In Search of Green

We're on the cusp of Spring. The temperatures are rising. The birds who overwintered here are brushing up on their vocal skills. The Skunk Cabbage and Harbinger of Spring are blooming. The daylight period is getting longer. The amphibians are attempting to breed. The reptiles are leaving their hibernacula. Nature is preparing for a new season.

But I can't wait. I think it's because Winter never really came to Athens, Ohio. I love Winter, but I want it to be Winter when it's Winter. Sure, it got kind of cold on some days, and sure there were a few instances of flurries or maybe an inch of snow that lasted a day, but we didn't have any stretch of time where it felt like a proper Winter. So I gave up hoping for a real Winter and have since been impatiently waiting for Spring. Over the past week I couldn't wait any longer, so I ventured out to some nearby parks in search of some greenery to scratch my Spring-itch.

The view from the Sourwood Trail in Riddle State Nature Preserve.

First up, Sells Park and Riddle State Nature Preserve. On the northeast side of Athens sits a system of six contiguous parks owned by various agencies. On the westernmost end of this system sits Sells Park, with Riddle State Nature Preserve located just next door. Several trails crisscross these two parks, which protect a series of mature forested ridge tops and ravines. Riddle State Nature Preserve is well-known for protecting one of the few old-growth forests remaining in Ohio, but the section I hiked around (and that is pictured above) is only a mature secondary-growth forest.

Although we often think of Ohio forests turning various shades of brown during the Winter months, there are a great deal of herbaceous plants which remain green. The little green leaf above is one such example. This is the leaf of a Cranefly Orchid, Tipularia discolor. The Cranefly Orchid is one of the 46 species of orchid which have been recorded in Ohio. It has a rather strange range in Ohio; it can be commonly found throughout the southern third of the state, but can also be found in several counties centered around the Cleveland area. This range, however, appears to be changing; the Cranefly Orchid seems to be slowly expanding northward throughout much of its northerly limits. In the coming decades, there might be populations of this orchid in central Ohio.

Cranefly Orchids have a unique bi-colored leaf. The topside is green, but if you flip it over you'll be rewarded with a deep purple hue. This leaf does more than simply looking cool to plant lovers. But before we get to that, we have to understand what the function of a leaf is. The main function of a leaf is to produce food in the form of glucose for a plant. It does this through the process of photosynthesis. There are three main ingredients when it comes to photosynthesis: carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight. Those last two ingredients, sunlight and water, are rather limiting for a plant. A plant needs a lot of sunlight and a lot of water to make enough food to grow. As a result, it makes the most sense for plants to grow during the warm months from late Spring to early Fall, as the period of daylight is longer and there is normally plenty of water available. But this creates other problems. Imagine you're a tiny herbaceous plant on the forest floor. You need sunlight to make food for yourself, but the trees overhead are hogging most of it. The light that finally reaches you is just a tiny portion of the light initially available. Most of these herbaceous forest-floor plants simply make due with this problem, but some plants have found ways around it.

The leftover flowering stalk of a Cranefly Orchid with seed capsules.

When Winter comes around, many plants decide to stop photosynthesizing and lose their green leaves. With only a few hours of daylight to use, and water not as readily available, it doesn't make sense to photosynthesize. So the forest suddenly becomes a lot less green. But this does something else: with the trees lacking leaves, way more sunlight now reaches the forest floor. In comes the Cranefly Orchid. The Cranefly Orchid evolved a solution to this light competition problem long ago. Instead of fighting for a little sunlight during the Summer when all the other plants are competing as well, the Cranefly Orchid decided to simply change the time of year when it grows a photosynthetic leaf.

