As the Summer Wanes, Fens Heat Up

Well, here we are, almost halfway through 2013, and I still haven't posted about some of my 2012 outings.  I'd hoped to get caught up over the winter, but I simply don't have the time that I used to, and as a result blogging has been and will continue to be pushed to the back burner.  I still hope to blog a bit about the trip that Lindsay and I took to Ecuador and Galapagos in 2012, but that will likely come much later.

 

Tiplady Road Fen

In late September 2012, Lindsay participated in a 50K mud run in Hell, Michigan.  I went along and cheered her on at a few locations, but in between I had some time for botanizing at Tiplady Road Fen.

 

Gentianopsis virgata

One of the jewels of a fen in late September is Lesser Fringed Gentian (Gentianopsis virgata).  It was difficult to find open flowers when I arrived, but as it warmed up a bit the flowers opened more.  There was only a brief period of time when the flowers were open with dew drops still on the petals, and I was thrilled to be able to time this right for my photographs.

Lobelia kalmii

I've never had much luck getting good photographs of Kalm's Lobelia (Lobelia kalmii), as the plant is often buried in taller vegetation and my photos end up severely washed out and overexposed.  After finding this diminutive calciphile, I waited until the sun went behind the clouds to snap this photograph, and I was particularly happy with the outcome.

Parnassia glauca

It's always a treat to see Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia glauca), whether in flower or just vegetative.  As seen in the photograph above, the green veins within the five white petals give the flowers an intriguing look.  The leaves also have an interesting appearance, being quite smooth, lime green, and nearly heart shaped; they occur in a basal cluster.  In addition, rarely do you see this species outside of an extremely high quality area.

 

Muhlenbergia glomerata

Time for a grass intermission, right?  The photograph above shows one of my favorite fen grasses, Marsh Timothy (Muhlenbergia glomerata).  I was fortunate to find this one with such a nice blue sky background.  While not a rare plant in fens and springy meadows, Marsh Timothy is never really abundant either.

 

Cirsium muticum

I've probably said it before on this blog, but thistles get a bad rap.  Sure, there are the "bad ones," but there are some good native thistles as well, and the one shown above is one of them.  Swamp Thistle (Cirsium muticum) is also a "good" thistle because you can actually touch the leaves and the involucre and not bleed as a result.  In fact, because the phyllaries are appressed within the involucre, you can feel the sticky glutinous ridges that are present on each phyllary when you grab the flower head.  Don't try that with the other thistles.

 

Aster novae-angliae

What would late summer be in any habitat without asters?  Fens are certainly no exception, being home to numerous species.  I've chosen to show three here.  Above is my least favorite of the three, New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae).  There's nothing particularly wrong with it, and the deep violet rays add interesting color to the late summer landscape.  I guess it's my least favorite because of its broad use in restorations and native landscaping, where it becomes exceptionally abundant and sometimes even weedy.  As part of a natural landscape, I've never seen it behave that way.

Aster puniceus

Swamp Aster (Aster puniceus), on the other hand, is more appealing to me.  First it isn't as gaudy as New England Aster.  It is also more characteristic of quality areas, though it does hold on in heavily degraded fens. 

Aster umbellatus

And then there's Flat-topped Aster (Aster umbellatus), which occurs in a wide variety of quality natural habitats.  Vegetatively, this is the one that is most frequently misidentified as a goldenrod.  When looking at the flower heads, you may think that it is missing some ray flowers, but that's just the way Flat-topped Aster rolls... its ray flowers are not evenly distributed around the flower head.  I guess another reason I like this one is because it's such a nonconformist in this sense.

Tiplady Road Fen

Fens can be dangerous places.  Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catensis catensis) abound, mounds of Tussock Sedge (Carex stricta) make walking very difficult, you risk going into the muck knee-deep with every step, and Poison Sumac (Toxicodendron radicans) lurks everywhere.  It isn't the large Poison Sumac shrubs, such as the one on the left side of the photograph above (with the bright scarlet leaves) that you necessarily need to worry about, because you can see them... it's the small, knee-high shrubs that are hidden within the grasses and sedges that will get you everytime.

Tiplady Road Fen

I made it out of the fen safely (and somehow on time) to get back to see Lindsay finish her race.  What a great way to spend a late summer day.

The Gray Area between Work and Hobby

I remember my cousin's reaction the first time he found out that I botanized for fun.  He was pretty amazed that I would go out and slosh through wetlands to get covered in ticks, mosquito bites, and poison sumac.  Why would anyone do that and not get paid for it?  Why wouldn't they?  How can someone work in the environmental field and not be passionate about it?

