Phil Syphrit, conifer gardener at Cornell Plantations, will be leading a walking tour tomorrow (Saturday, February 1, 1:00 pm) through Plantations’ unique conifer collection. In anticipation of this special tour, CALS Notes features this fascinating guest post penned by Phil about the collection…
One of the very earliest curated gardens at Cornell Plantations is what is now called Conifer Slope. Originally planted in the 1940’s, by 2006 the slope had become a tangle of overgrown invasive woody plants due to many years of neglect. That year several new trees were planted on the westward flank of the slope – including pine, spruce, Japanese umbrella pine, Dawn Redwood, different species of redbud and smoke bush – capping one of the key phases in reclaiming Plantations’ conifer collection.
As part of this reclamation effort, several very large box elders were removed. These trees had been so swallowed by climbing vine on their downhill sides that they were heavily leaning over the walkway that ran along the slope’s crest, making them both an eyesore and a hazard.
Their stumps, however, were left behind for a few interesting reasons. First, the roots of these trees were largely holding the hillside together. Until new trees could be planted and have a few years to grow in, erosion was a big concern. Thus, leaving the old stumps and roots in place helped to prevent such erosion.
Second, by leaving these stumps behind to slowly rot and decay, we realized we would give faculty and students the chance to see and study the process of decay and thereby contribute to Cornell Plantations’ educational mission. What fungi would form on these stumps? How long would it take for them to decompose completely? These and similar questions were on my mind as we were doing the cutting and removing of the trees.
I was reminded of all of this recently when I was on that hillside pruning some of the redbuds we planted then, which are now large enough that they shade and decorate the upper walkway. While I was there, Kathie Hodge, an associate professor of mycology and keeper of the Cornell Mushroom Blog, walked by and asked me specifically about the tree stumps, which had had such nice fungi growing on them during the summer. An example can be seen in the photo above of a beautiful, wood-eating fungus called the Dryad’s saddle or Polyporus squamosus.
Kathie and I spoke for several minutes about the history I’ve just described and she expressed her gratitude that we’d left the stumps behind for the educational value they’ve provided ever since. She also commented on some Juniperus (eastern red cedar) growing nearby. These particular Junipers often get heavy infestations of cedar apple rust, an interesting fungal disease.
“Don’t do anything to those,” she said.*
George Hudler, professor of plant pathology and teacher of the popular course Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds, has often said the very same thing.
It is very gratifying when long-term plans come to fulfillment, especially when those plans are actually relatively simple, but require time and patience. By having the foresight to leave tree stumps behind, Plantations has helped more than one professor and student have ready access to living materials to observe and study. Helping accomplish such fundamental goals is one of the very satisfying parts of my work with these trees and gardens, and is the type of work that truly serves to connect our gardens and plants with the educational mission of Plantations, CALS, and Cornell as a whole.
– Phil Syphrit, Gardener at Cornell Plantations
*CALS Notes followed up with Kathie Hodge to find out what’s so special about the Junipers & cedar apple rust, and here’s what she had to say:
“Cedar apple rust is caused by a delightful fungus that needs two trees to complete its life cycle: a Juniper and some apple relative (like a crabapple). It makes a juniper grow weird apples with orange octopus arms, and gives a crabapple orange leaf spots; it doesn’t kill either tree. To teach about plant diseases we want our students to be able to see them first hand… so we adore gardeners who appreciate the beauty of all life, like Phil.”
