Some Early Blooms

It's that wonderful time of year again; more and more wildflowers are blooming! The spring wildflower season begins in Ohio with the blooming of Skunk Cabbage in February, and slowly picks up speed until the end of March. With the arrival of April, the spring-blooming wildflowers prepare to reach a climax, with dozens of species in bloom at the same time. April is almost here, so I decided to head out and see what species were already blooming around Athens in southeastern Ohio.

I'll begin with these familiar flowers. This rather striking plant is White Trout Lily, Erythronium albidum. It's a wide-ranging species here in Ohio, only absent in heavily agricultural or urbanized counties. The White Trout Lily is best at home in nutrient-rich forests, in rather moist or mesic soils. The individuals pictured above, for example, were living alongside a small stream in a stereotypical Allegheny Plateau ravine. The name "trout lily," which is part of the common name for several other Erythronium spp. flowers, is due to the mottled leaves. These mottled leaves resemble the coloration of the Brook Trout (compare with this photo).

The nodding flowers of the White Trout Lily are some of my favorite when it comes to the spring bloomers. However, they aren't the only species with a nodding flower like this. Several other species in the Lily family (Liliaceae) found here in Ohio have similarly nodding flowers, including the Yellow Trout Lily, Canada Lily, and Michigan Lily.

Unlike most of the flowers I'll be covering in this post which bloom in scattered patches along the forest floor, this species is very different. This is Spring Beauty, Claytonia virginica. In good areas, thousands of these will dot the forest floor. Sometimes they even make it into cities, where they dot lawns. The grasses around Ohio University's North Green, for example, live side by side with Spring Beauty come this time. Although Spring Beauty is incredibly common, the bottom one in the picture above is uncommon. Nearly all Spring Beauties are 5-petaled, like the one at the top. The bottom one, however, has 6 petals. Some sort of mutation is to blame, creating a flower that stands out among the hordes of others.

Next up is Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis. It's still a bit early for this species, so most of the individuals I saw had just popped up and hadn't even fully unfurled their large basal leaf and flower. The strange common name for this species is due to a peculiar feature of its underground rhizome. If something cuts the rhizome, reddish-orange sap seeps from the wound. Early settlers thought it looked like this root was oozing blood, so they called the plant Bloodroot. The sap, however, is part of the Bloodoot's defense system. It's filled with toxic alkaloids, which brings up an important issue...

If you search for "Bloodroot" on the internet, you'll get tons of results talking about its supposed "medicinal" uses. However, as I just mentioned, the sap contains toxic alkaloids. This highlights a huge topic I could rant on and on about, but I'll only make a quick aside. So many of these "alternative medicines" people talk about and advocate for either do nothing, or actually harm you. For example, people say you should put Bloodroot sap on skin cancer, as it gets rid of the cancer. In reality, the specific alkaloid contained in the sap (Sanguinarine) disrupts your cells' sodium-potassium pump, which results in your cells dying. The dying of these cells creates a type of necrotic scab called an eschar. It's literally a scab of dead flesh. Depending on the amount of Bloodroot sap you apply to your skin, the result can be a dangerous disfiguring of whatever part of your body you applied it to. This is not healthy or beneficial to do at all.

This is just one example of the thousands and thousands of "alternative medicines" actually being downright dangerous for people, as their supposed medicinal properties are simply unfounded. To quote the comedian Tim Minchin, "You know what they call alternative medicine that works? Medicine."

Among all the primarily-white flowers that I saw while out stood a single bluish-purple flower. This is Wild Blue Phlox, Phlox divaricata. Ohio has several species of phlox, but this one can be identified by its hairy stem, narrow lance-like leaves, and a flower with the stamens and pistil not sticking out of the tube made by the fusion of the lower portions of the petals. This deep tube poses a problem to many potential pollinating insects. Only those insects with long tongues, such as butterflies and moths, can reach deep enough to hit the nectar and incidentally pick up the pollen.

And finally, I want to talk about a special flower. This is Snow Trillium, Trillium nivale. We have 8 species of trillium native to Ohio, with the most familiar being the Great White Trillium,
Trillium grandiflorum. Some of the other trillium species aren't as well known or widespread, and Snow Trillium is one such species. Aside from one random county in eastern Ohio, Snow Trillium is found scattered throughout southwestern Ohio. This range is not surprising, as Snow Trillium loves limestone-based soils, and southwestern Ohio has many appropriate areas. Even so, the presence of appropriate habitat does not mean Snow Trillium will be present; the Ohio populations are scattered and often in low numbers (aside from a few really good populations).

