I found myself in a pocket of beech trees one day and took a few photos. Beech and oak and a few shrubs are all we have for colorful foliage now.
American beeches (Fagus grandifolia) have great fall color that starts when maples, birches, and others are finishing.
Beech colors don’t last long though, and before you know it the leaves turn brown and curl. Like some oak leaves most beech leaves will stay on the younger trees through winter, rattling in the wind. Some believe that the beech hangs onto its dry leaves to hide its young buds from browsing animals.
Some shrubs still have good color too, like these burning bushes (Euonymus alatus) that grow in great long swaths along the river. They’re beautiful, but also one of the most invasive shrubs in the state. They grow in such impenetrable thickets that native plants can’t get a start. Another name for this one is winged euonymus and you are not allowed to sell it, import it into, or plant it in New Hampshire.
This is what makes the burning bush so invasive. Birds love its fruit and spread it far and wide. Introduced in the United States from Asia in 1860 as a garden ornamental, it is now present in 25 states and parts of Canada.
Another invasive plant is Chinese Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus.), It is a vine so tough that it can strangle young trees and topple older ones by growing in and adding a lot of weight to their crowns. Burning bushes and Chinese bittersweet are in the same family and both are very invasive. The bittersweet was introduced in 1879 and has made it as far west as the Rocky Mountains, as far south as Louisiana, and north to Maine. There is an American species of bittersweet (Celastrus scandens ) and the two plants hybridize naturally, making eradication close to impossible.
Usually deer will come along and chomp the entire head of berries from a Jack in the pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum ) stem, but in this case it looks like both the deer and birds have shunned these examples. They look a little deformed so maybe the birds and animals know something about them that I don’t. A similar plant, also in the arum family, is called lords and ladies in the U.K.
Our native holly that is called winterberry (Ilex verticillata) looks nothing like the evergreen hollies we grow in our gardens. In fact for most of the year it is unremarkable and if you weren’t looking for it you wouldn’t pay any attention to it. Even its tiny flowers are hard to see, but in autumn after the leaves have fallen this plant announces its presence with a loud, red berried shout. Birds don’t eat these berries until very late in winter because they have a low fat content, so many people cut the branches and bring them inside for the holidays. I like to see them against the snowy background.
We’ve had both frosts and freezes here now so I took my camera out one icy morning to gather the evidence.
Actually, the evidence of frosts and freezes is everywhere you look, as this contorted fern frond shows.
This helianthus didn’t even have time to drop its petals before being flash frozen.
One frosty morning even though the Ashuelot River was steaming it still looked dark and cold. It won’t be long before ice forms along its shores and slowly creeps toward its middle.
If months were marked by colors, November in New England would be colored gray. ~Madeleine M. Kunin
Thanks for coming by.
[…] a showstopper! I read in the blog New Hampshire Garden Solutions, that due to low fat content, birds may not have these berries at the top of their menu in the […]
Hi Allen, interesting that Jack-in-the-pulpit refers to a different plant there than here – but presumably the name originated here in England? Your Arisaema triphyllum is very similar looking to our Arum maculatum. D
I’m not sure where the name originated Dave, but Native Americans have used the plant for centuries, so it appears that one plant evolved in North America and another similar plant evolved in Europe. If you look at the two side by side you can see that they have quite obvious differences, even though they’re close relatives.
Beech trees are looking the same here, too. Actually, it’s been windy and many of those beautiful autumn leaves are on the ground now…
Same here. I’ve been giving up some of my hiking time to raking.
Sorry to say we have a Burning Bush. I would get rid of it but the spouse objects. Strawberrybush is a great substitute, and a member of the same genus. Though it is native to North America, I think that I have seen it only in European gardens.
Everybody has a burning bush! I have two of them in my yard and we see them everywhere here, so I think the ban on them came a little late to do any real good. The strawberry bush would make a great replacement, but it isn’t hardly ever heard of. Maybe nurseries need to promote it more.
The beeches have such a pure yellow color. Their season has long been my favorite. Maybe partly because it runs so late.
