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New Wild Plant Regulations Now In Place In PA


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New Wild Plant Regulations Now in Place in Pennsylvania

January 10, 2019 12:24 am·
Author: Joanne Bauer
 

Purple-aaa-e1547131626455-1024x812.jpgHARRISBURG, Pa. – Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn on Wednesday announced that new regulations that apply to the conservation of native wild plants in Pennsylvania are now final.

(PHOTO: Purple Fringeless Orchid: Threatened)

After a public comment and approval process taking place over more than a year, the final regulations were published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on Dec. 22, 2018.

“There are many more species of plants in the world than there are animals, and the mission of DCNR’s Bureau of Forestry includes conserving native wild plants,” Dunn said. “Pennsylvania is home to about 3,000 plant species — about two-thirds of those are considered native to the commonwealth, and 347 of them are currently considered rare, threatened, or endangered.”

Pennsylvania’s wild plant classifications includes rare, threatened and endangered, as well as others such as vulnerable, extirpated, tentatively undetermined and special population.

The updates to the list include:

  • Nine plants were added
  • Nine plants moved from a lower classification to a higher one
  • Two plants were downgraded
  • Thirty-one plants were removed from the list
  • Scientific names were changed  for 79 species

The department will continue working to maintain an updated list of classified plants in Pennsylvania by obtaining scientific information and classification recommendations from the public and experts across the state.

DCNR supports the newly formed Pennsylvania Plant Conservation Network, which will focus on the stewardship of rare plants on private lands and outreach on the importance of plants. That work will be spearheaded by Pennsylvania Plant Conservation Network Coordinator Kristi Allen.

Many factors can threaten populations of plants and cause them to become rare. Some of the most common threats to plants in Pennsylvania include:

  • Habitat loss and fragmentation, due to climate change, development, or conversion of habitat
  • Invasive plants displacing native plants
  • Creation of more edge habitat, increasing the threat of invasive plant species
  • Selective browsing by white-tailed deer or other wildlife may prevent plants from reproducing
  • Over-collection by people

There are some things everyone can do to help native wild plants:

  • Don’t pick native wild plants. Picking flowers means the plant will not go to seed. Take pictures, but leave the flowers in their habitats.
  • Do not remove plants from the wild to plant at home. They generally will not survive and removing them hurts their natural populations.
  • Don’t plant invasives and remove them at home. This will prevent their spread to other areas.
  • Plant natives in your yard, and ask for them at the garden center.

DCNR has reviewed more than 20 years of field and taxonomic data to make these regulation updates.

The department receives plant data, information, and classification recommendations from the Pennsylvania Biological Survey’s (PABS) Vascular Plant Technical Committee, which is comprised of professional botanists.

DCNR also receives input from a public forum of the committee — the Rare Plant Forum; which is attended by 50-80 amateur and professional botanists from across the state.

For more information about the rulemaking and wild plants, visit the DCNR website, choose “Conservation.”                                                                                                                                                                                 http://www.explorejeffersonpa.com/new-wild-plant-regulations-now-in-place-in-pennsylvania/                                                                                                                                                                                         

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  • 3 months later...

I currently have two collected natives. One is uncommon, the other is fairly common but relatively unknown by the general public.

The uncommon native I have is a Slender Mountain Mint that I rescued from the railroad embankment in DuBois. On the embankment, it would have been uprooted, sprayed or otherwise destroyed in a matter of time. I got it about four years ago and since then I have it in three containers where I first divided it to determine how invasive it is. Like any other mint it does spread, it spreads slowly by root and rarely by seed. It spreads quite slowly compared to other mints and results in a woody stem in fall. I planted it along one foundation wall to see how well mowing contains it. Excellent.

Fresh, it has a mild minty and grassy flavor, dried, it somewhat resembles Tarragon. We've tried in in teas and in cooking with success.

The other native I have is Sunchoke, AKA Jerusalem Artichoke, Topinambours by the French and called by the Algonquins 'Kaishúcpenauk', a compound of "sun" and "tubers". The Mohawk name is Ohnennata’ó:we, original potato. To those of the Manglish persuasion they're called Fartichokes. They're full of a soluble prebiotic healthy fiber known as Inulin which can cause gas. They were quite common up until WWI times when they became known as a poor man's food. They're an eastern American relative of the Sunflower, a perennial root vegetable used extensively by Native Americans and Colonials from the Carolinas into Quebec and as far west as the Mississippi Valley. The Colonials spread them all around the world. A friend of mine in Tasmania remembers her mother cooking with them when she was a child. Worldwide, including here in eastern America, it's estimated that there are over 400 varieties. I have three and know of a few more around the DuBois area. Very few people who have them growing in flower beds know what they really have. They grow from 3' tall up to 12' tall. The ones I have grow 5', 6'+ and 12'. The tubers on two varieties are tan, one is knobby and a bit hard to clean, the other resembles carrots in size and shape and are easy to clean. The third type has a red skinned slightly knobby tuber.