Cranefly Orchid flowers in the summer like many other species (as that's when insects are out to pollinate the flowers), but it doesn't grow a leaf until the leaves of most other plants are beginning to change late in the Fall. By the time the leaf is fully grown, the canopy is open and the Cranefly Orchid can exploit all of the sunlight that now reaches the forest floor. As I mentioned before, this is a hard strategy for most plants, which is why we don't commonly see this strategy. However, nearly all of the patterns we see in nature are a result of the interplay between costs and benefits. For the Cranefly Orchid, the benefits of trying to photosynthesize during the winter outweigh the benefits of trying to photosynthesize during the Summer, even when the plant factors in the costs associated with photosynthesizing through the freezing temperatures and shorter photoperiod. As Spring ramps up, this leaf will break down and the rest of the plant will then begin to send up a stalk for flowering before repeating the cycle all over again.

Of course, seeing the Cranefly Orchid made me want to see the other two orchid species around Athens that have leaves present during the winter. The Sun was going down though, so I went home and decided to try again the next day. After classes ended that next day, I traveled out to Strouds Run State Park, yet another park within the larger system bordering Athens.

First up, Puttyroot Orchid, Aplectrum hyemale. Puttyroot is another orchid which utilizes a strategy like that of Cranefly Orchid. Toward the end of Fall, the underground part of the plant sends up a single leaf in order to capitalize on the open Winter canopy and avoid the competition associated with sunlight during the Summer. This leaf will live through the Winter months before breaking down by mid-Spring. Right after the leaf disintegrates, the plant will send up a flowering stalk.

The overwintering leaf of a Puttyroot Orchid is quite stunning. They're pretty large, and hard to miss if you're looking at the plant life within a forest. This species is more widespread in Ohio, with the core of its range being in the southern and northeastern portions of the state, with scattered populations elsewhere in the central and northwestern portions. The Puttyroot Orchid is an inhabitant of moist woods, where it can be found along forested floodplain terraces, the bottoms of ravines, low to mid level regions of forested slopes, and sandstone canyons. The individual pictured above was part of a colony found underneath a sandstone outcrop on a rather-seepy forested hillside.

Of course, this post wouldn't be complete without talking about one of my favorite orchids, the Downy Rattlesnake Plantain, Goodyera pubescens. Unlike the previous two species I've talked about, the leaves of the Downy Rattlesnake Plantain are present year-round. This orchid species can be found throughout the Allegheny Plateau region of eastern Ohio, where it grows on dry or moist upland portions of the widespread hills. In fact, this orchid can be very abundant in the appropriate habitat, and the individuals pictured above were just a few of the dozens I saw over the course of 2 hours at Strouds Run State Park.

Downy Rattlesnake Plantain is one of my favorite orchids for two reasons. First, it was the first species of orchid I ever saw in the wild. Second, the leaves are phenomenally beautiful and eye-catching. Even a person not that interested in plants would find themselves stopping for a closer look if they came across a population of this orchid while out on a hike.

As I write this, the weather is chilly and rainy. This is a far cry from the previous Friday, where Ohio teased us all with Spring-like weather in the high 70's. As we sink back into a more seasonable weather pattern, I can't help but continue to impatiently wait for Spring to rev up in earnest. Thanks for reading!

Six Orchids from Southern Ohio

Last weekend I had the pleasure of being one of the trip leaders for the Ohio Ornithological Society's "Warblers and Wildflowers" event. This is an annual weekend foray that takes places in the rolling hills of Shawnee State Forest and nearby areas. My group spent Saturday morning in Shawnee SF, and the rest of the day birding around next door Adams County. I ended up observing 66 species of birds on Saturday, a new daily high! Sunday was a free-for-all, and I was lucky enough to be able to tag along with two amazing botanists, Andrew Gibson (blogger at The Buckeye Botanist) and Tanner Morris (you can view Tanner's photography page right here), as they ventured through some select sites in Scioto and Adams Counties. We saw a lot of amazing plants, but this post is over the orchids we saw in bloom.

