Lynx Prairie

Shooting Star

Lyre-leaf Sage

Blephila ciliata

American Columbo, by the way, this flower stalk is about six feet tall!

Green Milkweed

My children and I visited Lynx Prairie in Adams County, Ohio last Monday.  My kids are kind enough to tolerate me on these trips.  I think they enjoy getting out and doing something different, but they certainly do not get as excited about flowers and bugs and whatnot like I do.

We went south with the goal of seeing two things, Shooting Star and American Columbo.  The Shooting Star greeted us at the first prairie opening.  Lynx Prairie is made of roughly five open prairies separated by mixed hardwood forest, sort of like a chain of prairies.  And Shooting Star and Indian Paintbrush were the stars of the first prairie.

I had only seen Shooting Star in the wild once before.  That was just outside the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation in the White Mountains of Arizona, a couple of miles from the second highest peak in the state, Mt. Baldy (which is well over 10,000 ft.).  That Shooting Star was growing along a stream flowing through a mountain meadow, and was purple instead of white.  I regret to this day not getting a photo of it, but that was LOOONNNNGGGG before the days of digital cameras.

There were also several mints blooming at Lynx Prairie including Lyre-leaf Sage.  Interestingly, I see this plant nearly every day at work, as Salvia lyrata is fairly common in the nursery trade.  However seeing it in its wild form was kind of exciting.  Another common mint blooming was Horse Mint (I think thats what its called!), Blephila ciliata.

But my two most exciting finds for the day happened outside the prairie.  I noticed American Columbo blooming in a powerline  at the edge of the road.  I took my children by surprise a bit when I suddenly did a Dukes of Hazard 180 in the middle of OH125 and raced back to the powerline.  Ok, so I exaggerate, it may have only been a 175 degree turn!  We had a similar species out west that we called Deers Ears, due to the shape of the leaves.  The species in the west would usually be covered in bumble bees.  You sort of took your life in your hands trying to get a close look at it.  The lone specimen along OH125 did not have a single bee.  Kind of disappointing!

The other treasure for the day was somewhat unexpected, which of course are always the best treasures.  Green Milkweed, Asclepias viridis, was found along OH41 north of West Union, and is a new species to me.  I have been a milkweed nerd for a very long time, dating back to my days when I grew milkweed in Arizona as food for Monarch butterfly catterpillars.  Asclepias viridis reminds me a lot of Antelope Horns, a common milkweed in the west, which Monarchs seem to only rarely use as a caterpillar host.  I did not see any caterpillars on Green Milkweed, however, I have also yet to see a Monarch this year.

I must admit, with all the travels I had made this year, I had yet to find a single tick.  I was sort of proud of this fact.  Well, not only did the streak end Monday, it ended in a big way.  Between all of us, we managed to find 10 ticks.  Eeeeewwww!  My wife even picked up a tick and she didn't even go with us!  Guess that means its time to break out the DEET!

For those keeping track, the One Thousand Flowers project is now up to 252 species, and I still have a few rushes and sedges from Monday's trip to identify.  If you would like to help out with gas money, which would be most appreciated!, look me up on GoFundMe.com, project name One Thousand Flowers.

Drive-by Botany

Mountain Laurel

Gray's Sedge

Squaw Root

Miami Mist

Great Angelica

I guess the best way to describe the month of May thus far would be Drive-by Botany.  Life has moved from busy to chaotic during the month, between my daughter's softball games and practices, school band concerts, community garden meetings, and having to stay late for work.  And while I enjoy the first two items in the list, accept the third item, and begrudgingly tolerate the final item, it means very little time to pursue my goal of One Thousand Flowers.  So this month has been botanizing via quick-hitters; sudden stops in traffic while commuting to and from work, church, softball games, etc.

I did have the opportunity to spend almost two hours at the relatively unknown Rhodendron Cove State Nature Preserve.  Lucky for me, it is right across the highway from home.  Friend Jason Larson had posted pics he had taken of Flame Azalea there, so I jumped in the Jeep and raced across the highway.  While I missed the Azalea (how I don't know since it was apparently growing next to the trail!), I did see some other cool plants including Mountain Laurel, Squaw Root, and Gray's Sedge.  You know you have reached the highest levels of plant nerdhood when you get excited about sedges!

One of my favorite flowers is Miami Mist.  I think it is missed name and should by named Purple Snow (the winter version of Prince's infamous album and movie!).  Found it growing along the road at Clear Creek Metro Park in one of those trips to or from church.

