Fort Liberty Series – Green Arrow Arum

 Note from the Author: New wild plant!

 

 

Green Arrow Arum is related to more well known Aroids such as Elephant Ear (Taro), Calocasia and Alocasia.

 

Common Name: Green Arrow Arum

 

Other Common Names: Tuckahoe

 

Botanical Family: Araceae (The Arum Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Peltandra virginica

 

Description & Habitat:

          Green Arrow Arum is a native perennial that is most commonly found in wet areas near the shoreline or in bogs and areas that have periodic flooding. It is most commonly identified by its arrow shaped leaves which resemble arrowheads roughly speaking. Green Arrow Arum grows from a large deeply rooted or submerged rhizome and thus are very tolerant of wet and low-oxygen water conditions. In the northern range of this plant’s range they are known to be deciduous but in the southern ranges they are semi evergreen if not fully evergreen. The flowers of this plant are called a Spadix, which consists of a spike of very densely packed miniature flowers and a Spathe, which is a form of bract that forms a sheathe to enclose the spadix.

 

Special Toxicity Note:  

          This plant does contain calcium oxalate crystals which make it unpalatable raw.

 

When & What to Harvest:

          It is referenced in several credible publications that Native Americans used most of the parts of this plant as a food. While the process for preparation is unclear, the Rhizome at the least was harvested cooked for hours to destroy the Oxalate crystals. In a few historical references the fully cooked root is said to taste like a potato.

 

Related Plants:

          There are many native Aroids, as well as non-native ones grown as house plants.

 

Recipe:

          Due to the unclear nature of information regarding how to cook the roots of this plant, I am going to err on the side of caution and not list any of the recipes I’ve seen.

 

 

Additional Information: (If applicable)

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/peltandra-virginica/

 

Where to get Seed or Bare Root Plants:

https://www.prairiemoon.com/peltandra-virginica-arrow-arum

 

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but my booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

 

Spring Plants

Basil, Sweet Genovese

Pepper, Ghost (hot!!, 1-1.2 million SHU)

Pepper, Carolina Reaper (hot!!! 1.5-2.2 million SHU)

Tomato, Lemon Cherry

Tomato, Chocolate Cherry

Tomato, Midnight Snack

Tomato, Black Krim

Tomato, Lemon Boy

 

Summer Plants

Black Eyed Susan, Denver Daisy

Amaranth, tricolor

Anise-Hyssop, Arizona Sandstone

Dahlia, Ruby Black Forest

Tobacco Flower, Saratoga Purple Bicolor

Cotton, Nankeen

 

Garden Supply

Live Mushroom Compost, 1 Gallon

Live Mushroom Compost, 3 Gallon

 

Plants Coming Soon:

Spineless Prickly Pear

-Others TBA-

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (1): Spearmint

 

With all of the updates, blog posts, community announcements and the main topic handled remember that Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’s meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is May 21^st at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm, or at North South Brewing on the same day between 1:00 and 5:00pm

Heavenly Bamboo

 Note from the Author: This was supposed to be posted last week and something went wrong so here it is.

 

 

This 'mini forest' is how Nandina can crowd out native species.

This was what was on the other side of that cement walk in the picture above, a Nandina Jail break.

A closeup of the bark on the plant's trunk, only the foliage makes it look passingly like Bamboo.

The bright berries are pretty but dangerous.

Common Name: Heavenly Bamboo

 

Other Common Names: Sacred Bamboo

 

Botanical Family: Berberidaeae (The Barberry Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Nandina domestica

 