We harvest and can them. They're an excellent potato substitute, especially for diabetics. We've canned them plain like potatoes and like pickles and relishes. In my opinion, they are better than cukes for pickles and relish! We also dried some raw chips and ground them into flour. Quite interesting mixed with other flour, the flavor and texture is hard to describe, but it is good. They can also be boiled, mashed and dried and used like potato flakes.The entire plant is edible! Rabbits, deer and others love the leaves and tender sprouts. I've made wine from the flowers and tuber broth. The mature stalks are woody and don't mulch well unless chipped and mixed into the soil as the roots are dug.

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Good for you in your rescue attempts. Unless there is more than one kind of native mountain mint I think I have both that and the Jerusalem artichokes. The artichokes have pretty much taken over the one section of my garden.  To my taste they resemble the flavor of sunflower seeds. If you haven't tried it here is Euell Gibbons recipe for Jerusalem artichoke pie. I used to make it all the time but, while I love it, not everyone in the family does. It is an interesting taste.

Ingredients:
1 (9-inch) pie shell 
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 envelope of unflavored gelatin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 eggs, yolks and whites separated
1/2 cup milk
1 1/4 cup cooked and mashed artichokes

Directions:
In a saucepan combine brown sugar, gelatin and pumpkin pie spice.
Beat 3 egg yolks, add milk and stir this into the brown sugar mixture.
Cook and stir until mixture boils, remove from heat and stir in the mashed artichokes.
Chill until the mixture mounts slightly when spooned, approximately an hour.
Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add 1/3 cup of white sugar.
Beat until stiff peaks form.
Fold the slightly stiffened artichoke mixture into the egg whites and pile it all into the crust.
Chill in the fridge and serve with whipped cream.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 

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The Slender Mountain Mint I have is shown here. Very slender leaves, pretty white flower heads that turn into 3/8" buttons. You have to strip a lot of those leaves to get enough to do much with! They grow just shy of 2' tall and prefer good afternoon sun.

We haven't tried a 'Choke pie yet. Last fall I got a note from down south about a pear and 'choke pie that won first prize in a state fair. No recipe available ... darn. We've had them raw, sliced in salads and the whole root to munch on. Roasted with some butter or oil and a dab of salt and pepper is good. The plain ones canned we've tossed into soups and stews and pan fried like home fries. We harvest most in the fall before the Inulin converts to fructose. After winter the freezing converts the Inulin and they're super sweet with a lot less gas for people who are sensitive to the gas they can produce. Spring is the best time to harvest for those who are troubled with the gas. The Inulin helps promote good gut health and they don't stir up too much wind for us. They're sprouting now. When the ground temp reaches 50°F they're triggered into sprouting. I've got quite a bit on a 1 1/2 in-town lot and the neighborhood rabbits sure love them, they're trimming the new leaves right off. 

Slender Mountain Mint.jpg

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Never thought to harvest them in the spring. I just might try that. Then I have to figure out a way to get people to eat them. I'll check the mountain mint when it comes out. I had one patch that died out and I'm on my second one. I do think that this second plant is different from the first one. I never bothered to key them down to species. 

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The Penn State Jefferson County Master Gardeners have a rapidly growing population of Pycnanthemum muticum, Clustered Mountain Mint down at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.  We have planted it as a potted plant which was sold at the BUDS Gardeners plant sale a few years ago.  We have also raised it from seed which is really hard to find.  If I'm not mistaken, there are some plants at the DuBois Penn State campus also.

Jerusalem Artichokes are a native edible food, and they make amazing flower garden backdrops.  They are prolific!

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19 hours ago, Petee said:

Pycnanthemum muticum

Pycnanthemum muticum is a broad leaf Mountain Mint and I think prefers partial shade. The one I have is Pycnanthemum tenuifolium with very narrow needle like leaves and it prefers more direct sun. From a distance it looks like Rosemary.

The Fuseau variety of Sunchoke I have grows up to 12'! That's really a bit much for an in-town lot. The others I have grow to about 5' to 6'+. There's one small patch behind the High School that grows only to about 3' and a couple patches over near Prontock's that grow around 6'+. Out in the Stump Creek area is where I got the 12'. I prefer cleaning the Fuseau. Like cleaning carrots, just rub them between your hands under running water and you're done. The Stampede and the Fescue are knobby and sometimes you have to break them apart to get all the dirt off of them.

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4 hours ago, Clark said:

Pycnanthemum muticum is a broad leaf Mountain Mint and I think prefers partial shade. The one I have is Pycnanthemum tenuifolium with very narrow needle like leaves and it prefers more direct sun. From a distance it looks like Rosemary.

The Fuseau variety of Sunchoke I have grows up to 12'! That's really a bit much for an in-town lot. The others I have grow to about 5' to 6'+. There's one small patch behind the High School that grows only to about 3' and a couple patches over near Prontock's that grow around 6'+. Out in the Stump Creek area is where I got the 12'. I prefer cleaning the Fuseau. Like cleaning carrots, just rub them between your hands under running water and you're done. The Stampede and the Fescue are knobby and sometimes you have to break them apart to get all the dirt off of them.

I definitively have the 12' ones!  There is also (or was) a patch along Platt Rd. across from Morningside Cemetery. 

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