I saw my first Southern White Butterfly of the season this week…apt because the Virginia Pepperweed, a larval host is in full bloom. I also saw that the Plantain is sprouting, as is the Cudweed. That brings about the onslaught of pesky weed and feed commercials popping up on television. According to them I should be eliminating those lovely native larval hosts from my garden in favor of some biological desert of a lawn.
It brought to mind an article I wrote a few years ago that is worth repeating. Food for thought (and future pollinators).
Dateline: January 31, 2014*
Monarch butterfly on Spanish Needles (Bidens alba)
I’m one who cringes when anyone calls a native plant a weed. Given the top definition in the dictionary, it has such a derogatory sound to it:
Weed: (wēd)
n.
1. A plant considered undesirable, unattractive, or troublesome, especially one that grows where it is not wanted and often grows or spreads fast or takes the place of desired plants.
2. An aquatic plant or alga, especially seaweed.
3. Something considered useless, detrimental, or worthless.
4. Slang
a. Tobacco.
b. A cigarette.
c. Marijuana.
I understand the “troublesome” part and perhaps even the “unattractive” part, but the “undesirable” moniker is what really rubs me the wrong way when it comes to targeting native plants.
Ok, you don’t want a lot of stragglers growing in your formal garden, I get that, but to kill off a whole species of plants, just to get the look of a carpet in the front yard seems ridiculous to me.
Lately, the term “weed” has a happier connotation (see definition #4c above), at least in my mind. Super Bowl XLVIII (Seattle v. Denver) is “The Weed Bowl”. It brings back memories of the ‘70s although it might not have much to do with gardening, unless you are running a grow house for recreational marijuana in the two states that the Football Conference winners hail from. 😉
Now, more importantly, since so many so-called “weeds” are larval hosts for butterflies and native insects, this is what “weed” means to me:
This might be what is there
but I see this Buckeye Butterfly
Cudweed might be what is growing
but I envision this American Lady
It might look like pepperweed to you
but it looks like a southern white butterfly to me
A ground cover of Frogfruit might be offensive to some
But I only see White Peacocks fluttering around
Whenever doubting that some wild growth in the garden bed is a good thing, think about this quote by Eeyore:
“Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.” –A. A. Milne (1882-1956)
and, for more than just nectar….food for growth.
So before you head out with the weed and feed, think about where have all the butterflies gone?…Food for thought.
*This tale was originally published by Loret T. Setters on January 31, 2014 at the defunct national blog beautifulwildlifegarden[dot]com. Click the date to view reader comments.
Call a plant “Everlasting” and to me it conjures up visions of fluffy clouds and love in the air. Why then is the same plant commonly called “Cudweed”, which to me conjures up…well…VOMIT or SPIT! Ok, I’m sure that some farmers had livestock who didn’t necessarily have the best table manners. Then again, perhaps Everlasting was someone’s way of saying, “Heck, you can’t get rid of this stuff”.
Pennsylvania Everlasting is Not Native to Florida according to my source
This whole family of plants has me quite confuse since both Gnaphalium and Gamochaeta seem to be used interchangeably as the genus names. Here in Florida Pseudognaphalium also is thrown into the mix, although to me that appears to be COMPLETELY different, with the exception of those common names again. Since I am not a botanist, I won’t even attempt to clear things up.** For purposes of this article I will use Gamochaeta (although the first one seems easier to pronounce and spell).
Likely Pennsylvania Everlasting (Gamochaeta pensylvanica). A face only a mother could love.
The reason I am writing this article, which many of you may have already dosed off while reading, is in an effort to highlight the importance of not limiting your garden to only gorgeous cultivars or natives considered acceptable by the general public. Sometimes native Plain Jane’s (or even worse) hold wildlife species in the grip of their foliage. Everlasting (or Cudweed if you prefer) is not a particularly attractive plant, but I have given it an area at my place to grow freely.
