“If you live according to nature, you never will be poor; if according to the world's caprice, you will never be rich” - Publilius Syrus (42 BC)
Alder Buckthorn - Rhamnus Frangula
Alder Buckthorn is a tall deciduous shrub that is Native to Europe, Asia and Africa and has naturalized to North America. It grows in wet soils, open woodlands bogs and hedgerows. It prefers acidic soil.
It has a small dark berry which frugivores (fruit eating animals) eat causing its dispersal. It is rich source of nectar and pollen for bees and other insects. Its berries are eaten by birds (especially robins and thrushes) and it is known to attract wildlife. Mice eat its fruit and store them as well. Birds nest in its branches. The alder buckthorn increases wildlife where it is present.
This is a poisonous plant to humans but its bark has been used medicinally as a purgative laxative when prepared properly. Because of its even burn time, it has been useful as a fuse. Alder buckthorn charcoal is prized for its gunpowder and is considered the best wood for this purpose. A yellow dye is made from the bark and a green dye from the unripe berries. It has been used for nails and shoe lasts.
Alder Buckthorn has been considered invasive because it can limit the growth of some seedling trees and flowers in the under story. It has been blamed for overwintering the crown fungus which can cause oat rust. Killing every alder buckthorn would not end this disease. The spores of this fungus can overwinter. Most of these infections now are caused by rust spores being blown from southern states in US that grow oats during the winter and the spores are blown up in June. The Alder Buckthorn is also blamed for overwintering the alfalfa mosaic virus; however this virus also infects 600 other species of plants including the seeds of tomatoes, tobacco and potato. It is also suspected of overwintering the soybean aphid, an agricultural pest.The soybean aphid is a relatively new pest believed to have arrived from Asia probably from Japan around 2000. It carries a virus that the aphid transmits to soya beans but there are varieties of soya bean that are resistant and this aphid has many natural predators.
There are recommendations by some publications to use herbicides on these plants. However these herbicides can kill non target vegetation and can be toxic to insects, long lasting and contaminate water. Stefphanie Seneff, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has linked one of the recommended herbicides to Parkinson Disease, infertility and cancers. Picloram, an agent recommended for stump treatment was a component of Agent White used as a defoliant during war with Vietnam. There are places in Vietnam where defoliant agents were sprayed extensively that are unable to grow trees to this day and are not expected to grow trees again. Picloram is exceptionally long lasting. If we repeatedly use a long acting herbicide that does not break down, we will cause the soil to lose its fertility and be unable to grow many kinds of plants. Picloram has been contaminated with hexachlorobenzene, a known liver toxin. Vietnam vets are still fighting for recognition of liver disease from picloram and other health effects of these herbicides. In Montana, roadside spraying of Tordon killed 15,000 pounds of fish in a hatchery downstream form the Tordon treatment.
Alder Buckthorn has many benefits for wildlife and pollinators. Its effect on native species is mixed because it does support robins and thrushes, a group of birds that has seen a steep decline in population (50 percent) since 1966. Documentation of overall adverse effects to native species is largely speculative and wildlife increases where it is grown.
The problem of Alder Buckthorn’s ability to host a fungus that can affect oats highlights one of the many problems with modern agriculture. Monoculture of vast fields of only a few species of that crop sets that crop up for disease. One species crop means one disease can devastate. Growing a wide variety of species allows fungal resistant varieties to overcome a disease by natural selection. Permaculture encourages growing plants together in guilds (plant communities). These communities lessen or eliminate the impact of diseases in a number of ways. One example is to grow plants with natural anti-fungal properties together with susceptible plants. The anti-fungal property can be shared with the susceptible plant. Growing a plant that attracts beneficial insects that consume aphids means aphid infestations are controlled.
Using poisons on the Alder Buckthorn seems like a quick and easy solution to a problem. But it deprives bees and insects of a nectar source. It renders the soil infertile and depending what is used, that infertility may be for a prolonged time. It can be toxic to aquatic life depending on what is used. Plants and animals are becoming endangered and extinct at an alarming rate. Using poisons creates more problems than it solves. Learning to trust nature and work with nature is one of our greatest challenges. Yet if we do, we can have abundance and there is a very optimistic future for our planet.