I've wanted to see Snow Trillium for several years now, but I never had the time nor means to travel to one of the populations. Until this year, at least. I learned of a population in Adams County, and on a free day during my spring break I drove the 1.5 hours from Athens to Adams County with the goal of finally seeing some Snow Trillium in bloom. It was an easy enough goal, as I saw my lifer Snow Trillium even before stepping onto the trail! And I have to say I was thoroughly surprised; I had read that Snow Trillium is a small flower, but I had no idea just how small they were. They are downright minuscule. Just to give you an idea, I put my 2-inch wide lens cap next to some for a comparison. Really tiny, right?

You might be wondering why this species is called Snow Trillium. The name has to do with what time of year it blooms. Snow Trillium is an early bloomer, blooming in mid March here in Ohio. Oftentimes this is still early enough for it to snow, and the blooming Snow Trillium might find itself dotting a snowy landscape. The early settlers called this trillium species Snow Trillium as a result, to help separate it from the later blooming trillium species, which bloom after the winter snows end.

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Do you love spring wildflowers? Do you live in Ohio? Do you want to keep up to date with what species are blooming where in the state? If so, you're in luck! Every spring, ODNR has a bloom tracker which gets updated weekly. This tracker tells you what species are blooming, and where they are currently blooming. To see the weekly reports, just click on this link!

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.

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!

Flowers on the Prairies

As I mentioned in my post about Lynx Prairie, Adams County is home to the rare xeric limestone pocket prairie habitat (man, what a name), also known as cedar glades.

*EDIT* Woo! I just passed 20,000 views on my blog with this post! Thank you all so very much for your support!

The North Prairie at Lynx Prairie.

These small prairies that are scattered around Adams County are thousands of years old (possibly 10,000+ years). They have a basic soil (8+ pH) that is nutrient poor. Because these soils are typically only a few inches deep, water evaporates very easily which then makes for very dry soil. All these factors make for a very harsh living environment, and as a result many unique, and rare, plant species have come to adapt to this environment. This post will go over a few of the rare and some of the common flowers that were blooming in late July.

Let's start with a rarity in Ohio. This is American Bluehearts, Buchnera Americana. This is state-listed as Threatened in Ohio, and is state-listed in many other states as well. American Bluehearts have only been recorded in 6 counties here in Ohio; however, only three counties have had records since 1980. Those three counties are Pike, Jackson, and Adams. American Bluehearts can be found in limestone glades (the one above was found at Lynx Prairie), prairies, open woods, and moist sandy soils like you might find on roadsides. According to ODNR, management is a necessity for this species to continue to exist in Ohio. American Bluehearts are yet another species that greatly benefit from the burning of land every few years. As a result, controlled burning should be carried out in the lands where this species grows to maintain a decent population there. I have covered parasitic plants on here before (Indian Pipe and Squawroot), and now I can also add American Bluehearts to that list. American Bluehearts are what is known as "hemiparasitic," which means that while they can live independently, they can also live as parasites. In the case of American Bluehearts, this species will attach parasitic roots to nearby trees and take nutrients from them, especially when there are difficult living conditions, like a drought, going on.

Let's continue with another flashy flower, Canada Lily, Lilium canadense. This individual was found at Chaparral Prairie and let me tell you, you will not pass by this flower without noticing it. A tall species, Canada Lily can reach heights of 5 feet or so. Hanging reddish flowers 5 feet in the air are hard to ignore. I will admit I was very excited to finally find this plant.

While Canada Lily is showy when you look at it at the angle in the previous photo, look up into the flowers and you'll be blown away. Canada Lily is probably Ohio's most common lily species. A resident of the Allegheny Plateau of eastern Ohio, this species can be found in open woodland, openings in forests, moist prairies, and savannas.

Next let's move on to one of the Liatris species that was just beginning to bloom in the prairies of Chaparral Prairie SNP. This is Dense Blazingstar, Liatris spicata. Dense Blazingstar is the most common blazingstar species in Ohio (there are 7 native species). The individual above was the one that was most in-bloom at the time, as all the others only had about 10 or less of the flowers blooming. When blooming peaks, Chaparral Prairie is awash with tall purple spikes swaying in the breezing among the greens of the grasses and Prairie Docks. Dense Blazingstar is a species that prefers more moist (instead of dry) soils and as a result isn't limited in habitat choices. You can find this species in moist prairies, wetlands like fens and marshes, and other wet fields. Even though this is the most common blazingstar species in Ohio, it's still not overly common by any means. It has been recorded in about 27 or so counties that are scattered all throughout Ohio.