You see, here in Florida (and I suppose elsewhere), Gamochaeta spp. is a larval host plant for the American Lady Butterfly (Vanessa virginiensis) which also seems to have some common name issues. Florida Museum of Natural History calls it American (Painted) Lady while bugguide.net and butterfliesandmoths.org use Painted Lady as the tag for V. cardui. This is why common names can be so frustrating…often based on what area of the country you hail from. At any rate, they are all members of Nymphalidae/Brush-Footed Butterfly family…everyone seems to agree on that. Adult food is almost exclusively flower nectar including dogbane, aster, goldenrod, marigold, selfheal, common milkweed, and vetch. I’ll leave you to fill in your favorite Scientific Names for that long list.
Beauty in Motion, shown on Bidens Alba, an excellent nectar source
Getting back to the larval host issue. Pennsylvania Everlasting (or Cudweed) (G. pensylvanica) is considered a native to my state according to the USDA Plant Database. I use the University of South Florida Institute of Systematic Botany (ISB) Atlas of Florida Plants, as my source to determine nativity here in Florida. They don’t recognize G. pensylvanica as being native to our state. Delicate Everlasting (G. falcata) IS considered native by both authorities although ISB states that G. falcata is an excluded name “Misapplied to G. antillana“. OY! Can’t we all get along and on the same page?**
Likely Delicate Everlasting (Gamochaeta antillana) a Florida native cudweed
These two Everlastings I have in my garden have pretty silvery foliage and somewhat ugly flowers (sorry, plants), but prior to last year when I allowed them to grow, I had never seen an American Lady Butterfly. These butterflies fly low to the ground and seem to like to perch on my mulch pile. I can now fondly recall chasing after said butterfly in September 2010 to find out what that pretty little fluttering thing, with a hint of pink, was. Needless to say, my research led me to find out the larval host plant is…gasp…Cudweed. At the time that plant was in relatively short supply since I pulled it out to keep the yard looking “tidy” but not being too dedicated to weed pulling, probably some slipped through (actually, a LOT). Last year I allowed a whole area to grow where it naturally couples with plantain (Plantago spp.), another unwanted Plain Jane that is a larval host for the Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia). Bet those popular plants are snootily looking down their stigmas.
I am better than half century old and haven’t seen an American Lady Butterfly in several dog’s ages since I was a little girl. That was right around the time when subdivisions evolved and green plots of lawns became the acceptable garden. Thank goodness we have realized the error of our ways (or at least some of us have) before we drive these beautiful butterflies to threatened status or even extinction. Although some “weeds” (and I use that term with only the utmost respect and love) may rapidly spread due to their ability to produce copious amounts of seeds, they are easily hand pulled (or use a ”Weed Hound” tool). Besides, they don’t really survive all that long, at least not in Florida. They provide for the butterflies as well as birds, rabbits and others and eventually die back and disappear to return nutrients to the soil.
Closeup of flower
It’s time to think about the wildlife and less about aesthetics in a garden. Make a little room not only for the good, but, yes, the ugly. You might be surprised what beauty it brings.
Another native cudweed I’ve discovered in my garden since the initial publication of this article.
*This is an update of a tale was originally published by Loret T. Setters on March 13, 2012 at the defunct national blog nativeplantwildlifegarden[dot]com. Click the date to view reader comments.
**Since writing this article I learned that botanists don’t always agree on certain things including naming conventions. For consistency, I use the Institute of Systematic Botany’s Atlas of Florida Plants as the authority for all my naming conventions and to determine nativity to the State of Florida. Another source of accepted names for the U.S. is Integrated Taxonomic Information System:
“The ITIS is the result of a partnership of federal agencies formed to satisfy their mutual needs for scientifically credible taxonomic information.”
This leaf is from a Florida native plant. Can you guess which one?
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, and while I am pretty much a mutt as far as heritage is concerned, there is Irish from both my Mother’s and Father’s sides of the family somewhere down the line. So, aye and begorrah, let’s talk Shamrocks. The Shamrock is a symbol of Ireland and a popular March holiday decoration. The association with Saint Patrick has roots in the Christianity when it is said that he used the shamrock to visually illustrate the concept of the Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit).
