Leader of Today’s Ramble: Linda Chafin
Authors of Today’s Report: Linda Chafin, Don Hunter
The photos that appear in this report were taken by Don Hunter unless otherwise credited. Photos may be enlarged by clicking them with a mouse or tapping on your screen. Not all of Don’s photos from today’s ramble made it into the Ramble Report, so be sure to check out his Facebook album at this link.
Nature Ramble Rainy Day Policy: We show up at 9:00am, rain or shine. If it’s raining, we will meet and socialize in the conservatory (bring your own coffee); if there is a break in the rain, we’ll go outside and do a little rambling.
Today’s Emphasis: Seeking what we found on the Orange Trail
Announcements:
Catherine let us know that the next art ramble, which she will lead on September 26, is inspired by Margot Guralnick’s Urban Botanical Art which you can see here. Below is an example that Catherine created in the Arbor before Ramblers arrived.
Rare firefly identified in UGA’s State Botanical Garden. “The Loopy Five, named for its looping flight pattern, has been spotted in high concentration in the wetlands boardwalk area on the Garden’s Orange Trail. The firefly [has been] petitioned to be on the Endangered Species List.”
Karen shared that a butterfly walk is scheduled for Saturday, September 21, at the Tallassee Forest Preserve. The walk will be led by Jim Porter, lifetime butterfly aficianado and retired UGA ecologist. You must register by calling or emailing the Oconee River Land Trust: (706) 552-3138 -OR- info@oconeeriverlandtrust.org
Show and Tell:
Karen passed around her phone with a photo, above, that she took of a Hickory Horn Devil, the caterpillar of a Regal Moth. It’s consuming a Sweet Gum leaf, one of several species including pecan, hickory, black walnut, sycamore, and ash, that they eat. The caterpillar can reach a hefty 5.5 inches in length. The adult, below, with a wingspan up to 6 inches, is just as spectacular. Photo of adult by Andy Reago and Chrissy McClarren.
Reading: Linda read from an interview with Terry Tempest Williams, environmental activist and writer from the American Southwest, in The Politics of Place: An Interview with Terry Tempest Williams, by Scott London. You can read the entire interview here.
London: In “An Unspoken Hunger” you say, "Perhaps the most radical act we can commit is to stay home." What do you mean by that?
Williams: I really believe that to stay home, to learn the names of things, to realize who we live among... The notion that we can extend our sense of community, our idea of community, to include all life forms — plants, animals, rocks, rivers and human beings — then I believe a politics of place emerges where we are deeply accountable to our communities, to our neighborhoods, to our home. Otherwise, who is there to chart the changes? If we are not home, if we are not rooted deeply in place, making that commitment to dig in and stay put, if we don't know the names of things, if we don't know pronghorn antelope, if we don't know blacktail jackrabbit, if we don't know sage, pinyon, juniper, then I think we are living a life without specificity, and then our lives become abstractions. Then we enter a place of true desolation. I remember a phone call from a friend of mine who lives along the MacKenzie River. She said, "This is the first year in twenty that the chinook salmon have not returned." This woman knows the names of things. This woman is committed to a place. And she sounded the alarm.
London: What do you think happens when we lose a sense of intimacy with the natural world around us?
Williams: I think our lack of intimacy with the land has initiated a lack of intimacy with each other. What we perceive as outside of us, is actually in direct relationship with us.
Number of Ramblers Today: 27
Today’s Route: We left the Children’s Garden and headed across parking bay 1 to the Orange Trail trailhead. We took the trail downhill through the Oak/Pine forest and across the beaver marsh, and returned on the Purple Trail.
Pre-Ramble Observations: Before Ramblers arrived at the arbor, Don spotted two Daddy Longlegs on Rattlesnake Master seedheads (below, left) and the interesting patterns of dried fruit clusters of Hoary Mountain Mint (below, right).
Today’s Observations:
Myrna set the pace for today’s Ramble.
We set off across parking bay 1 where some Virginia Pines, planted in the 1980s when these parking lots were put in, were being taken down (below). These are fast growing, short-lived, densely branched pines, planted when a quick vegetation buffer is needed. Their natural range is largely the lower elevations of the Southern Appalachian mountains and foothills. They are not native to Clarke County, but start to appear as you travel north into Hall and Habersham counties. With their short twisted needles, flaky reddish bark, and crowns loaded with small cones, they are easy to spot, even from a distance. Virginia Pine is a pioneer species whose seeds require bare mineral soil to germinate. Historically, fire was the agent that created these seed beds, usually killing the trees but creating the conditions necessary to replace the population.
