Today's report was written by Hugh Nourse. The photos
that appear in this blog are taken by Don Hunter; you can see all the photos Don took of today's
Ramble here.
Sixteen Ramblers were with us today.
Today's
Reading: Rosemary read a poem by Chief Dan George:
The beauty of the
trees,
the softness of the
air,
the fragrance of the
grass,
speaks to me.
The summit of the
mountain,
the thunder of the
sky,
the rhythm of the
sea,
speaks to me.
The faintness of the
stars,
the freshness of the
morning,
the dewdrop on the
flower,
speaks to me.
The strength of fire,
the taste of salmon,
the trail of the sun,
and the life that
never goes away,
they speak to me.
And my heart
soars."
-- Chief Dan George
Then Hugh read another paragraph from Simon Barnes, How
to be Wild, page 60:
Many
nature-writers give the impression that they know the voices of birds, or the
names of the trees and the flowers, by, as it were, nature. It creates the impression that there are two
types of being: those that can interpret
birdsong and otherwise understand nature, and those that can’t. But that’s a nonsense. Any skill can be acquired. Its’s wanting to that matters: it’s the desire to listen, to see that you
need: and we are all born with
that. It’s called being wild
Today’s route
was first down through the Shade Garden on the paved path to the Dunson Native
Flora Garden. Then we wound our way
through the Dunson Garden to the wetlands.
At the power line right-of-way we turned uphill to ramble through the
Elaine Nash Prairie, then through the
prairie to the fence at the top of the hill. From there we walked along
the fence to the White Trail and returned to the Shade Garden and the Arbor.
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| Pandorus sphinx moth |
The very first encounter was before we ever started.
Tom brought a box with a moth he found on his driveway. It had been attacked
and eaten by ants. The colors, however,
were still bright. [dh: The moth is a Pandorus sphinx moth (Eumorpha pandorus); the caterpillar feeds on grape and Virginia creeper. The "sphinx" in the name refers to the behavior of the caterpillar: when disturbed it rears up and assumes the shape of the Egyptian sphinx monument.]
 | |
| Lenten rose black death |
 | |
| Bye bye beetle |
Our actual first stop on the ramble was to observe
the devastation of the lenten roses (Helleborus orientalis). Recently they have been attacked and killed
by Helleborus black death, a disease that is carried by an aphid. If you look this up on the web, there is a
story about it on the Royal Horticultural Society’s web page that suggests that
this is something that has come about recently.
Then Rosemary spotted an orb weaver spider who had caught a beetle in
her web and was working to paralyze it and wrap it up.
As we entered the Dunson Native Flora Garden we
talked about the blooming plumleaf azalea (Rhododendron prunifolium). It is a threatened plant that grows in
Providence Canyon State Park and in Callaway Gardens. In fact Callaway was first created in order
to preserve this plant. It is unusual
because, unlike other azaleas, it blooms in summer rather than spring. Nearby along the path were Christmas ferns
and Southern Lady Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides and Athyrium
asplenioides). Then we found our
first spider lily.
We stopped to talk about the upcoming Bot Soc field trip to
Hard Labor Creek to see many of these lilies in the woods along a bicycle
path. It will be this Saturday at 9 AM
meeting at the Visitor Center of the Park.
 | |
| Spider lily |
Hugh was surprised to see that the two rattlesnake
plantain orchids (Goodyera pubescens) that he had seen in bloom last
week near a corner of the path by a tree stump were totally gone: no leaves, no
flower stems, nothing left.
Our next stop was to talk about the sensitive fern (Onoclea
sensibilis) and how you tell the difference from the netted chain fern (Woodwardia
areolatas). One needs to compare the
fertile frond. On sensitive fern the
branches are tight up against the stem of the fertile frond, whereas that of
netted chain fern has widely spaced horizontal branches with oblong chainlike
rows of sori.
 | |
| Elephant foot |
A mass of blooming elephant’s foot (Elephantopus
tomentosus) greeted us next. It has
large basal leaves flat to the ground and few if any stem leaves. A related species, leafy elephant’s foot (Elephantopus
carolinianus) has few or no basal leaves and a leafy stem. The flowers of both are disc flowers. Nearby was our first find of the crane fly
orchid this year. We talked about our
having seen the leaves all winter as a rosette.
In the spring the leaves disappear, and in July, sometimes, the stem
pops up with a raceme of lovely tan and yellow petals. They are hard to see since they blend in so
well with the background. We were to
find several more patches today later on the White Trail on our return.
 | |
| Cranefly orchid |
Turning the corner to cross the dry wash, we first
found the leaves of goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), which is a
calcium loving plant found on Pigeon Mountain in the northwest section of
Georgia near the Blue Hole. The Blue
Hole is on the opposite side of the mountain from the Pocket, where a gorgeous
display of wildflowers is found the last week of March. This plant is used
medicinally as an antibiotic, antiseptic, and immune-system stimulant. Next to
it was the last of the spider lilies to be found today. Interestingly, this was the first place that
they were planted, and now they are spread back along the walk we have
come. I think it happened on its own; I
do not think the curator moved it elsewhere.
Since we had a new participant, we stopped to show
how the leatherwood plant got its name.
Moving right along, Sue called our attention to a beautiful bed of
ferns. There is a fun way to remember
how to identify this plant. The leaflets
taper to a smaller size at both ends of the rachis. So, since people in Manhattan, New York, are
said to burn their candles at both ends, hence New York fern.
 | |
| Swamp mallow |
At the wetlands we spotted some new flowers that have
been planted. One was the cardinal
flower, another was the great blue lobelia.
