This month’s features include the following:

• Fire danger is high across Minnesota
• Forest health and resilience series continues May 22
• Arbor Month: Plant trees for a brighter Minnesota
• Proposed quarantine of wood products in Lake and Cook Counties
• Northern Minnesota phenology: Bunchberry
• It’s emerald ash borer awareness week
• Oak wilt high risk season has begun
• Meet a Minnesota logger: Stangler Logging in Cass County
• News, events, and other items you may have missed

Check it out.

This month’s update from MyMinnesotaWoods.umn.edu is now available at

http://www.myminnesotawoods.umn.edu/email/?emailID=8196

This month’s features include the following:

• Fire danger is high across Minnesota
• Forest health and resilience series continues May 22
• Arbor Month: Plant trees for a brighter Minnesota
• Proposed quarantine of wood products in Lake and Cook Counties
• Northern Minnesota phenology: Bunchberry
• It’s emerald ash borer awareness week
• Oak wilt high risk season has begun
• Meet a Minnesota logger: Stangler Logging in Cass County

And as always: Upcoming events, quiz of the month, other items you may have missed, news, and more.

Related posts:

1. Read the April 2013 update now
2. Read the September 2012 update now
3. Read the February 2013 update now

You may not be aware of it but we have a world champion flower in our forests, and the late days of May bring it into bloom. If the scientists are correct, and further research doesn’t knock the bunchberry from its exalted position, then it will remain as the fastest flower on earth. About now you’re probably asking yourself fastest in what way? They certainly don’t move about the forest floor. Nor do they erupt from the ground with any great speed. However, when they bloom their pollen is launched into the air in less than 4/10 of a millisecond. That’s less time than it takes a bullet to travel the length of a rifle barrel.

Bunchberry, CC-licensed Flickr photo by CWohlers (source)

Bunchberry or Cornus canadensis is a small plant that forms dense carpets of white blooms under shady forests. It has 4 to 6 heavily veined leaves that appear to grow in whorls. A close examination of the stem will reveal that rather than whorls the leaves have very short internodes. What we often mistake for the flowers are actually modified leaves called bracts. These four large white leaves serve to bring insects to the real flowers. Each bunchberry may have from 20 to 50 flowers. If you’ve ever looked at bunchberries you realize these true flowers are very small.

If you’re not sure the plant you are looking at is bunchberry there is a simple test to confirm it. All members of the dogwood family have heavy veins running the length of the leaf. If you carefully tear the leaf in half perpendicular to the veins the two halves will remain connected by thin white threads. These threads are a wrap that spirals around the vein and tearing the leaf causes them to unravel, but not break.

Bunchberry pollen explosion (source).

The flowers of the bunchberry are about a tenth of an inch tall and have four tiny petals. These petals enclose the stamens; actually, they restrain them. The stamens are folded within the bud and store the energy that will launch the pollen when triggered. The enveloping petals pinion the stamens until an insect jostles them. As the petals spring back the stamens are thrust outward and a hinged strap connecting the stamen to the anther quickly accelerates the pollen to 24,000 m/s² or about 800 times the force experienced by astronauts during launch. This serves to propel the pollen into the air an astonishing 10 times the height of the flower. Air resistance quickly decelerates the extremely light pollen grains but this is enough to get them up and away from the host plant. You may be able to view a video of this amazing process here.

Why does the bunchberry flower explode? It helps to enhance the chances of success. In the case of an insect visiting the flower the forceful nature of the ejection of the pollen embeds it deep within the insect’s hairy body. This makes it difficult for the insect to recover and eat all the pollen grains insuring that some will remain if the insect visits another bunchberry. In the event that the insect only visits one bunchberry the explosion will throw some of the pollen up into the wind stream allowing it to fall on another flower.

