Archivos de diario de agosto 2021

28 de agosto de 2021

Amur Maples - Acer ginnala, Acer tataricum ssp. ginnala

George Genereux Urban Regional Park has Amur Maples (Acer ginnala) This is the journal entry to explore more about their ecology, even though they were gorgeous this fall with their their red leaves. Not many red leaves in SK over the autumn months, so it was a real treat! It is not believed from archival documentation that these were afforested, but there are coming in from some random reason into this particular half of the smaller Saskatoon afforestation area.

Though Amur Maples are an invasive species in Eastern Saskatchewan , Chet Neufeld from the Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan - he mentions that - "From my experience with Amur Maple in Saskatchewan, it experiences a little more climatic stress than in the warmer, wetter growing zones in Ontario and the NE states. Because of this, I don't know of any sites in Saskatchewan where it has become invasive. That being said, climate change could very well improve conditions for it to the point where it becomes invasive. There might also currently be microsites in Saskatchewan where it could thrive to the point where it takes over a particular area. "

The website "Woody invasive species" mentions that the "Amur maple prefers sunny conditions, and is prone to invade open habitats like open woodlands, forest edges, prairies, and transport and utility rights of way. However, seedlings can germinate and grow to maturity in shade, and Amur maple is particularly well-adapted to exploit any canopy gaps that open up (Schuster and Reich 2018). It is most prevalent at disturbed sites."

That being said, there are at times areas in the forest where the planting pattern can be seen when the greenspace was afforested. Today while out and about, there were a few rows where it went Amur Maple, Green Ash, Amur Maple 3 times, Green Ash three times, so perhaps the Amur Maples were afforested. However, out of the entire remaining 474 remaining acres of the original 660 the only location where Amur Maples are sighted is on the north west quarter of George Genereux Urban Regional park

And very uniquely - as stated above abut forest edges and open woodlands, there are Amur maple seedlings which are coming in around the meadow edge, bordering where the internal meadow meets the outer irregularly shaped "ring" of woodlands on the west side of George Genereux Urban Regional Park.

We have these maples in SK. according to Saskatcheawn Conservation Data Centre
Acer ginnala
Acer negundo var. interius
Acer negundo var. violaceum
Acer saccharinum
Acer spicatum

@je9h mentions that "only Acer negundo and Acer spicatum are native to SK. The others have escaped from cultivation."

So, as we note that the afforestation areas are indeed laboratories in ecological succession, George Genereux Urban Regional Park provides an area to study the habitat and watch what happens with Amur Maples

Publicado el agosto 28, 2021 05:28 TARDE por saskatoonafforestationareas saskatoonafforestationareas | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

Red-berried Elder (Sambucus racemosa) / Cutleaf staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina 'Laciniata.')

There has been a mystery at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area in two different locations. There have been found two woody species that looked like they could be identified as Red-berried Elder (Sambucus racemosa) / Cutleaf staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina 'Laciniata') in 2020.

je9h mentions that for Red-Berried Elders "The laciniate leaf edges suggest either a planted or escaped horticultural selection. Both S. racemosa and S. nigra have such forms but S. racemosa has orange-brown pith in the branches and red mature fruits, while S. nigra has white pith and purple-black mature fruits."

Now then going back to the two sites in 2021, there seems to be only leaf shapes common to Sambucus racemosa and the cut leaf variety is not able to be found.

On looking at this particular observation, there does seem to be two leaf shapes for the same plant. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/57871847

So, on doing some conversations with aaron881 on this page comparing their "cut-leaf / deeply lobed" variety - which was so very similar to my "cut-leaf / deeply lobed" observation - https://inaturalist.ca/observations/90828644 there was some interesting developments.

Looking online there is a scientific journal which states :"A variety with deeply dissected leaflets (var. laciniata) is noted in a number of local floras (e.g. Wolley-Dod 1937; Lousley 1976). The inheritance of the finely divided leaf character in Sambucus nigra was shown to be governed by a single recessive gene by Tobutt (1992). A similar genetic basis was found for the finely divided leaves of Sambucus canadensis (var. acutiloba) (Way 1965)."

But now the weird thing is....that even though I found my " laciniate / cut-leaf / deeply lobed" variety last year in the summer of 2020. I have really been searching and searching for it this year - the summer of 2021, and cannot find the " laciniate / cut-leaf / deeply lobed" specimen to make a follow-up observation of it this year, so maybe the leaf shape also has something to do with the environment from year to year if that is possible - and yet I thought there were additional elders in the two areas.

This website about ornamental elderberries -https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1061- also shows an elderberry "cut-leaf / deeply lobed" similar to the leaf which aaron881 and myself found in different locations.

Now then the question comes is for elderberries if there is ever a case where a sambucus plant has leaves which look one way in one year, and another appearance in another year--like where the leaves of the salsify which is a biennial will have different leaf shapes from year one to year two.

It also turns out that S. nigra -with black berries - is a larger sized, non-suckering shrub reaching 6 m, while S. canadensis is commonly suckering in habit, from https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1061 The hybrid ‘Sutherland Gold' seems to resemble the " laciniate / cut-leaf / deeply lobed" which were seen in the year 2020. Though, as I say, not any " laciniate / cut-leaf / deeply lobed"" to be found in either of the two locations in 2021.

THE HERB SOCIETY OF AMERICA’S ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO ELDERBERRY https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjM5Y7TqdTyAhWmFlkFHQT0AAsQFnoECAIQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.herbsociety.org%2Ffile_download%2Finline%2Fa54e481a-e368-4414-af68-2e3d42bc0bec&usg=AOvVaw3ep7yrozUiZVx1j1hwyJ9Q
mentions that several cultivars of S. Niagra are available, and that there is an image of a leaf similar to the leaves in the observations shown in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and also the observation taken by aaron881. In the case of the afforestation area elderberry - the berries are red and not black as which S. Niagra would exhibit.

So, does anyone know if S. racemosa might have different leaf shapes for different years, and why the plant would have the typical standard leaf comparable to all other S.racemosa observations in 2021 and then some anomolous sightings with the " laciniate / cut-leaf / deeply lobed" variety of leaf appearing in 2020.

Afforestation area observations
https://inaturalist.ca/observations/91325167

The following appears to have two kinds of leaves on one plant.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/57871847

and a few more S. racemosa observations not included here which were taken in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area.

Publicado el agosto 28, 2021 06:32 TARDE por saskatoonafforestationareas saskatoonafforestationareas | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario