Trilliums in Spring

 

Large Flowered Trillium (grandiflora)

 If asked what my favorite spring wildflower is, I think I would have to say the trillium. According to Wildflowers of Tennessee the Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians, (hereafter called Tavia's field guide, since she is the co-author of it), there are about 30 trillium species found in the eastern U.S. Trillium species are divided into 2 major groups. Toadshades, also called sessile trilliums (or should it be trillii for the plural?) have a stalkless flower attached directly above a whorl of 3 mottled leaves. Wakerobins, also called pedicellate trilliums, have the flower on a stalk that rises from a whorl of 3 solid green leaves.

 

Large Flowered Trillium

Nothing is more beautiful than a hillside blanketed in these large showy flowers. You can always remember the name since everything on them comes in threes (tri for three); three leaves, three green sepals beneath three petals. They are mostly white, maroon or red, and yellow. The pink ones are usually the white grandiflora which as already been pollinated. We says that they blush after being pollinated.

Sweet White Trillium (simile)

Be sure to have the field guide along when you go looking for them, because it can be a trick to distinguish sometimes. Here are some things to look for when trying to tell them apart.

1. What color is the center of the flower and the reproductive parts.
2. Are the petals smooth or kind of wavy?
3. Do the petals curve back over themselves (recurved)?
4. Does the flower have a stem that raises it above the leaves? Does the stem bend over so the flowers hangs below the leaves?

Bent Trillium (flexipes)

Trillium is one of many plants whose seeds are spread by ants. At maturity, the base and core of the trillium ovary turns soft and spongy. Trillium seeds have a fleshy organ called an elaiosome that attracts ants. The ants extract the seeds from the decaying ovary and take them to their nest, where they eat the elaiosomes and put the seeds in their garbage, where they germinate in a rich growing medium.

Sessile Trillium (sessile)

Though trillium flowers are very attractive and inviting, they should never be picked, as the 3 leaves below the flower are the plant's only source of food, and the trillium is likely to die or take many years to recover. It is illegal to pick them in some jurisdictions and in all national parks. After germination, a trillium first produces only one leaf and requires another 6-7 years before it flowers for the first time!

Red Trillium (erectum)

Trilliums have some unusual common names. For example, this one (Trillium erectum) is also known as Stinking Benjamin or Stinking Willie, referring to the pungent odor of the flowers, which have been described as smelling like a wet dog. Other less commonly used names are American True-Love, Bumblebee Root, Indian Shamrock and Threeleaf Nightshade. Although I normally try to avoid Latin names (I can't pronounce most of them!) it is very useful to know the scientific names to keep these trillium straight in your mind since each one has so many different common names.

Yellow Trillium (luteum)

The Woodland Garden at Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve hosts a fine collection of trillium on the hillsides. Yellow trilliums have a lemony or sweet citrus aroma if you bend down to sniff it. They range in color from yellow to various shades of green or chartreuse. The sessile trillium commonly found in the woods along Little Huckleberry Creek has an aroma resembling raw beef or carrion, which help to attract flies and beetles which pollinate the plant.

Painted Trillium (undulatum)

While in the Smokey Mountain National Park last week I asked everyone where the painted trilliums were, since I'd never seen one before. The field guide notes that they are infrequent, and you better believe it!  The only one sighted were up the 2.2 mile Porter Trail. The rain continued, but slacked off a bit, so off we went. When we finally found them, about 15 flowers grew on a moss covered boulder, but they were only about 3-4 inches tall! Tavia assures me they are normally the size of all the others. These are the only species with bi-colored petals.

Remember that trilliums have 3 of everything? Well, there is an exception to every rule. This 9 leaved trillium can be found at Cherokee Park in Louisville. Have fun finding trilliums!

Naturally yours,

~denapple

Spring Weed Flowers

Common Chickweed

What is a weed? The simple definition says "A wild plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with cultivated plants."

 

Yellow Corydalis

The term weed is a subjective one, without any classification value, since a plant that is a weed in one context is not a weed when growing where it belongs or is wanted. Indeed, a number of plants that many consider "weeds", are often intentionally grown by people in gardens or other cultivated-plant settings. Therefore, a weed is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance. The word commonly is applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More vaguely, "weed" is applied to any plants that grow and reproduce aggressively and invasively.

Dandelions

Weeds can be native or non-native, invasive or non invasive, and noxious or not noxious. Legally, a noxious weed is any plant designated by a Federal, State or county government as injurious to public health, agriculture, recreation, wildlife or property.



Red Dead Nettle

Are invasive plants the same as noxious weeds? Not necessarily, although many noxious weeds are invasive. Invasive plants include not only noxious weeds, but also other plants that are not native to this country or to the area where they are growing. The Bureau of Land Management considers plants invasive if they have been introduced into an environment where they did not evolve. As a result, they usually have no natural enemies to limit their reproduction and spread. Some invasive plants can produce significant changes to vegetation, composition, structure, or ecosystem function. 

Red Dead Nettle Fills a Field

Henbit

 All that being said, sometimes weeds have beautiful delicate little flowers. You have to get down on your knees to see them closely. Compare the pagoda structure of Red Dead Nettle leaves with the whorled uplifted leaves of Henbit. The leaves, stem, and flowers of Henbit are edible and are faintly reminiscent of spinach.

Japanese Honeysuckle

Weeds are troublesome in many ways. They reduce crop yield by robbing water, light, space, and soil nutrients. Weeds can produce allelopathic substances that are toxic to crop plants. Weeds often serve as hosts for crop diseases; they also may provide shelter for insects and diseases to overwinter. But you must admit, their flowers are often beautiful.

Don't Delay, Come Today

Rue Anemone with phone for size comparison

We waited for weeks and weeks for Spring to bring warm weather and it's finally here! It's amazing how fast the flowers have burst into bloom. Blood root, for example, is ephemeral, and each blossom lasts only a day or two, so they are finished blooming for the most part. I walked around the Nature Preserve last week, just hoping to see some blossoms,and today, the hillside along Little Huckleberry Creek is full of blooms.

Wild Ginger in Woodland Garden

Our Spring Wildflower Walk is April 20, two whole weeks from now, and we hope lots of you will come. Executive Director Tavia Cathcart Brown will be leading walks in both the Woodland Garden and along Huckleberry Creek. It's always a treat to attend one of her walks and hear the stories about the plants and their uses.

 

However, I would encourage any one  who likes wildflowers to come NOW! Don't put off your own hike until April 20, because many plants will be finished blooming by then. For example, this toothwort plant was just budding last week...

...and now they are in full bloom all over the hillsides.

Last week, the twinleaf was barely out of the ground...

...and this week, the leaves and blossoms are fully opened.

Fortunately, some plants have a longer blooming period, and you should be able to see more gorgeous blossoms at the hike.

But why miss the thrill of seeing each species in full bloom? Every year I ask why I continue taking photos of the same plants I already have, but I just can't stop myself. You never know when you will find something extraordinary! It's like saying, "This is the best Christmas ever!"

Flirtatious Flowers

To woo your sweetheart, we all know to give her flowers. The beautiful colors and aromas are sure to put her in a romantic mood. But did you realize that plants also use their flowers' colors and aromas to attract pollinators for reproduction?

Tavia Cathcart, Executive Director at Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve, gave a wonderful presentation for the Kentucky Native Plant Society at their annual Wildflower Weekend at Natural Bridge State Park this weekend. I've never been able to remember which flower parts are the male and which the female, but now I'll remember the difference forever. Here it is, the staMEN has the male parts that produce pollen, while the PISTIL is the female part that will produce fruit after it is pollinated. Just think of "Annie Get Your Gun" to associate pistil and female. Don't you wish someone had told you this in high school biology class?

Plants have adapted their flowers based on the time they bloom and the pollinators available. For example, ginger blooms in the early spring when there are few flying insects yet. Its blossom is next to the ground so ants and other ground insects can reach it. Instead of an aroma that would be attractive to us, it smells like rotten meat, which is attractive to the ants and beetles pollinating it. You have to put out the right welcome mat to attract the right pollinators.

When we talk about pollinators, most people think of bees, of course. Honey bees are the gold medals champions when it comes to pollination. They have little sacks on their legs to stuff the pollen in as they move from flower to flower. They will visit up to 500 flowers in one collection trip. A really ambitious honey bee could potentially visit up to 2,000 flowers a day. And remember, all these hard workers are female (of course!). The bees gather pollen to eat themselves, as it is very nutritious, and to feed their young. Pollinating the flower is just a by-product for them.

Some plants make it easy on the pollinators. They have open blooms, and anything walking or flying close enough will be dusted with pollen. Other plants have deep wells with nectar at the bottom, and only pollinators with long tongues (such as hummingbirds) or long proboscis (such as this nexus sphinx moth) can get a sweet drink as a reward for pollination.

Other plants give the pollinators clues that we limited humans can't even see. Bees can see in the ultraviolet wave lengths, so plants give them landing directions to find the good stuff. Flowers present bulls-eyes and landing strips on the petals, like a flight officer guiding a jet into a safe landing on an aircraft carrier. The blue geranium is in natural light, while the one on the right is in ultraviolet light.

To avoid the competition with other flowers for daytime pollinators, some plants only bloom at night. Bats and moths will fly for miles following their aroma. Think of the millions of years spent in creating these adaptive relationships. Sometimes a plant can only be pollinated by one kind of insect or animal, and if that pollinator should die out, the plant would become extinct too. Remember, as John Muir says, When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.

Naturally yours,

~denapple

Early Birds and Blooms

Spring Beauty

2012 will be remembered as the year with no winter. The warm temperatures are ushering in Spring and all its blossoms and bird migrations at least 2-3 weeks earlier than usual. I spent my regular Tuesday at the Nature Preserve and couldn't bear staying inside working on the computer, so I took off in search of Spring.

Garlic Mustard

As expected, the most abundant plants are the invasives, including garlic mustard, multiflora rose, and poison hemlock. Invasives always sprout early and grow quickly to overshadow the native plants. In a few more weeks, this garlic mustard will be waist high and beginning to flower. That's when we need to have a garlic mustard pulling party and see how much we can remove. It's a never ending task, but you have to try at least.



We've had enough rain that I wanted to look at some of the many springs on the Preserve, and they were in full spate. I like to think how much our ancestors and Native Americans depended on such springs as their source of drinking water. It's exciting that they still exist today, just bursting out of the limestone hillsides. And the sounds of the water and birds all around were intoxicating! I think I'll rename this stream Chuckleberry Creek, instead of Little Huckleberry Creek, since it chuckles, and laughs and bubbles all day. You have to love a stream that is so happy all the time!



But then I heard the LOUDEST tapping.  Tap, tap, TAP in a tree just above my head. After twisting around, I finally followed the sound into a tree where a beautiful Pileated Woodpecker vigorously dug into the trunk, tossing wood chips aside, as he dug a nest hole. Watch how he props himself against the tree trunk with a stiff long tail.

False Rue Anemone

As I followed Chuckleberry Creek down the valley, where the habitat was sheltered and moist, I began to see LOTS of wildflowers blooming. For years, I confused the true rue anemone, and the false rue anemone, but both were blooming enthusiastically. But I think I have it straight now - the False rue has Five petals, right Tavia?

True Rue Anemone

Sessile Trillium

The sessile trillium sprouted along the limestone bluffs in the Hidden Spring valley, and will be in full bloom any time now. Toothwort grows right along side it.

Frog Pond

Before long I returned to Frog Pond, reflecting the bare branches and blue sky as the turtles took one glance at me and plopped into the water. All except for one brave little hard shell who glared at me from atop a log just off the bank.

Bullfrog Tadpoles

The giant tadpoles were shy too. You wouldn't think they could see something outside the water, but most of them wiggled into the mud and deeper water as soon as I approached. I think these little guys will grow into big bullfrogs.

Towhee

To-whee! To-whee! Drink your teeee! The Towhees love all the low bushes and brambles, making it a real challenge to get a clear photo of them, but there's no mistaking that loud call inviting me to tea.

Tavia will be leading wildflower walks at the Preserve for our Wildflower Open House Saturday on April 21, from 10 a.m. till 2 p.m. Then she will be the keynote speaker for Kentucky Native Plant Society weekend at Natural Bridge State Park, April 27 - 29. Check out the Creasey Mahan website for more details. You never want to miss a chance to hear our Tavia speak!

Native Grasslands

Kentucky’s native grasslands have almost disappeared by the 21st Century, but it is important to restore and protect these areas. Early settlers found vast forests, except in south-central and western Kentucky, where they rode for days on horseback without being able to see over the top of the grass.

Controlled Burn

The Indians had repeatedly burned the forests that once covered the region as a means to stampede and kill big game. These fires created an open savanna that in turn drew all types of wild game to feed off its lush grasses. Buffalo herds migrated eastward across the Mississippi to Illinois, and then to Kentucky. These herds came to the Barrens and multiplied, providing food and clothing for the Indians. Settlers found the treeless areas easy to cultivate. Originally the pioneers thought the treeless grasslands infertile because of the lack of forestation. They soon found the soil to be some of the best that they had encountered. Farms and communities soon began to cover the area.

