100th Post: Taking a Look Back

100 published posts.  That's hard to believe for someone who started this blog from humble beginnings and had no clear idea of what to expect or how long it would last.  I'm just a geeky, nature-loving nerd who had a desire to begin sharing his experiences and limited knowledge of the botanical and natural world with anyone bored enough to pay attention.  Never in a hundred years did I think I would be so fortunate and lucky to have the following and community this blog has and is a part of.  The doors this blog has opened, the friendships it has kindled, and the never-ending inspiration it's been to me are things I could have never expected or predicted.  I cannot thank all my readers enough for your support and kind words over the past two and a half years; whether you are the occasional passerby or one of the faithful few who tunes in to each new post. Without your interest and encouragement I'm sure this blog would have folded and disappeared into internet anonymity long ago.

I know this blog waxes and wanes like the moon when it comes to new posts.  There is never a shortage of ideas, topics, treatments etc. to write and share but the free time and energy to do so fluctuates greatly.  It can be related to a small part-time job whose only compensation is comments, page views, and emails.  There's little guarantee all those long hours of creative writing and carefully planned words will even be read.  Your blogger certainly isn't selfless in his blogging though.  I do this for many personal reasons with none being more prevalent than treating this like a journal.  I thoroughly enjoy going back and rereading old posts and topics that I forgot I wrote about.  Re-experiencing those days in the field and the exciting discoveries and chance encounters remind me why I take the time to write and keep this blog running.  I hope to continue this new year's current trend of consistent posting and new publications but would be a fool to make any promises. That being said I can promise to give it a legitimate effort and try!  I hope to continue to bring my faithful readers more and more original and engaging posts for as long as I have the fire burning inside me to do so!

I'd like to continue with the theme of reminiscing for this 100th post and count down (in no particular order) ten of my favorite posts and topics from the past.  Each one was a blast to write up and put together and are something I can fondly look back on.  Each photograph is accompanied with a link to the corresponding blog post for those interested!  So without further ado here they are:

Federally threatened prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera leucophaea)

It's only appropriate I start off with my favorite of all our native orchids: the eastern prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera leucophaea).  This great rarity is so scarce across its range it's been listed as a federally threatened species and is at continued risk of extinction from habitat loss and alteration.  I finally got to see this spectacular plant in bloom a few summers ago and it was an experience I will never forget.

On the limestone alvar shores of the Bruce peninsula, Ontario

A couple summers past saw your blogger visit a small spit of limestone known as the Bruce peninsula in Ontario, Canada.  This fascinating landscape is home to many rare species of plants and widely known for its picturesque rocky shores and sheer cliffs along the brilliant aqua waters of Lake Huron and the Georgian Bay. If you look carefully in the foreground of the photo above you can make out tiny yellow patches of the globally rare lakeside daisy (Tetraneuris herbacea) growing in the cracks of the alvar limestone pavement.

Grove of old-growth tuliptrees in Davey Woods nature preserve

Few other ecosystems amaze and excite like those of old-growth forests.  The ancient, leviathan trees stand testament to what mother nature can do when time and opportunity is on her side.  This particular photo is of your blogger's father standing in an exceptional grove of tuliptrees in Davey Woods nature preserve in west-central Ohio.  Another exciting example of an old-growth woods featured on this blog is the unique sweetgum/beech flatwoods of Tribbett Woods nature preserve in southeastern Indiana.

Stunning rosebud orchid (Cleistes bifaria) in southern Kentucky

I could just as easily make this entire blog devoted to my orchid forays and endeavors.  It seems like every other post is dedicated to their complex beauty and intriguing life histories.  The rosebud orchid (Cleistes bifaria) was another long-awaited life species I finally got to mark off in southern Kentucky.  I find it to be one of the most tropical looking of our continent's indigenous orchid taxa and just too stunning for words.

Red-tailed Hawk patiently waiting for its next meal

Some of the best and most rewarding of moments in nature are those you come across by complete chance. While out for a drive through the countryside of my home area of Ohio, I stumbled upon a gorgeous red-tailed hawk in the midst of hunting.  I pulled off the side of the road and proceeded to watch him successfully catch and eat a couple mice from his wooden perch.  They are such majestic creatures who live out their lives without even a passing thought from most people too busy to pay attention.

The timeless showy lady's slippers (Cypripedium reginae) of Cedar Bog

Ah, no orchid freak's life list would be complete without the timeless splendor of Cedar Bog's showy lady's slipper (Cypripedium reginae) display come June.  The largest of our native orchids and arguably the showiest (pun intended), these floral wonders need no introduction and can certainly speak for themselves.  If you've never caught them in bloom before you must mark down early June on your calendars for 2013!

Lesser fringed gentians (Gentianopsis virgata) of Betsch Fen

There's no better way to close out the growing season each autumn than to witness the electric blue display of the lesser fringed gentians (Gentianopsis virgata) in Betsch Fen.  It has become an annual pilgrimage for this botanist to close out another exciting and successful year of botanizing with their unbeatable exhibition.  This past season was exceptionally spectacular and choked the fen with hundreds of gentians in full bloom under the waning sun.

Famous dunes of the Sleeping Bear Dunes national lakeshore

Few other places are as heavenly and ingrained in my memory as northern Michigan during the summer months. From South Manitou Island and its virgin grove of enormous white cedars (Thuja occidentalis), to the federally endangered Michigan monkeyflower (Mimulus michiganensis) that exists nowhere else on the planet; the flora and sights of this area are nigh on unbeatable.  If you've never experienced Sleeping Bear Dunes national lakeshore you really must add it to your list of must-visit places!  You will not be disappointed.

Calm waters of Pyramid Lake in the mountains of the southern Adirondacks in upstate New York

The Adirondacks of upstate New York.  Hands down one of the most gorgeous and incredible places I have ever laid eyes on and a time and experience I will never, ever forget.  If you haven't checked out the three part series from this past July on the flora and landscape of the area, you can find them here: Part I, Part II, and Part III.

Stunningly tiny small white lady's slippers (Cypripedium candidum)

It's only appropriate to end with an orchid after starting out with one!  Another of my absolute favorites are the diminutive blooms of the small white lady's slippers (Cypripedium candidum).  I will never forget my shocked expression upon seeing these beauties for the first time; they are beyond tiny!  If you are wise and lucky enough to attend Flora-Quest this spring you may just get to see these wonders in person.

I would like to close with another sincere thank you to all the readers and followers who have kept this blog alive and the passion within me to keep it going.  It hasn't always been easy or the top priority but without you I can't say I would be in the same place and shoes I'm in today.  This blog has been an amazing resource and I have all you to thank!  So here's to another 100+ posts on the Natural Treasures of Ohio and beyond!

Fringed Gentians at Betsch Fen

The other day I was going back through some older posts I had published in previous years when one particular topic caught my eye and reminded me I had a certain fen complex to pay a visit to before the growing season was done.  About this exact same time last fall I wrote about the stunning lesser fringed gentians (Gentianopsis virgata); an Ohio rarity that graces a small number of the state's fen complexes and sedge meadows.  Reading back through I noticed I make specific mention of wanting to return to this site the following autumn and experience their electric blue beauty all over again.  I owed myself that much to cap off another wildly entertaining and successful year of botanizing my revered home state.

Lesser Fringed Gentians  ~  Gentianopsis virgata

Wednesday's tend to be my least busy day and with the weather forecast calling for a gorgeous day I decided it was now or never to see gentians this time around.  I asked my good friend and fellow nature blogger, Michael Whittemore to accompany me because places like this deserve to be shared and experienced by others who love and appreciate the natural world as much as myself.  Ecosystems and habitats like Betsch fen are disappearing every day at the likes of mankind's destructive hands and nature's natural succession to forest.

I picked Mike up just as the sun was rising for the hour drive to the fen from the Athens area.  The warm, golden glow of the first rays illuminated the rolling hills of southeastern Ohio and splashed the changing trees with its warm light.  The fire oranges and deep scarlets of the chlorophyll drained leaves contrasted sharply against the sapphire blue skies and all combined into a gorgeous country drive that Mike and I could not have enjoyed more.  Upon arriving we slid on our rubber boots and away we went into the open expanse of alkaline fen.

Lesser Fringed Gentians  ~  Gentianopsis virgata

We followed the deer paths through the sea of browning Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) and out into the primary fen opening where I remembered seeing the most gentians from the previous visit.  It wasn't long before blue patches began to appear, glowing with droplets of dew in the intensifying morning light.  I immediately noticed there seemed to be a lot more gentians compared to last year.  In fact they were everywhere and easily numbered in the hundreds of plants!  I could tell from the look on Mike's face he was happier than ever to have tagged along.

Lesser Fringed Gentians  ~  Gentianopsis virgata

The primary reason for our early start that morning wasn't for naught as we found the gentians still tightly bundled and waiting for the warmth of the sun to unfurl their fringed perfection and beckon the day's first pollinators to come pay it a worthwhile visit.  This opening and closing feature allows for two distinct and equally exquisite 'stages' of the flower and will keep your camera shutter clicking all morning long.

