May-Apples and Box Turtles
May-Apples move into an area just as meadowlarks are moving
out. Dense stands of their umbrella-like leaves are a common
sight in early successional forests, though May-Apples can also be
found at the edges of fields and in more mature forest. Each
May-Apple stand begins as a single plant, then quickly reproduces
through underground runners until the patch ends up covering an area as
large as six feet or more in diameter. Peek under the umbrellas
in late April or early May and you are likely to find the large white
flowers that two-leaved plants produce. (One-leaved May-Apples
will not be blooming that year.)
Although
May-Apples reproduce readily through underground runners, they have
another trick up their sleeves that helps them colonize new
areas. As their flowers fade in late spring, the ovaries swell
into a fruit that is reputed to be edible to humans when ripe. I
have never managed to find a ripe fruit, though, since the maypops (as
they are colloquially named) are a favorite food of the Eastern Box
Turtle and dangle just at turtle head level. In fact, without the
turtle, May-Apple seeds seldom germinate --- a thick coating on
May-Apple seeds means that only about 8.5% of the seeds germinate if
left to their own devices. But when a box turtle munches on the
maypop, digestive juices break down the seeds’ coating just enough to
raise the germination rate to 38.7%. So, chances are that the
May-Apple patch you are walking through began life as a seed pooped out
by a passing turtle.
The Eastern Box
Turtle is the only land turtle you are likely to see on Sugar Hill and
chances are you will stumble across one after a few hikes. I like
to count the rings on the turtle’s back to get an idea of its age ---
like a tree, box turtles make a new ring every year. These
turtles have been known to live up to eighty years, becoming mature
after about seven to ten.
Habitat
fragmentation is taking a heavy toll on their populations, though, and
I wince every time I pass a smashed box turtle in the middle of the
road. When I see a living box turtle on the tarmac, I do my best
to stop and help it to the other side, but am careful to always move it
to the side toward which it was heading --- turtles know exactly where
they are going and will turn around and head back across the road if
you put them on the wrong side. They will also head back to their
home territory if captured and released on the other side of town, so
please do not move box turtles more than a few feet from where you find
them.
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