2009 Ohio Botanical Symposium

The 2009 Ohio Botanical Symposium will be held in Columbus on April 3. Jim McCormac has a great write-up about the event here. A link to the official webpage for the event can be found here.

Hope to see some of you in Columbus, Ohio!

Plant Quiz Answered; Selaginella eclipes!

With the botany sharks that circle this site, it is difficult for a quiz to last long.

Scott is correct. This is Selaginella eclipes. Evidently there is still debate as to whether this species is distinct from S. apoda. I am going with S. eclipes based on the lanceolate leaves of the upper stem surface and their long acuminate tips. I have read that the soil acidity is variable, but FNA does say it is from calcareous habitats.

FNA mentions that there is debate as to the validity of this taxon being a distinct species but then says "It is recognized here at the specific level to highlight the problems within this species complex". Wow! A breath of responsible taxonomy. Too bad they are not consistent in this philosophy.

Plant Quiz

Here is a quick plant quiz. This was growing on a patch of raised ground in an acid seep in Iron County, Missouri.

Spring in San Diego!

Since from the weather reports I've been reading it doesn't seem like spring is coming any time soon to the Midwest, I thought I'd share some photos from my recent trip to San Diego - where spring has definitely arrived. The first set of pictures are from San Elijo Lagoon. San Elijo is one of the few remaining (large) coastal wetlands that have both salt marsh and freshwater marsh habitat types. Riparian scrub and coastal scrub habitats lie adjacent to the marsh habitat. I didn't see much blooming in the marsh habitats yet. Arroyo willow (Salix lasiolepis - Salicaceae) was blooming along the riparian edge of the marsh. Willows in San Diego aren't the identification bane that they were to me in the Midwest. There are only 5 species of Salix in San Diego County and their identification can often be determined using vegetative characteristics. Although when it's not flowering, I feel like mule fat (Baccharis salicifolia - Asteraceae) looks like a willow. I've included a photo of red eye acacia (Acacia cyclops - Fabaceae) just because I'm curious about it's flowers.





Bush sunflower (Encelia californica - Asteraceae) and bush monkeyflower (Diplacus puniceus - Scrophulariaceae) are very common coastal scrub species. I also threw in another weed, Bermuda buttercup (Oxalis pes-caprae - Oxalidaceae).



Moving south down the coast, there was a variety of species in bloom at Torrey Pines State Reserve. The reserve is immediately adjacent to the ocean, but sits up on a bluff. The reserve is named for the Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana) which has an extremely limited distribution. Sand verbena (Abronia umbellata - Nyctaginaceae), bush poppy (Dendomecon rigida - Papaveraceae), Shaw's agave (Agave shawii - Agavaceae), and bush rue (Cneoridium dumosum - Rutaceae) were all in bloom during the first week of February when I was there. Several other species were in bloom when I was there, but I limited the post to species I haven't shared with the group before.





I'll leave you with some really bad pics (luckily, I don't earn my keep taking photographs!). The first is a shot of a faint rainbow over the San Dieguito Lagoon as viewed from the bluffs of Torrey Pines State Reserve. San Dieguito Lagoon is another saltwater/freshwater coastal lagoon that has been preserved (somewhat). The second is the tail of a California grey whale. (Yes, you will need to enlarge the pic.) This was the first time I had ever seen whales in San Diego. Obviously, I didn't see too much of the whale - but exciting nonetheless.



I have some photos from more species in bloom in the chaparral east of the ocean that I will post sometime soon.

Erodium cicutarium

That's right, Keith... Erodium cicutarium, of the Geraniaceae! The genus name of this cute little weed from Europe comes from the Greek word for heron (erodios), which is in reference to the long beak of the fruit that resembles a heron's bill. Redstem stork's bill, as it is known, is found throughout most of North America in fields, on roadsides, in deserts, and in waste areas. It is also used as a winter forage in the southwestern United States, where it is known as alfileria.

I have never seen this winter annual (biennial in the southern parts of its range) become horribly invasive, but it is invasive in some parts of its range. It was brought to the United States in the 1700s and spread rapidly west across the country as a result of the spiraled mature style that attached seeds to the fur and feathers of animals and birds. By the 1890s, Erodium cicutarium had already made it to the Pacific Northwest, where it dominated overgrazed pastures.

This photograph was taken in March 2006.

Plant Quiz

I am so tired of seeing that photo of me at the top of the page every time I visit Get Your Botany On! that I'm posting a plant quiz just to post something... anything. Gotta admit, though, I still chuckle when I see that photo.

