Programs Offered by Illinois Botanizer

Here is a list of programs offered by Illinois Botanizer.

 1.    Wild Native Ferns of Illinois

 2.    Wild Orchids of Illinois

 3.     Spring Ephemeral Wildflowers

 4.      Flora and Fauna of Southern Illinois

 5.      Rare Plants and Unique Natural Areas of Illinois

 6.      Natural Divisions of Illinois

 7.      Botany 101

 8.      Natural Communities of Illinois

 9.      Trees and Shrubs of Illinois

10.     Plant Monitoring 101

   
      Please contact me at botanizer@gmail.com to schedule a program for your group!

   

Floating Corn

I witnessed a small phenomenon today

something floating in the sky.

It was somehow fluttering

and gracefully falling.

A huge highway lined on both sides

by a thin strip of brown.

The chicory, mustards, the sweet clovers,

and those damned yellow composites,

brought to end by the mower blade

and left to bake in the sun.

Solidago in a bloom of yellow love

speaks of late September.

Puffy clouds dot the azure sky,

corn abounds, but not yet harvested,

singing along to Bob Seger on the radio.

The scene is set so that you may appreciate,

my glory and delight,

when I saw that strange sight,

half a cornstalk sheath,

hovering,

then slowly descending,

behind the bridge.

Beech Blight Aphids

     On the most recent Wildflower Walk at Bell Smith Springs we stumbled upon a furry white insect on the twigs of a beech tree, with a few spilling over on the leaves.  I refer to them as boogie woogie bugs, but they are more commonly known as beech blight aphids (Grylloprociphilus imbricator). Whatever you call them, these aphids are a species of true bugs. belonging to the order Hemiptera and the family Aphididae.

Beech Blight Aphids (Grylloprociphilus imbricator)

     The white waxy filaments are secreted by the aphids and make them unappealing to prey.  They wave their bodies around, fanning the cotton-like tufts when they are disturbed, reminding predators not to bother them.  These fascinating insects feed on the sap of the beech trees, but do not cause any major lasting damage to them.  The aphids are particularly interested in the protein contained in the plant sap.  Yet most of the plant sap is water and carbohydrates, basically sugary water, As they pierce the branch with their specialized mouthparts, the high pressure of the liquid in the vascular tissue causes sap to shoot out of the tree and into the insect, in this case, the aphid.  This causes the previously ingested watery, sugary sap to shoot quickly through the digestive tract and out of the body of the aphid.  The resulting liquid is called honeydew, or one could think of it as aphid excrement.
     Nature has a way of letting nothing go to waste.  One organism's waste is another's treasure.  And such it is with the aphid poop.  It attracts a black mold called the beech blight sooty mold (Scolias spongiosa).  This mold is a specialist, as it only grows on the honeydew of the beech blight aphid.  This species of aphid likes to congregate, which concentrates the honeydew.  This is why the black sooty mold grows in large clumps, versus other black mold, which is restricted to just a light layer on the leaves because of solitary aphid species.   
     Yet another example of how nature is amazing.  Watch a short video here.

Chigger Poem

Oh why oh why do there have to be chiggers

for a reaction in me they sure do trigger

The many little red bites feel like Braille

And when they itch they make me want to wail!

If you like evolution, then you must love the chigger

For they would not be as bad if they happened to be bigger

But an invisible invertebrate has all the advantage

And leaves me with little else than to put on a bandage.

I guess I could prevent them by staying on the trail

Or if I took more time to scratch them with my nail

I could spray myself with nasty chemicals and deet

Or stay inside all together and beat the summer heat!

But that is not my style, I was born to explore

To see the nature and learn from it more

Plus if there were less chiggers there’d be more tourists

And it would be impossible to be a nature purist.

Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens

    Yesterday was a magical day for me.  I feel like a junkie who has to get his daily fix and my fix is photographing rare or showy wildflowers.  Or better yet, rare AND showy!  But like an addict, my tolerance is increasing, leading me to seek out more and more exhilarating finds.  However, I am a responsible botanist, so I know when to lay off and take a break from my plant excursions.  Which gives me a chance to write about them.

     I've encountered yellow lady slipper orchid plants (Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens) only 3 times in my extensive surveys across southern Illinois from 2008 to the present, and never in flower.  Renowned IDNR botanist John Schwegman told me he no longer knows where any yellow lady slipper orchids grow in the wild in southern Illinois.  Although these were once considered the most common orchid in North America, its distribution in Illinois seems to be decreasing, mostly due to habitat loss and poaching. On a survey in a remote area of Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge in Williamson County in 2011, I encountered a patch of yellow lady slipper orchids, but since it was late summer, they were not in flower.  I have sought to photograph them in flower at this location ever since.  I’ve tried 3 times in the past 3 years and I’ve always been too early or too late.  This year was to be the year!

     I planned to stop and search for the orchids on my way north out of town.  Due to circumstances beyond my control, it was late in the afternoon before I made it to the Visitor’s Center at Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge.  I asked for a gate key, but they had all been given out for the day.  Since I know the staff there, one offered up his key, but warned me that the shooting range at the nearby prison was active that day, and visitors were not recommended.  I mentioned that this was the only day I could go and check on the orchids, and that it was of upmost importance.  He said it was up to me so of course I went! 

     I headed into the woods to search for the orchids and although I knew where they were, it took me longer to get to the spot then I remembered.  The day was getting late and I had to return with the key before the office closed and I was dripping blood from my ear because I ripped it open on a multiflora rose bush in my haste to get to the orchid spot, but at last I came upon the wonderful sight of the incredible beauty of the flowering yellow lady slipper orchids!

Large Yellow Lady Slipper Orchids (Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens) 

     Other states can boast all they want about how easy it is to find this species, but in Illinois they are hard to find so I find immense joy in knowing this secret spot deep in the woods on a rich north-facing slope loaded with Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), Broad Beech Fern (Phegopteris hexagonoptera), Ginseng (Panax quinquefolia), Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora), Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum), and Puttyroot Orchid (Aplectrum hyemale).  I made a genuine and thorough mediation of appreciation at the location and made my way back for the long drive up north.

Sanguinaria canadensis

     Spring is a splendid time of year for many reasons and one of those reasons is spring ephemeral wildflowers.  Southern Illinois is a tremendous place for spring ephemeral wildflowers and each year I check in on my buddies to see how they are doing.
     One of the earliest wildflowers is Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis).  The odd-looking leaves are usually just barely emerged when the wildflowers bloom and they curl around the stem like a baby clinging to their mother.  While the flowers do not last very long, the leaves persist well into the summer.

     This plant is called Bloodroot because the roots are a deep red color and the stem contains thick reddish colored sap that was used as a dye by indigenous people.  Indeed, when the stem is cut, the sap quickly coagulates like blood does, and the wound begins to heal.  "Sanguinaria" comes from the Latin word "sanguis" which means "blood" and "canadensis" refers to the plant being described in or near Canada.

     This plant is native to North America and it is the only species in the genus Sanguinaria. It is a surprising member of the Papaveraceae, the Poppy family, and like poppy plants, it contains alkaloids closely related to morphine.  In fact, the primary toxin is called sanguinarine.  Although indigenous people made a tea from the roots and even chewed them, they are poisonous and should not be consumed.
     Bloodroot seeds, like many other spring ephemerals, have seeds that are tough and covered with elaiosomes, which are fleshy appendages that ants love.  The ants carry the elaiosome-laden seeds back to their nest where they feed them to the maturing larvae. The seeds themselves are of little use to the ants, and the ants simply dispose of the seeds in the waste area, which includes dead ants and their feces.  The area might not sound pleasant, but it's rich in nutrients and makes a great place for the seeds to germinate.

Erigenia bulbosa

Harbinger-of-Spring (Erigenia bulbosa)

     The aptly named Harbinger-of-spring (Erigenia bulbosa) is one of the earliest spring wildflowers to bloom in Illinois.  “Erigenia” is Greek and means “born in the spring” while “bulbosa” means “bearing bulbs,” in this case referring not to true bulbs but to the tubers of the plant.

     This plant is in the carrot family (Apiaceae), which is a family also called umbellifers because the flowers of species in this family are arranged in an umbel.  An umbel is a type of inflorescence that is either flat or convex in its overall shape and the stalks of the groups of flowers all arise from a common point.  The word “umbel” comes from Latin and means “shadow” and it is from this the word “umbrella” is also derived.

     Harbinger-of-spring is a spring ephemeral wildflower.  Spring ephemerals need lots of energy for growth and reproduction, yet they grow in rich woods underneath a mostly full canopy of mature trees.  In order to obtain the light needed for photosynthesis, these plants grow in the early spring, when unobstructed light reaches the forest floor and temperatures are above freezing.  This allows the spring ephemerals to emerge and produce flowers before the canopy trees grow their leaves and shade out the ground.

     This plant is also referred to as pepper-and-salt, referring to the speckled appearance of the purplish anthers and the white petals.  It is the only species in the genus Erigenia.

Harbinger-of-Spring (Erigenia bulbosa)