First, some background on orchids. Although the word "orchid" conjures up images of tropical forests, Ohio does indeed have an array of native orchids. There are 46 species of native orchid (family Orchidaceae) which have been recorded in Ohio. Of these 46, 4 are sadly extirpated (locally extinct in Ohio). Of the remaining 42, 22 are state listed as either potentially threatened, threatened, or endangered (and 2 of those 22 are also federally listed). The vast majority of these orchids require a narrow set of ecological characteristics to live, with some being much more picky than others. This makes orchids generally uncommon and oftentimes hard to find in Ohio, depending on the species. (For a complete checklist of Ohio orchid species and hybrids, check out this link)

The orchid blitz was mainly Sunday, but it began Saturday night. We took a short drive to one of the many gravel roads that criss-cross the massive expanse that is Shawnee State Forest. Just off the side of the road were these two unassuming flowers. This is Large Whorled Pogonia, Isotria verticillata. Large Whorled Pogonia is an orchid of the forest. More specifically, this species prefers acidic soils of upland forests and the likes. It's relatively widespread across the Allegheny Plateau region of eastern Ohio, but it's an easily missed flower. 

Large Whorled Pogonia in bloom.

Many of the orchids in Ohio are not overly showy, and the Large Whorled Pogonia falls into that category. It would be an incredibly easy flower to miss if you weren't looking. Although the Large Whorled Pogonia is relatively common (albeit hard to see) in eastern Ohio, it's close cousin the Small Whorled Pogonia, Isotria medeoloides, is a whole other story. The Small Whorled Pogonia is a federally listed plant, and it is incredibly rare in Ohio. In fact, it's only been recorded in 2 counties, and both of those have been in single locations. The first individual was recorded in Shawnee State Forest back in 1985, only a few miles from where the photo above was taken. It has since not been relocated. The second record was from a location in Hocking County in 1998, where a single fruiting individual and several vegetative stems were discovered. Sadly those individuals haven't been seen in several years, but this species is known to lie dormant. There is a chance that it will once again sprout forth. There is also a chance the Small Whorled Pogonia is out there somewhere else in Ohio, hiding among other plants, either overlooked or in places where no botantically-minded person has ventured...

On Sunday we once again ventured down a lonely road in Shawnee State Forest. Ovenbirds, Worm-Eating Warblers, and Wood Thrushes greeted us with song as we arrived at the first location. However, so did rain. Cue me awkwardly trying to protect my not-weather-sealed camera from the rain while still trying to take photos. Luckily these Pink Lady's Slippers, Cypripedium acaule, did not pay a lick of attention to the rain. Pink Lady's Slipper is a species of orchid in the Cypripedium genus, whose members are called the "lady's slippers" due to the distinctive shape of their flower.

The Pink Lady's Slipper is one of the more common of the lady slipper's here in Ohio. The Yellow Lady's Slipper, which we will get to in a bit, has been recorded in more counties than the Pink, but the populations are much more scattered and tend to be not as abundant in individuals. The Pink Lady's Slipper can be found in the northeastern part of Ohio (the glaciated Allegheny Plateau) and a few scattered counties in the southeastern half of the state. They prefer dryer, acidic oak and pine forests, such as the ridgetops of Shawnee SF with a sandstone bedrock.

Just a few dozen feet away was a very interesting Pink Lady's Slipper that wasn't so pink. This is a white variation individual of the Pink Lady's Slipper. It's a pretty rare phenotype for this species, and it was a pleasure to see. This isn't the first white-variant flower I've seen before; a few years ago I found a white-variant individual of Scaly Blazingstar. You can see a photo of that individual at this link.

Close by to the Pink Lady's Slippers were a few individuals of the Large Yellow Lady's Slippers. The taxonomic naming seems to be a bit unsure. There are three thoughts. First, most would call this Cypripedium parviflorum, specifically Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens. Others would call this Cypripedium pubescens. A few would call this Cypripedium calceolus var. pubescens. This confusion all boils down to the never-ending conflict of what defines a species. In Europe there is Cypripedium calceolus, the Yellow Lady's Slipper. Originally many considered the yellow lady's slippers in North America to be a subspecies of the European C. calceolus. As genetic work was done, they found this probably wasn't the case, and the American ones were diverged enough to be considered their own species.

