Hearts A Bustin'
“ hearts a-bustin’ with love”
Strawberry- Bush
Euonymus americanus
This is a shy, inconspicuous shrub of the staff-tree family that grows in rich woods in altitudes up to 3500 feet. Usually it grows 2 to 8 feet tall with green or pale gray twigs with opposite veined green leaves that are 1 ½ to 3 inches long. We first noticed it on the Gold Branch trail off of Lower Roswell Road. Later, more careful, observation revealed its presence on practically all of the trails around Roswell, including the Autry Mill Preserve and the Big Tree Preserve trails.
Small, greenish-purple flowers appear in May and June. They have five joined petals with rounded ends. In the center of these petals is a small white flower with five much smaller, sharp pointed petals. This center portion of the flower matures and drops the white petals after about 30 days, leaving a small dark, round berry in the center. This berry-like pod continues to grow, develops five indented grooves and turns a darker shade of green. The grooves become more pronounced and the pod takes on a brownish tint. At this stage the pod may be ½ to ¾ inch in diameter and appears to be dry and mature, with a rough bumpy surface with a rusty red color.
At about three months of age, in late August or September, the pod breaks open at the five indentations; the five sections fold back, exposing five bright glossy- red (or orange) seeds. The folded back covers are also colored red on their inside, now exposed. The colorful seeds are attractive to the birds and are soon dropped to the ground or carried away. The seed pod fades from red to a rusty brown color before dropping to the ground.
A ranger at the Island Ford trail advised that he knew of no Hearts a’bustin on that trail. We found none as we hiked the trail until we sat down to eat lunch at the picnic table at the end of the trail. Here I noticed a large shrub in bloom growing in the middle of a cluster of Mountain Laurel about twenty feet from where we were sitting. As mentioned earlier, this is a shy, inconspicuous shrub that is easily overlooked except in its final stage when the seed pod has burst and its brilliant contents exposed.
The manager of the Big Tree Preserve strives to maintain the area free of foreign or intrusive plants. As a part of this program he has rescued a large variety of native flowers and shrubs and transplanted them in this preserve, including many Hearts a’ bustin, Lady Slippers and Purple Coneflowers.
Strawberry- Bush
Euonymus americanus
This is a shy, inconspicuous shrub of the staff-tree family that grows in rich woods in altitudes up to 3500 feet. Usually it grows 2 to 8 feet tall with green or pale gray twigs with opposite veined green leaves that are 1 ½ to 3 inches long. We first noticed it on the Gold Branch trail off of Lower Roswell Road. Later, more careful, observation revealed its presence on practically all of the trails around Roswell, including the Autry Mill Preserve and the Big Tree Preserve trails.
Small, greenish-purple flowers appear in May and June. They have five joined petals with rounded ends. In the center of these petals is a small white flower with five much smaller, sharp pointed petals. This center portion of the flower matures and drops the white petals after about 30 days, leaving a small dark, round berry in the center. This berry-like pod continues to grow, develops five indented grooves and turns a darker shade of green. The grooves become more pronounced and the pod takes on a brownish tint. At this stage the pod may be ½ to ¾ inch in diameter and appears to be dry and mature, with a rough bumpy surface with a rusty red color.
At about three months of age, in late August or September, the pod breaks open at the five indentations; the five sections fold back, exposing five bright glossy- red (or orange) seeds. The folded back covers are also colored red on their inside, now exposed. The colorful seeds are attractive to the birds and are soon dropped to the ground or carried away. The seed pod fades from red to a rusty brown color before dropping to the ground.
A ranger at the Island Ford trail advised that he knew of no Hearts a’bustin on that trail. We found none as we hiked the trail until we sat down to eat lunch at the picnic table at the end of the trail. Here I noticed a large shrub in bloom growing in the middle of a cluster of Mountain Laurel about twenty feet from where we were sitting. As mentioned earlier, this is a shy, inconspicuous shrub that is easily overlooked except in its final stage when the seed pod has burst and its brilliant contents exposed.
The manager of the Big Tree Preserve strives to maintain the area free of foreign or intrusive plants. As a part of this program he has rescued a large variety of native flowers and shrubs and transplanted them in this preserve, including many Hearts a’ bustin, Lady Slippers and Purple Coneflowers.
posted by Jeremiah | 9:51 PM
1 Comments:
Would love to see this!!!!
The other Judie Dyer
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