A handful of other nuts: Pterocarya, Cyclocarya, Carya and Platycarya |
|
|
|
|
 |
| 65 sec |
Following up on the walnuts discussed last time, here is a handful of nuts from another fantastic, useful family of often massive trees with plenty of edible fruit. These include hickory (Carya), Cyclocarya, Platycarya and the best known: Pterocarya.
| Common wingnut (Pterocarya fraxinifolia) (photo: Hein van Iersel) |
I find it unbelievable that we only commonly see the Caucasian wingnut among all Pterocarya species. And even that one has a somewhat troublesome trait: root suckers. In my opinion, the other family members score highly; they are excellent trees for bioswales, able to locally reduce heat stress through their growth—even in paved areas if necessary. And Carya also produces excellent fruit. Almost without exception, these are stately trees of considerable size. There is one odd one out: Platycarya is significantly smaller and more like a large shrub. They are all wind-pollinated, so insects that collect nectar and pollen benefit less from them.
Exotics and native trees!
I was recently interviewed by a consumer magazine. The freelance journalist had been sent by the editorial staff to write a piece arguing that exotics are bad and that we should only plant native species. After all, all exotics are supposedly scary and invasive. That poor journalist got a completely different story from me, because due to climate change and urban heat we now face different conditions—not to mention cables, pipes and nutrient-poor sandy soils. And with global developments, climate change will simply continue.
In built-up areas, we are increasingly experiencing a continental climate, making it even harder for native trees to thrive, even in residential neighborhoods. And since we plant trees for 60 years, this will become even more of an issue in the future. Moreover, as insects from the south naturally move our way, we must provide new insects with food sources. For me, diversity is everything—and that includes in the green city. The journalist understood the message and, like me, realized we need to choose both native and exotic plants. So mix them!
| LOG IN
with your email address to respond.
|
|
|
| There are no comments yet. |
Tip the editors
|