White Clover (Trifolium repens, Irish: seamair bhán) or Lesser Clover (T. dubium, Irish: seamair bhuí) are the likely candidates considered to be “shamrocks”. Both are introduced species in the U.S. The word shamrock is derived from the common Irish word for clover. Tri means “three”, so the shamrock has three leaves. Of 16 species of Trifolium listed in the University of South Florida Institute of Systematic Botany (ISB) Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants*, only two are considered native to Florida. Neither species is listed as occurring in my county (Osceola), but that just may be that specimens haven’t been submitted as yet. Those two are Carolina Clover (T. carolinianum) and Buffalo Clover (T. reflexum).
Yellow Woodsorrel looks close enough to shamrocks for me.
So, should my garden be left out of the wearing o’ the green? I think not. Here in Florida we have a perfectly good Shamrock substitute and right now it is prolific in my front meadow-type area. It is Common Yellow Woodsorrel a.k.a. Creeping Woodsorrel (Oxalis corniculata). This can be quite aggressive but it provides quick ground coverage and serves as an early nectar source for our buzzing and winging friends since it shows up in January when not a lot of other nectar plants are in bloom. It has pretty little yellow flowers that certainly bring brightness as the drab winter garden comes back to life. It’s yet another of those perplexing situations for me where this pretty flower is considered a weed to be killed and bahiagrass is considered a thing to be cultivated. Perhaps understandable if you own livestock (read further), but in the home landscape? PULLLEEASE! I’m still scratching my head.
Bright yellow against a pretty green, it is an early nectar source
According to USDA, this species occurs in a good part of North America, except for a few states in the upper mid-west. In the USDA database it is shown to be native in the U.S. states where it is found but Calflora disputes that and states that it is not native in California. Consider this as reasons to pay close attention to scientific names and to check with local authoritative sources since they likely know best what is affecting regional naturalized areas. What is good for one state may not be acceptable in another. California has many other very pretty choices in this Genus, one even considered rare. Do your homework beyond the USDA database when making planting decisions about what stays or goes!
Here in Florida there is another native Tufted Yellow Woodsorrel (O. macrantha), and several non-native Oxalis species but they don’t seem to live at my place.
In small quantities this Shamrock substitute is said to be edible and has ethnobotanical uses. Use caution since the foliage contains oxalic acid, which binds calcium leading to nutritional deficiencies in livestock and humans.
I don’t understand the urge to kill this in favor of grass
As luck would have it I haven’t found any four-leaf Woodsorrel…I guess that would be lack of luck. Seems the theory behind a four-leaf clover is that the first leaf stands for faith, the second represents hope, the third love, and the not-often found fourth is LUCK!
I’ll still feel lucky that I have a little something in the garden to humor me on this holiday. I hope you all enjoy Saint Pat’s Day in your beautiful wildlife garden, too.
*This is an update of a tale was originally published by Loret T. Setters on March 16, 2012 at the defunct national blog beautifulwildlifegarden[dot]com. Click the date to view reader comments.
**I use the ISB Atlas as the authority to determine nativity of plants in Florida.
Pepperweed, larval host, edible by humans, so the seeds are somewhat prolific, roots are shallow allowing you to keep it in check
Central Florida. I’m a big believer in “let it grow, let it grow, let it grow” (hey, we have no white stuff down here, and I love that tune). I’ve learned to be the great observer in the garden and often by happenstance I get my best wildlife encounter rewards from a passing flash in the yard. This is when I generally learn something new about nature. This week, while walking the garden I got a few more rewards from “weeds”.
Technically, a weed is “a plant considered undesirable, unattractive, or troublesome, especially one growing it is not wanted.” For some reason our society (present company excluded) has taken to planting things which are technically out of place and calling it beautiful. The plants that should be actual residents of the given habitat are scalped, pulled or, worse yet, sprayed to keep them at bay. Fact is they are doing nature and our environment an injustice by replacing what Mother Nature is trying to provide naturally for her creatures. I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I appreciate the less than lovely more so than what is touted as proper landscape materials in many garden magazines.
I have a meadow of rich diversity. Many would call it a weed patch. The plants occur naturally, so they are far from weeds in my eyes.
