Conservatory Chronicles: A Flower that Smells Like Rotting Flesh?

Of course! It's called a voodoo lily and it’s about to bloom in the temperate house of the conservatory at Matthaei Botanical Gardens. The voodoo lily (Amorphophallus konjac) is a perennial plant that grows from a bulb-like structure called a corm.

A mature plant produces one large leaf stalk that makes food for the corm. The leaf stalk then dies away and goes dormant. After dormancy the corm sends up one large flower stalk that, when it opens, smells like rotting flesh. (No exaggeration.) According to a volunteer at Matthaei who is also a chemist, some of the chemicals the flower gives off are called putrescine and cadaverine. The strong rotting-flesh smell attracts pollinators such as flies that visit carrion.

An Amorphophallus konjac blooming several years ago
in the conservatory at Matthaei Botanical Gardens.
Another voodoo lily is about to bloom at Matthaei any day now
 (March 23-25 or so).

The voodoo lily at Matthaei should open its flower sometime around Saturday to Monday, March 23-25, depending on temperature and light, although, as with all plants, it’s impossible to predict exactly when it will bloom. As of this writing (March 22) the plant is in a pot located under the carob tree in the temperate house.

Interestingly, the corm is used to make flour and a kind of jelly and as a vegetarian substitute for gelatin in many Asian countries.

Don't miss this amazing plant!

Read more.

Conservatory Chronicles: The Cashew Nut - Do You Really Know It?

Visit the conservatory at Matthaei Botanical Gardens this winter and you’ll see a new addition to the tropical house—a cashew tree. The cashew is native to South America, primarily Brazil, but is now widely grown in tropical climates around the world. Interestingly, cashew production has traveled to the Old World to places like Africa and South Asia.

The cashew tree is botanically known as Anacardium occidentale and produces a nut (actually a seed). The cashew belongs to the plant family Anacardiaceae, the same family to which poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) belongs. The cashew tree contains substances that are similar to poison ivy in its leaves, sap, and especially in the tissues surrounding the cashew seed, and these substances can cause considerable skin irritation. Humans can eat the cashew only after the skin and oils surrounding the nut have been removed and the nut roasted.

The cashew tree in its pot in the conservatory at
Matthaei Botanical Gardens

In Brazil another part of the cashew plant is eaten, the “cashew apple.” This is the swollen stem just above the cashew seed. When ripe it’s the size and shape of a small pear that might come in shades of yellow, orange, or red. The cashew apple can be eaten fresh or processed into a pulpy drink or even an apple butter-like spread. The cashew apple is extremely perishable and rarely seen outside the tropics.

Botanically the cashew seed is not classified as a nut. In fact, a true nut is a single seed that is indehiscent, that is, no seam to split open. For example, acorns and filberts are true nuts. Other seeds commonly called nuts that are not true nuts botanically are peanuts, walnuts, pistachios, almonds, and Brazil nuts, to name a few. These are called nuts because of their culinary use.

A picture of the cashew apple. Photo courtesy of Rancho Vignola .

Finally, you may wonder why our cashew tree is in a large pot, instead of planted directly in the ground. Potting the plant helps control its size, since cashew trees can reach 40 feet tall and wider still. Restricting the root zone keeps the tree small yet still able to bear fruit.

With thanks to Rancho Vignola on Flickr  for the cashew apple shot.

Conservatory Chronicles: The Wet-Dog Bush Blooms at Matthaei

The Florida anise (Illicium floridanum) is currently blooming in the Temperate House of the Conservatory at Matthaei Botanical Gardens. I. floridanum is a U.S. native evergreen tree that is related to star anise (Illicium vernum), which is used in Asian cooking. Unlike star anise, however, Florida anise is toxic and cannot be eaten or used as a substitute for star anise.

Not just another pretty face, beyond its vivid red flowers Florida anise holds some surprises.

It’s also called “stinkwood” or wet-dog bush because the flowers have a disagreeable, fishy smell. The crushed leaves however do have a citrus or anise-seed aroma. But the leaves are toxic for human consumption, so it’s not a substitute for the related star anise. Florida anise is now listed as endangered in Georgia, one of the four southern U.S. states in which it is native, to according to the USDA.

The related star anise, used in some Asian cuisines, contains the same substance as the botanically unrelated aniseed (Pimpinella anisum ), which is commonly used in western cooking. Star anise (I. verum) is the major source of the chemical shikimic acid, which is used to synthesize the anti-influenza drug found in Tamiflu. 

Confused? 

Florida anise: pretty but toxic

Star anise: edible fruit used in ASian cooking

Aniseed: Edible seed used in western cuisine

What would we do without plants?!

The Q-Tip Plant’s Act of Self-Denial

Now blooming in the conservatory at Matthaei Botanical Gardens, the q-tip plant performs more sleight of hand than its name alone suggests.

Two striking plants are in bloom in the tropical house of the conservatory (late January 2013). One, the powder puff tree (Calliandra haematocephala) looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss tale with its airy, brilliant flower sprays. The other, the Q-tip plant (Clerodendrum quadriloculare), resembles, you guessed it, Q-tips, except that Clerodendrum’s are washed with purple and arranged in a starburst or fireworks-like pattern. Both plants figure into human horticultural affairs mostly because they make good landscape plants in tropical areas.

On the q-tip plant the male part of the flower—the stamens—elongates and sheds pollen first.

Beneath its pretty face, however, the q-tip plant has another story to tell: protandry, in which male function precedes female function, allowing the flowers of a q-tip plant to avoid self-pollination. In other words the male part of the flower—the stamens—elongates and sheds pollen first. Once that’s finished the stigma elongates and is receptive to pollination from other flowers of the same species.