Here's the quiz. Good luck.

I don't see the resemblance.

By the way, Lindsay and I were at the Wild Things conference in Chicago yesterday. I briefly talked to Jerry Wilhelm (who asked me to pass his regards to Keith, and to tell Keith to keep up the good work). Jerry said that the new Chicago Region flora will be done in 10 years, unless he can get enough funding, in which case it could be done within 3 years. I have a handout regarding making donations. If you're interested in making a donation to speed up the process, let me know, and I will pass you the information you will need.

Does That Actor Look Like a Botanist?

In checking the news from northwest Indiana (nwi.com) today I couldn't help but notice the familiar face on the actor in the top hat. Isn't that a botanist we all know? The only thing missing is the tin vasculum...and handlens...and camera...and binoculars...and copy of Gleason and Cronquist. Apparently a multi-talented guy! p.s. I do not have Photoshop. That really was the picture on the news site!

I need a little spring!

I'm not one to complain about the snow. I love the snow. I love the winter. But even I have to say that spring can't come quickly enough this year. Parts of LaPorte County were blanketed with almost 2 feet of snow... last night! It's only early February, but it's hard to believe that spring will be roaring in less than two months. Since I don't think I'll be seeing any live flowering plants anytime soon, I figured I would post some old early spring photos to hopefully brighten our spirits.

Behold, the harbinger of spring - Erigenia bulbosa! This photo was taken on March 19, 2005 at Fall Creek Gorge in Attica, Indiana.

Trillium nivale, aptly named snow trillium, as it can sometimes be seen flowering while snow is still on the ground. This photo was taken on March 19, 2005 at Fall Creek Gorge.

The ubiquitous spring beauty, Claytonia virginica. In the depths of winter, even the most common of plants can bring us joy. This photos was taken on April 1, 2006 at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

When there isn't much florally happening on the forest floor in early spring, Hepatica acutiloba is at its best. This photo of sharp-lobed hepatica was taken at Dowagiac Woods in southwest Michigan on April 15, 2006.

Upside-down, they do look like a Dutchman's breeches, don't they? I took this photo of Dicentra cucullaria at Bendix Woods in South Bend, Indiana on April 10, 2005.

If you've seen the roots of Dicentra canadensis, you understand why it's commonly referred to as squirrel corn. This photo was taken on April 17, 2005 at Bendix Woods.
In mid-April, marsh marigold lights up forested wetlands and seeps. This photo of Caltha palustris was taken in LaPorte County, Indiana on April 19, 2006.
Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis, is beautiful even prior to anthesis. This photo was taken at Waldhaus in Buchanan, Michigan on March 25, 2007.

This perennial favorite, yellow trout lily (Erythronium americanum), is about as photogenic as they come. I snapped this shot on April 10, 2005 at Bendix Woods.

And a final sign of spring, the leaves of Asarum canadense, wild ginger, just beginning to unfurl. I took this photo at the Heron Rookery in Porter County, Indiana on April 1, 2007.

I can't wait for spring!

Hundreds Attend Global Warming Protest

The latest email funny to make the rounds. I'm sure most of you have seen it already.

From the mind of Hackelia virginiana...

Marianne sent me this article from The Onion today...



I Have Completed Stage One Of Our Plan To Take Over The World
By Bur #318 January 7, 2009 Issue 45•02

Bur #318 reporting: Primary objectives have been met. Ready Parent Organism Beta 51.2-6 for execution of Stage Two.

I repeat: Stage One of our plan to systematically seize control of the entire planet is complete.

Stage One, Sequence A: I have successfully detached myself from Parent Organism Beta 51.2-6. Strategic placement of Parent Organism Beta 51.2-6 near the edge of Trail 9 resulted in direct fiber contact, which resulted in coerced stem separation, which resulted in total detachment from Parent Organism.

Stage One, Sequence B: I have successfully attached myself to the host sock. As planned, the 100 percent cotton sock proved suitable for my naturally adhesive hooks. In this regard, our calculations were beyond sound—they were flawless. Prior concerns that wind resistance might prematurely dislodge me from the sock were entirely unfounded. The denim pant leg adjacent to the host sock acted as a protective barrier, holding me firmly in place for the duration of the journey.

Stage One, Sequence C: By my best estimate, I have successfully traveled 3.45 miles from Parent Organism Beta 51.2-6. I now sit at a prime vantage point from which to colonize the surrounding hills and meadows. Contact with foreign soil forthcoming.