Great Southern White Butterfly Caterpillar eggs. Sometimes the weeds provide the rewards
The other day I was watching a white butterfly flit from plant to plant. It was spending a lot of time around the Virginia Pepperweed (Lepidium virginicum). I tried to photograph the butterfly but it moved too fast, or perhaps I am just to slow. I’d seen similar before and knew I had a photo somewhere but I really wasn’t positive of the identity. Searching, I discovered it is a Great Southern White(Ascia monuste). I’d say it is a positive I.D. since the larval hosts include members of Mustard family (Brassicaceae) and Pepperweed qualifies. Further reading stated eggs are laid groups of about 20 and on close inspection of one of the plants, I saw tiny yellowish-orange dots dangling from a leaf of the plant. My old photo also shows blue antenna clubs.
Great Southern White Butterfly If you don’t leave some less desirable native plants, you’d miss out on this beauty
Being a little selfish and not wanting the lizards to eat the eggs I potted up the plant and placed it within a butterfly net. Since then the eggs have disappeared but I haven’t seen any caterpillars. Of course caterpillars are cagey. Read on.
American Lady Caterpillar on native cudweed shows the reward of weeds
Yesterday I saw an American Lady(Vanessa virginiensis) busy by the Cudweed(Gamochaeta spp.). Again I tried to photograph, but it was not to be. I did head over to the plant it was near to inspect for eggs, but old eyes couldn’t find any. Then I noticed a web-type tent at the top of the plant and took a small stick to knead it apart. AHA! A caterpillar! I grabbed the plant and headed over to a display case with a screened top. Again, I am being selfish, but my curiosity and educational thirst has gotten the better of me. I’ll feed it daily and wait for it to go through metamorphosis.
Hidden in a web-like tent on this cudweed, is a future American Lady Butterfly
I felt so rewarded by my new encounters. So, if you want to learn close-up about your native fauna, stop fighting Mother Nature and consider that the beauty of your garden could be coming from the visitors that will grace it. If you leave the flora for those that belong in your beautiful wildlife garden you’ll see beauty beyond belief. Reward from “weeds”…Food for thought.
American Lady Butterfly….the Reward of Weeds
*This tale was originally published by Loret T. Setters on April 13, 2012 at the defunct national blog beautifulwildlifegarden[dot]com. Click the date to view reader comments.
Do you ever think about plant priorities in the garden? I’m always a bit confused when I do an Internet search on a native plant or wildflower and am greeted by multiple returns touting how to kill them. Have people become so oblivious to the matter of taking care of our native wildlife that they are more willing to believe that lawns and exotic ornamentals are classier than providing a sustainable landscape that will protect life for our future generations?
Case and point, I did a search on “cudweed” the other day looking for the name of a butterfly. While some Gamochaeta spp. are introduced, there are still several that are native. A list came up with various entries, the majority containing the words “control ” “pest” or “noxious”. Let’s be clear, American lady butterfly caterpillars (Vanessa virginiensis) use this species as a larval host so I don’t want to kill it.
One of the scariest results of my search was an entry from NC State University (NCSU) consisting of a list of “weeds” and the chemicals that will control them in turf grass. The scary part was that many of these “weeds” are native plants that have benefit to wildlife and humans, but the turf grasses are mostly introduced.
Let’s review some of the choices on their weed “hit list”:
Carolina Geranium (Cranesbill) feeds birds and deer
Geranium, Carolina aka CRANESBILL (Geranium carolinianum). This plant is native to the Lower 48 (USDA). According to University of Florida IFAS, “the seeds are eaten by birds and rodents. The seeds are reported to have astringent, febrifuge, diuretic and nephritic properties.” It is foraged by white-tailed deer. Hmm, good for birds, mammals and has ethnobotanical purposes. Certainly we should kill this in order to maintain some introduced turf grass.
Plantain: larval host for Buckeye butterfly and feeds many species
Plantain(Plantago spp.). This is another species that has some introduced but many are native to a great part of the US. According to the Weedy Wildflowers of Illinois description of Plantago virginica, a resident of my yard:
“The caterpillars of the butterfly Junonia coenia (Buckeye) and the caterpillars of several species of moths also feed on plantains (see Moth Table); Tiger Moths (Arctiidae) are particularly well-represented in this group. The seeds of plantains are eaten by the Grasshopper Sparrow and possibly other granivorous songbirds. Both tree squirrels and ground squirrels eat the flowering spikes to some extent, while rabbits eat both the spikes and leaves. The Deer Mouse eats the seeds of plantains and many other plants.”
