Planties in a bunch

One of the things I relish most are my memories of seeing animals being fallible - like squirrels falling out of trees or beavers tripping. Maybe it's a bit odd (or worse, sadistic), but my enjoyment is in watching the animals suffer, but the reminder that they are animals just like us, prone to error, confusion, mistakes, emotions, and the drive to struggle on.

My powers of empathy extend first to mammals, next on to other vertebrates, and then invertebrates. I can connect with insects, but my connection is not as immediate and often includes a slight sense of awkward self-awareness around empathizing with this clade. My chain of empathy often forgets the plant kingdom (John Berger wrote that we like to look at animals because, unlike them, when we look at them we are aware that they are looking at us in the same way. But the other day while taking photos with one of the kids at Crow's Path, we spotted a most peculiar plant that reminded me that the struggles of life extend to all living creatures.


Unlike most trilliums (trillia?) that push their way through the duff by pushing leaves out of the way, this unfortunate soul got stuck trying to rend its way through a sugar maple leaf. It got all twisted and couldn't quite make it to the unfurling stage. I often see this pattern with Canada mayflower. The plant presses on with development, flowering in this instance, despite the jumble of leaves. Trillium are perennial so potentially the hindrance to photosynthesis will not matter much this year - perhaps next year it may suffer slightly, leaf out later, grow a weaker/shorter stem, etc. Only time will tell.

Spring ephemeral a day - Hepatica

Shelburne Bay

What: The most fascinating thing for me about hepatica is that as it comes up some of the leaves don't quite make it above the leaf-litter, or make it just part way. Where the leaves are exposed to the sun they are a dark purple, while the shaded parts are a bright green.

Another common adaptation of spring ephemerals is fuzziness (lots of species of ferns have some similar adaptation covering their fiddleheads). The fuzz is analogous to the loft of a down jacket. It creates a buffering layer around the plant. I'm convinced that this layer - ecologically called a boundary layer - is one of the most significant factors that plants and animals have adaptations for. We experience a boundary layer in cold water. If we stand in calm cold water we feel it get warmer and warmer the longer we stand there. Our body heat radiates out and warms the water, effectively increasing our boundary layer. The boundary layer can dwindle if we start walking or if the water is moving (e.g. wind action or water flow in a river). Wearing a wetsuit creates a thin boundary layer between the suit and our bodies that helps warm us.

Regardless of how strong the wind or current is, we always have at least a thin layer of no friction around us. It's why even on the highway, that layer of dust stays pressed against the hood of our car. It's also why at the top of Camel's Hump, all the plants hug close to the rocks to shelter from the wind. It's also why the reproductive part of the moss up there sticks up above the moss, to get out of the boundary layer and let the wind drag the spores away.

Spring ephemeral a day - Bloodroot

What: Look for bloodroot in hardwood forests enriched by calcium-rich bedrock. The flowers are variable, but generally have 8 petals, and can have up to 20 or so, though I usually see them in the 8-10 range.

The leaves come up first, cupped around a flower bud.l The flower opens first as the leaf begins to unfurl. I got to the spot around 3pm, but got distracted by a pair of deer. I followed the deer for a few hours and when I got back I noticed that many of the flowers that had previously been opened began to close up. 

Turns out bloodroot flowers are indeed nyctinasitc (flowers that open during the day and close at night; from nycto: nigth + nastic: non-directional response to external stimulus). My initial suspicion for why plants do this is that they might be selectively pollinated by a specific diurnal pollinator (but the flowers don't appear very specialized for this) or that it could protect the flower's reproductive parts from the cold night temperatures of the early spring woods. I found another proposed theory that points to weather as well, but a different threat. With temperatures so high during the day and cold at night, the temperature swing means lots of dew in the morning. If the stamens - where all that pollen is - get wet from the dew, then pollen the pollen won't transfer as well to insects.

Seedlings sprouting up. These first year plants won't develop flowers.

Where: Centennial Woods, as far as I know there is only one place in Centennial Woods with a bedrock exposure (down the slope on the southeast corner of the hospital commuter parking lot at the end of Carrigan Dr). The bedrock is Winooski Dolostone (dolostone is also called magnesian limestone), which has a higher concentration of calcium. So in that little plot there's an excessive amount of bloodroot, which is found nowhere else in those woods.

Spring ephemeral a day - Early meadow rue

What: Last Wednesday, Leah, Sophie, Brooke and I took an early morning trip out to Red Rocks. The sunrise was gentle and elegant over Shelburne Bay. It was serene watching the ring-billed gulls cut lines across the water. We watched a few lines of cormorants heading north. Beneath our feet, we enjoyed the first of the spring ephemerals shivering their way up in the leaf litter. I was particularly captivated by the beauty of the early meadow rue (Thalictrum dioicum) unfurling into itself.

Ecological notes: Early meadow rue is superficially similar to blue cohosh (Thalictroides caulophyllum, thalictroides = thalictrum: thaliktron, Greek name for plant similar to meadow rue + -oides: resembling, looks like, so blue cohosh is the plant that looks like the plant that looks like an unknown plant that Dioscorides described in Greece). Blue cohosh looks like a beefed up, simplified meadow rue (I'll post about blue cohosh soon). Besides the shapes of the two plants being similar, the most notable similarity is their color. Each emergent plant has a deep purple tint to it. As the plant unfurls, it loses this coloration. My guess would be that, as a tree's leaf has yellows and oranges and other fall colors throughout the growing season, they don't show these colors during the growing season as the density of green chlorophyll increases and overshadows other colors in the leaf.

Where: Red Rocks, growing along the cliffs under scattered white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) and common red cedar (Juniperus virginiana).

Other notes: When I was first learning plants, I didn't know about Newcomb's wildflower guide and was more or less on my own. So I just made up names for them. This was the only plant I remember. I called it bear paw because the leaves reminder me of happy little bear feet dancing across the forest floor.

Woodchucks, red shouldered hawks, and some insects

What: What a grand spring day. I'd never been to Woodside Park in Essex and on a whim while driving home from a great day teaching at Founders Elementary I stopped by to check it out. Turns out it's an incredible patch of floodplain forest and some floodplain controlled cattail marshes/ponds with heaps of wildlife. Below are some of the photographic highlights (including a couple blurry ones, mostly because the subject matter was so good).

Ecological notes: This is more of a photo essay, but I was impressed with the number of flying insects out and about. Just as I arrived, Patty, who works at the detention center, tipped me off to a red-shouldered hawk nest. The hawk wasn't on the nest so I walked the loop first. The spring ephemerals were out in abundance - trout lily, marsh marigold, stinking benjamin, large-flowered trillium, bloodroot, wood anemone, and a few others. So were the insects. I noticed that a duskywing (skipper family based on the curved knob at the tip of the antennae, but couldn't ID to species) was "mobbing a morning cloak" which was interesting. Each time the mourning cloak got near the skipper chased it off. Birds do it, why not butterflies (probably because other butterflies aren't predators on caterpillars)?

At the end of my walk, I spent about an hour and a half watching the nest of a red-shouldered hawk (pictured above). The hawk made lots of angry calls as I approached (lasted about 5 minutes before stopping). While on the nest it only moved its head and rarely that. It seemed to look more energetically when the crows flew by, even though the crows didn't pay much attention. Met Tom Jiamachello as I was leaving and he said the pair had nested her the previous three years.

I spotted a little woodchuck denning up next to the tracks. The soils are all deltaic sands, perfect for digging in and there were several other holes in the area. The woodchuck left noisely over the dry leaves, stopping to nibble what looked like celandine, but I couldn't tell for sure. It was gone for about 20 minutes and returned a bit noisier carrying a huge bundle of oak leaves in its mouth. It dropped them off in a hurry then came out and stood watch for another few minutes before disappearing back down its tunnel.

Where: Woodside Park.

Other notes: While looking up information on the butterflies I noticed that the Red Admiral, Eastern Comma, and Mourning Cloak all overwinter as adults, which I thought was interesting, and so not surprisign that they're among the first butterflies to see in large numbers in the spring.

Blood Root (Sanguinaria canadensis)

By:Frankie

What: Blood Root or Blood Wart is a perennial, flowering plant native to North America. As its name suggests, the Blood root stores an orange/red colored sap (rhizome) that grows underneath the soil. The flower is pollinated by bees and flies, blooming from the March to May. The seeds of the Blood Root are black or dark red/orange in color. The leaves of the blood root remind me of the shape of a human brain, curving in and out with wrinkles. I was really curious to see if the "blood root" actually resembled blood so I uprooted one. The root oozed a red sap the same color as blood and it literally looked like a cut from scraping your knee! Who would have ever thought a beautiful white flowering plant, would have a blood like root?

Ecological notes: The best place to find Blood Root is in moist to dry woods. I found blood root in pretty rich soil, that was fairly moist. The Blood Roots seeds are spread by ants in a process called myrmecochory. The seeds have a "flesh like" organ which helps to attract the ants.

Medicinal uses: Blood root has been historically used by Native Americans as an emetic (induces vomiting) and a respiratory aid. Blood root has also been used as a mole and wart removal. The medicinal properties of the plant should be used with extreme caution.

The red and orange sap has also been traditionally used as a red dye for Native American artists.

Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)

By: Frankie

I have been stumbling upon many patches of Trout Lily this spring and this past Monday I have finally found some that have sprouted their beautiful yellow flowers! Trout Lilly can also have white flowers as well but they are a little less common. The name, Trout Lily, comes from its leaves that resemble the patterns of a Brook Trout and also emerges during trout fishing season. Its beautiful spotted mint green leaves is what first caught my attention during the early months of spring. The two top pictures were taken at the end of March and the flowering pictures were taken yesterday. The leaves have a very fresh, sweet taste almost like a crisp cucumber!