Northern Bobwhite

Native grasses provide many benefits, such as shelter and nutrition to wildlife and birds, which non-native grass and crops do not. Native bunch grasses grow upright with spaces between each bunch. This growth form makes them ideal wildlife habitat—providing protective cover, quality nesting areas, and open travel lanes. In addition, once established, these grasses are more nutritious for wildlife than nonnative grasses such as fescue.  Animals commonly found in such communities include quail, deer, rabbit, turkey, migratory songbirds, and small mammals such as voles and mice. The rabbits and small mammals in turn attract larger predators such as fox, coyote, and raptors. 





Most of the grass we see today is not native.  We plant fescue and bluegrass in our yards, but bluegrass came from England. Native grasses include Indian grass, little and big bluestem, prairie dropseed, and side-oats grama.



Big Bluestem and Native Flowers

Native grass communities provide other environmental benefits, including filtering sediments and chemicals from runoff, dispersing water flow, and reducing erosion. Most native grass species develop a strong root system that contributes to an increase in soil fertility, recycling nutrients while alive and returning vital nutrients to the soil as the roots decompose.  They also recover quickly after fire or drought. Because many native grasses are adapted to survive in almost any soil conditions, they require no fertilizer or irrigation after planting. Thus, over the long term, planting native grasses and wildflowers can reduce maintenance costs.

Bobwhite Nest in Grass

Grassland birds adapted to these areas, and cannot live elsewhere. These birds eat a variety of foods found in the grasses ranging from grass seeds to crickets, grasshoppers and worms; and in the case of grassland raptors, such as the Northern Harrier and Short-eared Owl, small mammals such as meadow voles, small birds, and even small reptiles and amphibians.  Grassland birds nest on the ground rather than in trees, using the structure provided by grasses both for the construction of the nest and as cover from predators. Ground nesting behaviour leaves grassland birds vulnerable to disturbances such as mowing or haying during the breeding season.  Nest predation and destruction, coupled with loss of habitat, are causing grassland bird populations to drop without a good chance of recovery. 

Field Sparrow

After leaving the nest, and later in the life cycle, grasses provide these birds with cover and protection from prey as they often do not fly from a predator, but run through the grasses to escape danger. Native grasses growing in clumps allow these ground runners to escape through passages between the clumps. This Field Sparrow will perch on a waving grass stem to look around, then drop down into invisibility.

Dickcissel

Loss of habitat has lead to decline of grasslands bird populations by 60 to 80% in the last 40 years, according to the Audubon Society's recent list of  Top 20 Birds in Decline. Plowing the grasslands for crops, then planting one kind of crop (such as corn) in large areas, creates less diversity, food and shelter. 40 years ago, there were more pastures and fields that birds found acceptable. Since then we have turned farmland into industrial or residential areas, paving over much land entirely,  changing and redirecting the amounts of water available.


Invasive Johnson Grass

Invasive plants take over remaining space, grow faster than native plants, and inhibit the growth of native plants. Native animals do not eat these plants, so they spread even more, and the animals have less to eat. Fragmentation of habitat areas is a factor in the decline as well. Although grassland birds may use very small grasslands (under 40 acres, sometimes even under 10 acres) for foraging or other habitat needs, managing areas of at least 40 acres will provide most habitat needs for a diversity of grassland birds. The grass areas we have now may simply be too small for the birds to successfully breed and raise their young.

Big Bluestem and Goldenrod

Creasey Mahan is working to restore the native grasslands on the Preserve at Meadowlark Meadow. Grasslands are being planted with native grasses and wildflowers. The primary grasses are prairie grasses, known as “warm season” or “bunch” grasses. All of these grasses provide food and shelter for wildlife, and help retain water in the soil and prevent erosion.

Black-eyed Susans

Native wildflowers have been added to Meadowlark Meadows to provide food for wildlife and add a scenic quality to the grassland. Primary wildflowers are black-eyed Susan, partridge pea, Illinois bundleflower, common and butterfly milkweeds, purple coneflower and New England aster.

Partridge Pea

If you build it they will come, or so we hope.  By planting native grasses and managing them to control invasives, we hope to encourage these declining birds to live on the Preserve where we can all enjoy them. As you walk across these areas at the Preserve next year, keep your ears open for the song of Eastern Meadowlark, Field Sparrows, and maybe the more rare Dickcissel or Grasshopper Sparrow.

Naturally yours,

~denapple and Tavia