Visit the conservatory at Matthaei Botanical Gardens soon and take a break from the winter drear. And don’t miss the q-tip plant and the powder puff tree.

At Matthaei, Pesky Flies Face a One-way Sticky Ticket

Shore flies and fungus gnats, beware. You’re on the Matthaei-Nichols hit list of unwanted insect pests in the greenhouses and conservatory at Matthaei Botanical Gardens.

Pictured sticking to the card are mostly shore flies and fungus gnats. The tiny creatures are so named for their affinity for moist areas, perfect breeding grounds for algae and fungus, according to horticulture manager Mike Palmer. Flies are attracted to the yellow color on the cards, which are coated with a non-drying, sticky substance. Once the flies alight, they’re stuck. The cards betray the presence of these pests and are another weapon Matthaei-Nichols staff use as part of an integrated pest management (IPM) program, says Palmer.

Besides the yellow cards, it’s standing water that really attracts shore flies and fungus gnats, and they both like moist organic matter, explains Palmer. “Soil that contains peat moss and is kept too moist is an ideal breeding ground for them,” he adds. Look for shore flies lifting in small clouds the next time you’re walking along the edge of a lake where algae collects.

While the adults of both shore flies and fungus gnats don't eat much, the larvae do: shore fly young thrive on organic matter and algae, and fungus gnat larvae eat saprophytic fungus on the soil surface, as well as organic matter and the root hairs of plants, “so they can be pretty damaging,” says Palmer.  A saprophyte is an organism that lives on dead or decaying organic matter.

Shore flies and fungus gnats are almost always present in our greenhouse areas, says Palmer, but “we control them by letting the soil dry out on the surface of the pot, using the sticky cards, and making sure floor drains are clear. Clogged drains lead to standing water and the formation of algae.”

Homeowners often find these greenhouse pests hitching rides on new houseplants. To control them says Palmer, let the soil of your new house plant dry a bit between waterings, try using yellow sticky traps (available at online merchants), and don’t let water stand in the saucer for any length of time. You can also replace or rough up the top layer of soil in a pot. This helps remove some of the larvae and gives the soil a better chance to dry out, making the environment less hospitable for larvae survival.

New Bonsai Tree Boosts Matthaei-Nichols Collection

The bonsai collection at Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum is another tree richer, thanks to a stunning new Ficus plant recently donated by Ohio collector Melvyn Goldstein. Goldstein, a Michigan alumnus (AB '59 LSA, AM '60) is the John Reynolds Harkness professor of anthropology and Co-director of the Center for Research on Tibet at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He began collecting and working with bonsai trees in the 1990s, and has entered his trees in numerous invitation-only national and international competitions. Professor Goldstein’s tree will be on view when the new Bonsai and Penjing Garden at Matthaei opens in spring 2013. Thank you, Professor Goldstein.

The tree in 1992

For a sneak preview of the tree, visit the Botanical Gardens the week of Jan. 21, where the tree is on display in the temperate house of the conservatory.

Pictured here is the tree in 1992 and in our greenhouse in January 2013. Quite an evolution in shape and form!

And in January 2013

At Matthaei-Nichols, Collecting Seed Spreads Diversity

Ever wandered through the Arb and Gardens and wondered what happens to all that seed after the flowers fade?

Many of the native plants that grow at Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum produce abundant quantities of seed. Collecting and processing the seed ensures robust future generations of native plants. As botanical gardens shift from displays of strictly pretty (and often nonnative) plants and flowers to hardier native types that thrive in their own regions, the practice of encouraging native species continues to grow.

Boneset seeds (Eupatorium) as seen through a seed-sorting screen

Breaking open a rip milkweed pod

A hairdo fluff of blossoming milkweed seeds

Collecting seed from these native plants fosters eco-diversity, explains Connie Crancer, Matthaei-Nichols horticulturist and native plant specialist. “We use the seed, which is collected by volunteers, work-studies, interns, and staff, for restoration efforts in our various ecosystems in our natural areas and for some of our display gardens, and to replenish depleted native seed bank where the soil has been disturbed.” If you visit Matthaei Botanical Gardens in the winter or spring of 2013 you’ll see a good example of a disturbed area along the service drive at Matthaei that was excavated for the new water main. This area was reseeded with a prairie savanna seed mix created in-house instead of being sown with non-native grass seed.

A perfectly formed plug of milkweed seeds seems lit from within

Following collection the seed is allowed to rest—a process called after-ripening—and then dry. Then the seed is removed from the inflorescence or fruit and the largest plant parts are discarded. What remains is the seed along with some of the chaff or floral parts. This process is usually straightforward, such as passing it through a screen, scrunching it with a rolling pin, or using a specially retrofitted house blender. It can be dramatic, too, particularly when fire is used to quickly burn off the plant down from milkweed seeds. The flash burn doesn’t negatively affect germination.

Milkweed down bursts into momentary flame

Getting rid of all the non-seed parts isn’t essential, adds Crancer. Seed companies sell perfectly cleaned seed, free of chaff and other plant material, but Matthaei-Nichols’ goal in seed collection isn't about seed sales, though sometimes the seed is traded with other organizations. "The seed we process is isolated from the floral parts enough for optimal germination and the extra chaff and plant parts that go through the processing is tolerated and actually helps when we direct sow the seed," she says.

Good record-keeping is also essential, with data gathered on when and where the seed was collected. Finally, when all of the seed has been processed, staff and volunteers weigh it for volume and create special seed mixes for restoration and special projects. The remaining seed is packed into plastic bags and stored in a cold room, where it will last for 3 to 6 years.

Photographs courtesy Sarah Michayluk.