Dominion over the earth shall soon be ours.

Ready Parent Organism for further seed deployment. I shall proceed forward to Stage Two: random disbursement of our precious bur alleles across a remote location. The production of new parent organisms will initiate the production of new burs, which will initiate the production of new parent organisms, which will initiate the production of new burs, which will initiate the production of new parent organisms, which will initiate the production of new burs.

Burs #2–3,953: Prepare to ward off potential predators with your coarse, inedible exteriors. Let the jaws of neither rabbit, bird, nor deer stand in the way of our collective destiny. Parent Organism Beta 51.2-6 must be allowed to reproduce. In a matter of centuries, the world's fields, weed patches, river basins, and forests will be inundated with our species, thus awarding us total control over every life form on the planet.

Burs #3,954–6,772: Prepare to continue Parent Organism Beta 51.2-6 growth in the direction of the Trail 9 footpath. If, in the event of my demise, another bur should have to complete the Stage One objective, shifting Parent Organism one and one half inches closer to the footpath would increase the odds of direct fiber contact by 46.6 percent.

A mere 7,869,371 stages remain incomplete. I will now commence with the execution of Stage Two, as planned.

Stage Two, Sequence A: Make direct contact with foreign soil. Determining current location....

Current location unknown. I appear to be submerged underneath a large pile of fabric. No soil is visible. I will now attempt to disengage myself from the host sock in an effort to reach the ground. Disengaging now….

Disengaging.

....

I am unable to disengage. Repeat, unable to disengage. I lack the propulsive anatomical structure required for terrestrial locomotion. Alas, I will have to wait until the cotton fibers on the host sock naturally loosen themselves from my tenacious grip. Stage Two and total domination of the planet await. Assuming wait position. Wait position assumed. I am now waiting. Time rewards the patient bur.

Incoming movement detected. Movement approaching quickly. I shall now analyze the movement….

The movement is hostile. I am now entering defensive posture. Hostile contact is imminent. I shall now scan the area for a possible escape route….

Negative! Escape is impossible! Hostile contact imminent! Assuming hiding position! Position failed! Initiating reinforced grip on cotton! Reinforced grip failed! I am now experiencing forced detachment from the host sock! All is lost! Bur #2: Recommence Stage One, Sequence A! Recommence Stage One, Sequence A!

I have failed you all. May future burs learn from my errors and carry on the sacred goal of world domination. Do not give up hope, friends. Victory will one day be yours. Farewell, fellow burs, and long live the Parent Organism!

Long live the—

Hamamelidaceae

Hamamelis vernalis (Ozark witchhazel) inhabits
gravel bars and rocky streambeds on the Ozark
Plateau in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.
Why its range is so restricted compared to its
cosmopolitan cousin, Hamamelis virginiana
(American witchhazel), is a mystery. Perhaps
the ancient geology of the region holds the answer.
The two can be distinguished from each other
by flowering time and color. H. virginiana
flowers in the fall and has pure yellow flowers
while H. vernalis flowers in the spring (as
"vernalis" means spring) and has yellow flowers
with reddish inner calyxes. The bloom period,
however, can overlap as these were found
blooming during the same weekend (January
10 & 11).

Top: Hamamelis virginiana
Bottom: Hamamelis vernalis

A Botanical Moment in Time, Captured and Preserved

Dr. Verne O. Graham pauses beside Swertia/Frasera caroliniensis, American Columbo, in Cook County, Illinois, 1923. Published on page 427 of Herman Pepoon's Annotated Flora of the Chicago Area, this picture is rather famous and well-loved in the Chicago Region.

Nathaniel Lord Britton and William Starling Sullivant

Britton, from http://rptsweb.tamu.edu/Pugsley/Britton.htm

Botanist and Taxonomist Nathaniel Lord Britton was born on January 15, 1857 at New Dorp, Staten Island, New York. Britton founded (1891) and served as Director-in-Chief (1895-1929) of the New York Botanical Garden. Among his other botanical accomplishments were publications of such works as The Flora of Bermuda (1918), The Bahama Flora (1920, with Charles F. Millspaugh), The Cactaceae (1924, with Joseph Nelson Rose), and An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada (1896-1898, financed by Judge Addison Brown). Britton also began Flora Borinquena (a flora of Puerto Rico), but was not able to finish this work before he passed away in 1934.