Lesser Fringed Gentians  ~  Gentianopsis virgata

The recent history of Betsch fen is quite the success story and an example of what exciting results can be acheieved from proper and active management of the habitat.  The open fen meadows had filled in with woody vegetation over time and had almost fully choked out the gentians when the site was first bought by the Ohio chapter of the Nature Conservancy years ago.  As the woody vegetation was removed and the sunlight restored to full strength over the newly cleared meadow, back came the brilliant blue wildflowers of the fall.

Mike admiring and photographing a patch of lovely gentians

While the fringed gentians were certainly the object of our desire, they weren't the only wildflowers to still be blooming in the wet fen meadow.  The honey-yellow, flat-topped flower heads of Ohio goldenrod (Oligoneuron ohioense) and their accompanying clumps of green basal leaves are easily visible in the photograph above.  Bog goldenrod (Solidago uliginosa) and rough-leaved goldenrod (S. patula) also intermittently occurred throughout and were all just about done flowering.  A few other wildflowers still hanging on were the purple-stemmed (Symphyotrichum puniceum) and willow-leaved (S. praealtus) asters; Canadian burnet (Sanguisorba canadensis); and purple false foxglove (Agalinis purpurea).

Lesser Fringed Gentians and Nodding Ladies-tresses (Spiranthes cernua)

Another exciting realization was the increased number of flowering stalks of the nodding ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes cernua) orchid in select areas of the fen.  In some cases one could enjoy both exciting species growing side-by-side.

Nodding Ladies'-tresses  ~  Spiranthes cernua

The nodding ladies'-tresses is a frequent associate of our fens and wet meadows, prairies, fields, and thickets throughout the Great Lakes and eastern North America.  Their snow white, crystal-like flowers stand out immediately against their more bleak surroundings.  Determining you have a Spiranthes species of orchid in front of you isn't too hard a conclusion to come to but which one can make you scratch your head and create tedious judgement decisions on varying similar characteristics.  I've found the more time I spend with this genus in the field and its taxa, the more confident and qualified I feel I've become at making an ID.  Spiranthes cernua can be identified by its pure white, two-ranked inflorescences; lack of fragrance; and calcareous fen habitat.  This species is notoriously variable throughout its range but here in Ohio the above characteristics seem to hold pretty true.

Nodding Ladies'-tresses  ~  Spiranthes cernua

The nodding ladies'-tresses comes from a complex group of excruciatingly similar species that until recently were all lumped into S. cernua and considered mere varieties of a single taxon.  Since then at least four different taxa (S. cernua, S. magnicamporum, S. ochrolueca, and S. odorata) have been split out and elevated to full species status.  It doesn't stop there though, as some botanists and taxonomists recognize a handful of forms strictly within S. cernua.  Some may pull their hair out at the sound of it but I consider it a reason to investigate and a topic that deserves further study and research.

Lesser Fringed Gentians  ~  Gentianopsis virgata

Not long after our arrival and the sun's energy having been diffused across the landscape, the gentians were fully opened and exhibiting their sublime fringed petals of the most astonishing blue you'll ever seen in a wildflower.  No tricks or changes, no need to check your monitor's settings; the fringed gentians really are that vibrant and staggering.

Gentianopsis virgata distribution map: courtesy BONAP

Looking at the overall distribution and range of the lesser fringed gentian you can see that south-central Ohio is about as far south this species ever ventures.  Its presence at Betsch fen and the rest of the state is owed to the last glacial period and the immense ice sheets that carried it down from the north.  The cold, seeping groundwater and calcareous conditions of the fen have been just the trick to keep them around.

Lesser Fringed Gentians  ~  Gentianopsis virgata

Ohio is home to two native species of fringed gentian: the presented lesser fringed and another taxon called the greater fringed gentian (G. crinita).  Both are strikingly similar but can be told apart by taking a look at the leaves.  The greater fringed has shorter, more wide lanceolate leaves; while the lesser fringed exhibits long, much more narrow (almost linear) leaves.  The amount of fringing around the end of the petals (as suggested by their names) can be used but is not very consistent and a very variable feature.

Lesser Fringed Gentians  ~  Gentianopsis virgata

After a couple hours thoroughly exploring the fen and filling our memory cards with photographs of the charming gentians, Mike and I decided to head back to the car and return to civilization for some breakfast. With my stomach growling as we tromped out of the fen I took one last glance out across the grasses and wildflowers and smiled knowing I'd be back a year later to spend another memorable autumn morning with one of my favorite botanical beauts.  I don't think I'd have to ask Mike twice to come back either.  There's just a certain lure these plants have on the willing, a siren's call that this botanist can't ignore and quite frankly has no desire to.