Description & Habitat: Heavenly Bamboo is a nonnative evergreen perennial that was brought over to the United States in in the early 1800s. Since then as with a lot of plants that were not properly evaluated for invasive traits Heavenly bamboo has proven it is anything but heavenly. By the way, Heavenly Bamboo isn’t a true Bamboo it is in the Barberry Family and the word ‘nadina’ is the Latin form of the Japanese name for this plant ‘nanten’ while the specific epithet ‘domestica’ means domesticated or of a home site. Heavenly Bamboo is a non-native as its original range was central and southern China and Japan. Now if you know anything about Barberries, you know they can be literal and figurative pains in the rear end. Barberries are often best identified by the fact their roots once you scrape the skin off have a bright yellow coloration and this is due to high concentrations of Berberine which is a bright yellow nitrogen-containing compound that acts a natural defense against pests and disease. Heavenly Bamboo, if you scrape off the root bark has yellow roots for the same reason as other members of the Barberry Family. In general Heavenly Bamboo is well regarded for its evergreen foliage, interesting bark on its trunks and its flowers and berries. The use of Nandina fronds and berries in holiday dried arrangements is a common thing around the region and they definitely are a great alternative if you cannot get Holly.  Fortunately, the newer hybrids such as Obsession, Blush Pink, Flirt, Lemon-Lime, Cool Glow, Tuskin Flame and, Twilight have all been bred and selected to not have the two biggest problems with Nandina. This is where this article takes a turn, because I now have to talk about the bad side of Heavenly Bamboo. Firstly, a distinction has to be made, older varieties like the ones in the included photographs are of the old types, and may not even have a specific variety. Older Heavenly Bamboo installations can be found all over Fayetteville and some of them may even be wild types that were planted or escaped and formed their own colony. Older varieties can aggressively sucker and produce large numbers of offsets allowing them to crowd out competition. This problem alone is why Heavenly Bamboo is classified as an Invasive plant by numerous groups in North Carolina. The berries these Nadina’s produce are viable and their bright color makes them a tempting snack to animals, birds and small children. The problem is that they are highly toxic to birds, cats, dogs and livestock. Not even Pigs can eat the berries which should give you more than enough reason to not plant old school Nandinas nor allow existing stands of them to remain. The dangerous ingredient in question is Hydrogen Cyanide, and some of you who read this undoubtedly know how bad that is. Nandinas are responsible for killing a lot of North American Songbirds who mistook their berries for an easy meal and Cedar Waxwings were hit noticeably hard. The odd balance there is that when Heavenly Bamboo blooms in spring the pretty flowers are often crawling with various types of bees because the bees are immune to the poison or, the poison is not present in the nectar and pollen. I am not sure this is an acceptable tradeoff for a plant that can kill wild birds and also can easily escape captivity. The good news is that modern hybrids have been selected and bred not to produce berries however the stability of that breeding and selection under field conditions is still worthy of debate because; nature finds a way. Now personally, I have a few of the old school Nandinas that were planted on the property by my Great Grand Parents in the late 70’s if not early 80’s. Before any of you get the pitchforks and torches out over that revelation, I cut off and dispose of the berries so songbirds aren’t harmed and also the population of Nandinas has been reduced to two specimens that are managed. They haven’t gone colonial and honestly this works for me but I also understand not everyone will bother to undertake this kind of management which also includes making sure there are alternate food sources for wild birds that feed on berries in the property I own. It’s more work than you might expect but having a specimen or two to use as a cautionary tale is how we got this article. As a final note for this post, you will see Nandinas sold in nurseries and garden centers, these are usually hybrids selected to be less of a problem. Always check the tag to see what variety you are getting and if it’s not a cultivar you recognize or it just says Nandina domestica don’t buy it.

 

Special Toxicity Note:  All parts of this plant are inedible and toxic due to a compound called Hydrogen Cyanide.

 

 

When & What to Harvest: When the berries ripen and have a good red color you can harvest them for dried arrangements along with the foliage but you might have to spray them with something like Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane to preserve them. Do NOT eat any part of this plant.

 

Related Plants: There are many hybrids of this plant that have selectively bred out the bad traits…in theory.

 

Recipe:

-None, this plant is toxic if eaten.

 

 

Additional Information: (If applicable)

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/nandina-domestica/

 

Where to get Seed or Bare Root Plants:

Unfortunately you can still find hybrids of this plant at garden centers and nurseries.