Another Liatris species in bloom currently is Scaly Blazingstar, Liatris squarrosa, which I've previously covered. Another state-listed species, Scaly Blazingstar was blooming in force at Lynx Prairie. You can read more about this species on my Scaly Blazingstar feature.

A very common species in Ohio's prairies is Gray-Headed Coneflower, Ratidiba pinnata. Both Purple and Gray-Headed Coneflowers can be found in Ohio prairies, but in my experience the Gray-Headed Coneflower generally outnumbers the Purple. Notice the drooping yellow petals, a diagnostic feature. A taller species that can reach heights of 3-4 feet, Gray-Headed Coneflowers offered a nice contrast to the low greens of Lynx Prairie as their yellow flowers jutted up into the sky. Gray-Headed Coneflower is an inhabitant of prairies, forest edges, thickets, and railroad right-of-ways. A hardy species, Gray-Headed Coneflower can thrive in both xeric (dry) and mesic (moist) environments. This species can generally be found in the western, glaciated parts of Ohio, but has also been recorded in eastern counties like Athens County.

While Gray-Headed Coneflower is a common flower in Ohio prairies, a rare denizen of the Ohio prairies is Rattlesnake Master, Eryngium yuccifolium. This species is one that is more commonly found in the tall grass prairies of the west and south. In Ohio this species is state-listed as "Potentially Threatened" and according to ODNR has only been recorded in 6 counties here (although BONAP has more counties listed...). The flowers of Rattlesnake Master are unmistakable if you do come across one though, so there's no doubting you found one if you know what they look like. I love Rattlesnake Master and it's always a treat to come across. Chaparral Prairie SNP has the largest population in the state if you're wanting to see some for sure.

The leaves of Rattlesnake Master are an interesting aspect of the plant; they almost look like some sort of agave. Notice the small spines lining the edges. The curious name "Rattlesnake Master" comes from the plant's ability to control a rattlesnake if a human brandishes one of the flowers to the rattlesnake... Just kidding. In all seriousness, the name comes from its historical use by Native Americans to treat rattlesnake bites; however, as one might guess this treatment was ineffective.

A common flower dotting the pocket prairies at Lynx Prairie is the brilliant Rose Pink, Sabatia angularis. Rose Pink (you might also see the name as Rosepink) is a flower of prairies, rocky open woods, roadsides, glades, thickets, and fields. In Ohio this species is found predominantly in the eastern and southern portions of the state. Look for this beautiful species blooming in July to August.



Another common flower at Lynx Prairie was the small, but attention-grabbing, Common Self Heal, Prunella vulgaris. This species is by no means a prairie-only flower. In fact, this incredibly common species has been recorded in basically every single county in Ohio. You can find this flower in a variety of habitats including waste areas, edges of forests, fields, and the likes. The nativity of this species is questionable. There are different varieties of this species, and a few of those are considered native. However, other varieties are from Eurasia and have been introduced here. As a result, a close look by trained eyes can help determine if an individual is probably native or not. I, however, am not a trained eye, so I have no idea if this is a native or foreign strand. Regardless, this is a very attractive flower. Normally the ones I run across only have a few flowers on them as the others haven't bloomed yet or have fallen off. This individual had the fullest bloom I've ever seen in Common Self Heal. 

Another common flower at Chaparral Prairie SNP was the Partridge Pea, Chamaecrista fasciculate. Notice the four petals with red center. Also notice the Honey-Locust-like leaves. This species almost looks like the tiny sapling of a locust tree in my opinion. Like many prairie species, Partridge Pea benefits greatly from a prairie fire every few years. After an area is burned, this species can be found in great numbers and generally decreases in number every year after until the area is burned again. This is a species that loves disturbed areas, dry and moist prairies, roadsides, savannas, and other similar habitats. Partridge Pea has been recorded in about 30 or so counties here in Ohio. It's mainly found in the southern counties and seems to follow Ohio River tributaries (like the Scioto River) northward.

And finally we have Pale-Spiked Lobelia, Lobelia spicata. This isn't the greatest photo, I know, but it was raining and I didn't spend too much time on it. These spikes of white or pale-blue flowers were blooming all throughout the prairies at Lynx Prairie and added to the multiple colors already present. Pale-Spiked Lobelia prefers the more moist and rich soil of certain prairies, fields, and open woodlands; however, this species can also tolerate the rocky, dry conditions that make up Lynx Prairie. Pale-Spiked Lobelia is a relatively common species here in Ohio and has been recorded in a little more than half of the counties here, mostly those in the east and south.

These are only a handful of the flowers we came across while in Adams County, but to add them all would make for a massive post. There are more posts to come based around Adams County, but I also have a post on Gallagher Fen SNP in the works and a few others, so stay tuned!