This led to the next issue; within North America there are 4 varieties (in essence the botanical version of a subspecies) recognized. Many botanists then decided to call the overall species Cypripedium parviflorum, and then designate the varieties as var. exiliens (found in Alaska), var. makasin (found in the northern part of the range), var. parviflorum (found in the southern part of the range), and var. pubescens (found throughout the range). These varieties all have different ranges, different habitat preferences, and different morphologies, and one could argue that these are different species, depending on what your idea of a species is (as there are a few dozen concepts). In fact, this resulted in some deciding to elevate Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens to its own species, Cypripedium pubescens. Yet at the same time, all of the American "varieties" are extremely closely related when it comes to their genetics. This leads to a big question: How much does genetics play a role in designating what a species is, and how much does the ecology of the various populations play a role?

Regardless how they are classified, they are an extremely awesome plant. The delicate yellow flower stands in stark contrast among the greens and browns of the understory. They are found across Ohio in about half the counties, but they aren't really "common" here, although they can be locally abundant in good areas. They prefer wetter areas than the Pink Lady's Slippers, and often can be found on forested hillsides.

Stepping away from the lady's slippers for a bit, let's go to this tiny plant. This is Showy Orchis, Galearis spectabilis. And yes, I spelled the common name correctly. It's not Showy Orchid, but Showy Orchis, as strange as that might seem. The name "Orchis" comes from the old genus this species was placed in, which was Orchis. However, they have since been removed and placed in the new genus Galearis, but the common name of Showy Orchis remains. Showy Orchis can essentially be found throughout the state. It prefers moderately moist (AKA mesic) forested habitats. Such habitats include the bottoms of ravines in southern Ohio. They are only a few inches tall and could be easily missed by the unobservant hiker, but a careful observer might catch the tiny white and purple flowers.

After awhile we left Scioto County and headed to next-door Adams County, which happens to be my favorite county in Ohio. I also absolutely love parasitic plants, and I was delighted when we stopped by an unassuming roadside with a population of Spring Coralroot, Corallorhiza wisteriana, in bloom. I've covered the related Crested Coralroot (you can read the post here), and it was great to see another species. Spring Coralroot is listed as a Potentially Threatened Species here in Ohio. They are a parasitic species which feeds off nutrients acquired by underground mycorrhizal fungi that is present throughout the soil. In fact, these plants spend most of their life underground, and they only send up a flower every so often when conditions are right. This lifestyle is also leading to their decline. Disturbances to the soil will often result in the destruction of mycorrhizal fungi in the affected area. Of course, if the food source for the Spring Coralroot is destroyed, the Spring Coralroot won't be able to feed and will subsequently starve.

The star of the day was the rare, state-endangered White Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium candidum. This is not just rare in Ohio; this species is rare across its entire range in the US. It's a species of calcareous soils, such as the dolomite-based soils of the Adams County cedar glades. It's only been recorded in 10 counties in Ohio, but only 4 of those counties have records after 1980. This vast reduction is due to the destruction of our calcareous (alkaline) prairies and fens. Sadly those habitats aren't exactly coming back, and even if they did, orchids are notoriously difficult (and sometimes impossible) to reintroduce into an area. I'll be making a longer post about this species in a few days, so stay tuned for more!

These orchids were only a sliver of the awesome plants I was able to see over the course of the weekend. Southern Ohio is a treasure-trove for botany lovers, and for nature-lovers in general. Thanks for reading!

Spiranthes Orchids at Blue Jay Barrens

Nearly a month ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Blue Jay Barrens. Some of you surely recognize that name. Blue Jay Barrens is a large tract of land in Adams County that's owned and managed by Steve Willson. If you've heard of this place, chances are you've read about it on Steve's wonderful blog entitled Blue Jay Barrens. If you haven't checked out his blog, I highly suggest you do. I've been meaning to make a post on some of the amazing things I saw there, but the past few weeks have been crazy for me. I've had to finish up my summer lab work, as well as move back in to Ohio University and deal with the insanity that is the start of a new semester. Anyway, I now have a little bit of time to write, so better late than never!

