Berry Good: Part 2

Yellow Cestrum (Cestrum aurantiacum) is native to Guatemala and is attractive to both butterflies and hummingbirds. The flowers are orange-yellow and tubular blooming in lovely clusters. This shrub has an upright habit and can grow to about 10 feet in height. Although the fruits are toxic to humans, they are quite tasty to native birds. Yellow Cestrum will tolerate full to part sun and is excellent for creating some height in your garden space as well as providing a different type of nectar source. Also known as golden jasmine, yellow cestrum is a gorgeous evergreen shrub.

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) is known by many names including poke, polk sallat, and inkberry. A tough perrennial herb, pokeweed is native to the eastern United States. The name poke comes from the Algonquian Indian word "pakon" or "puccoon," that refers to a dye plant used for staining. The fresh shoots and leaves of pokeweed can be cooked and eaten like spinach. Pokeweed can grow to over nine feet in height and blooms with long drooping racemes of flowers. After pollination they are replaced with green berries that ripen to a deep blue purple. The berries are toxic and should not be eaten and will stain skin a bright purple color if they burst.

Mt. Vernon American Holly (Ilex opaca) is a tree from our Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove. This tree is a scion from one of the American Holly trees located at the home of the first American President, George Washington. American Holly can be found from Massachusetts south to Florida and west to Missouri and eastern Texas. The green fruits are also known as drupes. Each contains four seeds and will ripen to a brilliant red color. Although toxic to humans, these berries are an important food for overwintering birds when other food sources become scarce. Holly has long been associated with merrymaking and is often connected with Winter holidays.

Lantana (Lantana sps) is a collection of over 150 flowering tropical plants native to the Americas and Africa. It has been imported and become invasive in many other regions including Australia. Lantana blooms in groups of flowers called umbels that vary in color from pale yellow to vibrant pinks, reds and oranges. These blossoms are very attractive to butterflies and lantana plants are quite popular with many species. Several varieties are trailing vines with purple or white blooms and other species tend to be more shrubby or upright. The blooms of lantana give way to groups of berries that are very attractive to birds. Once processed through the bird’s body and excreted, lantana seeds will grow wherever they have been deposited. Lantana is a larval host to the Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak Butterfly (Strymon bazochii) native to southern Texas, Baja California and areas of Mexico.

Creeping Cucumber (Melothria pendula) is a trailing vine that is related to the cucumber with which we are more familiar. This wild version of the cucumber blooms with tiny yellow flowers that strongly resemble other members of the squash family. The berry is considered edible by some and toxic by others, mainly because of its extremely strong laxative properties. The fruit has a strong cucumber flavor but a bitter tinge that makes it less palatable. This creeping vine can quickly overgrow so take care if you have it in your yard that it does not grow out of control.