 

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but my booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

 

Spring Plants:

Elephant Garlic

Soft Neck Garlic

Egyptian Walking Onion

Arugula, Astro

Salad Mix

Kale-ypso Mix

Lettuce, Romaine Parris Island

Corn, Glass Gem

 

Plants Coming Soon:

Yellow Onions

Spineless Prickly Pear

Formosa Lilies

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (1): Black Rabbit’s Foot Fern

 

Meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is February 28^th at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm. If you can’t make it to the City Market come on down to the North South Brewery Market which is at 304 Williams Street (Right off West Russel Street), between 1pm and 5pm every Saturday.

 

Creeping Prickly Pear

 

 

This specimen was spotted during the Wild Harvest Tour out in Camden NC.

 

 

 

Common Name: Creeping Prickly Pear

 

Other Common Names: ‘Lawn Peyote’ (incorrectly) but also, Devil’s Tongue, Eastern Prickly Pear cactus, Low Prickly Pear, Smooth Prickly Pear and, Spreading Prickly Pear.

 

Botanical Family: Cactaceae (The Cactus Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Opuntia humifusa

 

Description & Habitat: Eastern Prickly pear is commonly found all over the Southeastern United States. While its habitat can vary as it can be found in vacant lots, in forests, as part of intentional landscaping and just growing wild it always prefers soil that has excellent drainage. You are more likely to find this plant growing prostrate against the ground in the wild which is why its specific epithet ‘humifusa’ means prostrate or sprawling referring to its wild growth habit. The name Opuntia is a combination of the name of a Greek town called Opus where a similar plant grows and ‘punti’ which means spined. In general you can identify this plant as it will always have waxy green pads that are roughly teardrop shaped and it is covered with a variety of spines of two types, the big ones are simply called spines and the small fine ones called Glochids (Glo-kids). Prickly Pears long ago evolved to have no leaves in the normal sense as the closest thing they have are the spines and glochids and the small temporary leaf-like structures that appear on new pads. The pads themselves are just heavily modified stems that have evolved to make these plants highly resistant to arid environments.

 

When & What to Harvest: There are two things that you would want to harvest here, firstly are the pads which are called Nopales if fully intact, and Nopalitos after the skin and spines are removed or cooked off. The fruit of this plant are called Tuna or Nostle (from Nahuatl). Typically you would harvest the pads as needed, and the fruit is ready for harvest in mid to late summer once it is uniformly colored a rose-red.

 

Non-Dangerous Lookalikes:  A lot of cacti have the same basic features but Prickly Pears are very specific in form and have very few other cacti that look like them.

 

Related Dangerous Species:  None, the Prickly Pears are all relatively safe.

 

Recipe:  Prickly Pear Jelly

 

Ingredients:

 

4 cups cactus fruit juice

½ cup lemon juice

5 cups sugar

2 packages of pectin

 

Directions:

1. Put the juices in a large pot and bring to a full boil.

2. Add the sugar and pectin.

3. Boil until the mixture becomes gel-like in consistency.

4. Pour the mix unto warm sterilized jars and seal them tightly.

5. Allow the jars to cool at room temperature before putting them away in your pantry.

 

 

 

Additional Information: (If applicable)

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/opuntia-humifusa/

 

 

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but my booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

 

For those of you wondering what plants are going to be at the market this weekend here is the list.

 

Fresh Foods:

Soup Kit – Parsnip

Soup Kit – Turnip

Turnips

Parsnips

Onions

Celery

Potatoes

Garlic Bulbs

Oyster Mushrooms

 

Soil Amendment Products:

Carolina Gold, Live Mushroom Compost – 18 Gallon Tote*

Carolina Gold, Live Mushroom Compost – 3 Gallon Bag

Carolina Gold, Live Mushroom Compost – 1 Gallon Bag

Carolina Gold, Enhanced Potting Soil – 1 Gallon Bag

 

Houseplants:

Abutilon

Aloe, American

Begonia, Sindbad

Cuban Oregano, Large Leaf

Hoan Ngoc

Pothos, Cebu Blue

Rose Campion

Selaginella

Solanum uleanum

Sorrel, Raspberry Dressing

Swiss Cheese Plant

 

 

*The 18 gallon tote is by special order only and is delivered to any address within the Fayetteville city area.

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (-): [The channel is on Hiatus until 2025]

 

Meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is January 18^th at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm.