Adirondack Foray, Part II

I previously posted Part I of my Adirondack Foray with Bruce Behan.  When I left off, we had completed the first half of our second (of three) days of botanizing.  After leaving Spring Pond Bog, we traveled to the 900-acre Clintonville Pine Barrens, where we only had a few hours of remaining daylight to explore this unique Pitch Pine-Heath Barren community. 

 

Clintonville Pine Barrens

At this Nature Conservancy preserve, an open canopy dominated by Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida) has developed on top of the sandy soil deposited approximately 12,000 years ago by melting glaciers. Common acidophile shrubby understory plants that we observed that help to give the Pitch Pine-Heath Barren community its name include Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), Sweet Fern (Comptonia peregrina), Northern Bush Honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera), Eastern Teaberry (Gaultheria procumbens), Black Huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata), Sheep Laurel (Kalmia angustifolia), two varieties of Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium var. angustifolium and V. angustifolium var. nigrum), and Blue Ridge Blueberry (Vaccinium pallidum). Some of the other characteristic plants that we saw include Striped Maple (Acer pensylvanicum), Red Maple (Acer rubrum), Spreading Dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium), Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), Wild Sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis), Flaxleaf Whitetop Aster (Aster linariifolius), Bigleaf Aster (Aster macrophyllus), Wavyleaf Aster (Aster undulatus), Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica), Pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata), Bastard Toadflax (Comandra umbellata), Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta), Wavy Hairgrass (Deschampsia flexuosa), American Beech (Fagus grandifolia), Tree Groundpine (Lycopodium dendroideum), Whorled Yellow Loosestrife (Lysimachia quadrifolia), Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense var. canadense), Purple Chokeberry (Photinia floribunda), Red Pine (Pinus resinosa), Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus), Sandcherry (Prunus pumila), Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), Western Brackenfern (Pteridium aquilinum), American Wintergreen (Pyrola rotundifolia var. americana), White Oak (Quercus alba), False Melic (Schizachne purpurascens), Strict Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium montanum), Broad-leaved Meadowsweet (Spiraea latifolia), Starflower (Trientalis borealis ssp. borealis), and Velvetleaf Huckleberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides).  Birds of interest included Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens), Nashville Warbler (Oreothlypis ruficapilla), Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla), Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca), Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus), and Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis).


Ceanothus herbaceus

One of our target plants at Clintonville Pine Barrens was the rare Prairie Redroot (Ceanothus herbaceus), a plant listed as endangered in New York.  We weren't on the site more than 10 minutes before we found this low shrub in full flower.  Also known as Jersey Tea, this species is very similar to New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus), but differs in that the inflorescences are found at the end of the current year's growth (in New Jersey Tea, the inflorescences are borne on long stalks from the upper leaf axils).  Prairie Redroot is known primarily from the central United States, from Texas through Minnesota and Wisconsin, and into Canada, reaching back south into upstate New York.  It can be found in prairies, fields, and other open areas in dry and often rocky or sandy soil.

Cypripedium acaule

Moccasin Flower (Cypripedium acaule) is, dare I say, fairly common in the northeast.  In fact, we saw this attractive orchid at all but one of the sites we visited during our trip.  We saw this species in dry acidic soils in forests and shrubby barrens, but it also grows in saturated acidic conditions, such as in bogs and swamps.  In addition to the New England states, Pink Lady's Slipper, as it is also known, grows south along the Appalachian Mountains, and also in the Great Lakes states; it also reaches north into much of Canada.  While at Clintonville Pine Barrens, Bruce kept talking about the elusive white Moccasin Flower, and it wasn't until I got home and was looking at my photographs that I realized that I'd actually seen the white Moccasin Flower, Cypripedium acaule forma albiflora.  In addition to the white or very faintly pink-tinged floral lip, the white form of Moccasin Flower lacks pigmentation in the petals and sepals, leaving them yellowish green instead of brownish or purplish as in the typical and much more common form.

Cypripedium acaule f. albiflora

We began our final day of botanizing in the Adirondacks with a trip to The Nature Conservancy's Gadway Sandstone Pavement Barrens Preserve in Clinton County, New York.  This 520-acre preserve harbors several interesting plant communities, including Sandstone Pavement, Mixed Mesic Upland Forest, Swamp, and Jack Pine-Heath Barrens. 

