A cedar glade prairie...and a beautiful little mustard...

After meeting up at Adams Lake State Park, our mustard-hunting group car pooled to a small cedar glade prairie where a rare mustard was known to grow. This was all new to me. I had never searched for a tiny mustard, and I had never been to a cedar glade prairie, so I really didn't know what to expect. Jim (our expedition leader and author of Ohio Birds and Biodiversity) talked about the glade, explaining its unique habitat is a result of dolomitic limestone bedrock located just under the surface of the soil. The shallow soil, and in some locations exposed limestone, prevent large trees from growing, which creates the prairie habitat. "Cedar" in the name comes from the fact eastern red cedars (Juniperis virginiana) are located throughout the glade, growing in cracks in the bedrock. It didn't take Jim and the other experienced wildflower hunters long to find the first mustard, and soon we were all tiptoeing through the glade, searching out these tiny plants. I was amazed at how quickly I fell in love with these diminutive wonders...

...a tiny blossom of Michaux's Gladecress, Leavenworthia uniflora, stands tightly furled against the chill of the overcast spring morning.

...raindrops from an earlier shower cling to its tender petals.

Until the sun's rays warm the flower causing the sap to flow more rapidly through the leaves, stems and blossoms, the petals will remain closed, protecting the pollen from being washed away by chill rain and nighttime dew formation.

I vaguely remembered how the sun's warmth coaxes blossoms open, but I wanted a refresher. I found an article called "The Sleep of Plants," by Arabella B. Buckley--Youth's Companion, in the magazine "Current Literature," Volume V, July - December, 1890, pg 470. I loved the poetic and beautiful language from that earlier time...and the way the author explained how a flower "wakes up." (Click here for the entire article.) Simplified, as the sun warms the flower, and the sap starts to flow more forcefully through the vessels in the petal, the skin on the inside of the petal, which has been curled up tightly through the night and therefore is still warm and pliable, starts to expand, slowly pushing the blossom open. The skin on the outside of the petal, which has been exposed to the cold all night, is still rigid and inflexible. The petals will continue to push open until the tension on the inside surface of the petal is equal to that on the outside surface of the petal.

...a tiny glimpse of the bright yellow center waiting to burst forth. The sun never did break through the clouds while we were in the cedar glade, so I didn't get to see this little beauty fully open. I guess I'll just have to try again next year!

The leaves of Leavenworthia uniflora look fairly large in this macro photo, but they aren't! They are just a little bigger than a quarter.

...a teeny, tiny orange and white leafhopper popped onto a small dead stalk next to the Leavenworthia uniflora. If I had not been on the ground studying the diminutive mustard, I never would have seen this beautiful little insect!

This is the third post in the Adams County Lilliputian Mustard Expedition. Click here for the entire series.

The emergence of spring in the foothills of Appalachia...

It was chilly Saturday morning and threatening rain, so before leaving for Adams Lake State Park, I stopped in the Shawnee Lodge gift shop and bought a wool hat for the morning part of the trip. It didn't seem like spring, but it was...

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) pushes through decaying leaf litter leaving winter's brown behind and defining spring green.

...this curled brown leaf seems to be clawing at the tiny Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica), fancifully representing winter's attempt to hold back the emergence of spring (winter seems to be losing...thank goodness).

The green and white stripes of a Puttyroot Orchid (Aplectrum hyemale) leaf appear rough and weathered. The leaf sprouted in fall, lived through the winter, and is now starting to die back. Soon a bloom will push through...spring is here!

Trillium, green and lush, lays its leaves flat over crispy, dead leaves, trying to hide any memory of winter. If you look carefully, you can see the bare trees of winter reflected in a pool of water in the upper left half of the top leaf. You can also see me leaning in to take the photo...I didn't plan that...just noticed winter is trying to show its face any way it can! :-)

Rue Anemone (Anemonella thalictroides) emerges with an electric glow from winter's clutch. (I'm not sure about the ID of this one...is it pink Rue Anemone?)

...a spent Hepatica petal reminds us that spring and the spring ephemerals pass quickly and summer isn't far behind....

This little wildflower hunt I went on has a name--it's called The Annual Adams County Ohio Lilliputian Mustard Expedition! Jim McCormac (of Ohio Birds and Biodiversity) created and led this expedition and has posted the details on his blog (click here). I'll write more about the trip in the coming days, but head to Jim's blog to read about the details now. Why Lilliputian? Because the mustard plants are tiny! I never knew such tiny gems existed. I'm so glad I went on the trip and was introduced to a whole new world. I'll have a few shots of the tiny mustards in the days ahead... Thanks, Jim!!

Tiny spring wonders in Adams and Scioto Counties...