As I said before, Blue Jay Barrens is a privately owned tract of land that resides in the northern part of Adams County. I've been an avid reader of Steve's blog for a few years now, and he recently reached out to me and asked if I wanted a tour. The answer to a question like that is always yes. I came down on August 13th and Steve gave me a wonderful tour that lasted about 6 hours. He has just over 100 acres, and we saw only about half of it that day. The number of interesting plants and other goodies that I saw that day was simply astounding. Blue Jay Barrens lies in the incredible and unique Adams County, my personal favorite county in Ohio. Adams County is perhaps best known for its globally rare cedar glades (also called cedar barrens) that contain many dozens of rare plant species for Ohio. An example of an Adams County cedar barren is Lynx Prairie. Blue Jay Barrens is a little different though; before Steve bought it in 1985, it was actually farmland. Decades of farming and bad land use practices had eroded essentially all of the topsoil, leaving the land desolate. Slowly but surely, native plants began to come back and soil is slowly being replaced. Adams County, luckily, has many native plant species that can thrive on thin, rocky, and dry soils, most of which are prairie species. Seeds of these hardy species naturally made their way from neighboring areas and began to recolonize the area. Fast forward to the present and you have a beautiful prairie environment with Red Cedars (which are managed by Steve) that dot the landscape.

I was able to visit at a great time in the year. Several Spiranthes orchid species were in bloom, and Spiranthes also happens to be my absolute favorite genus of orchids. Lucky me! Spiranthes is a genus (the classification category right before species) of orchids that mainly calls open areas such as prairies home. There are 9 species that can be found in Ohio, with 3 of those species being state-listed as either Potentially Threatened or Threatened. They're generally small plants, with their white inflorescence (the flowering part of the plant) often being overlooked among the tall grasses they tend to grow in. To give you an idea, look at the photo above. There's a single Spiranthes individual growing on the right side. The good news is, once you intitially find one, your eyes get a "search image" and you start seeing them pretty often. Steve and I saw a few dozen blooming individuals that day, and each one was a treat. 

One of the main reasons I adore these orchids is their shape. Spiranthes orchids flower in either a single or double spiral. This individual shows a single spiral really well. This is a Spring Ladies'-Tresses, Spiranthes vernalis. First, a note about the common name of the Spiranthes. I will be using "Ladies'-Tresses" which is what the Ohio Department of Natural Resources uses. You will also see some places using "Lady's Tresses," "Ladies-Tresses," or some other similar name. A tress is a long lock of a woman's hair, and these flowers take on the name Ladies'-Tresses as they resemble a braided lock of hair. As common names are wont to do, the Spring Ladies'-Tresses does not bloom in the Spring, except when they do. The issue here is that in the southern states (where the common name stems from), this species actually does bloom in the Spring. However, the farther north you travel, the later this species blooms. So although the common name is due to its blooming habits in southern states, this species actually blooms in late Summer or early Fall here in Ohio. It blooms as late as October once you get into New England! 

A closeup of the flowers on the Spring Ladies'-Tresses, with a beetle guest.

The identification of ladies'-tresses can be difficult. In Ohio, you can often narrow it down to 2 or 3 species depending on your location and time of year, and then you have to start getting into the tiny details to separate them. I am relatively new to plants, so I always like to double check my ID's with the more knowledgeable members of the Facebook group Ohio's Wildflowers and Flora, which is a really wonderful group. Often the flowers, and specifically the labellum (or lip), have some characteristic feature to help nail the identification. In the Spring Ladies'-Tresses, the labellum often has a yellowish-tinge, as you can see in the photo above. An uncommon plant here in Ohio, the Spring Ladies'-Tresses is confined to only 8 counties in the southern tip of Ohio.

Next we have a much smaller species. This is the Little Ladies'-Tresses, Spiranthes tuberosa. This dainty species is also an inhabitant of dry prairies and meadows like the previous Spring Ladies'-Tresses (although they can be found in other habitats as well), but this species is generally much smaller in height. This individual was probably less than a foot high, while the Spring Ladies'-Tresses we saw were about 2 feet or so tall.

