The Miniscule and Marvelous Mustards

I would first off like to apologize for my brief but noticeable absence the past week or so.  As Spring arrives it was my plan to post something every other day or so, I have plenty of photographs and topics to share but sometimes life throws you a curve ball.  I usually don't suffer too much from allergies but the past year I have been battling inner-ear issues that coincide with the seasonal pollen dispersal.  Built up fluid in my ears causes moderate to severe symptoms of vertigo and cause me to essentially spend my days in bed laying down and not outside enjoying the signs of Spring with the camera equipment or working on my blog.  However I am feeling much better and have been able to slip outside the past few days and am ready to continue bringing you some enlightening posts about what's going on outside!

It takes sharp eyes, a good back and some patience to search out and find the topic of today's discussion but it's entirely worth the trouble to crawl around on hands and knees through Adams County's shortgrass prairie openings for the fleeting beauty of our rare Spring mustards from the Brassicaceae family.  Not only are these white flowered, four petaled wonders I'm about to share with you absolutely tiny, but they are also all state listed as either threatened or endangered species; which of course makes them of particular interest to me.  Luckily for you there's no need to grab the knee pads, hand lens or stock up on any Icy Hot back patches; just sit back relax and let the computer monitor do the work for you.

Leavenworthia uniflora

Leavenworthia uniflora

 

Batting leadoff for the Mustards in today's lineup is the state threatened Michaux's Leavenworthia (Leavenworthia uniflora).  This diminutive annual can be found growing in the thin, dolomite soil of prairies, barrens and old fields in extreme southern Ohio where it is only currently known to exist in Adams and Pike counties.  You wouldn't think such a tiny plant would thrive in xeric soil conditions under the hot sun but that's exactly what it prefers.  When the flowers are fully open you can really appreciate all the character and charm packed into such a small package, especially in a condensed population as seen above left (unfortunately these flowers decided to stay closed during their photo shoot).

Leavenworthia uniflora

Leavenworthia uniflora

 

 

I find their quarter-sized rosettes of compound, pinnate leaves to be equally attractive to their solitary blooms.  A truly monstrous specimen would easily fit in its entirety in the palm of your hand but it's not the size of the plant that matters but rather the elegance of the plant itself.  Like the rest of the Mustards to be discussed later on, it's all about timing to catch these guys in bloom.  After only a few days the ovary quickly swells to form a long pod full of seeds ready to carry on the task of perpetuating its species.  All of these pint-sized early Mustards are annuals and rely entirely on seed production to see to it that their populations remain intact season after season.

Draba reptans

Draba reptans

Next up to the plate is the Carolina Whitlow-grass (Draba reptans) and if you thought the Leavenworthia was small, wait until you see this one.  Commonly found growing right alongside the aforementioned Michaux's Leavenworthia, Draba reptans also shares its state threatened status as well as having very akin four petaled, white flowers.  The rosette of entire, pubescent leaves shown above would fit on the head of a penny.  When seen in detail, the leaves kind of portray a tiny example of a cactus with the white hairs resembling its needles.  This plant, along with the others proved to be one of the most challenging and frustrating to photograph and I am still not very satisfied with the results.  I'm already looking forward to seeing them again next year with a revised attack strategy to better capture them with the lens.

Draba cuneifolia

Draba cuneifolia

Just another short, army style crawl away from the Carolina Whitlow-grass in the small prairie opening I was quickly getting to know rather intimately, another state threatened Spring mustard sprang forth in all its unpretentious glory.  Wedge-leaved Whitlow-grass (Draba cuneifolia) has very similar flowers to that of Draba reptans but can be told apart using the leaves for identification.  While D. reptans has entire leaves, those of D. cuneifolia are coarsely dentate (toothed) and tend to be noticeably larger.  While all have their small size in common they really do add a touch of color and class to the otherwise drab (no pun intended) look of the early Spring landscape, hiding amongst the flattened stalks of prairie grasses.  Speaking of small how about going to an even tinier extreme in our third and final native Draba.  Not possible you say?  I beg to differ!

Draba brachycarpa

Draba brachycarpa

It's all in the name.  This is Little Whitlow-grass (Draba brachycarpa) and believe it or not, is one of the most rare plants to be found in Ohio.  Listed as endangered, this plant can only be found with any certainty in Sandy Springs Cemetery along the Ohio River in Adams County.  Sandy Springs sits in an equally rare habitat of an Ohio River sand terrace, created by huge amounts of sand deposited on the inside curving bend of the river.  Agriculture and development has severely limited and destroyed many of these areas along the river, leaving Sandy Springs an appropriate home to such a rare plant.  I'm sure by now you've gotten the point drilled into your head that these mustards are small beings but this plant takes the cake.  The one pictured above measures a whopping whole inch and a half in height!  Knowing where to look in the cemetery is one thing, but actually finding them is another.  Making matters even worse is the cemetery is home to Ohio's only native cactus, the Eastern Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa)...I bet you didn't even know we had a native cactus!  I absolutely love the plant and look forward to bringing it to you in bloom later in the summer but that rules out any hands and knees crawling, who wants to spend the rest of the day picking needles out of your skin?

Draba brachycarpa

Even worse than finding the plant in flower is finding it again in fruit when the almost microscopic white flowers are gone, leaving you to spot the tiny plant with its siliques (unique name for a mustard's seed pods) all colored nearly the same as the sand.  I know many of you may not find these plants to be in the same category as many of the bigger and more showy Spring wildflowers but it's important to appreciate and remember the little guys; not only in our human society but in the botanical world as well.

Draba verna

Draba verna

 

I'll leave you with a couple photographs of our much more common, introduced Early Whitlow-grass (Draba verna).  While it may be an exotic and considered a weed by many, I find its deeply divided petals and minute stature to be as captivating as the rest of our native Draba's.  Just remember that one man's weed is another man's wildflower.