alternate host, American elm (Ulmus americana). This isn't the only woolly aphid that uses our native elm as an alternate host. The woolly elm aphid (E. americanum) is another historical American elm pest.
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Authors
Joe Boggs

Marsh Marigold Madness

On one of our jaunts through the woods and parks in NE Ohio, my wife was thrilled to see glorious blooms of intense yellows created by Caltha palustris or Marsh Marigold (MM).  The genus name “Caltha” is derived from the Latin meaning “yellow flower” and the specific epithet “palustris” means marsh-loving.  Therefore, the Latin binomial for this plant literally means “yellow flower marsh-loving”!!  This North American native plant thrives in bogs, ditches, swamps, forested swamps, wet meadows, marshes, and stream margins from as far east as...

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Authors
Erik Draper

Shrub of the Week: Exochorda

The Rosaceae is the most influential plant family in our landscapes (and the angiosperms), from Spiraea to Physocarpus, Prunus to Alchemilla, and most notably for us at Secrest, Malus. While crabapples are showing their beauty at Secrest another member of the Rosaceae, Exochorda, is also putting on quite a display.

Over the last week I have received several inquiries from people wanting to know...

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Paul Snyder

Japanese Maple Scale (JMS)

Scale management is difficult but an incorrect identification can make it impossible. This is sometimes the case with the exotic Japanese maple scale (JMS) (Lopholeucaspis japonica, family Diaspididae). It's relatively new to Ohio, its name is misleading, and it may be mistaken for other more familiar scales.
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Authors
Joe Boggs