Starting with the Obvious in 2016

Here in southwestern PA the winter of 2015/2016 was very mild. From 50 to 65 Fahrenheit days in December to only a hand full of below zero days in January 2016. Snow was on the ground for a few weeks in January, yet by the end of February winter seemed it was on its way out.

Field work was slow this past winter, but I did spend some time in West Virginia, Ohio, and even north central PA. Northwestern West Virginia and southeastern Ohio is certainly a  beautiful natural area. With the extensive scenic ridges and steep forested valleys, one can only image the natural forces that formed this area over the past million years. I often wonder what this area looked like during the pre-settlement era around the 1500’s to 1600’s.

Below is a typical scene from Wetzel County West Virginia during January 2016 field work.

Wetzel County West Virginia

Januarys field work in West Virginia and Ohio consisted of re-flagging wetland boundaries that were delineated the past spring. Reflagging is done to ensure a visual identification of the wetland boundaries prior to tree clearing or other construction activities within various work sites. No  experience is better for learning about wetland delineations than visiting the same wetland during multiple seasons.

From my understanding, northern West Virginia has not been botanized enough over the years.  Many botanists tell me, "if you want to find botanical treasures, start looking in the hills of northern West Virginia. " 

Below is a typical scene from Monroe County Ohio. This photo was taken during late January 2016 field work.





Monroe County Ohio



When it comes to plants, nothing too exciting these first 2 months of 2016. I was moving pretty quick during field work so I really never had time to 'go out of the way' and botanize too much. One thing is certain, botanizing in the middle of winter can be challenging. 

Every field botanist has their personal list of favorite reference or identification books and my favorite winter twig identification guide is 'Woody Plants in Winter' by Core and Ammons.  Though not the best, it has been very useful over the past years for woody winter plant identification.

I'm going to share two very common canopy trees one would notice often  in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia during the wither months. Both of these trees have very unique characteristics that make them easy to identify during winter months. The photography equipment I have in the field with me these days is not the best, so please excuse the quality of my photos sometimes.

The tulip popular (Liriodendron tulipifera) is a very common tree here in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia and found in most, if not all states east of the Mississippi. During winter field season the most obvious characters one will notice about the tulip popular is the unique bark and the fruit.

When you think of winter woody plant identification you have to think of 3 things: BARK, BUDS, and FRUIT! I am by not an expert in identifying trees by their bark, but the tulip tree is one that can easily be recognized by its deeply furrowed bark and powdery-white ‘valleys’ as seen in the photo below.

Furrows and powdery-white 'valleys' observed on a Liriodendron tulipifera trunk



If you look high up in the crown of a tulip popular in winter you will notice the dried fruit, which consists of a spirally arranged cluster of samaras. In the photo below you can see the very last remnants of the aggregate fruit with the elongated receptacle poking out the top.

Remnants of the Liriodendron tulipifera fruit

The terminal bud of the tulip popular is also very unique. You will notice the terminal bud of tulip popular consists of 2 elongated clasping (not overlapping), scales which is termed ‘valvate’. The terminal bud of the tulip popular reminds me of a duck bill.

Liriodendron tulipifera terminal bud



The next common canopy tree is probably one of the first trees you may have learned when starting winter twig identification. Below is a photo of the terminal bud of bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis). 






Carya cordiformis terminal bud

Bitternut hickory has one of the most uniquely colored buds of any native canopy tree you will observe here in western Pennsylvania. The sulfur-yellow colored terminal bud of bitternut hickory is also valvate as the tulip popular. Here in western Pennsylvania, bitternut hickory is the only hickory to have a yellow, valvate terminal bud. When considering the remaining hickories found here in western PA, if you find a hickory with a terminal bud less than 1 centimeter long and glabrous twigs (could be scaly) you may be looking at Carya glabra. If your hickory has a terminal bud greater than 1 centimeter long, with pubescent twigs and lacks ‘shaggy’ or exfoliating bark, you may be looking at Carya tomentosa.

The last 2 hickory species found here in western Pennsylvania that has a terminal bud longer than 1 centimeter, with pubescent twigs and has ‘shaggy’, exfoliating bark are Carya ovata and Carya laciniosa. Can’t say I know a way to tell the C. ovata and C. lacinosa apart 100 percent of the time during the winter. Some will focus on the degree of pubescence of the twigs but don't see C. lacinosa enough to comment. Most of the time though C. lacinosa will be found growing in bottomlands and floodplains and C. ovata on more dry habitats. BUT REMEMEBER, PLANTS ALWAYS BREAK THE RULES. Sure we all have all seen C. ovata growing on floodplains also!

Two common ‘woody’ vines I was seeing during the winter months here in western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia is greenbrier (Smilax spp.) The most common greenbrier is probably Smilax rotundifolia, hence the vernacular name ‘common greenbrier’.  In the photo below you will notice some winter field characteristics of Smilax rotundifolia. 

Smilax rotundifolia

First of all, the common greenbrier is one of 3 ‘woody’ greenbrier species found growing here in western Pennsylvania. Smilax glauca, Smilax hispidula and Smilax rotundifolia all produce woody stems which means the above ground stem produces secondary growth and remains alive after the growing season.

As you can see in the above photo, common greenbrier produces a green, somewhat angled woody stem that develops broad stout prickles. The prickles of common greenbrier are the largest of the 3 woody greenbriers, usually reaching 10 to 12 millimeters. During the winter months, the common greenbrier usually loses all its’ leaves, though every now and then you will notice the dark bluish-black glaucous berries. If you are able to observe the leaves of the common greenbrier in winter you will notice they are green on both the upper and lower leaf surface.

Another smilax species I came observed a lot this winter is cat-greenbrier (Smilax glauca). This is a very easy greenbrier to identify when the leaves are still visible due to the silver to grayish (glaucous) leaf underside (abaxial) as you can see in the photo below.

 

Abaxial leaf surface of Smilax glauca

Though not visible in the photo above, cat-greenbrier also produces a green, woody stem with prickles. Cat-greenbrier has more of a rounded stem and thinner to smaller prickles (usually less than 7 millimeters) than common greenbrier.

To complete this January-February blog I thought I would share a very often overlooked plant, or at least the remnants of a plant. Below is a photo of the stem and fruits of possibly common dodder (Cuscuta gronovii) on wingstem (Verbesina alternofolia).

Cuscuta spp. on Wingstem

Cuscuta spp. are annual, parasitic plants that are non-photosynthetic and sometimes called  'spaghetti plant' due to the golden-yellow color of the stem-mass that is sometimes found covering vegetation during the summer months.

Not sure of the specific field characteristics used to identify dodder during winter, all I notice are the brown to tan colored senesced stems and cluster of rounded capsules found twined around host plant species. I honestly do not know any specific vegetative or reproductive features that Cuscuta spp. retain on their senesced parts through the winter that would aid in specific identification. Possible habitat would help narrow species down but any additional information would be appreciated!

There you are, just a quick overview of a few common plants that I frequently came across this January and February 2016. There were a hundred more species that I wanted to share here but there is only so much time in the day.

"Until Next Time, Keep Botanizing!"

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“Bringing in all the rest”

Since it was impossible to keep up with submitting a new blog entry every month, I am force to cram the remaining plants of 2015 in this one. So here is a scaled down list and information of interesting plants I came across during field work from July to September in 2015.

Sometimes I get lucky and I am assigned a survey that is close to my home. It's welcomed since I don’t have to be away from the family too long. In July I had an opportunity to conduct a plant survey that was about 5 miles from the home. Though I was looking forward to the reduced time on the road, I wasn’t too excited about the possibility of finding new plant species I haven’t already come across in the past.

Well, of course I did come across an unfamiliar sedge species fairly quick, the hairy-fruited sedge (Carex trichocarpa). This sedge was a dominant species within a large, 2-acre wetland which was probably once a pasture many years ago. Kind of exciting when I find a new sedge species to add to my personal list, especially since I found it so close to my neck of the woods. When I ran the sedge through Gleason and Cronquist later that afternoon it was a very easy sedge to key, another bonus.

Hairy-fruited sedge with habitat in background

The first field characteristic I noticed about the hairy-fruited sedge was its growth habit. This was a large population and it was obvious immediately  this sedge doesn’t form 'clumps' (cespitose) but spreads by long creeping rhizomes which produces far more vegetative shoots than fertile shoots. The next field characteristic I noticed was the large vegetative shoots that are reach about 3’ high, and have a cluster of 2’ long arching leaves near the shot apex. 

Vegetative shoot of hairy-fruited sedge left
and fertile shoot on right.

Taking a look at the reproductive shoot of hairy-fruited sedge you will first notice the dark red to purplish color band at the sheath apex. Next you will notice separate male and female spikes. The female flower spikes are long (4 cm to 7 cm) and narrow (1 cm to 1.5 cm), and separated along the stem, while 3 to 6 male spikes are clustered at the tip. The perigynia are hairy and posses a 2 mm to 4 mm double toothed beak which are mostly straight.

Female spikes of Hairy-fruited sedge

Another area I surveyed near my home was a large wetland mitigation area that contained a huge detention pond. Within 5 minutes of walking through this area, I spotted another new plant species I never identified in the field before. There, growing within the outflow area of the detention pond was river bulrush (Schoenoplectus fluviatilis).

Inflorescence of river bulrush (Shoenoplectus flaviatilis)

The river bulrush stood out like a sore thumb among the broad-leaved cattails and rice-cutgrass within the area. Seems the most common bulrush species I see 95 percent of the time here in southwestern PA is great bulrush (Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani), and three-square bulrush (Schoenoplectus pungens) the other 5 percent of the time. River bulrush is kind of unique due to the presence of leaves along the entire stem and inflorescence bracts that are similar to the stem leaves. All other species of schoenoplectus species found in PA have an inflorescence bract that appear as a continuation of the stem and lack stem leaves. In PA, river bulrush is considered rare though it is considered fairly secure across its north central range here in the US.

A question that came to mind when I first found the river bulrush was how did it get here? The detention pond had to of been constructed within the last 20 years or so. I say this because I used to hunt deer and squirrels in this exact spot growing up in the 1980’s and the area looked completely different. What I remember seeing where the detention pond now sits was a large forested valley with a perennial stream running through with various hillside wetland seeps. So possible this river bulrush is a transient plant that may have traveled here via soil brought in during construction of the detention pond or transported by water fowl.

Another new plant species for me this year was mud-hyssop (Gratiola neglecta). I came across this plant on a gravelly, sandy shore along a perennial stream in McKean County PA. As soon as I caught site of this plant I knew I was unfamiliar with it.

Mud-hyssop (Gratiola neglecta) 

Though the mud-hyssop isn’t a rare plant species in PA it is a new one for me and I was glad to add it to my personal species list. I always tell myself there are only about 3000 vascular plant species growing here in PA, so chances are pretty good I will come across a few I don’t know every now and then!

Probably my favorite plant genus is Spriranthes. I had a chance this year to survey for Case’s ladies-tresses (Spiranthes casei) in northern PA and what a challenge. One of the biggest challenges was to gather enough specific identification information to help distinguish Case’s ladies-tresses from similar Spiranthes species in the field.

Case’s ladies-tresses growing out of old railroad tie

The field characteristics I used to separate Case’s ladies’-tresses from look-alike plants such as nodding ladies-tresses (Spiranthes cernua) and yellow nodding ladies-tresses (Spiranthes ochroleuca) were the upper sepal length of 7.5 mm or less, single loose spiral flower arrangement, and creamy colored flowers with a distinctive yellow throat.

Case’s ladies-tresses inflorescence, 'lose' spiral of flowers



Nodding ladies-tresses inflorescence, 'tight' spiral of flowers

One of the highlights of 2015 was the chance to take part in the field monitoring of the federally endangered northeastern bulrush (Scirpus ancistrochaetus). I was able to visit 4 environmentally different sites in south central PA that contained populations of northeastern bulrush.

 

The sites ranged from sparsely vegetated depressions (vernal pools) to completely vegetated emergent wetlands, to inundated emergent wetlands. One thing that stood out after visiting all 4 sites was northeastern bulrush seemed to prefer growing in those specific areas within each site that experienced seasonal fluctuations in water level. This is no surprise for the experts of northeastern bulrush but it is an import habitat characteristic when trying to determine suitable habitat for the species.

 

The most obvious visual characteristic for northeastern bulrush is the drooping orientation of the mature inflorescence. People will describe the overall look of the inflorescence as ‘exploding fireworks’, where the arching rays appear as 'trails' and the tight cluster of spikelets the main area of 'explosion'. That’s how I ‘see’ it?

 

Mature inflorescence of northeastern bulrush: Exploding fireworks

Careful though since many of the northeastern bulrush individuals I saw flowering within the sites didn’t have the obvious ‘exploding fireworks’ inflorescence.

 

A very interesting characteristic of the northeastern bulrush is their ability to form bulblets within the leaf axils and even within the inflorescence. I am not familiar with the complete reproduction behavior of northeastern bulrush but my hunch is this species can dominate the vernal pool habitats fairly quick if enough individuals begin to produce these axillary bulblets.