CC-licensed photo by C & J Fournier (source)

If you continue to observe the bunchberry through the summer you’ll see that some few flowers on each plant will be fertilized and develop berries. Remember that each plant has from 20 to 50 flowers but seldom will you find one with more than four or five berries. These berries are edible though they are somewhat insipid. Writing in his book The Canadian Naturalist, Philip Henry Gosse called them “farinaceous and agreeable.” Farinaceous is another way of saying starchy. Another Canadian writer describes them as “tasteless” but adds that they can be thrown into a pudding to add color. I occasionally toss a few into my mouth as I wander the woods in the fall. They provide a bit of moisture when the mouth is dry, but beyond that they have little to recommend them.

From the phenology notebook:

May 4, 2003  Trailing arbutus is blooming along Blue Heron Drive. These wonderful, fragrant blooms are well worth the trouble to find and enjoy the sharp and somewhat spicy smell. The male catkins on the paper birch are at maximum distension. A migrating brown thrasher spent about half an hour around the yard trying out all sorts of song phrases it had heard and stolen from other birds. Flocks of migrating tundra swans are moving through the area. As the lakes shed their coat of ice these large birds follow ultimately ending up well north of the Arctic circle.

May 12, 1990  Baltimore orioles and ovenbirds seen and heard today. The ovenbird screams out the words “teacher, teacher, teacher” so loud that it can be heard from a car traveling down the road at 55 mph. The orioles always come to the hummingbird feeder for the first few weeks after they return. The pin cherries are starting to bloom.

May 24, 2009   My friend and fellow phenologist Larry Weber reports from Carlton County that the first bunchberry blossoms are open. He has also seen his first fawn of the spring. Around Grand Rapids the first yellow lady’s slippers are blooming and in the swamps the three leaved false solomans seal is in flower. Four spotted skimmer dragonflies are emerging and (we hope) eating mosquitoes. Spring peepers and gray tree frogs fill the night air with their songs.

John Latimer is well known throughout northern Minnesota for his phenology work.  John appears weekly on KAXE radio in Grand Rapids, and audio and twitter archives are available here. We hope his work will be a frequent feature on MyMinnesotaWoods.  This article also appeared in the Duluth Senior Journal.  It is printed with the author’s permission.

Related posts:

1. Northern Minnesota phenology report: February 2010
2. Northern Minnesota phenology: Speckled alder
3. Northern Minnesota phenology report: June 2012

Changes made in this revised version include modification of the 1) allowable infrastructure (roads and landings) amount, 2) leave (green) tree retention guidelines, 3) biomass guidelines as related to slash retention, 4) riparian management zone characteristics, and 5) other guidelines.

The complete revised guidebook will only be available in electronic (Adobe PDF) format, but the MFRC is working on the development of a hard copy field guide focused on timber harvesting operations which should be available in early 2014.

Complete contents of the revised guidelines book
Summary of guideline revisions

Minnesota Forest Resources Council
150 Skok Hall
2003 Upper Buford Circle
St. Paul, MN 55108
651-603-6761

Related posts:

1. Comment on Minnesota’s Forest Management Guidelines
2. Sample Minnesota timber harvest contract
3. Written timber harvest contracts

The focus of this year’s conference and expo will be the release of a Midwest Vision for Biomass Heating for increasing the use of biomass for heat. Keynote and general session presentations will focus on the economic and resource opportunities than can be accomplished by implementing the Vision. Other speakers and breakout sessions will emphasize key and relevant information on biomass resources and processing, developing markets for biomass thermal, and real world implementation and use of biomass heating at regional businesses, institutions, learning center and homes. The second day general session theme will be “Advancing Biomass Thermal in the Midwest.”

There will be indoor and outdoor exposition areas where 30+ vendors, business and organizations will demonstrate the latest in biomass technologies, information and support. This year’s event will also feature two pre-conference industry tours of biomass businesses and installations on Wednesday, April 24.

Click here for more information on the Heating the Midwest conference.