Gadway Sandstone Pavement Barrens Preserve

Many different types of natural processes have combined to form our natural communities.  The Sandstone Pavement community is thought to have formed when a catastrophic flood from the abrupt drainage of Glacial Lake Iroquois stripped the topsoil and glacial deposits from the land, leaving bare sandstone.  In the 11,000 to 12,000 years since that time, a very thin layer of nutrient poor soil has formed in spots.  Early colonizers such as mosses and lichens are abundant, and shallow-rooted vascular plants that can tolerate low pH levels have taken advantage of the harsh site conditions.  The result is a globally rare plant community known from fewer than 20 sites on Earth.  Many of the plants, especially in lower areas, can tolerate at least seasonal inundation, giving rise to interesting wetlands in very shallow soils over sandstone bedrock.

Wet spot on the sandstone pavement

Where slightly deeper soils are present, Jack Pine-Heath Barrens have formed.  These fire-dependent communities are similar to the Pitch Pine-Heath Barrens observed at Clintonville Pine Barrens in that they are dominated by acidophiles that can survive in low nutrient soils.

Jack Pine-Heath Barrens community at Gadway Sandstone Pavement Barrens Preserve

Plant species that we observed in the Sandstone Pavement that are characteristic of this community include Red Maple, Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera), Wavy Hairgrass, Eastern Teaberry, Black Huckleberry, Narrowleaf Cowwheat (Melampyrum lineare), Purple Chokeberry, Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana), Red Pine, Eastern White Pine, Western Brackenfern, Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra), and Lowbush Blueberry.  Other plants of interest observed at the preserve include Striped Maple, Gray Birch (Betula populifolia), Northern Shorthusk (Brachyelytrum aristosum), Drooping Woodland Sedge (Carex arctata), Silvery Sedge (Carex canescens), Fibrousroot Sedge (Carex communis var. communis), Nodding Sedge (Carex gynandra), Bluebead (Clintonia borealis), Threeleaf Goldthread (Coptis trifolia), Bunchberry Dogwood (Cornus canadensis), Moccasin Flower, Northern Bush Honeysuckle, Intermediate Woodfern (Dryopteris intermedia), Marginal Woodfern (Dryopteris marginalis), Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens), Catberry (Ilex mucronata), Butternut (Juglans cinerea), Common Juniper (Juniperus communis), Canada Mayflower, Indian Cucumber (Medeola virginiana), Roughleaf Ricegrass (Oryzopsis asperifolia), Rock Polypody (Polypodium virginianum), Arctic Rattlebox (Rhinanthus minor ssp. groenlandicus), Broad-leaved Meadowsweet, New York Fern (Thelypteris noveboracensis), Starflower, Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum), Velvetleaf Huckleberry, and Withe-rod (Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides).

Kalmia angustifolia

Although we saw Sheep Laurel at many of the sites we visited, including Gadway Sandstone Pavement Barrens Preserve, it is considered exploitably vulnerable in New York.  This is a testament to the beauty of this Ericaceous shrub, as it is often collected for garden and ornamental use.  That said, Sheep Laurel is listed on the Canadian weed list because of its ability to invade commercial shrub and tree plantations, and it is likely physically removed from similar situations in the United States.  In addition, because its foliage contains the glycoside andromedotoxin, which is deadly to animals (leading to another common name of Sheepkill), Sheep Laurel is likely often removed from pastures.  Found primarily in New England, the northern half of the lower peninsula of Michigan, and Canada, Sheep Laurel occurs in bogs, swamps, and other wet areas with low pH, often in sandy soil.

The final botanical destination on our foray left us just steps away from the US-Canadian border, as we visited The Gulf Unique Area in Clinton County.  At this interesting New York State Department of Conservation site we wandered through Swamp Forest, Mixed Mesic Upland Forest, Sedge Meadow, and Dry Upland Coniferous Forest.

