Posted by Silvergirl • 4 days 16 hours ago
While observing Monarda citriodora this year, a couple of questions have come up. After months of observations through a long hot summer, the plant is now completely brown including the spent flower bases and most of the stems are still upright. Since the nutlets are completely enclosed in the spent flower bases it is impossible to see them without tearing apart the flower bases or turning them upside down and shaking them. So, how would the observer know if the fruits/nutlets are still present and how many there are? The fruits and ripe fruits questions are difficult to answer. I removed a flower head from another plant recently, turned it upside down and shook it and a dozen nutlets fell out. The plant has been upright and brown through several data collections. Should the answers to the phenophase questions fruit and ripe fruit be recorded as yes when the flower bases first turn brown and thereafter as no to all phenophases? Or do you continue to say yes to fruit and ripe fruit as long as the plant remains upright?
Hello Silvergirl,
Thank you for reaching out. I can see how the persistent flower bases make ripe fruits hard to tell on Monarda species.
Your intuition to continue checking for seeds in the dried flower bases is good! Those nutlets on the plant provide valuable wildlife forage as the seasons change, even if the rest of the plant dries out. You should continue recording "Yes" for the "Fruits" and "Ripe fruits" phenophases as long as the spent flower bases still hold seeds and remain standing on the plant.
I understand that It can be difficult to tell whether flower heads still have nutlets as the plant turns brown, but I think your method is a good one. By shaking out one of the heads, you can get a good idea of what remaining heads of ripe fruit look like for estimation. In some cases, you may also be able to tell nutlets from the texture of the heads. Please feel free to share any further questions or insights you have during the observation process.
Thank you for your time, and happy observing.
Oskar
Plant Specialist, USA-NPN
[email protected]