Shrub Removal: Gummi Berry (Elaeagnus multiflora)

This past week, we removed a long-time arboretum resident: one of our two Gummi Berry shrubs. One of the few intentionally-planted non-native species, these two specimens have been in the arboretum since 1997. That's nearly thirty years, older than most students on campus! When we covered these shrubs in 2019, both were healthy and prosperous. We last studied them in 2021, when they were providing some tasty treats to the Centenary squirrel population.

Entropy and time have worked together to compromise the health of one shrub. Ants and termites were present, chewing rotten wood and churning up the earth around the base of the shrub. Green leaves were still present, but three-quarters or more of the branches were bone-dry and naked. A colony of our small native black ants had taken up residence in its center. At this point, the main option presenting itself is removal.

Bare, brittle branches of the gummi berry (Elaeagnus multiflora) are pictured here. This shrub was planted as a pair, purchased from Mr. Sherwood Akin in 1997.

We see mostly dead branches, although there are a few green leaves.

During removal, the trunk of the shrub spontaneously split open, revealing plenty of rich dirt, termites, and ants where only healthy wood and roots should be.

The shrub has been converted into a large pile of branches, twigs, and poles.

Post-cleanup, only the small green sign remains, and it has since been moved over to the remaining shrub. 

We now have an opening in the landscape, and there are several months and two full seasons to think about what to plant here. 

 

Dewberry Picking in the Arboretum

Fruits on the dewberry vines have been ripening over the past two weeks. 

The large dewberry patch near the Student Union Building is the easiest place to find and pick berries.

It isn't necessary to walk through the tall, overgrown areas—just walking the perimeter you can easily pick a handful of berries.

The fruits do not all ripen at once, so check back every few days to pick a few more.

Ripe berries are dark purple or black. Yum!

April Flowers

 Here at the end of April, we have a beautiful assortment of native wildflowers to share.

 

The oak-leaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) shrub is full of large flower clusters.

Oak-leaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) panicle

Swamp Rose (Rosa palustris)

Two catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides) trees grow near the Fitness Center. Be sure to look up to find the large flower clusters. Individual flowers are scattered in the grass, too.

Around the trunk of this dead eastern red cedar, you can find foxglove, strawberry bush and maypop flowers.

Foxglove Beard-tongue (Penstemon digitalis)

  

Strawberry Bush (Euonymus americanus)

Ants were busy working the pollen of the strawberry bush.

Maypop (Passiflora incarnata)

There isn't just one flower on the mapop vine. Note the flower buds on the verge of opening.

Beetles were congregating on the maypop flowers.

 

Spiderwort (Tradescantia sp.)

 

Spiderwort (Tradescantia sp.)

  

 

Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa)

 

Coral Bean (Erythrina herbacea)

Lizard tail (Saururus cernuus) and flowering magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) are also flowering right now, and they will continue on into the month of May.

Coral Bean (Erythrina herbacea)

There are two coral bean (Erythrina herbacea) plantings in the arboretum. One is located on the north side of the Fitness Center, growing unfortunately in the shade of a hickory and an irrepressible & ever-spreading Chickasaw plum (Prunus angustifolia). The other coral bean has a more advantageous spot at the southwest corner of Mickle Hall. The latter plant has a flower stalk this week.

 

The flower stalk demands attention as it protrudes from the greenery of the coral bean, but the fresh spring-time growth of the nearby French mulberry and toothache tree conceal the bright red flower. 

 

Keep an eye on this flower stalk if you have an interest in collecting the pretty 'beans' that are expected to develop here. In the past, your arboretum curator has had exactly zero luck in germinating the seeds, so please feel free to collect them when they are ready. Good luck! Just be a bit careful, many parts of the plant contain poisonous compounds.

 

Pyramid Magnolia Germination Project Update

Back in February, we planted 15 pyramid magnolia seeds that were provided by the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Our first seedling revealed itself this past Sunday. Wahoo! We have a picture of our first and timeliest seedling: 

 

Pyramid magnolia (Magnolia pyramidata)

 

 

Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda)

A young pine tree in the arboretum is now in need of a sign. Due to uncertainty about its species, we have delayed creating an official arboretum placard. To see the post from March 2023, when this specimen entered the arboretum collection, click here. 

