Some flowering plants on a steep hill prairie

One of the prairie remnants that we have been working on since 1999 is Unit 6, a steep prairie on the south-facing slope. This is a very dry, very rocky/gravelly slope which had been very overgrown with shrubs when we started work. Annual burns and lots of brush cutting has helped greatly. In addition, we have planted it many times, and have also transplanted a few species raised in a greenhouse. Native grasses that we did not need to plant include little blue stem, Indian grass, big blue stem, and side oats grama.

Today, I picked my way carefully down this steep slope (trying to keep from stumbling), looking for early summer flowering plants. In this habitat, and at this time of year, most of the flowers are small and inconspicuous (but two weeks ago we had a huge display of violet wood sorrel here!). Three species that I spotted were small scullcap (Scutellaria parvula), ground cherry (Physalis virginiana), and low bindweed (Calystegia spithamaea). Photos of the last two are shown to the right.

The ground cherry (very tiny) was a little hard to photograph, as its flowers hang downward. The gray color in the photo is from my glove, which was holding the flower up so that I could snap it.

According to Cochrane and Iltis (the very authoritative Atlas of Wisconsin Prairie and Savanna Plants), P. virginiana is found especially in dry sandy and high lime prairies and steep hillsides, which is exactly where I found it.

None of these three species is especially showy, and not even rare, but they seem to manage to thrive on what must be considered a fairly harsh environment.

Interns starting to work

For the past 5 years, Pleasant Valley Conservancy has been sharing a group of student interns with Madison Audubon Society and several other partners. This year we have five interns, all from University of Wisconsin-Madison, who will be working with us one day a week until the middle of August. We have valued this intern program highly, and the students (photo below) seem to value it also. We consider this intern program as an important part of the educational commitment that Savanna Oak Foundation, Inc. makes to restoration ecology.

We are happy to welcome these students to Pleasant Valley Conservancy!

Nice patch of Canada anemone

Canada anemone (Anemone canadensis) is in flower now. This pretty plant forms clones, some of which are often large. It seems to be found primarily in moist habitats, either near wetlands, or in areas where groundwater is nearby. It is not especially rare, and may even be found along roadsides in rather disturbed habitats. At Pleasant Valley Conservancy we have isolated plants or small patches in our wetland, but we have a really large patch at the foot of a roadcut at the northwest corner of the Valley Prairie. This patch has been there for many years, even before we began restoration, but has expanded greatly in recent times. A small part of this patch is shown in the photo below, and a closeup of a flower is shown in the photo to the right.

In addition to this species, we have three other species of anemone: A. quinquefolia (wood anemone), A. cylindrica (prairie thimbleweed), and A. virginiana (woodland thimbleweed). Wood anemone is one of the earliest flowering plants in our savannas, and prairie thimbleweed is found on our prairie remnants. Woodland thimbleweed (which is very similar to the prairie species) is common in our savannas and is also sometimes found on the prairies. Occasionally we see the two species side by side. (We have so far been unsuccessful establishing another common anemone, pasque flower, at Pleasant Valley Conservancy, probably because we don't have the dry sandy habitats it favors.)

 

 

Introducing purple milkweed, an endangered species

Pleasant Valley Conservancy has native populations of purple milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens), a State Endangered Species. I have been monitoring these populations since we first discovered them in 1998, and for the past three years Kathie and I have been raising seedlings for transplant into suitable habitats. Yesterday we evaluated the success of transplants made in 2006 and were pleased to find that we had been quite successful.

Of 39 seedlings transplanted in May 2006, 30 survived the winter and are growing, for a success rate of 77%. A few are even showing flower buds. This success rate is quite favorable, and is better than that we have found for some other species. Part of this success may be due to the care we took be ensure that seedlings transplanted in 2006 were well watered. Although 2006 was not an especially dry summer, there were still some fairly long dry spells. We had located our transplants so that we would not have to haul water very far to reach them. Each transplant was marked with a numbered flag, and when that plant was watered it was marked on a check sheet.

We raised more plants this past winter/spring, and they have also been transplanted (and are being kept well watered).