Friday I headed to Shawnee State Forest rooted in the beautiful Appalachian foothills of southeast Ohio for a tiny vacation! I spent the day wondering and walking the Shawnee trails before hooking up up with a group of Flower Hunters and nature bloggers on Saturday at Adams Lake State Park. I learned so much..and saw so many tiny and beautiful spring wildflowers...and met so many wonderful people. I loved being part of the spring wildflower foray. I'm back at home, and since it's 62 and sunny right now, I'm going to skip out to Fort Ancient to see if I can find any of the tiny and beautiful wildflowers I learned about yesterday. Here's just a taste of what I saw...there will be more to come this week.

...a beautiful White Trout Lily, one of the largest flowers we saw, drips with pollen.

Up close, the colors glow...

When you lay on the ground and study the delicate petals, you feel the quiet softness of beauty. The mind slows down, time slows down...it's very soothing. I wonder if there is a restorative practice documented as flower gazing. If there isn't, there should be! :-)

Erythronium albidum

Since Matty is learning Latin, I'm trying to take a stab at it too. Hopefully I can slowly add the scientific names to my vocabulary.

...nothing says spring like the P word!

A chance to add Fort Ancient and the Great Serpent Mound (and other Ohio earthworks) to the World Heritage List

If you've read my blog in the past, you know I love hanging out at Fort Ancient, which is just 15 minutes north of my home. I also love Serpent Mound, and Matty and I visited it this summer when we volunteered at Shawnee State Park. Both of these ancient earthworks are on the U.S. Tentative List for the World Heritage List. The Ohio Archaeology Blog is asking for help and would like Ohioans to submit a letter to the National Park Service and send a copy to Sen. Sherrod Brown, Sen.-elect Rob Portman, and your congressperson. From the Ohio Archaeology Blog:

"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to list these Ohio sites alongside other cultural sites of outstanding universal value, including Stonehenge, the Pyramids of Giza and Cahokia Mounds. We need you to submit your comments to the National Park Service and copy your letter to Sen. Sherrod Brown, Sen.-elect Rob Portman, and your congressperson.

Comments are due by January 12, 2011. Direct your comments to Jonathan Putnam at Office of International Affairs, National Park Service, 1201 Eye Street NW, (0050), Washington, DC 20005, by e-mail to jonathan_putnam@nps.gov, by phone at 202-354-1809 or by fax to 202-371-1446. Please also send a copy of your comments to George Kane at the Ohio Historical Society at gkane@ohiohistory.org or at 1982 Velma Avenue, Columbus, OH 43211."

For more information, and for a link to a sample letter and contact information go to the Ohio Archeology Blog. Look at the end of the post for the link.

Great Serpent Mound is an ancient 3-foot high and 1,330 foot (nearly a quarter-mile) long serpent earthwork effigy constructed on a ridgetop overlooking Brush Creek in Adams County, Ohio. Here you can see the part of the mound leading to the serpent's head. The grass-covered effigy is 20-25 feet wide.

Even though we visited in July, I've not posted on Serpent Mound because there is so much information and speculation about it, and I never know where to start. I've read three books on it, and continue to read more. Most recently, the mound effigy has been attributed to the Fort Ancient culture, which lived in the area and had a village below the mound from A.D. 1000 to 1550, but Native Americans sometimes reworked older sacred earthworks, so the mound could be older than the current carbon dating of 1070 A.D.

Serpent Mound is built on the edge of a five-mile wide crater caused by a meteorite 200-300 million years ago. The meteorite theory and resulting cryptoexplosion are the most popular explanations and account for the land in the crater being tossed and flipped and turned upside down. The function of Serpent Mound remains a mystery, but just as at Fort Ancient, astronomy plays a huge part in its mystique and the sun's and moon's movements can be scientifically tracked and calculated when measured against the earthwork's structure. The serpent effigy's head is aligned with the summer solstice sunset, and the coils with the winter solstice sunrise.

A memorial plaque with a brief description of the Great Serpent Mound effigy earthwork.

Matty and I were dripping with sweat when this pretty Eastern Bluebird kept a wary eye on us as we walked the trail around the Serpent Mound. I don't know if our imaginations were at work, but we felt a sacredness attached to the land and an unexpected energy. We feel the same thing at Fort Ancient. On our way out, we stopped into the small museum, and a park curator told us some of Serpent Mound's history. He mentioned many believe the mound is a spiritual place and power center, and he's talked to a lot of people who travel to the mound to feel the special energy.

...the reason Mama and Papa Bluebird were so vigilant...babies! We enjoyed watching the parents work hard in their quest to offer the babies an endless supply of juicy and crunchy green things!

A White-breasted Nuthatch also kept us company while we were there. Listening to its gentle call and the dull thud of its bill against the bark as it rooted out insects was soothing.

For a really detailed post about Serpent Mound, see Ohio Archaeology Blog's article, "The Snake's Tale: How Old is Serpent Mound?" They have posted a lot of technical and historical information.