'Bulblets' developing within the inflorescence
of northeastern bulrush

'Bulblets' developing along  the stem
of northeastern bulrush

One of the associate plants growing within a particular northeast bulrush site was golden-club (Orontium aquaticum). Golden-club is very distinctive in the field when in bloom and even when not in bloom. As you can see by the photo below, golden-club has large, elliptic to oblong shaped, dark green, petiolate leaves. When you squeeze the leaves of golden-club you will notice the sponge-like texture which comes from the many air sacs inside the leaf.

Golden-club (Orontium aquaticum) 

This plant can be found growing in shallow water along the littoral zone of lakes and pond and even streams and wetlands in muddy to peaty substrates. Unfortunately golden-club blooms in the spring and I observed the plant in the late summer. The flowers of golden-club are borne along the apex of a spadix and possess a bright yellow perianth during anthesis.

 

 

"Until Next Time, Keep Botanizing!"

June is here!

"Summer is here and things are popping up fast"

June 2015 was a very good month for botanizing. My surveys kept me in the southwestern most corner of PA, yet I did get a chance to travel back up to McKean County which is located along the north central border of PA and New York State. Though I live in southwestern PA, I haven’t been able to botanize much of the southern most portion of Washington County or most of Greene County. This is mainly due to the lack of public land in the area.


Much of Greene County and southwestern Washington County is still pretty much free of large cities and suburban sprawl. The area consists mainly of rolling hills and moderately steep stream valleys covered in a patchwork of active agricultural land, fallow fields, woodlands, and forests. Most of the forests in this area are early to mid-succession stage, though some isolated mature forest tracks do exist, especially along ravines and steep hillslopes.

Short’s sedge (Carex shortiana) is one plant that seemed to pop-up during plant surveys more than expected in southwestern PA this year. Short’s sedge doesn’t have a PA legal status right now though it does have a proposed PA status of rare. This is one of my favorite sedges due to the ‘flattened’ chocolate chip-like perigynia that make the sedge easy to spot in the field when mature. Only thing is the perigynia mature quickly and fall.

Short's sedge growing on an old abandon
logging road positioned on an inactive floodplain

Some additional characteristics to look for to help identify Short’s sedge after the perigynia fall are the light green foliage, large ligule, and the gynecandrous (male on bottom and female on top) arrangement of the flowers within the upper most spikes. Short’s sedge is usually found in disturbed habitats such as mixed-forb wetlands that are usually associated with calcareous substrates. Look for Short's sedge within emergent wetlands or moist fields that have developed due to past disturbances.. Most of the populations of Short's sedge I came across this year has been growing in old natural gas and transmission line ROW's. One indicator plant species for Short's sedge is meadow sedge (Carex granularis). If you see meadow sedge within a disturbed wetland here in southwestern PA there is a good chance the area is suitable for Short’s sedge.



The chocolate-chip
like perigynia of Short's sedge

A new PA listed plant species I was able to finally identify in the field this year was Nuttall’s hedge-nettle (Stachys cordata), which has a current legal status of endangered in PA.

 

Nuttall's hedge-nettle

In a forest setting I was able to spot this stachys species from approximately 30 feet away due the plants large, heart-shaped leaves that stood out among the semi-open understory layer.



Nuttall's hedge-nettle population

 One of many Nuttall’s hedge-nettle look alike plant species here in southwestern PA is wild germander (Teucrium canadensis). Nuttall’s hedge-nettle is usually found growing within rich, mesic forest slopes while wild germander is usually found growing in more open habitats such as along forest edges, fencerows, or floodplains. When contrasting Nuttall’s hedge-nettle with other look alike plants (Stachys tenuifolia and Stachys palustris) in the field you may first notice that Nuttall’s hedge-nettle leaves are usually much longer and wider.

Wild germander leaf on left and
Nuttall's hedge-nettle stem on right

 Taking a closer look at the stem of Nuttall’s hedge-nettle you will notice the long hairs along the stem edges and also along the flattened angles. Most other stachys species found here in southwestern PA have glabrous stems or hairs only on the angles, except for Stachys palustris. Though Stachys palustris has as a shorter calyx than S. nuttallii.





Wild germander stem on left (glabrous) and
Nuttall's hedge-nettle stem on right (pubescent)

Taking a closer look at the flowers of Nuttall’s hedge-nettle and wild germander you will notice that an upper lip is present for Nuttall’s hedge-nettle while absent in wild germander.