Again, good for butterflies, mammals and birds, so I guess we should kill it.
Florida Betony may be aggressive, but has an edible tuber
Betony, Florida (Stachys floridana). Native to the SE, Texas and California, it is listed for NC as a Class B Noxious weed (USDA). It is a very pretty wildflower and is an edible plant, so this makes little sense to me. NCSU states:
“Florida Betony becomes a problem in lawns as well as in ornamental beds, and is especially problematic in centipedegrass and St. Augustine grass.”
The USDA lists centipedegrass as an introduced species, with St. Augustine listed as a native, although here in Florida there is some debate regarding that status. The University of Florida has a listing showing how to kill Betony in the following grasses Bermudagrass, Centipedegrass, Bahiagrass, Zoysiagrass, and Perennial ryegrass, all of which are introduced species. Are we so brainwashed by magazines with aesthetic characteristics of what gardens are “suppose” to look like that we overlook the benefits our natives provide to wildlife and ourselves?
Other native plants on that weed hit-list that are already in my habitat and are most welcome include:
Dollarweed (Hydrocotyle spp.)
pollinator nectar source, good for maintaining soil stability; edible by humans
Blackberry (Rubus spp.)
Browsed by Deer; fruits eaten by turkey, quail, songbirds, edible by humans
Purslane, Pink (Portulaca pilosa)
nectar source, edible by humans
Woodsorrel, Yellow (Oxalis stricta)
nectar source, edible (small quantities) by humans
Toadflax, Oldfield (Nuttallanthus canadensis)
nectar source; larval host to Buckeye Butterfly
And there were numerous others.
Ok, I can possibly understand a golf course needing to maintain turf a certain weed-free way (I do enjoy a game of golf every now and again, although I often get mesmerized by plants in the rough). What I don’t understand is homeowners buying into the belief that their place should resemble the fairway on a golf course. Is it any wonder that there is a decline in birds, butterflies, bees and native mammals? Are we so shallow as to be inconsiderate of the needs of our wildlife? AND, If our food supply is ever compromised, I wish those of you with golf course quality lawns good luck in the eating department. Starvation can be painful, although, if you eat your Saint Augustine grass you probably won’t feel it too long since you’ll go quickly from the chemicals used to keep it “weed- and bug-free”.
Dollarweed Salad Anyone?
I have my garden priorities in order. Personally, I’ll be eating fresh bluegills from my fertilizer-free pond, tossing a Pennywort and Betony salad from my chemical-free meadow area and enjoying it with some Blackberry tea and perhaps some Blackberry pie for dessert. Oh, and on the next day I’ll probably have Squab because doves just love the seeds of those pesky Cranesbill plants I have and they visit daily for that treat. I love my wildlife, but there is survival of the fittest, you know!
*This is an update of a tale was originally published by Loret T. Setters on March 11, 2011 at the defunct national blog beautifulwildlifegarden[dot]com. Click the date to view reader comments.
It’s that time of year in Florida when things are starting pop up in the yard. Too often people grab the weed and feed or randomly pull plants without thought to how it could adversely impact our butterfly populations.
Many of the very plants that the chemical companies target as “weeds” are important larval hosts for our beautiful butterflies. A lawn is a pretty much a biological desert. Don’t fall for their misguided propaganda that you need to have a perfect carpet of green in front of your home. Leave that to the putting greens on the golf course.
Let these wildflower beauties grow and you just may find a marked uptick in the number of butterflies that choose to call your place home.
And don’t forget to leave an area of Bidens alba as a great nectar source that the butterflies simply can’t resist.
Bidens alba is a butterfly magnet
Come on over to the wild side. The pollinators will flock to show their appreciation.
It might look like pepperweed to you
but it looks like a southern white butterfly to me
A ground cover of Frogfruit might be offensive to some
But I only see White Peacocks fluttering around
Tales of a Central Florida Wildlife Garden 