Slender Mountain Mint - Pycnanthemum tenuifolium Profile

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Slender Mountain in a Native Meadow Planting

This profile was written by Solomon Gamboa; Author of Native Meadowscaping , Native Plant Agriculture , and A Native Plant Propagation Guide & Nursery Model all available at this link.

Slender Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium) is a perennial native plant that branches in a way that creates a miniature bushy effect as its form. It grows easily in moist soils to average soils as long as it has full sun to partial sun, blooming most profusely in full-sun. It inhabits wetlands, moist to fairly dry soil prairies, meadows, gravelly areas along rivers, openings in woodlands, glades, and abandoned fields showing off a wide range of adaptability.

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Top left: Aged Pearl Crescents Top Right: A thread waisted wasp (Eremnophila aeronata) on the right with a sphecid wasp, Isodontia, on the left. Bottom Left: Great Gold Sand Digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus) Bottom Right: Great Black Wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus)

The small white flowers attract many insects including long-tongued bees, short-tongued bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, skippers, and beetles. On this post the featured wasp species are completely non-aggressive as they're foraging for nectar and pollen. They would only get aggressive if a human disturbed their nests. Mammals avoid browsing the minty foliage which features a poisonous alkaloid.

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Slender Mountain Mint has great staying power, able to persist among tallgrasses and short grasses for the long-run in prairies/grasslands. The small seeds stay fertile in the seed bank allowing it to pop up in old-field habitats where it hadn't existed for decades. Other mountain mint species have wide ranging adaptations like Slender Mountain Mint. If you have the opportunity to plant more than one species in your native meadow, then do so as they will likely bloom at different times and be slightly adapted to different conditions strengthening the integrity of your seed mix. In pollinator gardens Slender Mountain mint is a foreground plant in most plantings. The bright white helps highlight other midsummer flowering plants like Purple Coneflower. The fine textured foliage looks excellent before and after blooming. The seed heads carry some interest into the winter.

Companion Plants for Slender Mountain Mint

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Companion Plants (Pictured Above): Golden Alexander, Sand Coreopsis, Penstemon digitalis, Penstemon calycosus, Ohio Spiderwort, Butterflyweed, Nodding Onion, Purple Coneflower, Great Blue Lobelia, Cardinal Flower, Rudbeckia fulgida, Prairie Dock, Early Goldenrod, Dwarf Goldenrod, Mistflower, Aromatic Aster

Germination Tips for Plugs: Cold Moist Stratify for 40 or more days then surface sow - compress into surface.

Receive 40% off of our Native Plant Propagation Guide/Nursery Model book when purchased as a package. deal with either our Native Meadowscaping book or our Native Plant Agriculture book at this link.

Learn about what our Native Meadowscaping book has to offer here at this link.

Learn about what our Native Plant Agriculture Vol. 1 book has to offer here at this link.

Learn about what our Native Plant Propagation Guide & Nursery Model has to offer here at this link.

EXPECT 3 NATIVE PLANT EDUCATIONAL POSTS A WEEK AT THIS WEBSITE

OUR 2022 FALL NATIVE PLANT SALE WILL HAVE 1,600 NATIVE SHRUBS AND TREES AVAILABLE FOR SHIPPING SHORT OR LONG DISTANCE AND LOCAL PICK UP. SIGN UP TO OUR EMAIL LIST BELOW TO BE NOTIFIED OF THIS SALE AND THE PLANT LIST.

A Native Vegetable you can Grow this Spring - Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)

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Wild collected Evening Primrose roots by Jeff Knieser. When it is grown in a garden setting the roots can be twice as large as these pictured.

This Native Plant Profile was written by Solomon Gamboa; Author of Native Meadowscaping , Native Plant Agriculture , and A Native Plant Propagation Guide & Nursery Model all available here: https://indigescapes.com/ourbooks

Evening Primrose is a fairly commonly encountered native wildflower. Indigenous peoples of the midwestern, northeastern, southeastern, and mid-atlantic U.S. cultivated this plant as a food source. Evening primrose roots could be developed into many different seed strains of different root textures, sizes, and flavors with a proper breeding program. As of now collecting seed from most wild populations (or buying seed online) produces palatable roots of good size when grown in an agricultural – low competition setting, and boiled before eaten like potatoes. Its also commercially farmed for its seed production to produce Evening Primrose Oil which is used medicinally. Only the first year root is edible, while the plant is a basal rosette. The second year the plant grows tall and flowers - and by then the root has turned woody and mostly inedible.

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The Evening Primrose Moth, pictured by Stan Malcolm. Its caterpillars prefer to eat the seed heads of the plant in the second year of growth.

Cultivation

Evening Primrose is a biennial adapted to harsh soils as well as higher moisture soils, being most prolific within full-sun. As with most root crops, the more aerated the soil is, the larger the root can grow, though soils that are very sandy may create long skinny taproot formation. Very compacted clay soils will restrict the taproot growth as it does to all plants. Cold-Moist Stratify Evening Primrose seeds for 45 days, before surface seeding them onto cleared/bare soil in the early spring. Harvest the roots in late fall/early winter the same year. Again, you must harvest them at the end of the first growing season, as in the second growing season the root turns more woody and inedible.

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In Bloom

Natural History

Evening Primrose would naturally occur where grazing fauna such as Groundhog, Bison, or Elk damage the perennial herbaceous layer of a grassland or meadow community creating a niche for this biennial to germinate and take root among the stunted grasses. In modern time these plants are now often seen on roadsides where herbicide applications, brush mowing, and salt damage create open niches. This is the kind of native plant with the toughness to pop up in a crack within the cement. Wild growing evening primrose roots will naturally be much smaller than those grown in a cultivated garden, due to the difference in vegetation competition.

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If you don't want to harvest the roots in year one, you will be rewarded by a profuse set of blooms lasting over 1 months time in midsummer, blooming from the evening into the morning hours and closing during the day. They are very popular with moths at night, and bumble bees in the morning. I chose to write about this plant, because unlike most native foods, evening primrose seeds are readily available for sale online. Be sure to purchase Evening Primrose seed with the scientific name - Oenothera biennis. Look for the companies that sell it by the ounce for the best pricing.

Receive 40% off of our Native Plant Propagation Guide/Nursery Model book when purchased as a package. deal with either our Native Meadowscaping book or our Native Plant Agriculture book at this link.

Learn about what our Native Meadowscaping book has to offer here at this link.

Learn about what our Native Plant Agriculture Vol. 1 book has to offer here at this link.

Learn about what our Native Plant Propagation Guide & Nursery Model has to offer here at this link.

EXPECT 3 NATIVE PLANT EDUCATIONAL POSTS A WEEK AT THIS WEBSITE

OUR 2022 FALL NATIVE PLANT SALE WILL HAVE 1,600 NATIVE SHRUBS AND TREES AVAILABLE FOR SHIPPING SHORT OR LONG DISTANCE AND LOCAL PICK UP. SIGN UP TO OUR EMAIL LIST BELOW TO BE NOTIFIED OF THIS SALE AND THE PLANT LIST.

Northern Pecans, Persimmons, and Passionflowers

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940 seeds from Zone 6 and 5 adapted Pecans from Central Missouri, Central Indiana, and Chicago Illinois - to be propagated into trees.

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A simple eating guide to consuming the native Passionflower fruits (Passiflora incarnata). These seeds will also be propagated in our nursery.

Indigenous Landscapes has collected via purchase and donation; pecan seeds from Central Missouri, Central Indiana, and Chicago. This is the beginning of a proven northern adapted pecan breeding grove, though most of the resulting saplings from this seed collection will be sold through Indigenous Landscapes fall of 2020 to support our land purchases that will promote native plant agriculture. Like Passionflowers and Persimmons; Pecans with genetic origin from too deep in the south don’t fruit or flower correctly when planted in northern zones (4,5,6). But naturally Passionflowers, Pecans, and Persimmons have northern populations that are locally adapted and it is these populations that fruit and flower on time to be productive in northern climates. So when you find a planted or wild Passionflower or Pecan that is maturing its fruit correctly in these zones, what you have is genetic expression that can be cultivated into a breeding grove of sorts to produce more northern adapted plants. Whether the intention is for Native Plant Agriculture (NPA) or wildlife support, the northern adapted strains are the best strains to benefit your project.

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From Top to bottom these pecans were produced in 1. Indianapolis, Indiana 2. Central Missouri 3. Central Missouri 4. Central Missouri and 5. Chicago, Illinois.

In our particular breeding grove we won’t be mixing Missouri adapted genetics with the Chicago and Indianapolis born pecans as the more northern born pecans have better potential of being productive in Zone 5 where as the Missouri adapted genetics are more likely to be most productive in Zone 6 and 7. When we ship our saplings out fall of 2020, Zone 6 and 7 customers will get a mix of the Missouri genetics and zone 5 customers will get a mix of the Chicago and Indianapolis genetics. Years from now, people throughout zone 5 through 7 will have locally adapted pecans and will be able to continue on the selection process if they’re interested. Each year we’ll introduce more pecans from different populations found within zones 5 and 6 to invigorate the gene pool.

The same process will be repeated with Passionflower, mixing genetics of zone 6 fruiting Passionflowers for either wildlife value or native plant agriculture saving a few for our local breeding patch and shipping the majority out for sale each fall.

We’ve already begun this process with Common Persimmon as well, collecting from persimmons that drop their entire fruit crop fully ripe in August and September which are zone 5 and zone 6 adapted persimmons. The persimmons that get stuck up in the tree into the winter in these northern zones are also from southern genetic origin which causes the tree to go dormant before the fruit are fully ripe. The most productive persimmons for wildlife or native plant agriculture in zones 5 and 6 are of northern genetic origin with fruit that fall fully ripe to the ground before the tree goes dormant.

In these simple ways of evaluating, creating viable seed strains of northern adapted pecans, persimmons, and passionflowers is not difficult.

Common Persimmons (Diospyros virginiana) showing northern adaptation by dropping their full crop fully ripe in September before the frost even threatens.

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Passionflower fruit fully ripe in late September, showing northern adaptation.

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Hickories of the Midwest

Smooth Hickory (Carya glabra) in prime fall color.

Hickories are a common tree of Midwestern, Southern, and Eastern Forest types. These trees are known for producing edible kernels and economically valuable timber. They support the caterpillars over 200 butterflies/moths. Indigenous people pound the nuts and separate the shell to create different food products or process them with water to release the oils and flavors. Many people know of hickory through the flavor the wood’s smoke imparts onto grilled foods. Pecans are the most well known of the hickories, though this is written from primarily an Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana experience, and does not include pecans due to lack of encountered field samples in the natural environments of these states. Hickories have the highest calorie density and fat content of almost any food outside of whale lard which is nearly pure fat, making the small kernels worth processing from a sustenance perspective. There’s certainly a promising future for Hickory expansion in Native Plant Agriculture.

In the OKI (Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana) region at least 1 hickory species finds a niche to sustain itself within all forest types outside of the most frequently flooded floodplains dominated by Sycamore, Cottonwood, Silver Maple, Box Elder Maple, and formerly Green Ash. The 6 hickories we’re describing here are all large shade trees, often 3/4th’s of the mass of Oaks in maturity though every bit as tall. So when using them in the metropolitan landscape, plan for them to reach heights of over 65 feet tall, and widths of over 40 feet. All hickory kernels are edible, but Yellowbud Hickory is like an acorn in that it must be leached of tannins before it is palatable.

This blog post will provide the specific habitat niche of each hickory species, restoration implications, and defining I.D. characteristics.

Each Hickory species has fairly variable nut expressions. This is 3 samples per species.

Two Midwestern Hickories share this similar bark, but 1 has a leaflet of 7-9, and the other is of 5.

Shellbark Hickory - Carya laciniosa - OKI Habitat/Niche

Shellbark Hickory occurs on neutral-alkaline alluvial terraces, occasionally flooded neutral-alkaline flood plains, neutral-alkaline glacial outwash, weakly acidic (6.5+PH) to alkaline glacial till or bedrock soils (residuum) of the same PH range. It is commonly associated with Blue Ash, White Ash, Chinquapin Oak, Shumard Oak, Bur Oak, Yellowbud Hickory, Black Maple, and Sugar Maple.  This tree is a good indicator of a soil PH of at least 6.5 or higher. It reaches its greatest productivity on Wisconsin Glacial Till of variable drainage and glacial outwash. It is tolerant of seasonally high water tables (swampy), and has a similar flooding tolerance (river/stream flooding) as Black Walnut and Bur Oak whom are common associates with it on occasionally flooded flood plains and/or alluvial terraces.

For restoration, while it can be established in acidic soils, it is most naturally competitive in the stated PH range of +6.5, and is best kept in that range for long-term success/unassisted reproduction. This is a good tree to plant, if human-planted trees on your site are showing signs of iron chlorosis or magnesium deficiency, typically seen in Acidic soil obligate species such as Red maple, Sweet Gum, Swamp White Oak, River Birch, and Pin Oak.

Key Defining Characteristics

Bark Leaflet of 7 typically, sometimes 9, but never 5

The shaggy light gray bark of the Shellbark shares similarity only with Shagbark (Carya ovata) locally. Use the leaflet of 7, and sometimes 9 with the shaggy bark to separate it from Shagbark as Shagbark nearly always has leaflets of 5 locally. In the winter time, if you don't have access to the leaflets, use the very large nuts + Bark to separate Shagbark and Shellbark. Shagbark nuts (not husks) should not be larger than the spread of a quarter, while Shellbark should have larger, more spherically or elongated golf ball sized nuts. See first diagram for reference.

Shagbark Hickory is separated from Shellbark Hickory most easily by the leaflet of 5, not 7 or 9.

Shagbark Hickory - Carya ovata - OKI Habitat/Niche

Shagbark Hickory occurs as a common species in strongly acidic soils to near neutral PH (5-6.8PH). It is a consistent indicator of acidic soil where naturally occurring and associated with one or more these following species; Sweet Gum, Black Gum, Sassafras, Mockernut Hickory, Smooth Hickory, Pin Oak, Black Oak, Scarlet Oak, Red Maple, or Shingle Oak. It is an indicator of weakly acidic or neutral soil (6.5-7.0 PH) when associated with one or more of the following species Chinquapin Oak, Shumard Oak, Bur Oak, Kentucky Coffee Tree, or Blue Ash. Because of its preference for acidic soil and adaptability to low or high moisture availability and poorly drained soils, it finds a place in many forest types. It’s co-dominant in Acidic Forested Wetlands featuring Pin Oak, Swamp White Oak, Beech, Green Ash, Red Maple, Sweet Gum canopies; it’s also very shade tolerant in these Acidic Forested Wetlands. It can also be found in very well drained acidic soils, the common denominator is acidity, not moisture level. In restoration it should only be planted in soils of a PH less than 7.0 to mimic or match it’s original niche.

Key Defining Characteristics

Bark-See above Picture Leaflet-of 5

What separates Shagbark from all other hickories except for Shellbark Hickory is the mature form of it's bark. In the growing season, use the leaflet of 5 paired with the bark to separate it from Shellbark. In the winter, use the nut size comparisons shown in the opening picture + bark, though nut comparison is less reliable to the inexperienced eye. 

Mockernut Hickory is nearly always found in acidic soil naturally, like Shagbark and Pignut.

Mockernut Hickory - Carya tomentosa - OKI Habitat/Niche

Mockernut Hickory is overall less common than Shagbark Hickory, but occurs in very similar habitats. It is an occasional species in Acidic Wetland forests, though in my observation, its often directly associated with White Oak, Beech, and Sugar Maple which are less high water table tolerant as Swamp White Oak and Red Maple, indicating that it may be occurring in slightly better drained portions of Acidic Wetland Forests. It’s been observed increasing in dominance on slopes of over 3% on high water table acidic glacial till plains where drainage is better supporting acidic well drained soil associates such Black Oak and Pignut Hickory. Mockernut Hickory’s other niche is well drained acidic soil, whether from acidic bedrock (residuum) in unglaciated regions or acidic glacial till deposits in glaciated regions. Restoration is fairly straight forward, stick to acidic soils that are better drained than the most poorly drained high water tables, and it should be able to regenerate-long term. If drainage is questionable, but you know it’s acidic, use it on a slope of 3% of greater.

Key Defining Characteristics

Leaflet of 7 to 9 Nut (see original diagram) Bark (see picture above)

The leaflet of 7 to 9 narrows it down to being Shellbark, Mockernut, Sweet Pignut, or Bitternut Hickory. The nut clearly disqualifies Red Hickory, and Yellowbud. The Bark will clearly separate it from Shellbark Hickory as it doesn’t shag. The buds are also the largest of these 6 hickories, and they can be seen from the forest floor like the buds of a Buckeye. As you see more and more mockernut, you’ll also notice the twigs are less numerous and more proportionately thicker to support the heavy nuts, like walnuts, bur oaks, and buckeyes.

Yellowbud Hickory is the only PH generalist of these 6 described hickories.

Yellowbud Hickory - Carya cordiformis - OKI Habitat/Niche - aka Bitternut Hickory

Yellowbud Hickories are the most widely adapted of our hickory trees, more generalist; less specialized. It will occur in soils within a PH range of 5-7+, and is the most commonly regenerated hickory of neutral to alkaline soils. They can occur on occasionally flooded flood plains with Shellbark Hickory, Black Walnut, and Bur Oak, or they can occur on thin bedrock soils the same. The two niches they do not occur in often are frequently flooded flood plains and forested wetlands. The nuts are high in tannins, like acorns, and are left much of the winter by wildlife until needed, choosing to eat less tannic nuts first if they are available. Humans can leach the tannins from these just like acorns are leached by indigenous people, and the reward being a hickory kernel that has a much higher nut meat to wood/shell ratio than the other 5 mentioned hickories in this post. Through pressing, a high quality hickory nut oil can be obtained, that also lacks the bitter/tannic quality of the unpressed kernels. This is the fastest growing hickory out of these 6 mentioned, and is one of the more shade tolerant (in its youth) of the bunch.

Key Defining Characteristics

Leaflet of 7 to 9 Nuts Bark

The leaflet is most often 7-9, never 5, the wings on the husk of the nut are also a consistent, defining feature which separates it from all of the other 5 described. The terminal buds are yellowish, which is unique to Yellowbud. The bark can sometimes look like Red Hickory bark at certain stages, it can also look like Mockernut bark in some expressions, the bark only easily separates it from Shellbark and Shagbark Hickories. You should be able to I.D. Bitternut with the leaflet of 7 to 9 plus terminal bud or the winged husk on the nut. With enough observation you’ll be able to recognize Bitternut based on the bark alone in most cases.

Pignut Hickory is the most thin soil/drought tolerant of these 6 described, restricted to acidic soils naturally.

Smooth HIckory - Carya glabra - OKI Habitat/Niche - aka Pignut Hickory

Smooth Hickory is a less dominant hickory in our region compared to the other hickories. It’s restricted to acidic soils like Mockernut Hickory and Shagbark Hickory but it does not occur in seasonally high water tables, and tends to stick to rocky acidic residuum soils and acidic glacial till deposits on slopes greater than 5% (well drained). Where soils are acidic and drought prone due to lack of depth and/or steep sloped, it seems Pignut has an competitive advantage though it appears as a minority species in deep acidic, well drained soils too. For restoration, we strongly recommend excluding Smooth Hickory from neutral and/or alkaline soil plantings as in all of our field studies it is always absent from this PH range, while showing an increase in frequency the more well drained and acidic the soil becomes. I’d also avoid seasonally high water tables, as it’s also completely absent from our field observations in these winter/spring saturated soils. Side note, Smooth Hickory may have the most magnificent fall color of all of the hickories listed here, from bright gold to orangish gold. It’s also a myth that all smooth hickories taste bitter or bad. Every Smooth Hickory we’ve consumed had no bitterness and is on the same Pecan flavor spectrum that all hickories are on, bitter or not.

Key Defining Characteristics

Leaflet of 5 Bark (bark is quite variable from smooth to deeply furrowed)

Nuts (Essential to I.D.)