Photo credit By Emőke Dénes (WWT London Wetland Centre) [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
Jackie Braga
Alder Buckthorn is a tall deciduous shrub that is Native to Europe, Asia and Africa and has naturalized to North America. It grows in wet soils, open woodlands bogs and hedgerows. It prefers acidic soil.
It has a small dark berry which frugivores (fruit eating animals) eat causing its dispersal. It is rich source of nectar and pollen for bees and other insects. Its berries are eaten by birds (especially robins and thrushes) and it is known to attract wildlife. Mice eat its fruit and store them as well. Birds nest in its branches. The alder buckthorn increases wildlife where it is present.
This is a poisonous plant to humans but its bark has been used medicinally as a purgative laxative when prepared properly. Because of its even burn time, it has been useful as a fuse. Alder buckthorn charcoal is prized for its gunpowder and is considered the best wood for this purpose. A yellow dye is made from the bark and a green dye from the unripe berries. It has been used for nails and shoe lasts.
Alder Buckthorn has been considered invasive because it can limit the growth of some seedling trees and flowers in the under story. It has been blamed for overwintering the crown fungus which can cause oat rust. Killing every alder buckthorn would not end this disease. The spores of this fungus can overwinter. Most of these infections now are caused by rust spores being blown from southern states in US that grow oats during the winter and the spores are blown up in June. The Alder Buckthorn is also blamed for overwintering the alfalfa mosaic virus; however this virus also infects 600 other species of plants including the seeds of tomatoes, tobacco and potato. It is also suspected of overwintering the soybean aphid, an agricultural pest.The soybean aphid is a relatively new pest believed to have arrived from Asia probably from Japan around 2000. It carries a virus that the aphid transmits to soya beans but there are varieties of soya bean that are resistant and this aphid has many natural predators.
There are recommendations by some publications to use herbicides on these plants. However these herbicides can kill non target vegetation and can be toxic to insects, long lasting and contaminate water. Stefphanie Seneff, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has linked one of the recommended herbicides to Parkinson Disease, infertility and cancers. Picloram, an agent recommended for stump treatment was a component of Agent White used as a defoliant during war with Vietnam. There are places in Vietnam where defoliant agents were sprayed extensively that are unable to grow trees to this day and are not expected to grow trees again. Picloram is exceptionally long lasting. If we repeatedly use a long acting herbicide that does not break down, we will cause the soil to lose its fertility and be unable to grow many kinds of plants. Picloram has been contaminated with hexachlorobenzene, a known liver toxin. Vietnam vets are still fighting for recognition of liver disease from picloram and other health effects of these herbicides. In Montana, roadside spraying of Tordon killed 15,000 pounds of fish in a hatchery downstream form the Tordon treatment.
Alder Buckthorn has many benefits for wildlife and pollinators. Its effect on native species is mixed because it does support robins and thrushes, a group of birds that has seen a steep decline in population (50 percent) since 1966. Documentation of overall adverse effects to native species is largely speculative and wildlife increases where it is grown.
The problem of Alder Buckthorn’s ability to host a fungus that can affect oats highlights one of the many problems with modern agriculture. Monoculture of vast fields of only a few species of that crop sets that crop up for disease. One species crop means one disease can devastate. Growing a wide variety of species allows fungal resistant varieties to overcome a disease by natural selection. Permaculture encourages growing plants together in guilds (plant communities). These communities lessen or eliminate the impact of diseases in a number of ways. One example is to grow plants with natural anti-fungal properties together with susceptible plants. The anti-fungal property can be shared with the susceptible plant. Growing a plant that attracts beneficial insects that consume aphids means aphid infestations are controlled.
Using poisons on the Alder Buckthorn seems like a quick and easy solution to a problem. But it deprives bees and insects of a nectar source. It renders the soil infertile and depending what is used, that infertility may be for a prolonged time. It can be toxic to aquatic life depending on what is used. Plants and animals are becoming endangered and extinct at an alarming rate. Using poisons creates more problems than it solves. Learning to trust nature and work with nature is one of our greatest challenges. Yet if we do, we can have abundance and there is a very optimistic future for our planet.
Photo credit By Emőke Dénes (WWT London Wetland Centre) [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
Jackie Braga