Wild germander flower spike on left
and Nuttall's hedge-nettle flower spike on left



One plant species here is southwestern PA that doesn’t have a legal status but is proposed rare is yellow leaf-cup or bear’s-foot (Smallanthus uvedalius). The only real look alike plant for yellow leaf-cup is Polymnia canadensis, which goes by the common name white leaf-cup due to the white petal flowers this species develops.




White leaf-cup and yellow leaf-cup flower heads

Though I was familiar with yellow leaf-cup before this survey, I have to say this year was a learning experience for me. We located a few new populations of yellow leaf-cup during the survey and it seemed most were shared with white leaf-cup plants. So I learned quickly how to spot the differences in leaf characteristics between yellow leaf-cup and white leaf-cup. This came in handy when driving home from the field and doing a little roadside botanizing!

The photo below shows one stem each leaf of both species leaf-cup species. You will notice that yellow leaf-cup has palmately lobed leaves while the white leaf-cup has a pinnately lobed leaf.

White leaf-cup leaf on left (pinnately lobed) and
yellow leaf-cup leaf on right (palmately lobed)

 Another feature to look for to separate white leaf-cup from yellow leaf-cup is the difference in stem pubescence. White leaf-cup has an obvious pubescent stem while the stem of yellow leaf-cup stem is glabrous.




White leaf-cup stem on left (glabrous) and
yellow leaf-cup stem on right (pubescent)

 

During late June I was back up in McKean County PA surveying for creeping snowberry and oblong-fruited serviceberry. Didn't locate anything too out of the ordinary in McKean County in June though I did come across some interesting plants. The next 5 plants below are ones I saw in McKean County PA that I just don’t see too often and wanted to share.

The first plant is a fern called long beech fern (Phegopteris connectilis) which I haven’t come across in about 10 years.



Long beech fern (Phegopteris connectilis)

 The most obvious field characteristics to help identify this fern is the lowest pinna pair which is not connected to the rachis by wings as is in the more common long beech fern (Phegonoptris hexagonoptera). I do come across the broad beech fern often here in southwestern PA which has more of a range across PA than long beech fern. Long beech fern is usually in the more mountainous areas of PA and the northern and northeastern counties in the state. 

In the same area that I found  long beech fern I had a chance to observe 2 shrubs which some people may confuse while in the field. Mountain maple (Acer spicatum) and striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum) are similar in that they both are large shrubs or small trees that have simple, opposite, 3 to 5 lobes leaves, though looking closely one can see obvious differences. First striped maple has smaller, almost fine, double-serrated leaf margins with U-shaped sinuses, while mountain maple has larger, coarser serrations with V-shaped sinuses.



Mountain maple on left and stripped maple on right

 Sometimes to confirm identification it’s a good choice to look at the buds. Mountain maple has pubescent buds and twigs while stripped maple has glabrous buds and twigs. Bark difference is obvious in that stripped maple has white stripped bark while mountain maple does not.

Staying within the same cool mountain stream habitat in McKean County, hobblebush (Viburnum lantanoides) is another plant species I took time to photograph. Below is a photo of a patch of hobblebush I came across along Panther Run in McKean County.

 

Hobblebush habitat

This was a very immature population of hobblebush though great to see none the less. Seems this shrub is commonly browsed by deer in PA contributing to it scarcity. As I was told years ago, this plant gets its name due to the thick, dense patches it forms that cause people to trip or hobble as they walk through.

The hobblebush has a northern and central distribution in PA. It also has some very distinctive characteristics that help distinguish it from other viburnums in the field here in PA. First of all hobblebush is found growing mainly along the banks of cool mountain streams or ravines. During the growing season you will notice the opposite, large broad leaves that are 4 to 6 inches across, with heart-shaped leaf base and margins that are finely serrated.

Leaves of hobblebush

Next take a close look at the terminal bud of hobblebush and you will notice the bud is ‘naked’ (without bud scales) and covered in rusty to tan colored hairs.

The last plant I wanted to share is purple avens (Geum rivale). This plant has a northern distribution in PA, mainly the northern most counties that border New York, though you may come across purple avens in the central PA counties at higher elevations.

Purple avens flowers

Purple avens is not too difficult of a plant species to identify when in bloom due to the large flower heads that are about ½” to ¾” across with dark purple sepals and pale purple petals. When not in bloom focus mainly on the habitat, because purple avens is usually found in peaty wetlands or marshes in the northern counties and if you are lucky enough to have a seed head to inspect look for the plumose style tip.

 

"Until Next Time, Keep Botanizing!"