Plant Sightings – Page 35

The Showy Orchis That Wasn’t

June 18, 2012June 1, 2010 by wilde

Walking the woods is a favorite activity for many of us forest wanderers. We go in search of different things. Some of us look for wild herbs that we might use and flowers to appreciate and take delight in. Others look for trails of animals and their tracks, for better hunting when that time comes. Regardless of your reason to take that walk in the woods, keep your senses aware as you never know what you’ll find.

A few weeks back I spoke with a land manager at a local park. He was more than a little disgusted by the work performed by people over a year ago when an extra large drainage pipe was installed at the creek, without apparent need for it. Although the installation of the pipe seemed to be ok, we may never know as the size of pipe installed wasn’t warranted by the water flow of the creek – the pipe is just too big for the location.

During the drainage pipe installation no care was taken to protect the plants that naturally come up in this area. The land manager told me there were a handful of showy orchis – orchids – that were destroyed in the laying of the pipe. He had known of three plants that used to appear in the area where gravel had been laid during the pipe installation.

Hearing the news that the only known plants in the whole park were now under a bed of gravel, I had little hope of finding showy orchis at the park. Even so, I took a little extra time combing the area adjacent to the place where the showy orchis used to appear. The efforts were worth the time as I did find three little beauties – what a pleasant surprise!

Showy orchis, a member of the Orchid family, is probably one of the most common orchids in Pennsylvania. Something about orchids makes them seem rare and mysterious. We do have orchids here in the temperate zone, but many more kinds of orchids grow in more tropical locales. The orchids are noted for their odd flowers and many are cultivated by true afficinados.

So, what does showy orchis look like? Two basal leaves lie opposite one another, while the flower stem has smaller, oval-shaped ‘leaves’ that are pointed on the end. Basal leaves are broadly oval and may be slightly pointed to blunt-ended. One to five prominent veins are visible on the thick leaves.

A succulent flower stem rises up from the middle of the two basal leaves. Along the flower stem are what appear to be several smaller leaves, each having a single flower in the leaf axil. These small leaves associated with individual flowers are more properly called bracts. The presence of flower bracts can be used as an identifying feature of showy orchis as several related species do not have flower bracts.

Flowers are bicolored in white and light pink to magenta. Petals and sepals are fused to make a flower with only two petals and a spur. The broad, wavy-edged lower lip petal and long spur are white. The smooth-edged upper petal which forms a hood is usually somewhat pink to darker pink or magenta, but sometimes it appears to be white making an all white flower.

Photos here were a little too early to capture the flowers open. When opened, the orchid exhibits a pinkish hood and white lip and spur. The white spur is slightly longer than the flower bud. The flowers here present as all white. Perhaps the purple-rose color will develop as the flower matures.

Showy Orchis, Galearis spectabilis, once known as Orchis spectabilis, is called showy orchis, even though this plant was moved from the Orchis genus to new genus called Galearis. This is a particularly silly example of how confusing common names can be. The showy orchis isn’t an orchis at all, yet we still call it showy orchis.

An example showy orchis with three flowers in the image below seems to be a young plant of about 3 x 5 inches with a 2-inch flower spike.

Two broad, linear-veined leaves of showy orchis shine in the sunlight.

Note a second and third plant hiding to the left and behind of the flowering showy orchis. The blooms appear to be all white at this point.

The single flower stem has a leafy bract for each flower.

Another showy orchis hides among the wild ginger.

In the center of the photo above a Showy Orchis orchid hides among the wild ginger and ferns near the creek.

These showy orchis weren’t very showy at all. The flowers weren’t open and the pink to magneta color wasn’t there either.

The image above shows a typical bicolor flower of white and pink. The flowers are open and more clearly show their hood and lip shapes.

The Showy Orchis orchid can be found in rich woods and near water, especially creeks and springs that run through woodlands. Look for this flowering orchid during the first two weeks of May or perhaps a little later in more northern or mountainous areas.

Mustards Blooming Bright Yellow in Fallow Fields

June 18, 2012May 28, 2010 by wilde

Some of the alien plants aren’t all bad. They’re here because humans brought them here, either on purpose or by accident. We’re stuck with them, so why not try to enjoy the aliens or non-natives?

If we see there is direct competition, we may be able to help our native friends out. For instance, when the garlic mustard gets too numerous along the lane, we just walk down the lane, pull out the plants, and let them lay on the road. They’re shallow rooted and very easy to pull up, especially in the Spring when there is a lot of moisture to the ground.