That gray area is something I deal with all too often.  On a trip to Superior, Wisconsin to do vegetation sampling in late August 2012, a few of the people on my crew joined me on our day off for a trip to Buckley Creek and Barrens State Natural Area in Douglas County.  This 900-acre property was our "site of choice" that day because of the range of plant communities present, from very dry to very wet.  The resulting flora provided a wide range of interesting species for us to feast our eyes and lenses on that fine summer day.  Below I will discuss some of those species and communities.

Agastache foeniculum

Blue Giant Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) is a plant of northern North America that I had read about but never seen, so it was a nice surprise to find it on the edge of the oak barrens at Buckley Creek and Barrens.  Primarily found in the upper Midwest, west of the Great Lakes, and into Canada, this mint also ranges as far west as western Montana, and it is found in scattered counties in the eastern United States. In addition to scrubby barrens, Blue Giant Hyssop can be found in dry upland forest openings, prairies, fields, and thickets.

Aster oolentangiensis

Many of us learned the plant in the photograph above as Aster azureus; the specific epithet is a reference to the ray flowers of this composite, which are said to be "sky blue" in color.  However, the rules of botanical nomenclature came into play when it was determined after many years of using the name Aster azureus that a different epithet for the same species had been published several months earlier than the specific epithet azureus.  The plant then became officially known by the first published name, Aster oolentangiensis.  This specific epithet is a reference to the Olentangy River in central Ohio where the specimen at the center of this debate was collected.  Some people seem to despise the specific epithet oolentangiensis, which rolls right off the tongue, but the inimitable Ed Voss was a fan of this name change, as he grew up in a town along the Olentangy only a few miles upstream from the location where the plant was first collected.  Descriptiveness and hometown pride aside, I'm happy to use the name Aster oolentangiensis to stay in line with nomenclatural law.  Many people now call this plant Symphyotrichum oolentangiense, the genus having changed as a result of molecular research.  Sky-blue Aster is found in prairies, barrens, glades, open woodlands, on dunes, and in savannas, often in sandy or shallow soil.  Its geographical range includes the central United States in a band along and just west of the Mississippi River, as well as areas around the Great Lakes.

Oligoneuron album

Speaking of name changes, this one's a doozy.  I first learned Prairie Goldenrod (Oligoneuron album) as Upland White Aster (Aster ptarmicoides).  In the 1970s, botanists began calling this plant Solidago ptarmicoides because the floral structures were more closely aligned with goldenrods.  Then, just about the time this name started gaining widespread use in the 1990s, the name Oligoneuron album came into play.  Many other names have been used for this composite in the past as well.  Prairie Goldenrod has its greatest distribution in the upper Midwest, west of the Great Lakes, but it is also found in numerous Missouri Ozark counties, in scattered counties in Michigan, and scattered elsewhere in the United States and in eastern Canada.  It has an affinity to calcareous soils, where it is found in dry sand, in limestone pavement communities, on glades, on rocky outcrops, and in prairies.  One habitat that is not mentioned in the references I've seen is in barren slag pits that have displaced dune and swale communities.  In this crime against nature "community," Prairie Goldenrod is one of the few native plants that seems to persist after years of degradation.

Liatris aspera

Rough Blazingstar (Liatris aspera) is an attractive species of a variety of habitats including prairies, barrens, dunes, glades, fields, savannas, and woodlands.  It is most frequently found growing in sand and silty loam soils.  This composite is found throughout much of the eastern half of North America, but its greatest distribution is in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and just west of the Mississippi River.  Rough Blazingstar is said to have edible corms that can be used as a survival food, but rodents are said to also feed on these corms and in some places are responsible for reducing the Rough Blazingstar population.  The blazing stars (Liatris spp.) have determinate inflorescences, meaning that the oldest flower clusters are at the tip of the inflorescence and the youngest flower clusters are at the bottom, so the inflorescence does not continue to expand in length as the season progresses.

Solidago nemoralis

Gray Goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis) is a very common composite found across much of North America with the exception of Alaska and extreme northern Canada and the western third of the United States.  It grows in fields and prairies, along roadsides, and in open woodlands in sandy, gravelly, and clayey soils.  The common name comes from the fine gray hairs that cover the stems, giving the plants an overall grayish cast.