As I previously mentioned, the labellum of many Spiranthes orchids holds a clue as to what species it is. In this case, the labellum is pure white, while the previous Spring Ladies'-Tresses had a labellum with a yellow tinge. This pure white labellum is an easy way to quickly identify Spiranthes tuberosa. The Little Ladies'-Tresses has a decently wide range in Ohio. In fact, it pretty much has a straight distribution line from Adams County in Southern Ohio up to Ashtabula County in extreme Northeastern Ohio that's about two or three counties wide. You can see a range map here.

This is the Slender Ladies'-Tresses, Spiranthes lacera var. gracilis, which was last Spiranthes species we saw that day. I should note that ladies'-tresses are often a hard genus of flowers to photograph. They're generally short and very thin. This gives your camera's autofocus quite a challenge many times. The main issue is that they are often set among similarly-sized grasses and assorted other flowers. As a result, a camera's autofocus has a hard time deciding what exactly you're trying to focus on. If you add a breeze, good luck. Luckily this day was quite still, for the most part at least. There was one instance where I was trying to focus on an individual while there was an intermittent breeze. As soon as my camera would focus on the Spiranthes, a breeze would come and move the flower out of focus, and my camera would then decide to focus on a random piece of grass. Cue the process of trying to refocus on the flower, only to have the process repeat again a few seconds later.

The defining characteristic of the Slender Ladies'-Tresses is the green spot on the labellum, which you can see above. If you noticed in the previous paragraph, I said this was Spiranthes lacera var. gracilis. You might notice that this isn't the "normal" type of scientific name with only a genus and species part; there's also a "var. gracilis." This means that it is the gracilis variety of Spiranthes lacera. A variety is essentially a distinct type within a species. S. lacera var. gracilis is also known as the Southern Slender Ladies'-Tresses. The other variety is S. lacera var. lacera, also called the Northern Slender Ladies'-Tresses. Andrew Gibson, the blogger at The Buckeye Botanist, helped me on the variety part. He said "The best way to differentiate the two [varieties] is by the presence of basal leaves at anthesis. Variety gracilis' basal leaves are gone while var. lacera's are still there during flowering. Additionally, var. gracilis is a single rank of flowers in a tight spiral around the stem; var. lacera's flowers are more or less secund and all to one side of the stem and hardly spiraled." He also pointed out that var. lacera hasn't been found in Ohio so far, although he believes it is probably somewhere in extreme northern Ohio.

My trip to Blue Jay Barrens was jam-packed with exciting species, and hopefully I'll have some more time to make at least another post on it. These three orchids, which were all lifers for me, bring me up to 14 orchid species for my life list out of the 47 species in Ohio.

Crested Coralroot

This past Wednesday I made the trip out to Adams County in southern Ohio. Now, those of you who know me probably know I have a slight obsession with Adams County, but it's for good reason! This place is a biological hotspot of diversity, rarities, prairies, and more.

My main reason for going was to see the ever-amazing Lynx Prairie, which I've previously wrote about here. Late July/Early August is prime time in the prairies of Ohio; many of the wildflower species bloom in this part of the summer, making for incredible displays of color among the green grasses. For some examples of the flowers blooming right now in the Adams Co. prairies, check out my previous post here. When it comes to Ohio prairies, Lynx is by far my favorite. It is an incredible system of pocket prairies that is definitely worth exploring!

I arrived at Lynx Prairie at a perfect time. In the second prairie opening I saw two people looking down at a plant. We had our greetings and I asked them if they had seen anything interesting while there. They pointed me to the plant they were looking at: a beautiful specimen of Crested Coralroot, a species of orchid. (Imagine that, more orchids!) This is an orchid that I've been wanting to see for a long time, and I was beyond ecstatic to finally get the chance to see one. The couple told me that there were more scattered about the preserve and to keep an eye out for them. As I later found out, it turns out the people that showed me the orchid were none other than Deb Marsh and her husband. You might know Deb Marsh as the blogger at Around the Bend, another nature-based Ohio blog, which I've been following for the past couple of years. It's always great to meet another blogger out in the field!