Sullivant, from http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=362

Botanist, Bryologist, Surveyor, and Engineer William Starling Sullivant was born on January 15, 1803 in Franklinton, Ohio. Sullivant's major contribution in terms of vascular plants was A Catalogue of Plants, Native or Naturalized, in the Vicinity of Columbus, Ohio (1840). After this work, Sullivant turned his focus to mosses. Sullivant published Musci Alleghanienses (1845), Contributions to the Bryology and Hepaticology of North America (1846-1849), The Musci and Hepaticae of the United States East of the Mississippi River (1856), Musci Boreali Americani Exsiccati (1856, with Leo Lesquereux), Musci Cubensis (1860, based on collections by Charles Wright in Cuba), and Icones Muscorum (1864, 1874). The Saxifragaceous plant Sullivantia ohionis (now known as Sullivantia sullivantii) was first discovered by Sullivant in Ohio, and was named for him by Asa Gray and John Torrey; Asclepias sullivantii (Asclepiadaceae) was also named for Sullivant, who discovered it). Sullivant passed away in 1873, before he was able to finish working on bryophyte publications for Venezuela (based on collections by August Fendler) and the North Pacific (based on collections by Charles Wright).

Another Famous January Birthday

I don't have any recent plant photos to share as a quiz, so my quiz will be botanical trivia instead. What American botanist was born on this day (January 15) in history?

Bellis perennis

Good call, Scott. English Daisy is an uncommon lawn weed in the Midwest. This colony was near the parking area at Russ Forest in Michigan. It also grows just inside the north gate at Bendix Woods, where it has persisted for at least 20 years. Interestingly, the latter colony has migrated several feet over the years.

Plant Quiz

Krigia cespitosa!

Keith Board nailed the quiz.

I saw a lot of this little guy in 2008. I assume that the wet spring had much to with it.

Plant Quiz!!!

Here is a quiz plant, for those interested in such. The photo was taken in late June at MU Forestry Camp near Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Following Keith's advice of not moving the image, the photo will enlarge if you click on it.

A Vacation from the Tracheophytes

Santa Claus, who turns out to be my wife (who knew?), after slyly achieving family-based funding, scored me a new macro lens for my DSLR. If that ain't love, then ride me to Texas. Then the Gods of birthday, via UPS, their incarnate vehicle of choice, delivered into my heathen hands a tripod worthy of an earth bound misfit such as I. This new setup has both changed and challenged my technique to such magnitude that I feel like I'm learning the camera all over again. Anyway, I was able to get out for a few photos yesterday and thought I would share.

This half decomposed acorn exoderm drew my attention from several meters away. There are some fascinating landscapes at our feet to which we are seldom privy. It goes to show that trips to the Grand Canyon and Uluru (aka Ayer's Rock) are very scale-centric.

I'm hoping my new setup will help me with mosses. I have made several attempts to learn to identify mosses over the past several winters. I have found them to be quite tedious and the few keys out there are not very well written; at least that is my excuse. I have heard Paul Redfern (Missouri bryologist of global esteem) quoted as saying "keys are written by people who don't NEED them, for people who can't USE them". While there is much wisdom in that, I manage to learn a few more each year before spring and the bigger, showier organisms pull me back to reason. Now armed with macro capabilities, I have vowed to photograph as many as possible this winter in order to put together a personal photographic guide that I can use to keep sharp during my summer hiatuses. Here are a couple of common species of mosses and a lichen from my resent excursion.

This is Leucobryum glaucum of the Leucobryaceae. I'm sure many of you may already kn0w it. It is the gray-green moss that is always growing in cute little tufts. It seems to prefer dry acid woodlands. It is interesting that the blades of the leaves in this genus are very reduced and what appear as leaves are only the remaining "midrib" (technically "costa" in moss-speak). Sporophytes are uncommonly encountered.

This is Atrichum angustatum of the Polytrichaceae. As with other Atrichum, it has several longitudinal gill-like ridges (called "lamellae") on the adaxial (upper) leaf surface. This is also a species of dry-acid woodlands.

This lichen was just too out of control not to photograph. It is certainly a species of Cladonia (same genus as British Soldiers), but seeing how there are 128 species in North America and that many look just like this, I don't dare veture a guess as to a species. The keys to idenification with this group, as with many lichens, are based on chemical tests that most of us don't have the equipment, will or brains to delve into.

That's it for now. I'll post more as I get photos and, more importantly, as I get them identified. Wish me luck.