Swamp at Gulf Unique Area

Because of the range of plant communities at The Gulf Unique Area, we encountered a wide variety of plants.  Some of the highlights and characteristic species we saw in the Swamp Forest include Paper Birch, Brownish Sedge (Carex brunnescens), Silvery Sedge, White Edge Sedge (Carex debilis var. rudgei), Threeseeded Sedge (Carex trisperma), Threeleaf Goldthread, Woodland Horsetail (Equisetum sylvaticum), Eastern Teaberry, Threeleaf False Lily of the Valley (Maianthemum trifoliatum), Indian Cucumber, Buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata), Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea), Steeplebush (Spiraea tomentosa), Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), and Withe-rod.  In the Mixed Mesic Upland Forest we enjoyed seeing Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea), Striped Maple, Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis), Drooping Woodland Sedge, Fibrousroot Sedge, Bluebead, Bunchberry Dogwood, Moccasin Flower, Northern Bush Honeysuckle, Intermediate Woodfern, Black Huckleberry, Shining Clubmoss (Huperzia lucidula), Twinflower (Linnaea borealis), American Fly Honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis), Stiff Clubmoss (Lycopodium annotinum), Tree Groundpine, Canada Mayflower, Eastern White Pine, Rock Polypody, Western Brackenfern, Skunk Currant (Ribes glandulosum), Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa var. racemosa), Twistedstalk (Streptopus lanceolatus var. lanceolatus), Heartleaf Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), Starflower, Red Trillium (Trillium erectum), Painted Trillium, Lowbush Blueberry, Velvetleaf Huckleberry, Hobblebush (Viburnum lantanoides), and Sweet Wild Violet (Viola blanda var. palustriformis).  The Sedge Meadow was characterized by Purplestem Aster (Aster puniceus), Bottlebrush Sedge (Carex hystericina), Lake Sedge (Carex lacustris), Upright Sedge (Carex stricta), Bulblet-bearing Water Hemlock (Cicuta bulbifera), American Mannagrass (Glyceria grandis), Earth Loosestrife (Lysimachia terrestris), Tufted Loosestrife (Lysimachia thyrsiflora), Great Water Dock (Rumex orbiculatus), Broad-leaved Meadowsweet, and Eastern Marsh Fern (Thelypteris palustris var. pubescens).  Balsam Fir, White Spruce (Picea glauca), and Eastern White Pine were characteristic of the Dry Upland Coniferous Forest.  As we were leaving The Gulf Unique Area, we stopped the car to see Black Ash (Fraxinus nigra), Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), and Perfoliate Bellwort (Uvularia perfoliata) in a Deciduous Mesic Upland Forest, and in the process we flushed an Ovenbird.  I continued to watch this ground-dwelling warbler until I found her characteristic oven-shaped nest.

Calla palustris

In the Swamp Forest at The Gulf Unique Area we came across a sphagnum slough full of Water Arum (Calla palustris).  If you're a regular reader of this blog, you've seen photographs of, and read commentary on, Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) and Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus).  Like these two species, Water Arum is in the family Araceae, and all three species share the common trait of having a conspicous sphathe surrounding a spadix covered with tiny, incospicuous flowers.  When it goes to fruit, the spadix will be covered with bright red, fleshy berries.  As with many things in nature, the bright red fruits of Water Arum indicate that they are poisonous; in fact, the entire plant is extremely poisonous, and if you eat it you will experience painful swelling (or so I'm told).  Water Arum grows in bogs, swamps, and marshes, as well as along rivers, ponds and lakes.  Its geographical range in the United States includes the New England states and the upper Great Lakes region; it is also found throughout Canada.

Oxalis montana

I was thrilled to locate a population of Mountain Woodsorrel (Oxalis montana) within the Mixed Mesic Upland Forest at The Gulf Unique Area.  Unlike the previous species, you can eat Mountain Woodsorrel without hesitation, and the sour leaves make a nice addition to a salad.  This low-growing climax forest species is known from the New England states and south along the Appalachian Mountains, as well as from the upper Great Lakes region and eastern Canada.  It grows in moist forests, often in mosses under conifers. 

Driving back to our cabin to spend our last night in the Adirondacks, Bruce and I made one last stop to see the "Grand Canyon of the East," Ausable Chasm, in Clinton and Essex counties.  This magnificent sandstone gorge has formed as a result of more than 500 million years of glacial movements followed by the Ausable River carving out a channel as it leads into Lake Champlain.  The result is a 2 mile long, 150 foot deep New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Unique Geologic Feature.

Ausable Chasm

Thanks Bruce, for a fantastic spring botanical outing and for showing me some spectacular natural areas!  As you can tell, I had an amazing time.