Roger counted the rings on a recently felled Virginia Pine in the parking lot,
deciding that the tree was between 30 and 40 years old. Photo by Gary Crider
Once on the Orange Trail, we noticed the abundance of Shortleaf Pines in this area, including this old stump with a portion of its heartwood intact. Prized for its ability to kindle fires, heartwood is also known as fatwood, fat lightered, and lighter wood. You can actually buy a 25 pound box of fatwood sticks from L.L. Bean for $50 (plus shipping, of course). Pine heartwood is loaded with resins that contain the highly inflammable compound terpene that repels insects and slows rot.
Shortleaf Pine bark is pocked with crater-like resin pits, also called pitch pockets. These extend inwards into the trunk through the sapwood.
Roger related the abundance of Shortleaf Pine in this part of the Garden to its history of cotton (and other) agriculture in the 1800s and early 1900s and to logging as recently as the 1960s. Pines and Red Cedars are the first tree species to establish following disturbance in the Piedmont, followed by hardwoods such as oaks, hickories, Black Gum, and Sourwood.
We spotted several down and decayed tree trunks in the woods, including this hardwood trunk that had been partially excavated by Pileated Woodpeckers, which chip out rectangular holes in their search for insects.
This decaying Shortleaf Pine trunk is well on its way to becoming humus, thanks to White Rot, a wood-decaying fungus, and the efforts of Pileated Woodpeckers.
The trunk and branches of an Eastern Red Cedar are also scattered across the ground here and are much better preserved than are either pines or hardwoods. Oils in its wood confer resistance to both rot and insect attack and makes the wood an excellent choice for fence posts and blanket chests.
Although White Oak bark typically has long, loose scales, this tree’s bark was notably shaggy. The trunk also bears an atypical number of leafy twigs sprouting along the trunk. Such sprouts arise from dormant buds under the bark and are called epicormic branches. They are thought to be a response to a sudden increase in light created by an opening in the canopy. The extent to which a tree responds to more light with epicormic branching depends on the vigor and genetic makeup of the individual tree.
A rambler spotted Eastern Jack O’Lantern mushrooms in the creek bank and Bill climbed down for a closer view (Photo by Gary Crider). This bioluminescent fungus commonly grows on buried roots. Its gills glow faintly green when fresh which is thought to attract insects that spread its spores. Because of its color, this species is sometimes confused with edible Chanterelles, which is unfortunate since Jack O’Lanterns are highly toxic.
Photos of Eastern Jack O’Lantern below are by Bill Sheehan.
A Strawberry Bush, aka Hearts-a-Burstin’, is tucked back into some blackberry shrubs on the steep creekbank, its pink fruits opened to expose the bright orange seeds. This is one of the few individuals of this species to reach reproductive age at the Garden. Most are browsed nearly to the ground by the hordes of ravening deer that browse here. Walt Cook calls this shrub “deer ice cream” for a reason.
This small creek was once known as Humphrey’s Spring Branch, named for the early 1800s owner of this tract of land. Thanks to Roger C. for uncovering this piece of the Garden’s history. There is still a small spring at the head of the creek, slowly eroding the slope in an upstream direction, a process called headward erosion.
Rocks piled around the base of this oak tree (photo, left) testify to the agricultural history of this area, where clearing rock from a future field was the first order of business for a farmer. The rocks are a mélange of dark minerals, mostly amphibole and biotite, as well as other lighter colored minerals, such as quartz and feldspar (photo, right). Roger’s research indicates this area was in cultivation beginning in the early 1800s.
Wood Oats are one of a handful of native grass species that grow in shady Piedmont forests. Its small seed heads are borne on long, arching stems (below).
Bill and Don spotted a nice flush of Turkey Tail fungi on a downed tree branch (photo, left). The photo of the lower surface (right) shows the many tiny pores that release spores.
The large patch of Broad Beech Ferns along the Orange Trail is a favorite stop for ramblers, who renamed the species Fox Face Fern. The large, lowermost pair of pinnae that angle backwards are the “ears.”
Layered metamorphic rock along Humphrey’s Spring Branch.
Bluehead Chub are often seen in the deeper sections of the branch.
As the branch approaches the beaver marsh, we began to see lots of Virginia Jumpseed (photos, below), along the trail. It is a species of moist to wet habitats that is closely related to the smartweeds. Virginia Jumpseed’s white (sometimes pink), four-parted flowers are held on tall, usually solitary stems. As the fruit matures, tension builds at the base of the fruit’s stalk. If disturbed, the ripe fruit are ejected as much as 12 feet from the plant, hence the common name. Fruits may also be carried when the hooked, persistent styles (seen in the central photo) catch on the fur of passing animals.
