Activities 2002

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border-top:1px solid #393939; clear:both; display:none; width:100%!important; position:relative; z-index:999999!important; height:90px!important"> <div class="adCenterClass" style="display:block!important; overflow:hidden; width:916px;"> <div id="footerAd_container" style="display:block!important; float:left; width:728px"> <iframe id="lycosFooterAdiFrame" style="border:0; display:block; float:left; height:96px; overflow:hidden; padding:0; width:750px"></iframe> </div> </div> </div> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04e285a1erlcgo.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Blue Ridge Wildflower Society a chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society </b></FONT><B>     |     </b><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blue Ridge Wildflower Society a chapter "><U><B>home</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Activities 2005"><U>Activities 2005</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Activities 2004"><U>Activities 2004</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Activities 2003"><U>Activities 2003</U></A>   |   <B>Activities 2002</b></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="04dd2c00dkelyh.gif"> <div> <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Activities 2005"><U>Activities 2005</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Activities 2004"><U>Activities 2004</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Activities 2003"><U>Activities 2003</U></A></div> <div> <B>Activities 2002</b></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Activities 2002</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Skunk Cabbage Field Trip</b></div> <div> <I>Sandra Elder</I></div> <div> On February 16th I was accompanied by four others to our registry site in Altavista. As we approached the site we were greeted by a pair of bluebirds. I was reminded of Thoreau's words. He said the eastern bluebird "carries the sky on its back." Today's sky was not as blue as the bluebird's back but it was a beautiful day. We found skunk cabbages although not as many as last year. The spadix of many plants were shriveled and black, probably due to the drought. There was plenty of water in the creep but the  surrounding ground was dry where it is usually moist. On this winter day the beauty of the sycamore trees was appreciated. The peeling bark revealed soft shades of gray, tan and green, looking like living art objects against the blue sky. In Peattie's book <I><B>A Natural History of Trees</b></I> he tells of Andre Michaux finding sycamores in the Ohio valley with a diameter of 13 feet. I stood in the middle of my living room, of about the same dimensions, and tried to imagine what it felt like to stand inside a tree that size. The pioneers often stabled their livestock in living hollow sycamore trees and sometimes a family would live there until their cabin was built. Before heading back uphill we stopped for a closer look at a specimen of this year's wildflower of the year, Witch Hazel, <I>Hamamelis virginiana</I>. As we drove back through the field a gray fox emerged from the hedgerow and observed us for a few moments before disappearing in the tall grass. After returning our badges to Ross Labs we enjoyed a great lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Altavista.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Lynchburg Area </b></div> <div> <B>The Promises of Spring</b></div> <div> <I>Dorothy C. Bliss</I></div> <bR> <div> A favorite quotation of mine is from P. B. Shelley's poem "Ode to the West Wind" "Oh Wind, if Winter comes can Spring be far behind?" Now that the calendar tells us that spring has arrived, we are seeking early signs of rebirth in the out-of-doors. The first flowers to appear in profusion are those ubiquitous weeds some of which have been with us through the winter. <I>Lamium amplexicaule</I>, henbit and <I>L. purpureum</I>, purple dead nettle. Now they are in full bloom. Having been away for a couple of months, I have missed some of the early awakenings but at the end of March the first white to pale pink flowers of <I>Erigeron philadelphicus</I>, common fleabane. are just emerging. The plants are low, hugging the ground but soon they will produce upright stems more than two feet tall. The common dandelion naturalized from Europe, <I>Taraxacum officinale</I>, has been blooming sporadically even in the winter months but now is showing its golden head rather brazenly in our lawns and gardens. These early flowers are so beautiful they even appear welcome but soon comes the urge to remove them so that the lawn will appear as a green expanse unbroken by these yellow splashes. The hairy bittercress. <I>Cardamine hirsuta</I>, a small member of the mustard family with over wintering green leaves bears tiny white flowers soon to be displaced by a slender capsule or silique which on contact will spread its seeds far and wide assuring us that each plant will produce an explosion of progeny far from the parent, only to be removed later.</div> <div> The furry catkins of the pussy willow, Salix sp, that began to appear in early February are but shaggy reminders of their former beauty. The redbud trees, <I>Cercis canadensis</I>, are easily spotted in our woodlands with their clusters of pea-shaped lavender flowers. The white or pinkish clusters of blooms of the shadbush, <I>Amelanchier arborea</I>, are conspicuous in the understory of our deciduous woods. They are all reminders that spring is on its way.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>The RMWC Botanic Garden Spring 2002</b></div> <bR> <div> My first opportunity this spring to visit the Botanic Garden was on March 27 when only a few of the spring ephemerals had made their appearance. Among those in full flower were bloodroot, <I>Sanguinaria canadensis</I>. Greek valerian. <I>Polemonium repens</I>, and the shale barren Phlox, <I>Phlox subulata</I>. Some of the flowers of the latter had already developed into fruit. A lone flower and a few clusters of buds were poking up through the netting over the Dutchman's breeches, <I>Dicentra cucullaria</I>, that had developed from some corms I had been given last fall and planted under the netting for protection against voles and squirrels. Just emerging from the dark red leaves of Oconee bells, <I>Shortia galacifolia</I>, were several beautiful pinkish white blooms. The leaves develop these authocyanin pigments in response to the cold and UV light and as the temperature rises, the plants will again sport their glossy green color. There is an excellent detailed article on recent research on the role of authocyanin pigments in the Spring 2002 Issue of the Chinquapin Newsletter of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society. The flowers of bleeding heart. <I>Dicentra eximina</I>, were in dark red clusters that will soon expand to display the lovely lavender blossoms of the summer months. The Virginia bluebells, <I>Mertensia uirginica</I>, were evident as dark purple buds but had not expanded to show their dual nature - colors from pink to bluish lavender. Large dark knobs pushing up through the soil gave evidence that soon the Trilliums will add their flowers to the landscape.</div> <div> The most prolific blooms were those of the Greek valerian which of its own volition had scattered its progeny far away from where it was planted. The most colorful and striking flowers were those of golden ragwort. <I>Senecio aureus</I>, which brightened the ground under the China fir with its clusters of intense yellow blossoms. Truly if winter comes can spring be far behind?</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Activities 2005"><U>Activities 2005</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Activities 2004"><U>Activities 2004</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Activities 2003"><U>Activities 2003</U></A>   |   <B>Activities 2002</b></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>