Bruce Behan

Unscathed... Mostly

Just as I was getting over the worst case of poison ivy that I've ever had (here's a hint, genius... don't weed whip poison ivy while wearing shorts and flip flops), I joined Scott Holaday and Lee Casebere last Sunday to check out a property near Culver, Indiana. Scott and Lee had visited this private tract in the spring looking for Four-toed Salamanders (Hemidactylium scutatum), and their description of the site, a swampy forest with a lot of ferns, sounded too good to pass up. Had I known ahead of time that there would be as much Poison Sumac (Toxicodendron vernix) as there was in this swamp, I still would have wanted to join Scott and Lee, but I'm not sure if Lindsay would have approved of me going.


Shortly after arriving, Lee found a mole salamander (Ambystoma) in the laterale-jeffersonianum complex, a group that is notorious for hybridization and that requires genetic analysis to accurately determine the species. This interesting complex of salamanders includes an all female triploid group that requires sperm from a male salamander from a related species in the same genus to initiate reproduction, but the sperm is often then discarded and no genetic material from the male makes its way into the offspring. This asexual form of reproduction is known as gynogenesis. The best that I can do is to say that this is either a Blue-spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale), a Jefferson's Salamander (Ambystoma jeffersonianum), or one of the Ambystoma hybrids.


Our focus quickly shifted kingdoms when Lee exclaimed, "Here's a Purple Fringed Orchid!"


When Scott and Lee first told me about this site, the possibility of finding Lesser Purple Fringed Orchid (Platanthera psycodes) amongst the Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) and Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis) and beneath the Red Maple (Acer rubrum), Black Ash (Fraxinus nigra), and Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor) immediately registered. Little did I know, however, that we would find the largest population of this attractive orchid that any of the three of us had ever seen. Had I done my research ahead of time, I might have thought that there would be less of a chance of finding Lesser Purple Fringed Orchid on this site, even though the habitat was perfect, as it was not mentioned in the monumental 1920s work by Evermann and Clark on the physical and biological resources around Lake Maxinkuckee. In addition, none of the distribution maps that I've seen show this species in Marshall County, Indiana. This makes our finding of an estimated 50 to 100 Lesser Purple Fringed Orchid plants an even more exciting find, as well as a potential county record.


In addition to Lesser Purple Fringed Orchid, Cinnamon Fern, Royal Fern, Black Ash, and an abundance of Poison Sumac, some of the more uncommon plants that we discovered in this swamp forest included Slender Sedge (Carex leptalea), Bulblet-bearing Water Hemlock (Cicuta bulbifera), Crested Wood Fern (Dryopteris cristata), Pipes (Equisetum fluviatile), Floating Manna Grass (Glyceria septentrionalis), Winterberry (Ilex verticillata), Stalked Water Horehound (Lycopus rubellus), Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense var. canadense), Chokeberry (Aronia prunifolia), Dwarf Raspberry (Rubus pubescens), Great Water Dock (Rumex orbiculatus), Rough-leaved Goldenrod (Solidago patula), Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), and Smooth White Violet (Viola blanda).


After sludging through mucky soils, swatting at bloodthirsty mosquitoes, losing a gallon of sweat, and brushing up against Poison Sumac plants while trying to squeeze between them, I was convinced that the title of this blog post was going to be "Worth The Rash." Luckily, it appears as though I've escaped with only a small spot of the nasty underneath my left eye. To see 50 to 100 Lesser Purple Fringed Orchids, a single spot of poison sumac is definitely acceptable.

A Jasper County Gem

A few months back, one of my coworkers brought in a twig from a shrub on a property that one of her friends had purchased last year. I quickly recognized the twig as Winterberry (Ilex verticillata), a plant often found in bogs and wet, acidic woods, and knew immediately that this would be an interesting place to botanize. We set the meeting date of May 30, which arrived much more quickly than I thought possible.

So on Saturday, I headed out to Jasper County, Indiana to visit the 32-acre property that was purchased for the sole purpose of preserving a woods that was not infested with exotic species. That in itself is quite admirable.

As I pulled in the drive and back to the small gravel parking lot, I knew that I was in for a treat. I saw that the higher areas on the site were somewhat overgrown black oak savanna, while the low-lying areas were swamp forest. This combination of acidic habitats often leads to rare plants and a great variety of species.

The photo above is of a somewhat overgrown black oak savanna, which the landowners hope to burn or selectively thin to restore to expected historic conditions. As we walked, I began keeping a list of plant species that we observed. The overgrown savanna had quite a few remnant prairie and open savanna species hanging on, such as Wild Quinine (Parthenium integrifolium) and Western Sunflower (Helianthus occidentalis), indicating that the area likely had fewer trees in the past.