Dotted Smartweed (left) and Water Pepper (below) are in the same genus, Persicaria, as Virginia Jumpseed. Both have mildly spicy leaves that “smart” your tongue.
Leafy Elephant’s Foot is another common creekside and floodplain species.
Green-eyed Susan (aka Cutleaf Coneflower) is growing and flowering among Virginia Jumpseed near the beaver marsh. The Cherokee call this species Sochan and value its nutritious leafy greens.
Don spotted this American Dagger Moth caterpillar perched in a pile of dead limbs and crashed through to get this photo. The caterpillars eat the leaves of a wide variety of hardwood trees and shrubs. The adults (below) have a wingspan of 2 to 2.5 inches. Photo of adult moth by Andy Reago and Chrissy McClarren.
Sensitive Fern sterile frond, right, and fertile frond, below.
We identified these spectacular clusters of fruit as belonging to Jack-in-the-Pulpit (or, actually, Jill), but a comment on Don’s Facebook page suggested that these are Green Dragons instead. Jacks have trifoliate leaves, while Dragon’s leaves have 5-13 leaflets. Since we didn’t look closely at the withered leaves lying around the base of the plant, we will return soon to check. The height of the fruit stalk also suggests that it’s a Green Dragon.
Ramblers exploring a patch of Duck Potato in the wooded edge of the beaver marsh. Duck Potato forms large patches throughout the marsh.
Duck Potato flowers and fruits
Duck Potato, known to the Cherokee as Wapato, also reproduces by the spread of underwater stems. The “potatoes” are corms, swollen storage organs buried in mud at the base of the stems. These are edible both raw and cooked, and were known to the Cherokee as Wapato, an important part of their diet before European colonization. Wildlife (muskrats, beavers, wading birds and ducks) eat both the corms and seeds of the plant.
Short-winged Katydid resting on a Duck Potato leaf
We were sorry to find that Marsh Dayflower, one of the most invasive of aquatic plants, is spreading in the marsh. It forms dense mats that outcompete native wetland plants.
Ebony Jewelwing damselfly posed on a Marsh Dayflower leaf
A heavily skeletonized Green Ash leaf found on the boardwalk across the lower end of the marsh
No Ramble is complete without a sighting of a Carolina Anole, this one yellow rather than the bright green or dull brown that we are familiar with. Color phases, including a blue phase, are rare and are due to the lack of one of the pigment genes that control anole coloration. Photo by Bill Sheehan
Roger came prepared for all eventualities with his grandson’s dinosaur umbrella.
SUMMARY OF OBSERVED SPECIES
Daddy Longlegs Order Opiliones
Rattlesnake Master Eryngium yuccifolium
Mountainmint Pycnanthemum sp.
Virginia Pine Pinus virginiana
Shortleaf Pine Pinus echinata
Sourwood Oxydendrum arboreum
Pileated Wood Pecker (evidence and call) Dryocopus pileatus
Eastern Red Cedar Juniperus virginiana
Northern Red Oak Quercus rubra
White Oak Quercus alba
Eastern Jack-o-Lantern mushroom Omphalotus illudens
Strawberry Bush, Heart’s-a-burstin’ Euonymus americanus
Musclewood Carpinus caroliniana
Turkey Tail fungi Trametes versicolor
Wood Oats Chasmanthium sessiliflorum
Broad Beech Ferns Phegopteris hexagonoptera
Bluehead Chub Nocomis leptocephalus
Virginia Jumpseed Persicaria virginiana
Leafy Elephant’s Foot Elephantopus carolinianus
Beggar-lice Desmodium sp.
Green-eyed Susan Rudbeckia laciniata
Sensitive Fern Onoclea sensibilis
Cherokee Sedge Carex cherokeensis
Dotted Smartweed Persicaria punctata
Mild Water Pepper Persicaria hydropiperoides
American Dagger Moth (caterpillar) Acronicta americana
Mariana Island Fern Macrothelypteris torresiana
Jack(Jill)-in-the-Pulpit Arisaema triphyllum or Green Dragon, A. dracontium
Duck Potato, Wapato Sagittaria latifolia
Short-winged Meadow Katydid Conocephalus dorsalis
Ebony Jewelwing damselfly Calopteryx maculata
Hop Hornbeam Ostrya virginiana
Marsh Dayflower Murdannia keisak
Water Hemlock Cicuta douglasii, synonym Cicuta maculata
Green Ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica
Carolina Anole Anolis carolinensis