Those were blooming, but the yellow trumpet (Saracenia flava) was
not. Under a juniper tree, many spotted
red and green berries. Did they come off
the tree? Were they mushrooms? No, they were berries from a muscadine vine (Vitis
rotundifolia) high in the tree.
Working our way around the wetlands we talked about the rattlesnake
master and Virginia spiderwort there. By
the sign there was another cardinal flower.
But in profusion were the blooms of the swamp mallows (Hibiscus
moscheutos and Hibiiscus laevis). Along
the fence was scarlet rose mallow. In
the bed behind us was the blooming spotted horsemint (Monarda punctata) with
many pollinators. Before leaving the
wetlands we looked at the horsetails, a very ancient plant.
 | |
| Spotted horsemint |
 | |
| Redtail hawk |
Crossing the road we puzzled over the flowers of a
trumpet vine, deciding that they were just starting to bloom and were not their
full red color yet. From here we crossed
the power line right-of-way to view the two trees with masses of blooming
trumpet vine. This is a favorite of
hummingbirds, and sure enough Avis saw several.
They were so fast that some of us did not get to see them. Sue noted that the vines were mixed with
those of poison ivy. Eleanor wanted to
know what the bird was on a tree behind the ones with the trumpet vines. She had found a redtail hawk that perched
while we were there and patiently waited for his portrait to be photographed.
 |
| Bitterweed (Helenium amarum) |
Rambling up the hill to the Elaine Nash Prairie we
passed some royal paulownia trees. The
Garden employees had chopped a big one down, and here were two or three popping
up again. We also passed the bee hives
and talked about these being cared for by bee keepers not employed by the
Garden. Nonetheless, the honey from them
is sold in the Gift Shop. As we got into
the shade we found a blooming coffee weed, or sicklepod. In the middle of the trail was a large patch
of bitterweed. Crawling along the ground
in the grass beside the trail was Virginia buttonweed with white four-petalled
flowers.
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| Ailanthus webworm moth |
 | |
| Scoliid wasp |
 | |
| Solitary wasp |
 | |
| St. Peterswort |
10 ailanthus webworm, 11 scoliid wasp, 12
solitary wasp. 13 st. peterswort
Entering the Prairie area, we first found low in the
grasses a wild petunia still in bloom. As we gathered around the mountain mints
that were being pollinated by wasps, Sue wanted to know what an unusual vine
was with pink flowers and three leaves.
It was the hairy milk pea. But
something moved—it was a mature praying mantis. There were a number of
Ailanthus webworm moths with red and white stripes. As we explored the mountain mints they were
covered with wasps with Army captain’s bars in yellow, or if you prefer, Navy
lieutenant’s bars. These were double banded scoliid wasps. Also crowding these plants were various paper
wasps. In amongst these plants and
grasses was sensitive brier, which looks like a small mimosa tree. If you run fingers along the leaves they fold
up, which is also what they do at night.
Hence the name sensitive brier. We also spotted a low growing St.
Peterswort with its four petals crossed like a St. Andrews Cross.
Moving right along, Carolina desert chicory, was seen
among the grasses infrequently. Yes, and there was another Elephant’s
foot. But nearby was whorled
coreopsis. It looks small, but the
whorled leaves around the stem can be found if you part the surrounding
grasses. In the path was a miniscule
white flower identified by Don as juniperleaf.
On the edge of the path was Carolina horse nettle, which gave us a
chance to talk about the solanum family (potatoes and tomatoes), and the fact
that this plant is poisonous. We also
noted that it seems to grow along trails used by horses.
At the top of the path to the fence it is much drier.
Here lichens and other plants that one would find on rock outcrops grow. Here was the Dixie reindeer lichen which is
greenish compared to the more whitish reindeer lichen. Also the Dixie reindeer lichen forks in
pairs, whereas the forks on the regular reindeer lichen tend to be in threes or
more. Another plant here is pineweed,
which is common on outcrops. There was a
mystery plant in this area that I have been able to identify as goldenaster (Heterotheca
lancifolia).
We walked along the fence toward the White
Trail. Along the way we stopped to talk
about the muscadine vine all over the ground.
Here it does not bloom or fruit.
It needs to be high up for enough light to do so. Sometimes you will find it at ground level
blooming and fruiting, but it is where it gets enough light.
As we turned left on the White Trail to return to the
Arbor, Hugh reminded everyone that we were now on part of a specially marked
tree trail. The sweet gum was the first
tree to identify with its star shaped leaves.
Next was the cat scratched bark of the hophornbeam with its double
serrate leaves. Even though the large
black cherry tree was dead, we could still talk about the bark of older black
cherry trees being like burnt potato chips.
We talked about the ski slopes on northern red oaks, and that scarlet
oaks have similar but broader bands on the bark, although I personally have not
found this reliable. I need to look at
the leaves with their deeper incisions.
Older white oaks have looser bark, sometimes almost like shagbark. Jack found a beautiful oyster mushroom on a
downed tree. The last stop among the
trees on the White Trail was to discuss the difference in bark of the mockernut
and pignut hickory trees. In the Garden
natural areas, one forester has classified a swarm of pignut hybrids.
Crossing the power line right of way, we found the purpletop
vervain that we have seen for several weeks.
It was still in bloom. Passing
the bottlebrush buckeye we commented on the scarcity of buckeyes.
From here it was time to move quickly through the
Shade Garden and return to the Arbor.
Many of us retired to Donderos to cool off and snack.
Hugh
