Monday, August 10, 2009

Elderberry and Pigweed

The elderberry is a tall, common shrub of roadsides and forest margins. Throughout July, the plants were crowned with broad clusters of small, white, fragrant flowers. Now the flowers, pollinated by honey bees and other insect pollinators, are giving way to prolific bunches of berries. In the photo, the elder berry shows white flowers as well as green and dark purple berries. The ripe berries will darken and turn black in color. Elderberry is one of the flowering plants that go a long way toward supporting wildlife. The plant is browsed by deer. The berries are eaten by rabbits, fox, and squirrels. At least 25 species of birds including indigo bunting, bluebird, catbird, mockingbird, brown thrasher, phoebe, robin, dove, quail, turkey, and woodpeckers regularly eat the fruit of the elder berry plant. The elderberries are used to make pies, preserves, and wine.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported yesterday that hundreds of thousands of acres of soybean and cotton fields in the Mid-South have been infested by an herbicide-resistant strain of a common weed, Palmer pigweed. The pigweed is thriving in the presence of the most commonly used chemical herbicide, glyphosate, which is commonly sold under the trade name Roundup. Soybeans, cotton, and other plants have been genetically engineered to withstand glyphosate, allowing the weed killer to be sprayed directly on the crops. The herbicide-resistant pigweed can’t be controlled by glyphosate, so farmers are being required to return to labor-intensive hand chopping of the weed. We find in agriculture that chemical resistance commonly occurs. That has been the case with beekeeping, as strains of miticide-resistant mites replaced the first mites to enter this country. The beekeepers are having to adjust their mite control tactics; now the row-crop farmers will have to do the same.
--Richard

7 comments:

  1. I just found your blog and enjoyed very much reading about the different animals and birds that feast on the elderberries. I may try to plant one here in a shady spot (it's very dry here). Do you know if bees pollinate pigweed? I am curious to know, as the honey may then help protect against allergy to pigweed, which is flowering profusely here in the southwest right now.
    Thank you!
    Diana

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  2. Diana,
    I have observed honey bees foraging pigweed at times. The plant does not seem to be as attractive to the bees as cotton and soybeans that bloom here in the Arkansas Delta at the same time, however. There are a number of species of pigweed across the United States and Canada. Tumbleweed, which grows in the Southwest US, is a pigweed. Pigweeds are often known by the name “amaranth.” I have another posting involving pigweed, which includes a photo of the plant. It is dated May 7, 2010. This blog is searchable; just type “pigweed” in the search block. Good health to you.
    --Richard

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  3. Warning the elderberry pic is not elderberry but a poisonus plant .please do not eat it.

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  4. Elderberry and poke salad are often mistaken. However, elderberry has a red-colored stem in the mature plants. This plant is elderberry. Poke salad is considered mildly poisonous, but it is often mixed with other salad greens and cooked. Greens are considered both a staple and a delicacy in the South. I have eaten both elderberry and poke salad. Thank you for your concern.
    --Richard

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  5. That's definitely pokeweed.
    Great in salads with proper preparation (young leaves with boiling water changed to rinse toxins). You can peel the stems to do the same thing, but all parts start out toxic.
    Elderberries (Sambucus) are in the Honeysuckle family. Their berries cluster more. Also, every part of the elder besides the flowers and fruit is poisonous.
    I absolutely love your blog and subscribe, but this is a serious safety issue for other people. Please look them both up.

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  6. Thank you, readers,
    I agree; it appears that my posted picture is common pokeweed, Phytolacca americana. I had identified it as common elderberry, Sambucus canadensis. There are good pictures and descriptions of the plants in Weeds of the Northeast by Uva, Neal, and DiTomaso, 1997, and in Trees, Shrubs, & Vines of Arkansas by Carl G. Hunter, 2004. I appreciate your concerns, especially with the toxic nature of pokeweed.
    --Richard

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  7. I've witnessed sweetie bees forage lamb's-quarter occasionally. The guarani plant doesn't appear to be since popular with the particular bees because 100 % cotton and also soybeans which blossom in the actual North Dakota Delta concurrently, nevertheless. There are numerous regarding varieties of lamb's-quarter over the Usa and also Europe. Amaranths albs, that increases inside the South west All of us, can be a lamb's-quarter.

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    hvac schools Arkansas

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