The swamp forest (above) was also amazing and diverse. In places, it too appeared to have been more open in the past, closing in with trees as drainage in the area reduced the frequency of flooding that would have historically kept the trees from moving in.

We also walked through a small, open area consisting of wet swales and drier low ridges, adding a unique diversity of plants to the site. As we examined this area, we saw the Silver-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene) below. This butterfly species is found from Alaska through Canada and into the northern half of the Lower 48. Caterpillars of this species feed on violets (Viola spp.), while the adults feed on nectar of plants in the family Asteraceae. This one must be getting an early start scouting out goldenrods, as it is sitting on Tall Goldenrod (Solidago altissima).

Overall, we saw 237 plant species that I could identify to species, and another 20 that should be investigated later in the year for correct identification. Not too shabby. Of the 237 species, 204 are native to the Chicago Region. The mean C-value (conservatism value, basically a ranking from 0-10 of the fidelity of a given species to a natural community) based on my species inventory was 4.4, and the FQI (floristic quality index, a calculation involving the mean-C value and the number of species) was an extraordinary 73.4. Based on these numbers, this site definitely possesses natural area quality. Based on my qualitative assessment, this site is tremendous.

I was only able to shoot a few photos of plants at the site, as the mosquitoes wouldn't allow for much time to focus on anything but swatting them away. The plant above is False Dandelion (Krigia biflora), a plant often found in prairies, black oak savannas, and wet sand.

Above is the related Dwarf Dandelion (Krigia virginica), both in flower and in fruit. Plants of the Chicago Region notes that "the undisturbed fruiting heads make a beautiful sight when viewed from above," and I can't help but to agree. Dwarf Dandelion can often be found in dry sand in areas with little competition from other plants.

The species above is often found in black oak savannas in the Kankakee River valley. Hairy Meadow Parsnip (Thaspium barbinode) is a plant that I had only seen a few times previously. It can be distinguished from the similar Meadow Parsnip (Thaspium trifoliatum) by its obviously hairy stem nodes.

The interesting plant shown above is Indian Cucumber Root (Medeola virginiana). This species can be found in a variety of acidic habitats; at this site, we found it in moist portions of the swamp forest.

All three of the fern species in the genus Osmunda that occur in the Chicago Region were present at the site. Above is Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea), and below is Interrupted Fern (Osmunda claytoniana). Not pictured is Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis v. spectabilis).

You will notice that in Cinnamon Fern, the fertile fronds (the cinnamon or brown parts) are on separate stalks from the sterile fronds (the green "leaves"), while in Interrupted Fern, the fertile fronds "interrupt" the sterile frond. I had only seen Interrupted Fern a handful of times before Saturday, and it was uncommon at this site as well. All three Osmunda species were found in the swamp forest community.

One of my favorite plant families is the Saxifragaceae, of which the plant shown above is a member. This is Swamp Saxifrage (Saxifraga pensylvanica), which is found in a variety of habitats in the Chicago Region, including calcareous and acidic seeps, sedge meadows, mesic prairies, and upland swamps. At this site, we saw Swamp Saxifrage in the swamp forest.

One of the two most exciting finds was Downy Poplar (Populus heterophylla), a tree I had seen only once before. We only saw small trees at the site, though I suspect that at least one large tree of this species is present. Downy Poplar is very rare in the Chicago Region.

The other most exciting find was the plant pictured below, one of the rarest violets in the Chicago Region, Primrose Violet (Viola primulifolia).

I had only seen this species at two locations in the past. One was on the trip that Justin and I recently took to Alabama, where we saw it in an acid seep woodland. The other location was in a moist prairie in Starke County, Indiana. At this Jasper County property, it was growing by the thousands in the swamp forest. According to Plants of the Chicago Region, it is found in "moist sandy soil of marsh borders and in moist open meadows." Maybe this area was more open historically as well.

As you can tell, I had a wonderful 6 hours at the site, and I admire the dedication of the landowners to preserve and manage this property in a way that keeps it as natural as possible. I hope to get back to the site at another time of year to add species to the list, identify some of my unknowns, and gain a better understanding of the natural communities at the site and the processes guiding them.