Summer is speeding by! Luckily, John’s spry enough to keep up. This week, we take a deep dive into early/mid-summer fruits, as well as examining butterflies and the end of birdsong season.
Please note as schools let out for the summer, we become more and more hungry for reports for our Phenology Talkbacks segment. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with your observations, nature tales and insights! Get in touch with me (smitchell@kaxe.org), John Latimer (jlatimer@kaxe.org), or text "phenology" to 218-326-1234.
A dry June
It's been a hot and dry month! 2023 is currently ranked in the top three driest Junes in John’s record. John recorded a measly 0.75 inches of rain over the month, which is normally the rainiest month of the summer.
However, different areas can have vastly different rainfall: John’s friend Dallas in Akeley got 3.5 inches of rain in 72 hours. This inundation doesn’t do much for the plants, however: when it rains that hard and fast, most of the moisture runs off into the swamps and rivers. “It’s good for the swamps and rivers,” John said, “But it’s sort of bad for the ground because if you dig down a foot in your garden right now, I guarantee to you that soil will be dry. Powdery dry.”
This hot, dry weather has accelerated plant development. John has noticed many plants that are ahead of their typical schedule, notably common mullein (8 days early) and upright bindweed (8 days early). This summer sprint is particularly impressive when you recall that many of these plants were delayed in emerging due to the heavy snow and cold weather in April.
Who’s that plant?
While listening to John, you may find yourself wondering, “What does a common mullein look like? What about an upright bindweed?” These are great questions to have, and luckily, John answers them.
I first recognized common mullein by its fuzzy, soft leaves, which grow in a rosette (like a dandelion or agave- their leaves emerge close to the soil and from a central location). Common mullein is also descriptively called “emergency toilet paper” due to the leaves’ size and felt-like softness. (Some sources, however, say the small hairs can cause irritation if used in a delicate area.) During its first year of growth, the mullein contents itself with growing many strong, healthy leaves and storing as much energy as possible.
In its second year, it uses those stored resources to send up a flower stalk: these can grow up to 10 feet! Initially, these stalks are recognizable by their straight growth, sage-green color, and yellow blossoms. They remain upright well into the fall, and the stalk turns brown or tan as it ages.
Low bindweed (and its cousin, the hedge bindweed) are often mistaken for morning glories due to their similar flower shape. Bindweeds and morning glories both have large 2-2.5-inch trumpet-shaped flowers with white or pink petals fused together. However, morning glories don’t grow in Northern Minnesota, except where people have intentionally planted them. There’s also a handy trick for telling them apart: morning glories have heart-shaped leaves, while bindweeds have arrow-head or lance-shaped leaves.
The low bindweed (also known as the upright bindweed) grows 10-12 inches tall and produces one or two white flowers. The hedge bindweed (or vining bindweed) will climb up other plants, poles, or walls, wrapping its stem around the other surface as it climbs and producing many flowers. John compares the buds to paper lanterns!
Non-edible fruits
As you drive along, you may spot red elderberry bushes covered in huge clusters of bright red berries. While they may look tasty, you don’t want to go sampling these berries: they contain cyanogenic glycosides (compounds that produce cyanide). This can be a bit confusing for people because black elderberries are used to create elderberry wines and jams. Unfortunately, black elderberries don’t grow in Northern Minnesota.
In his report, John tells the story of one person who ate a quarter cup of dried red elderberries. After the first few, her body rebelled and she couldn’t make herself eat any more of the berries raw, so she put them in oatmeal and forced them down that way. After three hours, she had her first bout of nausea, and 36 hours (about one and a half days) of gastric distress followed. John did not specify why she chose to do this.
With that cautionary tale in mind, let’s all agree to listen to our bodies when they tell us to Stop Eating That Thing!
The cyanide-producing compounds in red elderberries are concentrated in the skin and seeds, so you could separate those out and cook down the juice into jelly. However, John heard from one person who did this that the jelly tasted awful (though it looked great). Don’t' be afraid the berries will go to waste, though: the bears and birds don’t mind a wee bit of cyanide with their fruit and will gobble them down with glee!
Another berry you wouldn’t want to eat is the baneberry. If you’re familiar with Old English, you’ll recognize “bane” as something that causes death. This alone would suggest that eating a “baneberry” might not be good for you, and the science backs that up! These fruits contain sedatives that act on the heart, causing nausea, delirium, abdominal cramps, and potentially death.
John says, “They recommend you don’t eat more than six berries, but given all the contraindicators there, I don’t think I’d eat one berry of the baneberries.” Good advice, John!
Sidenote: Please enjoy this amazing article depicting some old-timey science exploits.
Edible fruits
If you still want to go get a woodland snack, here are a few safe options! Dwarf raspberries are fruiting: look for their 6-10 inch tall canes with only one or two berries per plant. These fruits look very similar to the more common red raspberries and share their delightful flavor!
Also look for Juneberries, though you’ll rarely find many berries at once. The berries ripen asynchronously, so it’s easy for birds to strip bushes of ripe fruits. If you’re looking to make a pie, be sure to protect the shrub with netting. If you’re like me and lack the attention span for making a pie, enjoy the free snacks as they ripen!
Swamp red currants are ripe, though John referred to them as “skunky” and unpleasant. “I don’t believe that they’re poisonous because I didn’t have any side effects,” he clarified, but he’s still unlikely to go snacking on any more of them. These berries are found on low ground, often close to the dwarf red raspberry discussed above. They are round single berries with insignificant spines.
Strawberries are a much tastier option, in my opinion! They are ripe and one of the most delicious fruits of the season- if you can find them. The wild ones are so small! You can also find blueberries ripening in a few patches, so keep an eye out for the first blueberries over the next few weeks.
John also mentioned that Canada mayflowers, nannyberries, black chokeberries, and chokecherriesare all ripening, though he did not specify their edibility. I've added links for those interested.
Butterflies
When he’s not chowing down on berries, John is feasting his eyes on butterflies. There are lots of monarchs flying around, as well as caterpillars covering the milkweeds. They are a joy to see: go looking for them this week if you have the chance!
John is also seeing northern pearly-eyes and Canada tiger swallowtails flitting about. (Canada tiger swallowtails are the large yellow and black ones, and the northern pearly-eyes are brown/tan with large dark eye spots.)
The white admiral butterfly is also present in good numbers. These are black butterflies with vibrant white bands on their wings. The white stripes look like parentheses that meet at the hind wings. They are migratory butterflies that fly south in winter and returning much later in spring than the monarchs.
Depending on your area, you may see huge numbers of the European skipper butterflies. On a walk in Nevis, John’s friend Dallas counted over 700 individuals! Needless to say, this dwarfs the number of native butterflies in the area. The incredible overpopulation of these butterflies caused one of John’s friends, an avid butterfly enthusiast, to give up on counting butterflies altogether.
Bye bye birdsong
John ends the report by reminding us to savor the morning bird choruses, which will greatly decrease in July. John has been enjoying music courtesy of his local Hermit Thrushes and Veeries while he can. Some birds just cease singing as their young become more independent and enforcing territorial boundaries becomes less important. Others, like the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, will begin their migration south. Enjoy them while they’re here!
That does it for this week! For more phenology, subscribe to our Season Watch Newsletter or visit the Season Watch Facebook page.
Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