Related posts:

1. Recap of the 2012 Upper Midwest Invasive Species Conference
2. Conference: Growing the Bioeconomy
3. Sessions and Schedule Released for 2010 MN WI Invasive Species Conference

This month’s features include the following:

• Oak wilt risk status: SAFE, but will change soon
• Forest health and resilience series begins April 23
• Three new videos on our tree planting page
• MFA member profile: Neal Chapman
• Northern Minnesota phenology: Speckled alder
• Northeast Minnesota Community Forestry Workshop May 21
• News, events, and other items you may have missed

Check it out.

Related posts:

1. Read the March 2013 update now
2. Read the April 2011 update now
3. Read the January 2013 update now

The future of community forestry relies on “sustainability” not being just a marketing gimmick or an idealistic dream, but, a pragmatic model used to guide practice. As many “veterans” of the field have watched positions and planting budgets get substantially cut, I’m reminded of a recent conversation with a Public Works Supervisor in a larger greater Minnesota city.  He had a “tree” budget but no “planting” budget. He literally was approved to order and have trees delivered, with neither the money or employees needed to plant and maintain them! This anecdote serves as a good reminder that those whose livelihood depend on trees may benefit from serious consideration of more sustainable approaches to community greening and reforestation.

In May, 2013, The Northeast Community Forestry Workshop returns to the heavily-managed boreal forests of the Cloquet Forestry Center to offer a practical solution to common fiscal issues. In a nutshell: Plant healthier trees, plant them to reach maturity, plant them where they belong and whenever practical, plant them for less.

The “community gravel bed” in Hendricks Minnesota is a sustainable model, relying on a partnership between volunteers and park managers to reduce the community’s dependency on vulnerable ash trees.

This year’s theme, “Sustaining Healthy, Greener Communities Through Best Planting Practices” is full of subtext. The terms “sustaining” and “healthy” apply easily to both forest health and maintenance and to fiscal responsibility.  This workshop is a place to share with the greater tree-care community under-utilized resources, sustainable planting practices, alternate stock solutions and the potential roles that volunteerism and “community” gravel-beds may play in the equation.  Commenting on the take-home message form this workshop, U of M Forestry Prof. Gary Johnson simply stated, “Plant it once, for a lifetime of canopy.” Inarguably simple.

Workshop Details:

The Northeast Community Forestry Workshop takes place May 21, 2013 at The Cloquet Forestry Center.

• The indoor portion focuses mainly on:
  • Stock selection.
  • Site limitations.
  • Overview of various typical and atypical stock types.
  • Planting techniques, various stock types.
•  The outdoor or “practice” portion is an A-Z planting exercise. Participants will learn how to:
  • Identify stock that is not-viable.
  • Correct less desirable stock.
  • Plant both typical and atypical nursery stock types applying “best planting practices”.

*Morning snack and lunch included in registration price ($60). Follow links for Complete Workshop and Registration Info. or Driving Directions.

Related posts:

1. Planting Trees
2. Tree Planting Glossary
3. What is Urban and Community Forestry?

As March stumbles then gives way to April our senses come to full alert for signs of spring. By now we have noted many of the early returning birds and spotted a few of the hibernators poking their noses out for a sniff of spring. What we’re craving though, are the greens of newly emergent vegetation. A sign from the world of plants that spring has indeed sprung.

My first inkling of life among the plants is not some early hint of green, but rather comes from across the color wheel. It is the red and burgundy of the speckled alder catkins that spark in me that primal flash of spring.

Speckled alder leaves and female catkins. CC-licensed Flickr photo by Jamie Richmond.

The alders tend to grow in wet slightly acidic soils especially along the edges of wetlands where they often form uniform monotypic stands. They prefer direct sunlight or partial shade, and are usually the first substantial woody plants to grow along the edges of swamps. This preference often creates a broad, unbroken expanse of color easily seen when looking across wetlands. Throughout most of the winter they appear as a band of gray. Now in the spring they begin to shift toward red. My eye sees it as burgundy.

Male catkins of speckled alder showing their burgundy color. CC-licensed Flickr photo by Dendroica cerulea.