I like beeches too. The woods would be very different without them.
Nice post! Looks much like Michigan with lots of yellow leaves this year. Even on the many cloudy days we have had, the beech trees make it look like a bit of sunshine. Interesting info on the bittersweet, I see quite a bit of it and never know if it is the good kind or bad. Thanks, Allen.
Thanks Chris,
The easiest way to teel American from Oriental bittersweet is to look at where the berries grow. On Oriental bittersweet they grow all along the vine and on American bittersweet they grow only at the ends of the branches.
I’ll just add another round of applause to the foregoing comments.
Thanks!
Beautiful photographs! We have Euonymus europaeus over here which is very pretty but I have never noticed the birds eating the berries. The bushes never look as if the birds have feasted on them.
Thanks! I’m not familiar with Euonymus europaeus so I Googled it and am surprised to see that it looks a lot like ours. I’m surprised that the birds don’t eat thos berries-our birds love them.
A very artistic post this time. Your photos are lovely. It’s interesting that Euonymus is so invasive there. I don’t see it in the woods here, just home landscaping. We have mostly buck thorn and Amur maple as primary invasives in the woods.
Thanks Sue. I’m surprised the euonymus hasn’t made it there yet. You’re lucky. Maybe the state restricted it early enough to matter. We have a lot of buck thorn here too, but I don’t hear anywhere near as much about it.
I sure can’t pick any favorites here. What a wonderful hike!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
On top of all the great information, the photos are wonderful! I can’t pick a favorite, they’re all good.
Thanks Jerry!
Another beautiful post, Allen. 🙂
Thanks!
Oh I so enjoyed this little trip back home! Thank you!
You’re welcome! It’s probably a little warmer where you are!
yes it is! 76 to be exact!
Your posting serves to remind me how early winter comes in New England. Still, you manage to find bits of color and the colder weather is probably tolerable if you dress up. I really liked the almost abstract quality of your last photo and the one with the ice crystals and the twisted fern image was wonderful.
Thanks Mike. i don’t mind the cold once I get used to it, and there really is still a lot of color out there, so it’s worth getting used to. I don’t know what it is about this time of year but I get in a kind of abstract frame of mind, I guess, and start looking at things a little differently. Just bear with me-it’ll pass!
I love the bright berries. Our native holly is evergreen and the berries more sparse. I have lords and ladies growing in a shady pert of my garden, I know it’s a weed but I like it so I leave it. So far the frosts haven’t reached us and it is very mild for November but the rain hasn’t stopped which is making any decent walks difficult. At least when the freeze comes I can get out 🙂
I’ll have to look up your holly. I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen it. I like the berries too but when you start doing the math on the thousands of them on each plant becoming new plants, it can get a little scary. I know a lot of people who grow Jack in the pulpit in their gardens. It can be a real show stopper! I know what you mean about the rain. I think it can make outdoor types a little stir crazy after a day or two of it.
great pictures, and you know everything you are looking at, I couldn’t name one. I am not complaining about me or you. Just defining the difference as I see it. When I walk today I will think of what you know and I don’t except for one similarity, we both enjoy it all.
Thank you. I don’t know everything that I’m looking at but my grandmother had me in the woods at an early age, teaching me what she knew about plants, so I was fortunate in that area. I think the important thing is to simply enjoy it all and not worry about having to categorize it. I was outside a while ago-you’re in for a cool walk!
Loved the photo of the Ashuelot River. When we lived in Keene, we loved walking in the park downtown and looking at the falls.
Thanks! Ashuelot park is one of my favorite places. I go there often too.
It’s too bad both of those species are so invasive since they put on such a beautiful show in the fall. I’ve always like the colors of the bittersweet berries. Like the helianthus, I’m not ready for winter. I saw snow squalls yesterday in Swanzey….too early for me!!!!
I know what you mean Laura-many plants that are really beautiful are also very invasive, but we never seem to find that out until it’s too late. You would think that we could study the plants in their native habitats before we import them, but we don’t seem to. I saw snow flurries yesterday too and realized that I didn’t want it to be winter yet!