It was something special to stand near this Chinese mountain ash on Wednesday morning. While most of the garden was still and (dare I say it) frozen, this tree was alive with activity. Thirty American robins (Turdus migratorius) or so and three varied thrushes (Ixoreus naevius) assembled on it, eating the fruit. Although a few birds would sit on the branches of the tree and down a half-dozen or more fruit before flying off briefly, the more timid of the birds would swoop in, pluck a fruit, and return to perch on neighbouring more-sheltered conifers. The effect was a small scene full of motion, which I was not expert enough to express in photographs. Sound was also present – a stream flows nearby, and its gurgle was interrupted with the hushed punctuation of flapping wings and, not very often, the occasional vocals of the robins and varied thrushes.
The snow beneath the tree was also marked by the activity, with fallen fruit and chunks of icy snow creating a pock-marked scene unlike anywhere else I observed in the garden that day. There was also an odd smell (again, the only one I noted while taking photographs); it took me back about 17 or 18 years, to when I used to shovel grain on the farm. The grain bins would sometimes leak, and there would be a small clump in the pile of grain where the water caused a mix of germinated seeds and mould to mass together. These had to be shovelled out and tossed aside, but the smell from disturbing them was the same smell I noticed under the Sorbus hupehensis. Strange.
Photography / art resource link: I linked to the photography of Edward Burtynsky earlier this year in this entry – if you felt a connection to his photographs, you might consider seeing the documentary Manufactured Landscapes. The film follows Burtynsky as he travels in China, and has just been nominated in the documentary category in the Sundance Film Festival.
Isn't Nature wonderful???
Wow, Daniel; you have been outdoing yourself lately! Must be the prospect of a vacation! (:
Sorbus hupehensis - Z6 - RHS Index of Garden Plants, Griffiths
Sorbus hupehensis - Z6-8 - A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, Brickell, Cole, Zuk
Daniel, congratulations on another wonderful image!
FYI, I notice that Burtynsky's China series is slated to come to Vancouver in Sept. 2007. There is really nothing quite like seeing his images in person, a really breath-taking and weirdly disturbing experience.
I appreciate the kind words.
Thanks for pointing that out E. Marie - I didn't know. It also looks like there will be a separate exhibition in Winnipeg during that time. If I go there for Christmas, I'll be able to see both exhibitions.
I'm not sure how apparent it is, but the first photograph does have a relationship to the first Callitriche photograph from a few days ago. Here's a screened blend of the two:
And the Callitriche photo as an example, so you don't have to flip between web pages:
I'd suspect this is Sorbus glabrescens (Cardot) Hand.-Mazz. (White-fruited Rowan; syn. Sorbus hupehensis hort. non Schneid.).
"This tree is often called S. hupehensis but this is a rarely seen species from Hubei, which also has white fruit, but the twigs are much slenderer." - K. Rushforth, Trees of Britain and Europe.
I can't help but wonder if the fruit had fermented, which could account for the strange smell. Many years ago when we lived in the high desert country of the Mojave, my wife, Judy, enjoyed watching robins gorge themselves with pyracantha berries and stagger around afterward.
Michael, Douglas Justice is aware of the confused taxonomy. He researched the nomenclature of this particular plant for “The Jade Garden” and opted for Sorbus hupehensis over Sorbus glabrescens after his review. That's not saying it isn't, though – I'm certain he would have liked to have McAllister's “The Genus Sorbus” prior to making that call. As it is, we still don't have a copy here, but once we do, this certainly should be one of the first (of many Sorbus species) to be revisited as you've pointed out.
Good point, Bob – that could well be true. I've noted that often the fruit of different species of Sorbus are ignored until a particular time when bam!, they become desirable to the birds and the tree is emptied of most of its fruit.
Terrific Photo Daniel. I must agree with the hypothesis from Bob B. Many times I have seen birds appear to be intoxicated after eating fermented berries from the common Mountain Ash. I remeber one humourous incident when a Blue Jay had eaten a lot of the fruit, then was singing his heart out, all the while attempting to remain perched on the branch.
We await your upgrading to live videos !
Cheers,
Knox
We had the robin and trush dinner party on a similar Sorbus here BEFORE the snow.
lol...i thought ron said 'a'robin and trush dinner party...as in "please pass the squab"
I believe the fruit could be called "bird nip" ?
Beautiful! Instant desktop wallpaper for the holidays. Thank you!
Here's a nomenclatural update: According to Hugh McAllister in the Genus Sorbus (Kew Publishing, 2005) this tree should now be called Sorbus glabriuscula McAll.
Not that I don't trust that this name will eventually stick, but it is a bit of a mouthful. I admit I didn't have the heart to introduce the new name to my students this year, knowing that they might come up empty handed (or confused) in searching for information.
Likewise, I neglected to mention that the pink fruited "kite leaved" mountain ash, which for years we have been trying to tell people is S. oligodonta (I love that name) and not S. hupehensis var. obtusa or S. hupehensis 'November Pink' or S. hupehensis 'Pink Pagoda' or S. hupehensis 'Rosea', is now, according to McAllister, S. pseudohupehensis McAll. Maybe next year.