The plants left to lay in the road should dry up and not be able to grow more or set seeds. I enjoyed seeing that the ‘keepers of the forest’ at Little Buffalo State Park do the same thing. On my trail walks there I’ve seen the pulled out garlic mustard plants withering in the middle of the trail.

After pulling up the garlic mustard plants there will be fewer plants the following year. They won’t be extinguished as there are very short plants, maybe six inches tall, that bloom and most likely set seed. The little plants more easily hide from us weed-pullers, so they probably will help to produce the following generations.

Another alien plant that blooms prolifically and will always be here is the mustard plant. The Peterson Wildflower Guide tells us there are several alien mustards, Brassica spp., in the Eastern U.S. – white mustard, charlock, black mustard, chinese or indian mustard, and field mustard. You have to look at the foliage to determine the species.

Bright yellow four-petaled flowers in terminal clusters and slender erect seed pods are common characteristics of mustards. When you have a mass blooming of mustard in open fields, it surely gives a lot of color to the landscape.

Yellow blossoms of mustard fill this open field.

Of course, the mustards are edible. If one was the industrious type she could harvest the young leaves for cooked greens or salads. The older leaves are too bitter, so collecting mustard leaves has to be done on the earliest warm days of Spring. The seed pods can be pickled and the ripe seeds can be ground to make a spicy mustard.

Photos of mustard fields taken 30 April 2010.

Can’t Beat’em, Eat’em: Garlic Mustard (fragmentsfromfloyd.com)

Field Mustard Seed Pods Slender and Long

June 18, 2012May 27, 2010 by wilde

Field mustard, Brassica rapa, is distinguished from the other mustards, like white mustard, charlock, black mustard, and chinese or indian mustard, by the lower lobes of the leaves which practically wrap around the stem.

Long, skinny seed pods of field mustard.

The seed pods may be 2 inches long and slender, not to mention numerous.

Field mustard plants heavy with green seed pods.

The 3-ft. tall field mustard plants above were growing in waste ground between an access road and the highway. Heavy with seed pods the tops of the plants tipped over to one side. Field mustard photos taken 17 May 2010.

The road crew will probably mow down the mustard before the seeds ripen, but I’ll keep my eye on this patch for potential harvesting. Spicy mustard sounds nice!

Late Last Bloomers of Bloodroot and Hepatica

March 7, 2011May 26, 2010 by wilde

We all know a cardinal when we see one, so we can recognize the species and tell it apart from robins and redstarts. But can any of us profess to know individual birds? I would argue no – not without also observing behavioral differences or actions unique to the individual.

Well, if we think about the same idea and apply it to plants, how can we tell individuals apart from one another? If planted or observed in prior years one has a pretty good chance of remembering where an individual plant put down their roots. However, without the common location from year to year I doubt many of us could recognize individual plants within a species.

As behavior doesn’t really apply with plants we look for other characteristics that sets them apart from the rest. We say, “these are the early blooming variety of tulip” or “those hardy fruit trees are the ones resistant to such-and-such pox.” With wild plants I’m sure there are examples of sub-groups of species that appear differently or that have certain characteristics that set them apart from the average wild herb.

Here, we have two examples of late-blooming spring ephemeral flowers.

Little bloodroot blooming under older bloodroots.

The little bloodroot in the image above was seen on 30 April 2010. Note the large leaves of bloodroot that overhang the little late bloomer. The seed pod of a prior blooming bloodroot can just be seen to the left of the large flower stalk on the right of the photograph. Bloodroot bloomed in South-Central Pennsylvania from 3 April to 18 April 2010, although only one tattered bloom was seen on the 18th.

Once the ground gets warm enough to sprout the bloodroot plants, it’s like a mass blooming. The blooming may last for a week, but no longer than that except for singular plants here and there. The same is probably true for hepatica.

Late blooming hepatica with mottled leaves.

The hepatica blossom above is the latest one yet, spotted on 30 April 2010. In the image above one hepatica plant has three light green leaves and a second plant, lower on the hill with the bloom, has mottled leaves. The mottled-leaf plant has one spent blossom visible on the left. Hepatica bloomed here a little earlier than bloodroot from 24 March to 3 April 2010.

Individual variation is at play. Microhabitat variation wasn’t the cause of these late-blooming flowers as we saw others in same location that had already bloomed as witnessed by spent flowers and/or the presence of seed pods.

The lesson here for all of us is that when we go out and observe nature or look for wild herbs, we need to remember that we’re there only for an instant in time. Many variables play on the growth, or lack thereof, of plants and animals. Timing can be everything. Next week or last week might have been the best time to find what you’re seeking, but that doesn’t mean a total loss.

