Download 1 Vol. 15, No. 7 February 2010 Monthly Meeting: Regular meetings

Vol. 15, No. 7
February 2010
The purpose of the Native Plant Society of Texas is to promote the conservation, research
and utilization of the native plants and plant habitats of Texas, through education, outreach
and example.
Monthly Meeting: Regular meetings are the third Thursday of the month 7:00pm at St. Mary's
Catholic Church Parish Hall, 2108 Ridgewood, Longview (just off Hollybrook Drive
http://www.npsot.org/NortheastTexas/
FEBRUARY MEETING
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18 7:00 P.M.
Preparation for the Plant Sale
ROOM CHANGE: Upon entering into the Parish Hall turn
LEFT.
Message from the president
by Ellen
Anderson
Many brown palm trees have been observed standing tall in the snow in our East Texas area the last few
days. Too bad folks did not have the opportunity to consult with our Crazy Palm Guy!
Lynn Baker, Plant Sale Chairman for 2010, has already begun to prepare for the April 24th Plant Sale. She
may be calling to ask you to perform one of the tasks on her list. The Plant Sale is a very large
undertaking. But, when many members participate, it makes things much easier—not to mention, more
fun.
We will have about twenty varieties of seeds to plant at our February meeting. This will give members an
opportunity to propagate natives from seeds and get us off to a good start toward a large inventory of plants
for the Sale.
At our house, we have three little greenhouses packed with plug trays. About half of Floyd’s seeds have
peeped out of the growing medium. Now he is looking for some sunshine and warm nights so they will
flourish.
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NOTES FROM ELLEN
I discovered a little tree on the A&M website a couple of years ago and wanted one. It has orange berries
on bare branches in the winter. It is Possumhaw (ilex decidua). When I told Floyd about it, he assured me
that he could find one and pick seeds to plant. One afternoon, we rode all over Upshur County looking for
one to no avail. Just as we came back into Marshall on Hwy 154, he spotted a pretty little tree. He has
seeds planted, but I do not know if any have sprouted.
MEETING ROOM CHANGE: We have had a change in our meeting room. When you enter the Parish
Hall at St. Mary’s, turn left instead of right to get to our meeting space.
From my native landscape
Please write about one of the plants in your landscape and email it to [email protected] or mail it
to Betty Morgan, 100 Lakeview Circle, Jefferson, TX 75657. One or more submissions will be featured
each month.
Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum var. distichum)
A Stately Tree with Decided Accent of Texture and Form
A Distinctive Specimen
The Bald Cypress is adapted to much of Texas with a moderate tolerance for salt and alkali soils. It
may show iron deficiency in extremely alkaline soils. It is particularly suited where water tables
remain high for most of each year. The tree is useful in taking water from waterlogged soils,
although cypress “knees” will emerge from the soil as special breathing organs. The bald cypress
adapts well to a variety of soil conditions from normal upland landscapes to boggy river bottoms.
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The Bald Cypress is pyramidal shaped while young, rounding with maturity. It may live for
centuries so selecting a planting site carefully is very important.
Bald Cypress trees are deciduous, although cone-bearing. The foliage is medium green, softtextured, and ferny. The tree displays rather attractive reddish brown fibrous bark.
Bagworms may be a problem some years, but can be controlled with one or two sprayings.
Fall color is a dark rust-red which may prove to be attractive. It has interesting winter twig
character.
Bald Cypress is a long-lived, deciduous wetland species that grows along rivers, streams, and creeks as
well as in swamps with slow moving water. It can live up to 600 years old. It is a legendary tree of the Deep
South known for its "knees," moss-draped crown, and buttressed trunk. It occurs in the coastal plains along
the Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean and north up through the Mississippi River Valley.
Because of the unique shape of the base of each trunk, artists have created clocks, furniture, and wall
décor from the cross-sections of this tree. In the landscaping industry, bald cypress is planted for its
ornamental beauty. Old-growth heartwood is especially desired in the timber industry for its durability and
resistance to rot. However, lumber use has declined because it is a slow-growing tree, it is harvested from
wetlands, and the population of mature trees is much smaller than in the past.
Bald cypress is a very important tree in swampland ecosystem. It is valuable for wildlife food and cover.
Canadian geese migrating to the south feed on the seeds. Swamp rabbits and birds such cranes and ducks
also feed on bald cypress. White-tailed deer escape to the cover of bald cypress swamps during hunting
season. Many animals find shelter in and around the base of large old-growth trees.
Old-growth bald cypress has a flattened crown usually dangling with Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides).
Some river edges still have stumps of giant cypress trees that were logged in the early 1900s. A few old
giants live in parks across the south. Bald cypress and pond cypress are in the Taxodiaceae family, which
are not true cypresses. True cypresses are in the Cupressus family and are not native to the southeastern
United States.
Bald cypress can be easily confused with another variety of the same species, pond cypress (Taxodium
distichum var. nutans). Close attention to detail can differentiate these two varieties.