This intensification of color comes from the flowers. Alders are monoecious, that is male and female flowers are found on the same plant. These flowers are present throughout the winter, and a close examination of the plant will reveal a slight tinge of color. With the coming of April these flowers begin to develop. The male catkins become a deeper burgundy, and female catkins intensifying to a brilliant red.

As the color brightens the male catkins begin to distend and as they do the color shifts away from burgundy toward yellow. They are now quite obvious. At full distention they are nearly 4 inches long. Dangling and twitching with every gentle breeze they release their pollen in great clouds.

The female flower remains inconspicuous, though the color becomes quite remarkably red. This red is the stigma, that part of the flower that receives the pollen. To avoid self-pollination the timing of the pollen release and the maturity of the stigma are staggered. Ultimately the fertilized flowers will become small tight green cone-like structures. Evidence of the previous year’s seed pods look like dark brown miniature pinecones.

Speckled alder bark. CC-licensed photo by K.P. MacFarland.

The bark of the speckled alder is gray and interrupted with pale warty lenticels. These lenticels allow for transfer of gas between the living tissue beneath and the atmosphere. The bark and the lenticels contribute to the scientific name Alnus incana subspecies rugosa. Alnus was the name given to this tree in Europe, incana means grayish or hoary, and rugosa means wrinkled.

Alders form a symbiotic relationship with a nitrogen fixing fungus in their roots. Actinomycetes from the genus Frankia colonize nodules on the roots and convert nitrogen from the atmosphere to a usable form in the soils. Much like the legumes we plant to improve the vitality of our gardens, alders perform the same function in the forest. Trees, shrubs and under story plants often benefit from the improved growing conditions found near alder stands.

Alders are quick to colonize an area especially after fire or along sedge meadows created by beavers. They rapidly establish themselves along ditches and in farm fields left fallow. Their roots are shallow and can survive in saturated soils and the trees reproduce by seeds, root suckers and layering. This latter technique results when branches bend over and touch the ground. The branch quickly establishes roots at the point of contact and a new root crown is formed. Their aggressive growth potential and the fact that they improve soils make them a good candidate for land reclamation after disturbances. And they bring color and hope to a world shaking off the mantle of winter.

From the phenology notebook:

April 4, 2011: Warm weather has brought the first earthworms out today, The speckled alder are at their peak of color as the male catkins just begin to distend. Birch catkins are starting to swell. Several new species of birds seen today; northern harrier, belted kingfisher and turkey vultures. Northern cardinals are singing their “wha-cheer, wha-cheer” songs. A weasel dashes for cover near the garage this afternoon, he is remarkably easy to track in his still white pelage.

April 15, 2003: I thought there were not too many fox sparrows around. As it turns out the weather turned sour, with snow and sleet, and the fox sparrows and a few lingering tree sparrows stayed right here for close to a week. First northern flickers seen today. Wood frogs and boreal chorus frogs were heard singing for the first time today. The eastern phoebe returned to the yard today and immediately began to chant “wee be, wee be”. The wood ducks are back on Crooked Lake and their wild cries are heard once again. The red maples are just starting to break open their flower buds. Tiny red filaments are starting to emerge.

April  25, 1990: The trembling aspen broke bud today and now the landscape is bathed in pale green. Red elderberry leaves are nearly an inch and a half long and the flower structures are visible and in some cases quite purple. In the ditches the marsh marigolds have started to bloom. Everywhere you look the wet ditches are swathed in brilliant yellow.

John Latimer is well known throughout northern Minnesota for his phenology work.  John appears weekly on KAXE radio in Grand Rapids, and audio and twitter archives are available here. We hope his work will be a frequent feature on MyMinnesotaWoods.  This article also appeared in the Duluth Senior Journal.  It is printed with the author’s permission.

Related posts:

1. Northern Minnesota phenology report: April 2010
2. Northern Minnesota phenology report: February 2010
3. Northern Minnesota phenology report: March 2013