I also find the Great Angelica very interesting from a couple perspectives.  First, it is a huge plant, growing to six to seven feet at Clear Creek.  Secondly, the pastor side of me is curious about its name.  Did somebody think it resembled an angel?  Do you go visit angels if you eat some, as is the case with many plants in the carrot family?  I need to research this further!

If you've been keeping track, the count for the year is now up to 224 species.  I may be a little behind, but that's ok.  I intend to make a trip to Adams and Scioto County this Monday and hope to make up some ground.  Message me here or on facebook at Chris Kline if you would like to tag along or meet me down there.  At some point I also want to swing by supporter Diane Brooks house for Green Dragon, but not sure when that will happen.

Is a Photo Worth Your Life?

The Interrupted Fern that nearly interrupted my life.

Yellow Iris

Indian Paintbrush

Dwarf Iris

Iron tainted stream

The wife and I were out photographing wildflowers this afternoon. I see Interrupted Fern on a road bank and want to add it to the count for this year, but there are ditches on either side of the road. We drove about 50 yards down and pulled into a driveway, far enough so that the back of the truck was not sticking out into the road.



Kris stays in the truck as I walk down to get the picture. On the walk back here is a man screaming at my wife in the driveway, dropping lots of f-bombs. I get to the truck and he starts screaming at me, "You're trespassing. Didn't you see the no trespassing sign?"


I tell Kris to get in the truck, and tell the man I will get my truck out of his driveway. "You're not going anywhere," he shouts as he pulls out a gun from under his sweatshirt.


"Kris get in the truck."
"I'll shoot out your f-in tires if you try to leave."


Kris gets in the truck, I get in the truck and I start the engine. He stands directly behind my truck and calls the sheriff. I start to back-up. He doesn't move. I wait. I now call 9-1-1. He is still waving his gun around. After a couple minutes he steps to the side and I back out onto the road. "You're not going anywhere!" he shouts as he tries to get back behind the truck.


I drive down the road about 50 yards, next to the Interrupted Fern, and pull off. 9-1-1 tells me to sit and wait for sheriff. My truck is sitting halfway in the road on the side of a hill. Not the most comforting place to be. I keep the truck running in case the guy starts walking toward us. Soon two sheriff's deputies and a state parks cop shows up. As the state parks cop starts walking down to the now infamous driveway, the man tosses his gun into the weeds and walks down to meet the cop. The cop then pushes the guy up against the guard rail and frisks the him.


When it was all said and done, the man walks down to my truck, introduces himself, apologizes and shakes my hand. He does the same with Kris. My wife invites him to our church (glad I don't have to compete with her to get into heaven!). I explain that I am a Methodist pastor and the man looks genuinely embarrassed and walks back to his driveway.


As I reflect on that chain of events I come to the conclusion that the fear-mongering in this country HAS TO END! Not everybody is a bad guy, yet there is this movement in our nation to assume everyone is. "I'm going to defend my property!" From people taking pictures of wildflowers on public right-of-way? This gun extremism saturating our nation about got me killed today. Just think, what if I had a gun, and had the same extremist mentality as this guy had? There would be two dead people laying at the side of Big Pine Road right now. All because someone pulled into the end of a driveway to take a picture of a fern.


Earlier in the day though, we did have some very exciting wildflower finds (some while parked in people's driveways!). Two different irises; Yellow Iris in a swampy section of OH56 near Carbondale, and Dwarf Iris at Ash Cave. Also saw some very striking Indian Paintbrush along SR56, a few miles east of Ash Cave. Also saw Doll's Eyes at Ash Cave.


I wanted to include a picture of the stream that runs parallel to OH56. The color of the water is not caused by mud. It is caused by iron in the water, a common problem throughout the Appalachian region of Ohio. I had a cousin once who showed me his water filtration system. The filter was bright orange. When he bought the filter it was white. The iron content of his water had stained the filter that color. Despite being a land that is plentiful with water, not all of the water is fit for use.

Falling Behind?

Indian Cucumber Root

Pink Lady Slipper

Dames Rocket

Yellow Goatsbeard

For the past week, I have felt like I was falling behind on my One Thousand Flowers project.  I went an entire week without getting out to the woods and meadows.  I have been putting in extra hours at work, which has put me getting home later than usual.  Also had a few family obligations last week which I really don't mind.  But I do get a little bugged when work takes time out of my private life.

But anyways, had to go to church Saturday to get the new video projector figured out before the Sunday sermon, so I took the opportunity to make some stops in Clear Creek Metro Park along the way.  The weather was cold and wet.  A hideous day to be out looking for anything other than wildflowers!  Later in the day I had a meeting in Zanesville to attend, but finished that soon enough to be able to return to Clear Creek on the way home.

