Pine Creek Barrens

Being a lover and adorer of plants it's only natural that I would also be equally interested and passionate about the habitats they call home.  Most people immediately think of the forests and their spring ephemerals or the prairie's summer grasses and flowers dancing in the warm breezes but of course it doesn't end there.  In reality there is an almost endless list of ecosystems that exist out there with their own unique and interesting array of plant communities.  None seem to draw my interest more than those of the cedar glade/barren complex.

Cedar glades occur throughout the Midwest and are most heavily concentrated in the central basin of Tennessee but also exist in parts of Kentucky and Indiana as well as extreme southern Ohio.  The Edge of Appalachia Preserve system in Adams County, Ohio protects and exhibits the states best remaining examples of these increasingly rare plant communities and habitats.  These glades/barrens exist where limestone/dolomite bedrock occurs near or at the surface, creating very shallow and poor soils that restrict and eliminate most tree growth.  The most commonly seen trees struggling for existence in these habitats is the Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana), which gives them their namesake.  Thin, harsh soil conditions and scorching sunlight don't sound like they'd be a prime place for plants to grow but how wrong an assumption that would be.  The main reason for my attraction to these glades and barrens are the rare and unusual plants that can be found in few other places.  Some of which are so site and habitat specific that they do not occur anywhere else in the world except for a few local populations.

Pine Creek Barrens

Pine Creek Barrens

I am very familiar and partial to the cedar barrens and prairie openings of Adams County where many of my blog posts have been centered on, both past and future, but I have wanted to branch out and experience other states similar and yet different glades/barrens.  Last Sunday I got that chance when Dan Boone and I made a day trip down to Bullitt County, Kentucky to visit and botanize one of the states best remaining cedar glade complexes, Pine Creek Barrens.  Located just south of Louisville, Pine Creek Barrens is over 100 acres of critical habitat for several rare and threatened species of native glade endemic flora.  Scraggly Red Cedars and ancient, gnarled Chinkapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) trees clung to life on the exposed limestone bedrock and upon careful inspection several species of wildflowers were in full bloom.

Viola pedata

Viola egglestonii

Easily the most showy and exciting blooms of the flowering plants at Pine Creek belonged to the Birdsfoot Violet (Viola pedata).  A state threatened species back home in Ohio, they are considerably more common in the southern states but still just as breathtaking.  To catch another species of Viola in bloom was one of the main reasons for our excursion down south.  Unfortunately the cedar glade endemic Glade Violet (Viola egglestonii) was already done blooming and a maturing capsule.  The heavily lobed, palmate leaves of V. egglestonii set it apart from most other stemless blue violets.  This plant was discovered in 1909 in a cedar glade near Nashville, Tennessee and is only known to exist in limestone cedar glades in In, Ky, Tn, Al and Ga.

Viola pedata

Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata

Cedar glade endemic #1 on our list was the tiny member of the Brassicaceae family, Kentucky Gladecress (Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata).  Remember my post from about a week ago about the tiny, native spring mustards?  Well this a closely related species to our Leavenworthia uniflora only much, much more rare.  This species of Leavenworthia is only found in select areas of Bullitt and Jefferson counties of Kentucky and that's it.  This remarkable plant has adapted to survive and flourish in the harsh, xeric conditions of the cedar glades; finding small depressions and patches of thin soil over the dolomite bedrock to grow and flower.  It is currently under consideration for Federal listing as an endangered species.  Only existing in rare cedar glades in two Kentucky counties and that's it worldwide should do the trick.

Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata

Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata

 

While I saw many smaller examples of Kentucky Gladecress that looked almost identical to our native Michaux's Gladcress (L. uniflora) a number of them were genuine monsters like the plant pictured above.  Like the Glade Violet, most of the plants were well into fruit but a few continued to show off their charming creamy white flowers with stunning golden throats and anthers.  I fear for the future of rare species like Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata that rely on the dwindling habitat of the cedar glades.  Urban sprawl and development continues to swallow up these amazing and unparalleled habitats but with the help of the Nature Conservancy (who owns and manages Pine Creek Barrens) there is still a ray of hope.

Celtis tenuifolia pistillate flowers

Celtis tenuifolia staminate flowers

 

While wandering around the cedar barren I happened across a strange and uncommon, small tree of Ohio that was in full bloom; which I had never experienced before.  These are the tiny and inconspicuous flowers of the Dwarf Hackberry (Celtis tenuifolia).  A monoecious plant, both the male (staminate) and female (pistillate) flowers are found on the same tree.  Found growing predominately in the shallow, calcareous soils of southern Ohio, this relative to the more common and much large Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) never gets much larger than 20 feet in height and only 6-8" in diameter at maturity.  These shrubs/small trees grow very slowly and twist and contort as they go, becoming the native bonsai trees of the prairies/barrens.

Nothoscordum bivalve

Nothoscordum bivalve

Growing like a native 'weed' through the more wet areas of the cedar barren was the Ohio threatened and rarity, False Garlic (Nothoscordum bivalve).  At the extreme northern end of its natural distribution in Adams County, this plant is right at home and very common in more southern Kentucky.  A member of the Liliacaea family, its strong resemblance to garlic but containing no scent is how it received its common name of False Garlic.

Carex meadii

Eleocharis bifida

A couple monocotyledons hiding amongst the more showy plants blooming were Mead's Sedge (Carex meadii) and Glade Spike Rush (Eleocharis bifida).  Both are indigenous and found most commonly in limestone/dolomite prairie and glade openings as well as moist sedge meadows.  While they may not be as noticeable or "pretty" as other flowering plants I still enjoy their appearance and think they deserve a shout out.  Hopefully I get the chance to return to Pine Creek Barrens later this year when more rare, beautiful glade endemics are in full bloom.