Crested Coralroot, Hexalectris spicata, is a unique plant. It lacks chlorophyll, giving it a haunting pale color that stands out against the vibrant greens of the prairie and forest edge. As you might know, chlorophyll is necessary for a plant to produce food. If it lacks chlorophyll, then how does it get food? The answer lies in the roots. Crested Coralroots (as well as all orchids at some point during their life cycle) are myco-heterotrophs. Myco-heterotrophy is a symbiotic relationship between a plant and fungus. It's a complex system of energy exchange, with the Crested Coralroot ultimately being a parasite. I'll explain the process below!

Many plants form a relationship with fungus. For the vast majority, this relationship is mutualistic, meaning both the plant and fungus benefit. What happens is that a fungus will colonize the roots of a plant. The plant will then give the fungus carbohydrates for the fungus to live and prosper. This causes the fungus to grow in size, creating more surface area. The plant benefits from this increase in surface area, as its fungus-colonized root system can now absorb more water and nutrients. This creates what is called a mycorrhizal network. Now, in comes the Crested Coralroot. This orchid "cheats" the system. The orchid will essentially send its roots to tap into the mycorrhizal network. From there, it actually steals the carbohydrates from the fungus. Essentially, the Crested Coralroot steals food from another plant, while using the mycorrhizal fungus as a middle-man. It's pretty amazing to think about all of the complex craziness that occurs down in the soil. We're taught from a young age a very simplistic way of how plants grow, get nutrients, and make food. The reality is much, much more complex than how most of us view it.

The foot-tall Crested Coralroot stands out against the greenery, creating a striking scene.

Crested Coralroot is a rare plant in Ohio. In fact, it is state-listed as Potentially Threatened. There's only three counties that it can currently be found in here in Ohio (Adams, Scioto, and Lawrence). Crested Coralroot only comes above ground to flower and produce seeds; however, an individual does not do this every year. They will only send up a flowering stalk every few years. As a result, during some years a location might not have any flowering individuals, while other years might have dozens. Crested Coralroot tends to bloom in large numbers during wet summers. The extremely wet summer we're currently in has made for an amazing year when it comes to fungi and many plant species, and Crested Coralroot is no exception. In fact, we counted 10 individuals easily at the site, and we probably missed many more. If you want to see one, I highly suggest going this year. From what I've read, Lynx Prairie and parts of Shawnee State Forest are the two easiest places to find this orchid.

I'm also proud to announce that my blog recently surpassed 50,000 views! I just want to thank everyone for their support, and for reading!

Purple Fringeless Orchid

Earlier this week I received a message from Andrew Gibson asking if I was interested in going to see an orchid species that was in bloom in Vinton County. You might recognize that name; Andrew Gibson is a field botanist for ODNR and the blogger of the exceptional Buckeye Botanist blog (which I strongly suggest you check out if you haven't already). Of course, when anyone ever asks you a question like that, the only rational answer is yes.

The target species was the Purple Fringeless Orchid, Platanthera peramoena. This species was a lifer for me, making it the 9th Ohio orchid species I've seen (out of 46 native species). I'm a relatively late-comer to the world of plants and can only say I've really been "into" them for about a year and a half now. Of the 9 orchid species I've seen so far, 8 of them have been during this summer. Orchids, of the family Orchidaceae, are a very diverse and well-known group of plants. Most people I've met are surprised to learn that Ohio does indeed have native orchids, and I can't overly blame them; the majority of the ~26,000 orchid species are found in the tropics, but a few are found in more temperate regions. 

Purple Fringeless Orchid is a large species, with most of the individuals we saw being over 2 feet tall. Their bright, bubblegum-purple flowers were enough to capture anyone's attention. This species is mainly home to Southern Ohio. It likes moist areas, such as open areas in swamps, roadside ditches (which is where we found the ones pictured), open areas in floodplain forests, and so on. 

Small Purple Fringed Orchid (left) and Purple Fringeless Orchid (right).