The meeting in Zanesville was an interview as a part of my requirements to become a Licensed Local Pastor.  Currently I am a Supply Pastor at Hopewell United Methodist.  I did not really know what to expect from the meeting, but it turned out to be quite the blessing.  I have always thought myself a little odd.  I have always felt like I did not totally fit in with the Christian crowd because of my enthusiasm for nature.  At the same time, I haven't always felt like I fit in with the nature-loving crowd because of my faith and unbelief in evolution.  I shared this with the committee in Zanesville.  They were very supportive and shared some ideas for ways that I could marry the two interests.  I left the meeting feeling so much better emotionally than I had felt when I arrived.

It was this later afternoon trip to Clear Creek that really panned out to be a blessing.  As I was walking the Hemlock Trail, actually a ways off of Hemlock Trail, I found this wonderful Pink Lady Slipper and Indian Cucumber Root.  I know a lot of folks have trouble with this sort of conversation, but I have found that when I go off trail for a restroom break is when I typically find the coolest things; the rare wildflowers, the oddly behaving butterflies, the black bear skeletons, etc.  I guess it is because for that brief minute, I have nothing else to do but observe the world around me.  We miss so much when we are busy rushing from place to place.  I think there is a lot of value, a lot of peace and opportunity, in going off trail and simply standing or sitting for awhile; a far more valuable use of time than spastically trying to get to the  next appointment.

As I reviewed my species list for the year, I do not think my crazy and hectic week last week has cost me much.  There really wasn't anything I had missed that I was fully expecting to photograph for early May.  I have been hoping to get Yellow Lady Slipper, and I know of one location for it, but getting there will require a three-hour block of uninterrupted time, and I do not have many of those now-a-days.  I will in a couple weeks but the Lady Slipper may very well be out of bloom by then.  Certain species have very brief windows of opportunity.  However, with that said, the species count currently stands at 182.  Really not bad for about six weeks work!

Trying to Escape the Rain!

Crossvine

Wild Hyacinth

Tough times in Appalachia

Gavin Power Plant

Showy Orchid

Traveled to West Virginia today, specifically Mason County, which is across the Ohio River from Gallipolis, Ohio.  I stressed for awhile whether to go.  The percent chance of rain in WV was 70%, while at home in Ohio it was 50%.  Looks like I chose wisely to leave, in that while in West Virginia I got briefly sprinkled on a couple times, in Ohio it was a constant rain.

What I was specifically looking for in WV was Crossvine, named such because the pith inside the stem is shaped like a cross.  Unfortunately I didn't learn this until after I got home, otherwise I would've taken a picture of it!  Crossvine in Ohio is very rare.  I had a good lead on the location of the plant in Leon, West Virginia.  Actually, as you see in the pic above, the vine covered nearly the entire cliff!

While I traveled all that way for Crossvine, I assumed I would see some other interesting things as well.  While what I mostly saw was weedy alien species, I did come across a HUGE patch of Wild Hyacinth.  The HUGE patch had to have included 500 plants I estimate.  I did not let the fact that I could barely squeeze my Jeep between the road and the guardrail discourage me from stopping and taking a million pictures.  Toadshade Trillium and Wild Larkspur were also common at the site.

The abandoned, broken building I parked my Jeep in front of for the Crossvine visit reminded me of how rough life in Appalchia can be.  Jobs can be very hard to find.  Many of the people who live in Appalachia live in rural settings.  Economic downturns can be especially rough on this part of the country.  Increasing fuel prices can be rough as well.  Since most people are rural, fuel is required to get anywhere, to a job, to the doctor, or even the grocery store.  I have to wonder how many people lost their jobs when this small tractor store closed its doors.

I pulled off at a small park in Cheshire, Ohio, home of the Gavin power plant.  Not being an expert on power plants, I don't know what all of this stuff is pumping out of the stacks, perhaps it is nothing more awful than water vapor.  I just found it interesting, perhaps ironic, maybe disturbing that west of the power plant was this quaint little park complete with jungle gym.  Makes you wonder what the kids are sucking into their lungs when they are playing.  Normally, wind in Ohio moves from west to east.  I just happened to catch a day where the weather was out of the south.  Normally, the stuff coming out of the stacks would be blowing directly to the playground.

Finally, I made a brief side trip to Big Pine Road in Hocking County, Ohio.  I had had several people tell me that Showy Orchid was blooming.  The one spot I had routinely observed this beauty before was the equestrian loop of the Buckeye Trail.  Today the loop was a muddy mess!  I went another mile or so down the road to Conkle's Hollow, and sure enough found my orchid.  Now I do not have to stress over possibly missing it!