Pond cypress has smaller, scale-like leaves pressed on the twigs. A twig of pressed pond cypress leaves
resembles a pine needle pointing up or out from the branchlet. Bald cypress leaves are linear and
featherlike, and the twigs hang down looking more pendulous than pond cypress twigs and leaves. Also,
pond cypress tends to occur in still water wetlands rather than flowing-water wetlands of the bald cypress
habitat.
"Knees" are present in both pond cypress and bald cypress root systems when they are growing in water.
Cypress "knees," or pneumatophores, are cone-shaped extensions of the root system protruding from the
ground. Pneumatophores are thought to function as the trees' means of obtaining oxygen for the roots
during flooded conditions. Bald cypress and pond cypress are "Trees with knees."
Neil Sperry says that the bald cypress “should be more widely planted in our landscapes.”
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Planting Zones: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9
Plant Type: Deciduous
Light requirements: Full Sun, Partial Sun
Soil Conditions: Moist, Wet
Height at Maturity: 50 - 75 ft
Growth Rate: Fast
Identifying Characteristics
Size/Form:
Bald Cypress is a large tree which may reach heights of 100' to 150'.
The trunk is usually buttressed and fluted at the base in extremely wet
areas. It has a pyramidal-shaped crown when it is young that gradually
becomes flat-topped with age. When growing in water, it has shallow
roots that often arise from the soil in the shape of cones called
pneumatophores, or "knees."
Leaves:
The leaves are deciduous, linear, and spreading 2-ranked like a
feather. Each leaf is ½" to ¾" long. The flat needle-like leaves are
light yellow-green.
Fruit:
The fruit is a round cone that is about ¾" to 1" in diameter. They are
wrinkled, green, and leathery. Upon maturity the cones become
woody. The shield-shaped scales fit closely together before the cone
disintegrates.
Bark:
The reddish brown to ashy gray bark is thin and peels in narrow
vertical strips.
Habitat:
Bald Cypress grows in slow and fast flowing-water wetlands. Other
species associated with it include red maple, slash pine, swamp tupelo,
sweetgum, bluff oak, and swamp chestnut oak.
Thursday nighT’s meeTing is aT
st. Mary’s parish hall buT in a
different room. Enter the hall and
turn left.
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Events and notices
March 6: Gregg County Master Gardeners’ Spring Garden and Landscape Seminar at the First
United Methodist Church Faith Center at 400 N. Fredonia St. Tickets are available from the Texas AgriLife
Extension Service office and from any Gregg County Master Gardener. Registration is at 8:30 a.m.
April 17: Mast Arboretum Spring Gala Plant Sale at Stephen F. Austin State University. 9:00 a.m.
April 24: Northeast Texas NPSOT annual plant sale in Longview.
May 1-2: Texas Woodland and Wildlife Expo at the Lone Star Convention and Expo Center in Conroe;
for more information http://expo.tamu.edu.
June 2-5: 5th Lone Star Regional Native Plant Conference in Nacogdoches. For detailed information
visit: http://arboretum.sfasu.edu.
October 2: Mast Arboretum Fabulous Fall Plant Sale at Stephen F. Austin State University. 9:00 a.m.
Caddo Wildflower Chapter NPSOT: meets the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Meetings are
held in Atlanta at Horn Enterprises located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Texas Hwy. 77 and
Texas Hwy. 43. (Just off U.S. 59 on the southwest side of Atlanta.) The old Texas National Guard armory
sits diagonally across the same intersection on the southwest corner. The Atlanta ISD Junior High School
is across the street.
Lake Country Chapter NPSOT: meets at 7:00 p.m. the first Tuesday at the Titus County AgriLife
Extension building, 1708 Industrial Road (FM 1402), Mount Pleasant.
Four Corners Chapter NPSOT: meets at 7:00 p.m. the first Thursday at Williams Memorial United
Methodist Church parlor, 4000 Moores Lane, Texarkana.
Tyler Chapter NPSOT: meets at 7:00 p.m. the 1st Monday of the month (unless a holiday, then 2nd
Monday) September – May at the Fairwood United Methodist Church, 1712 Old Omen Rd., Tyler.
www.npsot.org
Northeast Texas Organic Gardeners: meets at 10:00 a.m. the 1st Wednesday at Wildwood Eco-Farm in
Kilgore. For directions call Carole Ramke at 903-986-9475
Cypress Basin Chapter Texas Master Naturalist: meets at 6:30 p.m. the 3rd Tuesday most months. For
information on location email the president, Ted Barrow, @ [email protected]
East Texas Chapter Texas Master Naturalist: meets at 7:00 p.m. 1st Thursday at the County Extension
offices at the Cotton Belt Bldg. 1517 W. Front Street in Tyler
Members are encouraged to submit articles for the monthly newsletters. Items for Events and Notices are
welcomed. Contributions are greatly appreciated. Deadline for the March newsletter is March 10. You can
contact Betty by email @ [email protected] or mail to: 100 Lakeview Circle, Jefferson, TX 75657.