Upon collection from the wild in a wooded area north of Shreveport, the tree was so young and small that it lacked obvious species-defining features. It just looked like "native pine." Rather than risking misidentification, which can be a more-or-less permanent issue, we left its classification an open question and waited...for years.

In spring 2026, our young "native pine" is looking more grown-up! 

This fine specimen grows on the grassy slope north of Cline Hall, an area that is open and sunny, but is steadily planted with young trees.

We can confidently identify this specimen using photos of its needles and flowers, its male cones. It's a loblolly (Pinus taeda). No surprises here! In our region, this is a default and commonplace pine, especially dominant in forestry. Its lumber is often sold as SYP (Southern Yellow Pine) and its binomial name Pinus taeda is a Latin-Greek mashup that could be translated as 'Pine-pine' or 'Resinous Resin-tree.' This name doubles-down, to an unusual degree, on the piney-ness of this tree.

This tree is developing a proper and upright growth pattern due to its generous allotment of sunlight and favorable position. Young trees in the wild will be spindly due to the "battle of the understory" that most of them undergo.

Here's the source of that delightful yellow dust covering your car, your outdoor furniture, your pets, etc. Achoooooo!

The identifying features that the juvenile tree lacked: fully-developed needles and reproductive structures. This is the first year that we have seen flowers on the tree, and not many are present. 

 

The fully-developed needle clusters come in trios and are around 6-7 inches long. A shortleaf pine would have needles half that length and usually come in twos. Longleaf pine needles come in threes, but would generally start at 8" in length.

 

The pollen cones are yellow, banana-shaped and approximately an inch in length. Longleaf pollen cones are a startling blue-purple or an orange-red. Shortleaf cones are similar in color and shape to loblolly, but tend to be only half-an-inch or a little larger.

 

There are several on-site native mature loblolly pines in the arboretum and on the campus as a whole, so we might argue that the arboretum doesn't need 'just one more loblolly....' However, the campus loses at least one mature loblolly each year, so it's important to continually replace those old pines. And, it's super neat to see the different stages of a tree's development because as they age, loblolly pines lose those lower branches and we only see that beautiful brown, seemingly perfectly round trunk. So, we are happy to have this young loblolly on that grassy slope in front of Cline.

 

For further online reading, please consult the following websites: 

NC State Extension page on Loblolly Pine 

Article on Loblolly from "The Tree and Its Environment" (1990) 

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center page on Loblolly 

Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)

Currently we have only one sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) in the arboretum collection, and it is still very young. The sole specimen originated from a trip to East Texas in 2022. That fall, we collected a pocketful of gumballs from a wooded area in Cherokee County, Texas, close to the small town of Maydelle. Those gumballs were brought back to Shreveport and shaken into a pot of dirt where the seeds overwintered. Three seedlings came up the following spring. On March 10, 2025, we planted one of the three on campus, outside of the arboretum proper: it's on the Fitness Center lawn, between the Fitness Center ramp and the Cline Hall parking lot. Today, we have a hearty young specimen that nicely displays the characteristics of the species. The following photos show the tree after three years of growth. 

An old sign for a new tree. We like to recycle and re-use our materials in the arboretum.

 

The 3-year-old tree is 21 inches tall with a straight and sturdy trunk.

This one is planted *near* the parking lot but not next to the parking lot. Looking into the future, we see a towering tree with an excessive number of fruits that are falling on the *grass* rather than the cars and pavement. Nobody likes a "trash tree"....

 

While this tree isn't quickly growing tall, it is forming a thick trunk. Have the interesting bark formations drawn your attention?

Young sweetgum stems have irregular 'wings' or corky ridges, like our winged elm (Ulmus alata). The contrast between the green branches and the grey plates is distinctive.

This little tree is ready for spring. 

 

Fresh green leaves unfurl in a bold salute to Spring.

 

We see the characteristic sweetgum leaves in miniature.

Now that it's well-established, will it show rapid and vigorous growth this year?