To start off my first blog post I thought I should keep it
simple and post some of the unique plants I observed last year in the field. So
the following plants are ones that stick out in my mind for some reason or another.
Some of the following plants are listed in Pennsylvania and have a state legal
status while others do not. Some of the plants were not even observed in PA,
yet all in all, each of plants below do have something unique about them for one
reason or another.
If you’re familiar with southwestern PA geology you know
there are many areas in Greene, Washington, and southern Allegheny counties
that contain substrates derived from limestone. This situation sometimes provides
habitat for assemblages of rare calciphytic plants. One such plant is tall
larkspur (Delphinuim exaltatum) that
I have growing near my home in Washington County.
The population of tall larkspur near my home is found
growing along a mesic wooded hillslope just above a shale and sandstone
outcrop. One thing unique about this area is high level of limestone talus one
can observe along the hillslope.
Another plant that is fairly common near my home is American
gromwell (Lithospermum latifolia).
The plant in my opinion is very handsome and is easily recognized as a member
of the Borage family member. American gromwell develops beautiful yellow
flowers followed by the fruits, or nutlets that resemble tiny white pearls. 
Probably one of the rarest of the plants near my home is another
Borage family member called false gromwell (Onosmodium
molle var. hispidissimum). This
plant sticks out like a sore thumb when mature by the plants overall silvery
rough appearance among the other green vegetation is the surrounding area.
Further north in Beaver County Pennsylvania this year I
finally came across declined trillium (Trillium
flexipes). I found this population of declined trillium in late April along
Raccoon Creek, yet not within Raccoon Creek Park.
Another plant I seemed to come across fairly often in 2014 in
West Virginia, yet I only observed it in PA at 3 different locations,is
heartleaf meehania (Meehania cordata).
One thing I about meehania is once you see it a few times in the field you can
easily recognize it, especially in the fall when most other vegetation is dying
back.
I came across the next plant in Harrison County West
Virginia in June during a field survey. As I was walking through a mesic type
forested hillslope I noticed this kind of a odd looking Cyperaceae plant so I
collected it and moved on, not giving the plant another thought. Fast forward a
couple of days and during the weekend I got up early Saturday morning, put the
plant under the scope, and to my surprise I collected a sclaria not a carex! The
plant keyed out to whip nutrush (Sclaria
triglomerata) which is a first timer for me. Though whip nutrush is
considered the most common nutrushin in
my area I have never ever come across this genera. Just like the fruit of
American gromwell, the fruit (achene) of whip nutrush turns white when mature
resembling a white pearl.
To some, orchids are by far the most exciting plants one can
come across in the field. During the 2014 field season the orchid that sticks
out in my mind the most is the yellow fringed orchid (Platanthera ciliaris). In Pennsylvania
I have only observed this orchid growing on central PA within moist open
meadows. Last year in West Virginia I was surprised to come across a healthy
population of yellow fringed orchid growing vigorously along a hillslope within
an open, dry transmission line ROW within Kanawha State Forest. This orchid
does not have a legal status in PA yet it is proposed threatened. To me the
most striking feature of this plant is the vibrant orange color, and the range
of environmental conditions it can tolerate.
"Until Next Time, Keep Botanizing!"