The leaflet of 5 will narrow it down to Shagbark Hickory, Red Hickory Hickory, or Smooth Hickory. The bark will separate it from Shagbark Hickory. Red Hickory most commonly has leaflets of 7, but sometimes has populations that have leaflets of 5, where as Smooth Hickory is nearly always leaflets of 5….but sometimes 7. The only way to definitively separate Smooth Hickory (Carya glabra) from Red Hickory (Carya ovalis) is the husk of the nut. If you look at the link we attached, Smooth Hickory husks do not dissect from the top to bottom on all sides, so the husk remains on the nut throughout the winter and rots away. Red Hickory husks, like Shagbark, Shellbark, and Mockernut, do have these creases/dissection lines that run from the top of the nuts to the bottom which causes them to release the nut fully as they dry out and mature. This is the most reliably defining characteristic, though as stated before, commonly, Red Hickory have leaflets of 7 and Pignuts have leaflets of 5.

Sweet Pignut aka Red Hickory (Carya ovalis) shows a niche difference compared to Pignut (Carya glabra).

Red Hickory - Carya Ovalis - OKI Habitat/Niche - aka Sweet Pignut Hickory

Sweet Pignut aka Red Hickory is about as common as Smooth Hickory locally, but has a wider range of adaptability. While Smooth hickory is completely restricted to acidic soils, Red Hickory has been found numerous times regenerating on Ordovician Limestone/Shale residuum soils of +6.8PH. Red Hickory also appears to be more common in the 6 PH range than Smooth Hickory, especially when studying forest regeneration on the Wisconsin Glacial Till Plains of SW Ohio and SE Indiana. However we don’t consider Red Hickory a PH generalist like Bitternut Hickory as it disappears in the higher alkalinity soils such as of Glacial Outwash parent materials; where only Shellbark (alkaline adapted) and Yellowbud (True PH Generalist) have proven adapted. Glacial Outwash soils are generally more alkaline than Ordovician Limestone/Shale soils where Red Hickory has proven adaptation. The fall color ranges from yellowish to plain brown, where as locally observed Carya glabra ranges from golds to orangish golds. Red Hickory, like Smooth Hickory, has not expressed itself in wetland forests of any PH range. For restoration, Red Hickory should regenerate long-term in moderately well drained soils in the PH range of upper 4 to 7.2. It is likely more adapted to acidic soils than neutral soils, it’s the most dominant hickory in the canopy of Lake Hope State Park in Ohio, where the residuum bedrock produces acidic enough soil to support Sourwood, in the 4 to 5 PH range.

Key Defining Characteristics

Terminal Bud (not yellow like Yellowbud, not large like Mockernut) Bark (never as shaggy as Shagbark or Shellbark) Leaflet of 7 (commonly 7, but some populations have leaflet of 5) Nuts (Full dissection lines from top to bottom on all sides unlike Pignut)

Most Red Hickories have leaflets of 7, but some populations consistently have leaflets of 5. If your hickory has a leaflet of 7, the bark will definitively I.D. it as Shellbark or Red Hickory based on the provided bark picture links. But Mockernut also commonly has leaflets of 7, compare the difference in nut size and the difference in terminal bud size to separate these two. Mockernut has large enough terminal buds to be seen from the forest floor like you can see Buckeye buds, where as sweet pignut buds are comparatively small. If it has a leaflet of 5, but lacks the shaggy bark of Shagbark hickory, it could be Smooth Hickory or Red Hickory. To repeat, sometimes Red Hickory has leaflets of 5 like Pignuts, so in this case in comes down to the husks of the nuts. Copied from the Smooth Hickory (Carya glabra) section; The only way to definitively separate Smooth Hickory (Carya glabra) from Red Hickory (Carya ovalis) is the husk of the nut. If you look at the link we attached, Smooth Hickory husks do not dissect from the top to bottom on all sides, so the husk remains on the husk throughout the winter and must rot away. Red Hickory husks, like Shagbark, Shellbark, and Mockernut, do have these creases/dissection lines that run from the top of the nuts to the bottom which causes them to release the nut fully as they dry out and mature.

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