Like they taught us in school – Stop, Look and Listen! To that list I would add Smell! You never know what treasures lie ahead, so venture on!

Privet Shrub Smells Like Spring

August 14, 2012May 25, 2010 by wilde

Early in the day during my walk at the Box Huckleberry Natural Area I was stopped in my tracks by nice sweet smell. It smelled like a spring day and that’s about all I can say to describe the lovely scent.

I looked around and the thing was I couldn’t find the source of the smell. I did see some pinxter flower, the wild pink azalea. It was barely blooming yet with flower buds formed and only one of them open. It looked like they may even open later in the day but only one of them was opened so far and I can’t think the scent that I smelled was due to a single flower down the trail.

Smokey says the pinxter flower doesn't have a lovely scent.

There was hardly any of the box huckleberry still blooming so I wasn’t sure where this lovely scent came from. The neat thing was it stopped me in my tracks, so I took a moment to look all around me. I couldn’t find what was blooming to make such a nice scent and then I spotted them – I saw a whole bunch of moccasin flowers or Pink Lady’s Slippers. They don’t have any smell of their own, but I was truly appreciative of the pretty scent having helped me find them.

Later in the same day I was over on the Middle Ridge Trail at Little Buffalo State Park when I came across the same lovely smell. This time it was easy to find the scent producer. A Privet shrub, Ligustrum vulgare, had taken up residence some years ago right next to the trail and now it was tree-sized, probably twenty feet tall.

Privet shrub blooming with 3-4 inch long oval pointed leaves. The four pointed trumpet-like blooms were opening in all their glory.

Trumpet-like four-pointed blooms of Privet.

Tubular blossoms open to show four points. Note there are still some unopened flowers in the bud stage.

A couple years ago I saw a privet shrub right next to a stop sign. In the adjacent meadow there were a dozen or more privet shrubs that you could readily see during their bloom time in mid-Spring. The white blossoms just about cover the little shrubs. Well, being at a stop sign I guess it was noticed by someone else. When I went during the autumn to collect the scented shrub, it was gone. Perhaps the road crew beat me to it.

It was stopping at the stop sign and smelling the lovely privet blossoms that introduced me to Privet. Even though it can be invasive, I will continue to enjoy its scent when I smell it.

Privet is a shrub native to Europe and alien to the U.S. Most wildflower guides don’t have information on Privet, due to its being a shrub and not an herbaceous plant, except the Newcomb Wildflower Guide which does cover some shrubbery.

Hedge or fence? (telegraph.co.uk)

Large and Small Trees Cut Down By Power Company

June 18, 2012May 24, 2010 by wilde

I had a very unpleasant opportunity to see “men at work” when I visited Little Buffalo State Park on 30 April 2010. The sound of chainsaws filled the air and I wondered if other trees were forced down by stormy weather.

It seems the power company, or whatever outfit they employ, took the day to cut down trees that were growing in the power line zone that crosses the far end of Mill Race Trail.

Now, I understand the men had a job to do, that of clearing the area to protect the power lines. What I don’t understand is how they went about their business. It was very evident to me that they cut down EVERYTHING whether it posed a potential hazard to the precious power lines or not.

Some of the vegetation they cut down never would have reached a height to bother the extremely high power lines in this area. Why take the time and energy to cut ALL the trees? If someone could have taken a little time to educate these people about the ecosystems and microhabitats they were destroying, perhaps lives could have been saved.

Unfortunately all they were paid for was cut first, ask questions later.

Looking down the power lines at the far end of Mill Race Trail.

Lots of vegetation under the power lines.

The images above were taken 18 April 2010 on the Mill Race Trail. Note that there is plenty of vegetation in the foreground and on the left side of the meadow.

Contrast the pre-cut photos with ones taken on 30 April 2010 after the clear cut –

Looking across the meadow at the end of Mill Race Trail.

Did all these trees really pose a hazard to the power lines above?

Looking back across the power lines. Very small foreground trees were cut to the ground.

Although the before and after shots were not taken from the same exact locations, looking up the hill you can see that everything was clear cut.

So, what habitats were possibly ruined by taking down all the trees in this area? Any plant or living thing that required a cooler environment, as that provided by the trees, may be destined to die or find a new home. Walking from the shade of the trees further up the trail into the bright sunshine of the newly-naked area, there was at least a ten degree increase in air temperature. You could feel the heat coming up from the ground where the sunlight made it to the ground. Any salamanders that lived here will have to move up or down stream, back into wooded areas.

