Haddam Meadows Asclepii

ButterflyPR at comcast.net ButterflyPR at comcast.net
Fri Sep 21 08:02:36 EDT 2007


Thank you John and Anthony for your responses.  I think I'm leaning towards poke milkweed.  But if I can make it to Lighthouse for the Migration festival, maybe I'll bring a sample to get further opinions!

Diane

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: <jhimmel at comcast.net>
> To piggyback Anthony's excellent response:
> http://www.indri.org/cgi-bin/ksearch_cbs.cgi?b=1&k=1&t=1&u=1&d=1&all=1&sort=
> Matches&display=10&terms=asclepias
> 
> Just click on the links for the photos.
> 
> >From the CT Botanical Society website - a very good resource.
> 
> John
> 
> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
> John Himmelman
> Killingworth, CT
> jhimmel at comcast.net
> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
> 
> Visit my websites at:
>   www.johnhimmelman.com
>   www.connecticutmoths.com
>   www.ctamphibians.com
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-ctleps-l at lists.yale.edu
> [mailto:owner-ctleps-l at lists.yale.edu]On Behalf Of Anthony Zemba
> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 11:39 AM
> To: ButterflyPR at comcast.net; CT LEPS
> Subject: Re: Haddam Meadows Asclepii
> 
> 
> Hi Diane:
> Without spending too much time on the subject I can tell you that I believe
> there to be 10 species of Milkweed known from Connecticut growing without
> cultivation based on the list provided by Dowhan (1979). Three species
> appear on Connecticut's list of Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern
> species. THey are: A. purpurascens (purple m.) - state special concern, A.
> variegata (White m.) - state special concern; and A. viridiflora (Green m.)
> state endangered. A. variegata is believed to be extirpated from the state.
> A viridiflora is extremely hard to find, being a species of "woods,
> prairies, and barrens, especially in sandy soil" (Gleason and Cronquist,
> 1991) it was no doubt decimated due to development of our sand barrens
> across the state, and possible from the suppression of fire in the remaining
> remnants.  The listed species cannot be collected or possessed without a
> CTDEP permit. Excluding A. variegata and A. viridiflora, and assuming you
> can recognize the ones you l!
>  isted below, that leaves 6 known to grow in CT w/o cultivation: A.
> purpurescens (mentioned above), A. amplexicaulis, A. exaltata, A.
> quadrifolia, and A. verticillata. Leaf characteristics are as follows:
> 
> A. purpurescens - "...leaves elliptic to ovate-oblong, 10-15 cm, hairy
> beneath, broadly cuneate to a petiole 8-25 mm..."
> A. amplexicaulis - "...leaves oval or broadly oblong, 7-15 cm, obtuse or
> rounded at the summit, broadly rounded or commonly cordate at the sessile or
> subsessile base..." [which generally means the leaves appear to be clasping
> the stem]
> A. exaltata - "...leaves thin, broadly elliptic, 1-2 dm, acuminate at both
> ends, glabrous or puberulent beneath; petioles 1-2 cm..."
> A. quadrifolia - "...leaves thin, lanceolate or lance-ovate, the larger 6-12
> cm, acuminate, cuneate to a conspicuous petiole; peduncles 1-4 cm..." this
> species also often has three leaf bearing nodes, the upper and lower each
> typically bear a pair of small leaves, while the middle bears a whorl of
> four larger ones.
> A. verticillata - "...leaves very numerous in whorls of 3-6, narrowly
> linear, 2-5 cm x 1-2 mm, revolute... (Gleason and Cronquist, 1991).
> 
> so basically using the process of elimination (e.g, if the leaves aren't
> clasping the stem, you can rule out amplexicaulis, if you don't see the
> nodal differences in quadrifolia, it probably ins't four-leaved milkweed,
> etc.) you should be able to narrow it down to a couple of species quiclky
> and then by examining other characteristics such as the stem and seed pods,
> you may be able to ID your Asclepias without flowers. Good luck.
> -Anthony
> 
> Cited:
> Dowhan, Joseph J.  1979. Preliminary Checklist of the Vascular Flora of
> Connecticut (Growing without cultivation). State Geologic and Natural
> History Survey of Connecticut.
> 
> Gleason, Henry A., and Arthur Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of
> Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Edition. New York
> Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York. 910 pp.
> 
> Anthony J. Zemba
> Senior Ecologist
> Planning and Environmental Compliance
> Maguire Group Inc.
> One Court Street
> New Britain, CT 06051
> p: (860) 224-9141 ext. 236
> f: (860) 224-9147
> Azemba at MaguireGroup.com
> 
> 
> 
> >>> <ButterflyPR at comcast.net> 9/19/2007 9:41 PM >>>
> Stopped by Haddam Meadows this afternoon to get milkweed for my remaining
> caterpillars.  Yes, I still have early instar Monarch caterpillars!  I was
> keeping milkweed in the refrigerator for what I thought were my last
> caterpillars, when I discovered eggs...and they hatched after being
> refrigerated for several days!
> 
> Which leads me to a milkweed question.  I recognize common milkweed
> (a.syriaca), butterflyweed (a. tuberosa), and swamp milkweed (a.incarnata),
> but I'm not sure about some of the milkweed I've been getting lately.  The
> leaves are definitely thinner and pointier than the common milkweed, but the
> overall plant seems thinner than most of the swamp milkweed I've seen.  I
> haven't seen any of it flowering or making pods, so I can't ID it that way.
> Any thoughts?
> 
> Anyway, I did find one Monarch egg, but I decided to leave it there!  I saw
> four adult Monarchs, and finally tagged one of them when I remembered I had
> the tags in the van!  Also saw a couple of little low-flying orange-brown
> skippers with definite black on the upper side of their wings.  Assuming
> they were Least.  And one worn Silver-Spotted Skipper, and two Pearl
> Crescents.  And a few Cabbage Whites.  All of these were gathered in a
> little triangle of flowers at the end of the loop, towards the dam.  I did
> see one other brown butterfly, but it disappeared into the far field to
> quickly to identify--it was definitely lighter colored than a Red Admiral
> and seemed to be flying like a Brown...
> 
> Diane
> 


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