There's three very similarly-looking "purple something orchids" species in this region of the US. First, there's the Small Purple Fringed Orchid and the Large Purple Fringed Orchid. In Ohio we only have the Small Purple Fringed Orchid, as the Large is extirpated (extirpation is "regional" extinction). As you might guess from the names, there's an easy way to tell the difference between the Small Purple Fringed Orchid and the Purple Fringeless Orchid. The edges of the Small Purple Fringed Orchid flowers are, you guessed it, fringed. The edges of the Purple Fringeless Orchid flowers are not fringed, although there is still a somewhat "rough" looking edge.

While investigating one stand of the orchid, a Hummingbird Clearwing paid us a visit. Zipping from flower to flower, and orchid to orchid, the moth buried its head in the flowers in order to reach the nectar hidden deep inside. To learn more about the Hummingbird Clearwing, check out my previous blog post on this species.

Thanks for reading!

A Gentian and an Orchid

About three weeks ago, I and a couple of other Ohio University students made the trip up to northern Ohio to assist with a graduate student's salamander research. While up in Erie County, we decided to stop by Castalia Quarry Metropark to check it out.

After pulling into the parking lot, we decided to head down the Fringed Gentian Trail. After a few feet in a forest, the trail opened up to this limestone-based prairie. Knowing that this was prime blooming time for the fringed gentians, I eagerly began searching the grasses for a fringed gentian, a lifer for me.

After only about 3 minutes of searching, a medium-sized blue flower caught my eye. Quickly moving to it, I laid eyes upon a beauty of a flower. There are multiple gentian species in Ohio, including two of the fringed kind (which get their names from the fringing on the flowers). These are the Lesser and the Greater. The ones I came across at Castalia Quarry were the Greater Fringed Gentian, Gentianopsis crinita. This species is state-listed as "Potentially Threatened." As of 2008, this species has been recorded in only 10 counties here in Ohio, mostly in the north and northeast.

So why is this a Greater Fringed instead of a Lesser? Both occur in Erie County, so I wasn't sure. I didn't feel comfortable enough making the ID, so I consulted the Facebook group Ohio's Wildflowers and Flora. Andrew Gibson, a field botanist for ODNR and the blogger who runs the amazing Natural Treasures of Ohio, IDed it as a Greater Fringed Gentian. He said "there is distinct fringing across the summit of the petals and the cauline leaves are more lance-ovate and stubby. Lesser Fringed Gentian's leaves are much narrower/linear and longer by comparison."

Greater Fringed Gentians can be found in wet meadows and prairies, ditches, fens, and a variety of other open habitats. This is an Autumn-blooming species which blooms from September to October, which is relatively late in the year for flowers. They were definitely one of the coolest flowers I've seen, and they're definitely worth a look for those interested!

While I was taking pictures of the prairie area, the others of the group decided to head back to the car. After I was finished with my photos, I began heading back to the car myself. Along the way, a tiny spike of white flowers made me freeze. Looking over, I saw to my surprise that it was none other than a species of ladies'-tresses, a type of orchid. Closer inspection revealed it was the Great Plains Ladies'-Tresses, Spiranthes magnicamporum, which is yet another state listed plant (Potentially Threatened). As the name suggests, this is a prairie species that is at home in the Great Plains. This species, however, does exist in other pocket prairies throughout the east, including a few places throughout Ohio.

This ladies'-tresses orchid is quite similar to S. cernua (in fact, it was considered the same species until 1973), but there are a few distinguishing features. The Great Plains Ladies'-Tresses is found in prairie habitats; the one above was found in a dry limestone prairie for example. There are also no leaves on the stem when this species flowers, and instead is just the stem coming straight up from the ground with a spike of white flowers. Closer inspection of the flowers also holds some identification traits. As you can see in the photo above, the lip of the flower curls downward. The sepals, which can be found above the curled flower, extend past the lip of the flower. This species also has a very strong scent.

Both of these flowers were a completely unexpected find; I'm very happy we stopped by the park! I've been going on these weekend salamander research trips for the last 3 weeks, and I've seen a lot of cool stuff. I'll be working on a few more blog posts that go over some of the things I've been able to get photos of, so stay tuned!