A Weekend in Mid-Coast Maine

My wife and I are fortunate enough to have a friend who invites us up to their cottage in Mid-coast Maine at the end of the summer. For the botanist in me, this is a native plant wonderland, especially since I am more used to seeing invasives and exotics in my suburban landscape habitat. I would love to have this kind of native plant diversity around my home.

  

Most of the easily identified plants were late summer and fall blooming species; however I could pick out some early bloomers, like bluebead, Clintonia borealis. Up around the cottage and the nearby woods I found a variety of goldenrods, including silverrod, and asters and drifts of hairy Solomon’s seal, wintergreen, sweetfern, and maple-leaved viburnum.

One goldenrod I particularly like is the Blue-stemmed Goldenrod, Solidago caesia, since it grows well in shady locations – a good way to add some brightness to an otherwise dark location.

Mixed in with the Viburnum were seedlings of striped maple, Acer pensylvanicum, which has similarly shaped leaves, but they are about 4 times larger.

 

Along the gravel access road I spotted some indian cucumber root, Medeola virginiana, which I think is more striking in fruit than when it is actually in bloom. The plant shown is about 18" tall.  Also along the road were masses of witchhazel, Hamamelis virginiana, which I had never noticed before. This is probably due to my learning more about what plants look like, than would be the sudden appearance of full-sized shrubs. Witchhazel is one of the latest blooming native shrubs, here it is mid-September and the flowers were just beginning to open. In colder climates these shrubs bloom while the foliage is still attached, in warmer places the flowers may persist until after leaf drop.

A little deeper in the woods I identified a new plant for me, round-leaved dogwood, Cornus rugosa. At first I though it was another viburnum, since it had opposite pairs of leaves, but the leaves were decidedly un-toothed, so I dug a little deeper into the field guides. This looks like it could be a nice understory shrub to grow in the shade under pines.

Next to the pond near the cottage there are thickets of winterberry holly, meadowsweet and maleberry (Lyonia ligustrina). It took me a long time to ‘key out’ the maleberry, since I had never seen it before. This shrub grows in moist and sandy places and has flowers similar to blueberries. I originally had it as different shrub, leatherleaf, but some things about the description in the guide just didn’t seem right, particularly the dried flower clusters. So I kept at it using some other guides. It is ‘dangerous’ to use just one key or a limited set of observations when identifying unfamiliar plants on your own. If you are conflicted about a plant ID, you may have it wrong. This process can be tedious, but going through the details helps me remember the plant better than just reading what it is on a tag.



Popham State Park

We also made a trip to the beautiful sandy beach at Popham State Park, not far from Bath, ME. Of course I went in search of wildflowers. Here you see the aptly named seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) growing right out to the edge of the rocks. I also found some stunted New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) growing on the rocks a little closer to land.

'Cottage Garden'

Back at the cottage, there is some room among all these wild native plants for a small ‘cottage garden’. I was told that it took all summer for these sunflowers to reach maturity, growing from seed, but they made it none the less. Every time I visit here I learn some new native plants. Maybe next year I will grab my fern guide and venture a little deeper into the woods to see what’s growing there.

Spring is getting closer

Here in Boston we’ve had 3 days in a row in the 50’s and more warm weather ahead. Now I am starting to think seriously about spring.  In this area the first plants to bloom are the Witch Hazels.  These have actually been in bloom for awhile and are pretty much at peak now (first week of March).  Especially noticeable are the Asian hybrids like the pure yellow ‘Arnold Promise’ and the copper-hued ‘Jelena’ (Hamamelis x intermedia).  Once I got to know the subtlety sweet fragrance, I can tell that one is nearby before I could spot it.

The Chinese Witch Hazel (H. mollis) is also at full bloom right now. It can be identified by its more linear golden yellow petals. It also has a tendency to hold onto its old leaves, as shown here.

Since I’m a ‘Native Plants’ guy I have to mention our two main native species. Vernal Witch Hazel (H. vernalis) is also blooming at this time. The flower color of this species are variable, ranging from yellow to red. It is originally native to Arkansas and Missouri and usually found in moist soils.  This photo shows a branch with 'everything on it.'  As with the flower color, its tendency to hold leaves is also variable among individuals.

The other ‘native’ is the Common Witch Hazel (H. virginiana). This species is widely distributed in the Eastern US and is normally found in upland woodlands. The bright yellow flowers of this plant open up in the fall, while the leaves are still attached, so it is easy to miss them.


One place to see these plants in the Boston area is at Mount Auburn Cemetery.  You can also see more Mount Auburn photos at the Friends of Mount Auburn Flicker page.


While the origins of plant names can be rather fuzzy, one that stuck in my mind for witch hazel is that it often gets ‘warts’ on its leaves due to a gall formed by the spiny Witch-Hazel gall aphid. The red-tinged galls have long spines that look something like a hairy wart. In most cases these galls do not do serious harm to the plant.