Polygonella articulata

One of the more interesting looking yet overlooked plants of sandhills, dunes, beaches, pine barrens, and other sandy coastal and lakeshore habitats is Coastal Jointweed (Polygonella articulata).  As the first half of the common name implies, this species of the buckwheat family is found along the Atlantic coast and in the Great Lakes states and provinces, particularly in counties bordering the Great Lakes.  The second half of the common name is a reference to the jointed-like appearance of the plant, and especially of the inflorescence before buds emerge.  This appearance is a result of the ocreae (on the stems) and ocreolae (in the inflorescence).  These structures are short sheaths formed by the fused stipules, or leafy structures at the base of each leaf.

Bog

In addition to spending time in the dry oak barrens, we also tromped through a boggy area with typical bog/muskeg vegetation.  This bog had strong representation by plants in the heath family and sedges.

Eriophorum virginicum

One of those sedges was Tawny Cottongrass (Eriophorum virginicum), a striking species of bogs, conifer swamps, fens, marshes, and wet meadows.  This cottongrass is unique in that it has brown scales, and perianth bristles that instead of being pure white often have some brownish or orangish color to them.  It grows in the New England states and southwest along the Appalachians, as well as in the Great Lakes states and provinces. 

Thanks to those who joined me on this weekend outing to see such a unique Wisconsin natural area.

Frozen Fog

Ever wonder what happens when fog freezes?  Well, we get frost flowers! They're not the same frost flowers as those that show up south of here, typically on dittany (Cunila origanoides) and wingstem (Verbesina spp.), but they're beautiful and intriguing nonetheless.  I was lucky enough to be outside this morning at the right time, and below are some of the shots that I took.

Looking out over a foggy winter landscape.

Canada Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)

Frost Aster (Aster pilosus) (that's really the common name!)

Frost Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)... okay, the common name of this one is really Eastern Cottonwood

Tall Ironweed (Vernonia gigantea)

Canada Rye (Elymus canadensis)

Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)

Hungarian Brome (Bromus inermis)

Tall Goldenrod (Solidago altissima)

A black-and-white shot

An obligatory Bootypants (Canis bootypantsii) photo

The Forsaken Flora

Ever wonder, as you're cruising along the interstate at 70+ mph, what plants are growing in the harsh environment created by asphalt-induced higher temperatures, vehicle-created winds, and runoff including road maintenance chemicals?  If you're like most people, probably not... there are plenty of other things to think about, like talking on cell phones, eating, and putting on make-up.  But if you're like me, observing the highway flora is a top priority.

Fetid Marigold thrives in a narrow band along the highway shoulder

Here in the Great Lakes region, our highway flora consists of an interesting assemblage of plants native to the Atlantic coast, plants native further west and south of here, opportunistic Midwestern natives, and your typical Old World weeds.  One of the most conspicuous is the low-growing, malodorous composite that forms a yellowish- to reddish-colored band immediately adjacent to the highway shoulder.  This is Fetid Marigold (Dyssodia papposa), a plant native through the Great Plains south to Texas, but introduced in the eastern and western thirds of the country.

Not much else grows in the zone with Fetid Marigold

Fetid marigold is so named because of the characteristic strong, unpleasant odor that is emitted from the glands on the phyllaries (you can see these glands in the photograph below).  The Latin name for the genus (Dyssodia) is Greek for "disagreeable odor."  In fact, in the 1800s, C.W. Short included on the herbarium specimen label of one of his collections of this species that "This plant is so abundant, and exhales an odor so unpleasant as to sicken the traveler over the western prairies of Illinois, in autumn."

The orange-colored glands on the phyllaries contain a watery liquid with the characteristic odor of Fetid Marigold

Fetid Marigold has an interesting history in the Chicago Region.  After being introduced to the area in the 1800s, it spread to nearly every road and trail throughout the region.  Between approximately 1930 and 1970, Fetid Marigold nearly disappeared from this area, but beginning in the 1970s, it again began to spread.  Now it can be found along most of our highways.

The habitat in which Fetid Marigold grows is not conducive to the growth of many other species

Another conspicuous composite found along our roadsides is Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens).  Unlike the previous species, however, Seaside Goldenrod has been introduced around the Great Lakes region from the Atlantic and Gulf Coast states, where it grows in sandy soils and on the edges of salt marshes near the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.  I have seen this goldenrod thriving in tiny cracks in concrete along Lake Michigan in Chicago, where no other plant dares to grow.

Seaside Goldenrod is tall and showy with fleshy, leathery foliage

Of the goldenrods found in the Chicago region, Seaside Goldenrod is one of the most attractive, as its individual flowers are quite large for a Solidago. Seaside Goldenrod has leathery, waxy leaves characteristic of many plants that grow in the harsh conditions adjacent to the ocean, making it well suited for the similarly windy and salty conditions that exist along our highways.