Ecological notes: These particular pictures were taken at Niquette Bay about 20 minutes north on I-89. The weather has been very warm these past coupe of weeks, with some days reaching into the 80's! The soil in which these Trout Lily's were found in was pretty dry in a semi-shaded area. This is an ideal habitat for Trout Lily. The leaves have a very smooth texture to them and the flowers are bright yellow with a darker, beige colors on the outside.

Medicinal Uses: Trout Lily can supposedly reduce swollen glands and fever by drinking a tea made from its root and leaves. It is also said that the plant had been used to dress wounds from its crushed leaves and is believed to be mildly emetic and antibiotic. Trout Lily was also used by the Cherokee and Iroquois as a contraceptive, to reduce swelling and as a diuretic. The plant also includes alph-methylene-butyrolactone, which is produces "antimutagenic activity". The chemical prevents cell mutation and could be a viable weapon in fighting cancers.

I also found some folklore on Trout Lily that said the Cherokee used to chew the plant's root and spit the juice back into the water in hopes of getting fish to bite!

Ostrich & cinnamon fern fiddleheads, false hellebore popping up

What: I noticed a few very young patches of ostrich fern fiddleheads, Matteuccia struthiopteris (pictured first) coming up along Wool Pullery Brook. Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) ** This was mislabled by me and is actually interrupted fern. IF has sporangia on the fronds - see first image - while CF has separate fertile fronds. Also, CF has a more orange color while IF is whiter ** was also coming up (second photo); I'm not sure, but I believe that the two small fiddleheads at the base of the much taller ones are the fertile fronds - I'll have to go back to double check. It's been extremely dry here the past couple of weeks and the water table is much lower than I'd expect in April. But the 80degree weather has pushed a lot of plants up and the aspen leaves in particular are a beautiful lime green. Also mixed in with the ostrich fern was false hellebore (Veratrum viride), in the lily family, trillium family, or Melanthiaceae.

Ecological notes: I don't know exactly what the chemical that causes it is, but the false hellebore smelled a lot like Italian herb bread crumbs. My theory on the strong smell (e.g. skunk cabbage) and toxicity (e.g. blue cohosh) of many spring ephemerals is as a defense against all those half-starved animals that made it through the winter and are looking for the first green vegetables. Might not be a big deal for larger mammals like us or deer, but the ptaquiloside in bracken fern, glycosides in marsh marigold, or caulophyllosaponin in blue cohosh, but to mice, squirrels, insects and other leaf eaters they would be toxic. There might be a strong selective pressure for early plants to equip themselves disproportionately to fend off hungry mouths.

Where: The ostrich fern seemed to be slightly higher up from the river than the false hellebore, maybe slightly dryer here. The hellebore seems to prefer slightly shadier spots as there are plenty of other stretches of the brook that are similar in other ways except exposure. The patch photographed has been around for at least 4 years, but it's downstream from the most recent beaver pond so the hydrology of the bank hasn't really changed in that time.

Spring ephemerals - Skunk cabbage (part I)

What: It feels so good to break out Newcomb's Wildflower Guide once again! The spring ephemerals have already emerged and are starting to blossom. Their vibrant greens have given me pause, and I've been thinking about what exactly it means to be a spring ephemeral - what adaptations I'd need to survive. If I were an ephemeral I'd want nutrient rich soil to fuel quick growth, some gnarly chemicals to prevent browsers from gobbling up the first green thing they'd seen in 6 months, a bulb, rhizome, or root that could store copious amounts of energy to emerge quickly in the first warm weather of spring, to be small so growth didn't require excessive energy or time, to reproduce vegetatively in case it was a cold spring and insect pollinators weren't out, and a way of attracting pollinators. So there are definitely some adaptive patterns between our different ephemerals that all allow them to take advantage of that brief moment in a year when the ground is warm and the maple leaves still share the branches with the flowers.

Oh, and a spring ephemeral refers to herbaceous perennial plants (above ground parts die back each year) that have a lifespan shorter than the growing season, usually less than two months in April and May. They have to emerge, leaf out, flower, and go to seed before the canopy closes in and blocks out the shade. I'll be posting updates on spring ephemerals over the next couple of weeks as they continue to emerge in the Burlington area.

The one pictured above is a skunk cabbage (Symplcarpus foetidus). Naturalists love to note this plant's ability to generate its own heat to warms itself up on the cold late winter/early spring days to jump start its growth. I was fascinated by the rotting smell of its flower and swarm of blue bottle flies (Calliphora vomitoria) circling around (pictured above). The ravine I was in grades from ash/maple/oak to hemlock/yellow birch. There's considerably less skunk cabbage 'neath the hemlocks, and the few that were there were considerably further behind in terms of development.

Where: I was finding the skunk cabbage on small flood banks of a brook at Red Rocks. Soils were very silty sands, enriched from calcium rich bedrock upslope. Also seemed higher density in alluvial areas where movement downslope (not just downstream) was enriching the soil.