Habitats or microhabitats were disrupted, not only by the loss of shade, but by the debris left to rot where it lay. It’s known that beautifully large hepatica and showy orchis plants live where the saplings of spicebush and others were cut down and left to lay. If the cut wood is left where it is, these beautiful and rare plants won’t return again.

Come on people, let’s work smarter! Perhaps the cutting crews can get together with the land managers – especially in areas like State Parks – and find ways to protect both nature and the power lines. All it would take is one biologist to inform which plants don’t need to be cut (because they’ll never get too tall) and where leftover debris may become a hazard to the life forms that the parks are supposed to protect for all our futures.

Downy Yellow Violet Flowers in Moist Woodlands

August 14, 2012May 21, 2010 by wilde

Probably the first thing noticeable about yellow stemmed violets would be their heart-shaped leaves. The leaves branch off each other which gives a nice effect of producing a clump of heart-like leaves. Each leaf stands apart from the other as to make the heart-shaped outlines very obvious.

Heart-shaped leaves of Downy Yellow Violet.

Stemmed violets have both flowers and leaves produced on the same stem. The differences between several yellow-stemmed violets come down to leaf shape.

The yellow stemmed violet that we have here is called the Downy Yellow Violet, Viola pubescens. Two identifying characteristics are first, the downy or softly hairy surface of the stems and leaves, and second, the toothed stipule, which is like a tiny leaf at the base of the heart-shaped leaves.

Toothed stipules of downy yellow violet.

Note the yellow circle around the toothed stipule (hard to see the teeth in this image) and the downy hair on the leaves and stems.

The flowers appear differently depending on the angle that you view them at. Looking down on the violet you’ll see four petals, sideways you can see the spur and straight on gives you a look at the lined lower petal.

Looking down on the yellow stemmed violets.

Top-side view of the Downy Yellow Violet.

Yellow violets seem common in low-lying areas near creeks or wetlands. Blooming cohorts included white violets, the common blue violet, miterwort, wild ginger and wild stonecrop. Bloodroot and trout lily had already bloomed in this area. Photos were taken 30 April 2010 near the Day Use Area of Little Buffalo State Park in Newport, PA.

These pretty violets – and all members of Viola – are edible, but the Peterson Edible Plants Guide tells us that the yellow species may be mildly cathartic, which means that they may act as a laxative. The young leaves and flowers can be added to salads. The leaves can be used to thicken soups, boiled as a cooked green, or dried to make tea.

Greater Celandine Has The Craziest Leaf Shape

August 14, 2012May 20, 2010 by wilde

Greater Celandine has appeared to me before singly. Only one plant at a time did I ever see until I went to Little Buffalo State Park on 30 April 2010.

Greater Celandine, Chelidonium majus, grows to 1-2 feet tall with their yellow flowers at the highest points on flower stems that project from leaf axils. It is an alien plant in the U.S. and native to Europe.

Yellow flowers top the Greater Celandine plants at the edge of the woods. — Yellow flowers top the Celandine plants at the edge of the woods.

The leaves of greater celandine are unique. Perhaps that is why the plant is in its own genus – ther are no other members of Chelidonium. The compound leaves have typically five leaflets in a pattern with rounded teeth that may be so big that the leaflets have lobes.

Shadows aside, it looks like a kid could have dreamed up this leaf!

Isn’t that the craziest leaf you’ve ever seen? There’s not another one like it. For sure you’ll be able to identify greater celandine, even if it’s not flowering, just by looking at the leaves.

Loose clusters of 3/4-inch wide flowers with one to a few blossoms flowering at one time top the celandine plant. Note the bright yellow flowers with bushy stamens and four petals held out flat.

Yellow flowers and erect seed pods of celandine.

In the image above note the long hairs on the flowers pods and flower stems.

In the image above you can see the green part of the flower that will lengthen into the seed pod. Note that there are long and smooth, slender seed pods present from previously fertilized flowers, and also flower buds that have yet to open on the taller stem.

Greater celandine is found in wooded areas, especially near the edge of paths or roads or other open areas.

Several celandine plants at the edge of the woods.

In the image above there are about ten greater celandine plants as noted by their clusters of bright yellow flowers. These celandine were at the edge of the woods as an open field was behind the photographer.

The Peterson Medicinal Plants Guide warns us that the yellow juice obtained by breaking a stem is highly irritating, allergenic and most likely poisonous. At one time the yellow juice was used as a folk remedy for skin problems like warts, eczema and ringworm, but due to its toxicity we can’t recommend using celandine for any remedy. However, modern herbalists might disagree and use greater celandine for a number of ailments.

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