In addition to transplanting out into the habitat, we are also growing milkweeds in a small forbs garden adjacent to our field station. We first set up this forbs garden in 2005; some of the purple milkweeds planted then are now very happy and vigorous. They are growing much better than plants set out into the habitat. (See photo below)

Woodland ephemerals

I finally found time to examine the flora in the oak woods (on the north-facing slope). Spring ephemerals abound here, and there is only a short period before the leaves are fully out, making it too shady for wildflowers. Even now, I missed bloodroot, most of the Jacob's ladder, and Dutchman's breeches. The oak woods was especially interesting to me this year, because this was the first time it had been burned since October 1999.

Things I saw in flower: showy orchis (Galearis spectabilis), wild geranium (lower photo at right; Geranium maculatum), large yellow lady's-slipper orchid (Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens), sweet cicely (Osmorhiza longistylis), shooting star (Dodecatheon meadii), columbine (top photo at right; Aquilegia canadensis), large-flowered trillium (Trillium grandiflorum), golden Alexanders (Zizia aureus), and red baneberry (Actaea rubra). There were also spectacular amounts of maiden hair fern (Adiantum pedatum), a handsome but delicate fern that thrives in shady woods.

In all, a nice afternoon walk!

Red-headed woodpecker

Because the habitat is now so rare, bird species that once lived in oak savannas, such as the red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) have either disappeared or have adapted to other habitats. Fortunately, at Pleasant Valley Conservancy the red-headed woodpecker appears to have made a nice recovery since we began restoring oak savanna.

In the past few days these birds have been very active. Kathie saw four separate birds within a fifteen minute period, and we are hearing them calling lots. They often nest in cavities in dead birches, and today, Chris Noll was able to snap a nice photo of one in this setting.

Wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)

This year we are finding quite a few patches of Aralia nudicaulis (a member of the Ginseng family). According to Cochrane and Iltis (Atlas of Wisconsin Prairie and Savanna Flora), this species is fairly common in woodlots, "including those known to have been savannas in historic times." For some years we knew of this species only from a single site in our oak woods, but this year we are finding it many places in our savannas and woodlands. I'm not sure whether our restoration work is responsible, or whether it has always been here and I have just become skilled at recognizing it.

This clonal species forms fairly large patches, with often 50 to 100 plants (sometimes more). Although there are many plants in a clone, very few of these flower. In keeping with its species name (which means "naked stem" in Latin), the flower stalk is leafless. The photo below shows a single flowering stalk with three flower heads.

We have two other Aralia species at Pleasant Valley Conservancy, A. racemosa (spikenard) and A. spicata (devil's walking stick). There is some question whether the latter species "belongs" here, since it is mainly found far south of here, in the Ohio River Valley. However, we did not plant it, and it seems to be thriving (at a single location), so perhaps it does belong here.

According to the herbal literature, both wild sarsaparilla and spikenard are used medicinally.

 

For the Ages!

Today Susan and Chris planted some bur oak seedlings. Given their rate of growth, these aren't being planted for us, but for folks about 10 generations from now. Kathie and I raised these seedlings from acorns collected under the big bur oak last fall. They had been placed in potting soil, stored for a month in a refrigerator, and then brought to room temperature. By March, about a dozen acorns had germinated. We transfered them into soil in long tubes and kept them in the greenhouse. They grew well and by mid-March were ready to plant.

In selecting places to plant these tiny trees, we had to think of places where they might remain intact for many years. We had to imagine what might happen to Pleasant Valley Conservancy in the years ahead, and where we might locate these seedlings so that they would not be destroyed. Maybe we have chosen right, and maybe not. We'll never know.

We plant these trees for the ages.

Successful results of brush clearing

Earlier entries in this Journal describe our efforts this past winter to clear invasive brush. Now it is time to assess the successes of this effort.

A particularly attractive area that we concentrated on in December 2006 is at the top of the gully above the big bur oak (Unit 6 to the east and Unit 9 to the west of the gully). Today I did an extensive survey of this area to see how successful we were. I examined numerous cut stems of buckthorn to see if there were any resprouts. In areas cut but not treated, by this time of the season quite visible buckthorn resprouts can be seen. My survey today showed that a very low percentage of cut stems had buckthorn resprouts. The photo to the right shows typical results.

Even more satisfying, numerous "good" plants are visible. The second photo at right shows several spiderwort, and the photo below shows an overview of the area. Nice!