I was told there were rare plants at the bottom of the gulch my wife and I hiked into in the Black Hills of SD. I'm not sure if they meant rare for the area or rare for everywhere. Anyway, this small rock clinging tree had an interesting fruit, which I hope might be diagnostic
It brings forth visions of Betulaceae - at least the leaves, twigs, and buds do.
That second image looks like some kind of gall, rather than a fruit.
Seeing context and associate plants always helps when identifying rare plants in unusual places.
Looks like there's a half dozen or more Betula sp. considered native to South Dakota.
http://www3.northern.edu/natsource/flora1.htm
It's a fruit, and it's Corylus cornuta
Same family Betulaceae, to save V V's blushes ;-)
Resin
Thanks guys!
Ah - the Beaked Filbert. Yes, Corylus is one of those genera that I don't see very often, but those raggedly serrated leaf edges (approved botanical description) were what pestered me into Betulaceae.
I'll remember those beaked gall-like fruit now. Looks like a good adaptable colonizing shrub with decent wildlife value for the northern tier of states.
neef should add these images to PlantFiles, and indicate where this species range reaches.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/71488/
