Flora-Quest

Hear ye! Hear ye! One of the most enjoyable botanical gatherings is open for registration. Flora-Quest is one of my favorite events. Below is the press release from my bud, The Weedpicker, Cheryl Harner.

Wildflower Enthusiasts Gather for Flora-Quest

Many of Ohio’s foremost botanists will be leading field trips the weekend of May 1-2, 2010 in the beautiful hills of Shawnee State Forest in southern Ohio. Flora-Quest is a botanical retreat geared towards learning, meeting like-minded people, and above all, appreciating the most spectacular flora in all of Ohio.

The rugged, hilly landscape and steep forested slopes are blanketed with an incredible array of flora. Botanically, Shawnee represents the northern most outposts for many Appalachian plants that one would otherwise have to go to the Great Smokey Mountains to find. Early May is peak for wildflowers, and the hills will be cloaked with trillium, over a dozen species of violets, native magnolias, wild azaleas, orchids and many more. As an added bonus, well over 100 species of birds occur in the forest in spring, including scores of our most colorful jewels like Scarlet Tanager, Hooded Warbler, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Bring your binoculars!

Guest speakers representing Ohio State Parks, The Nature Conservancy and the Ohio Heritage Botanists will highlight recent efforts for botanical conservation. Jenny Richards and Pete Whan know their subjects well, as they live within this region and are intimately familiar with the flora. Dr. Harvey Ballard will present an evening program on Violets, including Ohio’s arguably most beautiful and rare Bird-foot Violet, Viola pedata. Greg Schneider from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources will also present on the fascinating work of the Ohio Heritage Botanists. A special FREE program Friday evening April 30th will preview the diversity of Shawnee State Park.

Bird-foot Violet, Viola pedata-photo by John Howard

There will be other bonuses, too, such as special evening field trips, vendors, and an optional trip to The Eulett Center and more. The center of activities will be the beautiful Shawnee Lodge and Resort, located in the heart of the forest. Take this opportunity to hike the newest properties in TNC’s Sunshine Corridor, visit a private preserve, improve your photography skills or kayak the Scioto Brush Creek. You will be amazed to discover the diversity in southern Ohio!

Please, visit the website at http://www.flora-quest.com/ for more information. Registration and complete trip descriptions are available on-line.

Tree Quiz-the answers

Not many people submitted answers for my tree quiz. Hopefully some of you are just playing at home. For the ones that did, here are the answers.

1. Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)
2. Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
3. Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Bonus 1: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Bonus 2: Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
The small disks on the ends of the rootlets give it away.

4. Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)
5. Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
6. Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
7. American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)

Winter Tree Quiz

Wintertime is a great time to exercise the old noggin with a quiz. It is also a great time to learn your trees based on the bark. Soooo, I decided to combine the two into a handy-dandy tree quiz. See how you do. These trees are all native to Indiana.

Tree #1

Tree #2

Tree #3

Bonus Question 1: Name what critter made the holes. (This will probably give away the tree.)

Bonus Question 2: Name the vine climbing the tree. You can tell if you look closely.

Tree #4

Tree #5

Tree #6

Tree #7

I will post the answers Jan 3rd. Good Luck!

If you like trees, check out the Festival of the Trees blog carnival hosted at xenogere. It will be up on Jan 1st.

What in Tarnation Photo Quiz Answers

Photo 1-I think everyone who guessed got this one right (I had a few from e-mail, as well.) This is a dragonfly wing, and the amber wings with reddish-brown spots points to Halloween Pennant, Celithemis eponina. This crop was taken from where the wings intersect.

Photo 2-This is one of the individual blossoms of the Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca. This is a crop of the center blossom.


. Photo 3-This is the wing or elytra of a Eyed-Click Beetle, Alaus oculatus. I thought the speckled pattern and the ridges made for an interesting photo.

Photo 4-Sorry, Kathy, this is not my tongue, LOL. This is a Rosy Maple Moth, Dryocampa rubicunda. This crop was taken near the second leg on the right side of the moth. Photo by John Howard.


Photo 5-Yellow Warbler was on the right track and I can totally see the honeybee guess. It is a Prairie Warbler's, Dendroica discolor, flank. Photo by John Howard.


Photo 6-Shooting Star or Pride of Ohio, Dodecatheon meadia. This one and many others grow in a patch along the White River behind my friend's apartment complexes. Such a striking flower!




Photo7-And finally, many of you guessed eggs. These are actually Eastern Bluebird eggs. We have quite a few nestboxes on the property here at Southeastway Park, and this was one of the successful broods.

With all the correct or close to correct guesses, I will have to work harder on a future quiz! Thanks to all that participated.

What in Tarnation is That?

I thought it would be fun to play a game. I have cropped a few of my photos, and will let you all take a stab at what they are. Everything is nature related and can be found outside here in the Midwest, so no kangaroos, octopus, etc... I will post the answers and show the original photos in a couple days. Good luck!

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 7

Gallagher Fen Revisited

Wow, it has been a while since I have posted. I have no idea where October went! Today I was looking through some old files and remembered I meant to post these a looooonnnnggg time ago.

The following photos were from a trip in the beginning of September. I revisited Gallagher Fen with my friend Jim Davidson. What an awesome day! This was the first time I had seen many of these plants in bloom. I had seen their vegetation in the past, but now I was seeing them in all their glory. I think you will agree!

Such a beautiful pair. Purple Gerardia, Gerardia purpurea and Kalm's Lobelia, Lobelia kalmii. The Purple Gerardia was everywhere, dotting the fen with lovely splashes of pink. The blossoms almost dwarfed the tiny Kalm's Lobelia.

Great Blue Lobelia, Lobelia siphilitica, a cousin to Kalm's Lobelia has a large blue spike of flowers. One of my favorites, I was glad to see it in almost full bloom.

Canada Burnet, Sanguisorba canadensis, looks like a highly ornate candle one would buy in a specialty shop. Normally, the blooms start at the bottom and gradually open and close as they progress along the spike. This unique plant was opened up almost along its entire length. It was located in a tricky spot, so I had to straddle a deep puddle in order to take the shot and not fall in the muck. Jim D. was helping by taunting me the entire time. :)

Grass of Parnassus, Parnassia glauca, was in bloom, as well. I had only viewed it leaves in the past. Such a delicate beauty. I love the nectar guides, the faint gray lines on the petals that point the pollinators to the goods.

Gallagher Fen can be visited by permit only. You must contact the Ohio Division of Nature Preserves to ask for a permit. Such a beautiful place, I hope they continue to protect it in the years to come.

Asters and Goldenrods

A walk around our wetland was absolutely gorgeous. The purple and yellow blooms of New England Aster and Riddell's Goldenrod were breath-taking. I could have stayed out there all day. The blossoms were covered with tons of insects. Butterflies galore, orange Soldier Beetles, wasps, bees, moths, etc... I will cover some of my finds in another post.

This New England Aster was phenomenal. It was almost as tall as me, with the lovely purple blossoms cascading down the stem.

It really pleases me that out wetland was installed in 2000, and it is such a haven for wildlife. The plantings have really taken off, with this year being a real showstopper for the fall flowers. Native plants can really improve an area. It shows that if you build it, they will come!