Notice the large flowers of Seaside Goldenrod

Saltmarsh Aster (Aster subulatus, or Symphyotrichum subulatum) has similar native and introduced ranges in the United States to those of Seaside Goldenrod, and the two are often found growing together.  Known locally in the Chicago region as Expressway Aster (for obvious reasons), this aster is somewhat inconspicuous, as it has very short light lavender ray flowers that are not much longer than the phyllaries.  It is an annual aster with smooth and somewhat succulent stems and leaves.

Saltmarsh Aster has short (but obvious) ray flowers

Saltmarsh Aster appears late in the season but can form near monocultures in places of high salinity.  At a location I visited for work twice in 2011, it was undetectable during my June visit, but abundant when I was back at the site in September.

Near monocultures of Saltmarsh Aster can be formed in moist to wet areas with high salinity

Another annual aster that grows in the salty zone along our highways in the Great Lakes region is Rayless Aster (Aster brachyactis, Brachyactis ciliata, or Symphyotrichum ciliatum).  Unlike the previous two species, Rayless Aster is native in the western United States and Canada, as well as in Eurasia.

Rayless Aster can be somewhat inconspicuous

Rayless Aster is probably the most inconspicuous of the species in this post, especially because its ray flowers, as the common name implies, are absent or undeveloped.  However, when in fruit, the fluffy pappus is quite noticable.

Although the ray flowers are lacking, the spreading involucral bracts are helpful in the identification of Rayless Aster

This just scratches the surface regarding some of the plants that make their home in one of our harshest environments.  Although all of these plants are non-native around the Great Lakes, they perform the difficult task of growing in an area that is too salty, windy, and sediment-covered for most of the other plants in our flora to survive, while at the same time going almost completely unnoticed even though they are probably amongst our most frequently seen plants.  Some of the other plants that frequently are found with these four composites in this unique habitat include Quack Grass (Agropyron repens), Common Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), Hairy Aster (Aster pilosus), Triangular-leaved Orach (Atriplex prostrata), Expressway Sedge (Carex praegracilis), Oak-leaved Goosefoot (Chenopodium glaucum), Chicory (Cichorium intybus), Horseweed (Conyza canadensis), Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota), Barnyard Grass (Echinochloa crusgalli), Tall Fescue (Festuca arundinacea), Squirrel-tail Grass (Hordeum jubatum), Burning Bush (Kochia scoparia), Willow Lettuce (Lactuca saligna), Salt-meadow Grass (Leptochloa fusca var. fascicularis), Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), Knee Grass (Panicum dichotomiflorum), Common Reed (Phragmites australis), Sidewalk Knotweed (Polygonum arenastrum), Alkali Grass (Puccinellia distans), Alkali Bulrush (Scirpus maritimus var. paludosus), Green Foxtail (Setaria viridis), Lesser Salt Spurrey (Spergularia marina), Sheathed Rush Grass (Sporobolus vaginiflorus), Sea Blite (Suaeda calceoliformis), Narrow-leaved Cattail (Typha angustifolia), and Hybrid Cattail (Typha x glauca).

If you're ever in search of a new county or state record, I recommend looking for these rapidly spreading highway plants.  Three of the species above were new county records where I found them in Dane County, Wisconsin a few weeks ago.

Sky-white Aster

Sky-white Aster? Say what? Maybe you've heard of Sky-blue Aster (Aster azureus, or Aster oolentangiensis, or Symphyotrichum oolentangiense, depending on who you listen to), but how about Sky-white Aster?


Okay, so I made up the common name, but it seemed silly to call a plant with nothing blue about it Sky-blue Aster. This is the form of Sky-blue Aster with white ray flowers, known as Aster azureus forma albidus (azureus, of course, means "bright blue"; albidus means "white"). This year must have been a good year for white-flowered forms of composites (Asteraceae); earlier in the year, I posted on Get Your Botany On! about two normally pinkish-purple-flowered species of Liatris with white-flowers. Just to prove that this is in fact Sky-blue Aster, I've included a photo below of the characteristic heart-shaped, rough-textured lower leaves from the plant.


A photograph showing the typical color of the ray flowers of Sky-blue Aster is shown below. Sky-blue Aster is a plant of open to semi-open areas with sandy, loamy, or rocky soils, where it is found in prairies, glades, barrens, savannas, alvars, and open woodlands. It is known from a good part of the eastern half of North America, to as far west as South Dakota and Texas, but is absent from the northeast and the Appalachian region.