Symplocarpus foetidus

     

     
     The earliest spring wildflower to emerge from dormancy is skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). In fact, this species flowers so early, it could be considered a winter wildflower! Skunk cabbage flowers have the ability to heat up the surrounding snow, which promotes melting so it can poke its fragrant flowers up through the ground. 
     Skunk cabbage has unusual flowers, like all members of the Arum family (Araceae). They consist of a spathe, an outer sheath which surrounds the inflorescence, and a spadix, a fleshy stem on which tiny flowers are produced.
     

Newly emerging leaves

     Many plants that produce flowers at the surface of the ground are brown in color and stink like decaying organic matter. This is to attract pollinators, typically flies, but this also lures in beetles and ants as well. Pollinators are also attracted to the flowers because of the heat they produce which leads to another interesting evolutionary strategy.
     Why flower so early? On the one hand, there are not many pollinators available in the early spring because it is too cold for them to be active or present. However, the few insects that are active and present are looking for food and warmth. The skunk cabbage receives virtually exclusive attention because it flowers when nothing else is available.
     “Symplocarpus” is Greek for “connected fruits” and “foetidus” translates from Latin to “malodorous” meaning “smelling very unpleasant.” From this, the term “fetid” derives.
     These photos were taken in a forest preserve in Cook County on March 18, 2016.  There is a healthy population at this location.

Skunk Cabbage flowers in March

     This is what the site looks like in summer.

Seep filled with Skunk Cabbage in June

Map of Public Lands in Southern Illinois

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Complete List of Public Natural Areas in Southern Illinois

This is a complete list of all 110 public natural areas in southern Illinois.  Compiled by Illinois Botanizer.

PUBLIC NATURAL AREAS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST NATURAL AREAS - 80 sites

Atwood Ridge RNA/Ecological Area

Ava Zoological Area

Bald Knob Geological Area

Barker Bluff RNA/Ecological Area

Bear Creek Relict Site Botanical Area

Bell Smith Springs Ecological Area

Big Brushy Ridge Ecological Area

Big Creek Zoological Area/Candidate Wild & Scenic River

Brown's Zoological Area

Bulge Hole Ecological Area

Burke Branch RNA/Ecological Area

Cane Creek Botanical Area

Caney Branch Barrens Ecological Area

Cave Hill RNA/Ecological Area

Chimaphila Site Botanical Area

Clear Creek Swamp Botanical Area

Clear Springs Geological Area

Copperous Branch Limestone Barrens Ecological Area

Cretaceous Hills Ecological Area

Crow Knob Ecological Area

Dean Cemetery East Barrens Ecological Area

Dean Cemetery West Barrens Ecological Area

Dennison Hollow RNA/Ecological Area

Dog Barrens Ecological Area

Double Branch Hole Ecological Area

Dutch Creek Chert Woodland Ecological Area

East Fork Oxalis illinoensis Botanical Area

Fink Sandstone Barrens Ecological Area

Fountain Bluff Geological Area

Garden of the Gods Ecological Area

Gibbons Creek Ecological Area

Grantsburg Swamp Ecological Area (Bell Pond)

Greentree Reservoir Botanical Area (Oakwood Bottoms)

Gyp Williams Hollow Ecological Area

Hayes Creek/Fox Den Creek Ecological Area

Hutchison Zoological Area

Jackson Hole Ecological Area

Jackson Hollow Ecological Area

Kaskaskia Woods Ecological Area

Keeling Hill North Ecological Area

Keeling Hill South Ecological Area

Kickasola Cemetery Ecological Area

LaRue-Pine Hills/Otter Pond RNA/Ecological Area

Leisure City Barrens Ecological Area

Little Grand Canyon/Horseshoe Bluff Ecological Area

Lusk Creek Canyon Ecological Area

Lusk Creek North Ecological Area

Lusk Creek Zoological Area/Candidate Wild & Scenic River

Martha's Woods Ecological Area

Massac Tower Springs Ecological Area

Millstone Bluff Ecological Area/Historic Site

Odum Tract Ecological Area

Opossum Trot Trail Botanical Area

Ozark Hill Prairie RNA/Ecological Area

Panther Hollow RNA/Ecological Area

Pine Hills Annex Ecological Area

Pine Hollow Ecological Area

Pleasant Valley Barrens Ecological Area

Poco Cemetery East Ecological Area

Poco Cemetery North Ecological Area

Pounds Hollow Ecological Area

Provo Cemetery Barrens Ecological Area

Reddick Hollow Botanical Area

Reid's Chapel Ecological Area

Rich's Zoological Area

Robnett Barrens Ecological Area

Russell Cemetery Barrens Ecological Area

Saltpeter Relict Botanical Area

Sand Cave Ecological Area

Schwegman Ecological Area

Silvey Pond Botanical Area

Simpson Township Barrens Ecological Area

Snow Springs Ecological Area

Split Rock Hollow Ecological Area

Stoneface RNA/Ecological Area

Sulphur Springs Botanical Area

Teal Pond Botanical Area

Toothless Zoological Area

Whoopie Cat Mountain RNA/Ecological Area

Wolf Creek Botanical Area

ILLINOIS DEPT. NATURAL RESOURCES NATURAL AREAS - 30 sites

Berryville Shale Glade Nature Preserve

Big Grand Pierre Site Nature Preserve

Brown Barrens Nature Preserve

Campbell Lake Nature Preserve

Cave Creek Barrens Nature Preserve

Cedar Bluff Nature Preserve

Chestnut Hills Nature Preserve

Collier Limestone Glade Nature Preserve

Cretaceous Hills Nature Preserve

Cypress Hill Nature Preserve

Cypress Pond Nature Preserve

Deer Pond Nature Preserve

Draper's Bluff Nature Preserve

Fern Rocks Nature Preserve

Fort Massac Nature Preserve

Gibbons Creek Barrens Land and Water Reserve

Guthrie Cave Nature Preserve

Horseshoe Lake and Forest Nature Preserve

Lake Murphysboro Hill Prairie Nature Preserve 

Little Black Slough - Heron Pond Nature Preserve

Lovets Pond Nature Preserve

Lower Cache River Swamp Nature Preserve

Lusk Creek Canyon Nature Preserve

McClure Shale Glade Nature Preserve

Mermet Swamp and Flatwoods Nature Preserve

Ozark Hills Nature Preserve

Piney Creek Ravine Nature Preserve

Round Bluff Nature Preserve

Sielbeck Forest Tract Nature Preserve

SW Kinkaid Route 3 Natural Area

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.