Along With Lilacs, Fruit Bearing Trees in Bloom on Island
Nature Notes By Patricia Martin

Patricia Martin

Yes, the lovely, lacy lilacs are blooming, just in time for the Lilac Festival. You will hear plenty about them in the next week or so, but there are other wonderful shrubs and trees in full bloom right now and they also deserve some attention.

In the realm of domesticated shrubs and trees, a number of plants in the Rose family are looking very beautiful.

The apple ( Malus pumilla ) is in full bloom. This week, my two apple trees were covered with white blossoms. Working in the garden below the trees last night, it seemed that I was being “snowed on” with the number of petals falling from these trees, and my lawn seemed to be white with the petals.

Flower Amelanchier ssp.

The Apple Blossom was made the state flower of Michigan in 1897, including not only the commercial apple, but also the Wild or Sweet Crab ( Malus coronaria) with its beautiful pink flowers.

There are domesticated Flowering Crabs that are also very showy right now. My neighbor has one of the most beautiful examples in her yard. Don’t be surprised to see apples growing wild in the woods or open land on the Island. Many are remnants of old orchards, or have been seeded into areas by birds, people, and horses.

Pin Cherry

Another domesticated tree in bloom at the moment is the Plum ( Prunus sp. ), another member of the Roseaceae. There are many varieties of these trees, which all have small, white blossoms. The old world origins of this plant are obscure, as so many forms are now occurring. What are locally called Damson or Sugar Plums were commonly planted on the Island in the 19th century. These trees are usually about 20 feet tall and rather narrow. They have sharp spikes on the twigs that help keep domesticated animals from wandering into yards, and so were often planted along fence lines. The small (1.5 inch long) sweet fruit, with fairly large pit, makes wonderful jams.

Choke Cherry

In the wild there are other fruit-bearing trees that are now in full bloom. One of my favorites is the Choke Cherry ( Prunus virginiana ). The Choke Cherry is the most widely distributed tree of North America. Its territory extends from the Arctic Circle to Mexico and from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. Probably the biggest distributor of the seeds of this tree are birds, who often drop the pits along fences and hedge rows, creating extensive thickets, which may be difficult to clear because of the numerous suckers their roots produce. Choke Cherries are usually a large shrub, but can grow into a small tree, 15 to 25 feet tall, with crooked, sometimes leaning, trunks, five to six inches in diameter. The alternate leaves are simple, two to four inches long and about half as wide, in an oval shape with an abrupt, sharp tip. They have fine, sharp teeth along the edge of the leaves and are dark green above. The petioles (leaf stems) are short, with a pair of glands near the base.

Fruit Amelanchier ssp.

The flowers of the Choke Cherry appear in June on Mackinac, when the leaves are nearly grown. The five petaled, white flowers are small, less than .50 inch across, and are arranged in a many flowered raceme about three to six inches long (a raceme is a simple inflorescence of flowers on pedicels, flower stems, of equal length arranged on a common elongated axis). In late July and August the “cherries” of this plant appear. They’re globular, about .25 to .50 inch in diameter, usually bright red, or often yellow, to almost black, with dark red flesh. In the center is a good sized pit. The fruit is certainly edible, but very astringent. It makes your mouth pucker, hence the name. As children, we used to dare the other kids to eat them, as they grew along the edges of the playground at school. However, these cherries do make good jams and jellies if enough sugar is added, and pectin.

Choke Cherries grow almost everywhere except in wet ground. They can be found in dry, open rocky or sandy soil, along shores and openings, dunes, Jack Pine plains, riverbanks, and on the borders of woods. On the Island they’re very common along the East Bluff, open areas, and along the edges of some roads.

Another wild cherry that is blooming on the Island is the Pin, Fire, or Red Cherry ( Prunus pensylvanica ). Again, this is a slender tree, usually less than 30 feet high with a trunk diameter of less than 10 inches. Most of those on Mackinac grow considerably smaller. These are short-lived trees, often appearing abundantly after fires (giving rise to one of their common names) and lumbering operations, protecting the soil and acting as nurse trees until larger species are established. The seeds are long-lived in the soil and will germinate after another fire or disturbance.

The leaves are three to five inches long and less than 1.25 inches wide. They’re oblong to lanceolate with fine, sharp teeth along the edge. They’re bright green and shiny above, and paler beneath. In the fall, the leaves turn bright red fairly early and help give the cherry the name Red Cherry.

The flowers are small (about .5 inch in diameter), appearing at the same time as the leaves. They have five white petals about .25 inch long, and the flowers are found in four to five flowered umbels, which are often clustered together in groups of two or three (an umbel is a simple inflorescence of flowers on pedicels which radiate from the same point). The fruit is light red, globular, and about .25 inch in diameter, appearing in late July and August. It has thick skin and sour fruit. Many birds and some people appreciate this fruit, and they do make good jelly, but because of the size and the large seed, it takes a lot of them to make a batch.

These trees are found in sandy clearing shores, plains, the borders of woods and fields in woods, often with aspen, Paper Birch, and/or Jack Pine. On the Island, they’re found near Sugar Loaf and at the end of the airport clearing, among other places.

Another wild fruit tree in the Rose family that is just passing its blooming time, though some are still in flower, is the Serviceberry, Juneberry, or Shad bush ( Amelanchier spp. ) It has many names, supposedly more than 80. There are a number of species and several of them are found at Mackinac. They’re found in dry soil in woodlands, and open areas. On the Island, they’re common in the woods and at the end of the airport clearing. The Serviceberry is another small tree with simple three to four-inch long leaves that are oval with a sharp point and sharply toothed edges. The flowers are large and white with five petals. Each petal is about an inch long. They bloom in May and early June on the Island and produce a berry-like, blue/purple fruit in July and August. The fruit is sweet when ripe and reminds me of a blueberry. They also make very good jam. I wrote more fully about them in a previous column.

Enjoy the lilacs this week, but also keep an eye out for some of our other beautiful flowering trees.

Trish Martin is a year-around resident of Mackinac Island, has earned a master’s degree in botany from Central Michigan University, and owns Bogan Lane Inn.