Cat got your tail? - Identifying Cattails

A marsh with mixed cattail species

The cattail is one of the most recognized species of plants in the world.  It grows throughout North America and Europe.  Here is Mid-Michigan we have two distinct species of cattail and one hybrid.  Identifying the different species is easy if you know what to look for.

So how do you tell the difference between the species?

Continuing a recent theme... more eggs

Over the weekend, I went out to search for more wildflowers.  Along the way I found something even more interesting.

Blue Jay sitting on its nest

I knew this nest was there.  About two weeks ago I saw a pair of Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) working diligently on its construction.  This nest is located probably only a dozen feet from a busy trail.

Inside the nest, were five perfect light brown eggs with dark brown spots.  I snapped a quick picture and then backed away from the nest to allow Mama Blue Jay to come back.

Blue Jay eggs are light brown or pale blue, with dark brown spotting

On the Bluebird Trail

Yesterday afternoon, Shara and I stopped at the Ziibiwing Center to check on the nest boxes along their new Bluebird Trail.  Most of the boxes are unoccupied - it is not unusual for birds to take a while to discover and use new nesting boxes.

However, one of the boxes contained a full clutch of five Eastern Bluebird eggs.

Eastern Bluebird nests are made entirely of grasses - photo by Shara LeValley

Eastern Bluebird eggs - photo by Shara LeValley

There were several pairs of Tree Swallows flying around the nest boxes.  Now that the weather has finally begun to warm up, I expect that they will also begin too nest soon.

Don't forget to come by the Ziibiwing Center this Saturday (May 14th) for the annual Bird Day Celebration.

Wildflowers of 2016 - #29

Last Monday (May 1st), I added two species to my Wildflowers of 2016 list.  I did find a third species on that day, but hesitated to add it to the list.

Why was I hesitant?  It has to do with the genus of plants.  The third plant I found that day was a sedge or Carex species.  Michiganflora list 184 Carx species found in the state of Michigan and they are notoriously difficult to identify.  However, I was able to narrow the list of possibles down significantly by looking at habitat.  There are 103 obligate wetland or facultative wetland species of sedge found in Michigan; obligate wetland species are almost always found in wetlands and facultative wetland species are usually found there.   This left only 81 likely possibilities.

After eliminating species that are found only in a few locations, as well as those species that looked completely wrong, I was able to come away with an identification.

Wildflowers of 2016 - #29 Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica)

Clumps of Pennsylvania Sedge surrounded by spring ephemerals

Species number twenty-nine is Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica).  This species is found throughout the state of Michigan and eastern North America.  Pennsylvania Sedge is a clump forming species that grows between 6 and 15 inches tall.  It prefers dry to moist upland soils and is commonly associated with oak forests.  It is one of the earliest-blooming sedge species.

Pennsylvania Sedge - male (upper) and female (lower) flowers are on the same stalk

A Frog and a Blackbird Egg

Yesterday I spent the morning at Mill Pond Park with 4th grade students from Ganiard Elementary.  Recently, I had visited their classrooms to give a presentation on wetland habitats - the field trip was an extension of that presentation.  During their field trip, the students spent most of their time searching for and identifying aquatic macroinvertebrates. 

Macroinvertebrates were not the only animals that were observed.  Students also noted muskrat lodges, sunning turtles, Canada Geese, and Red-winged Blackbirds.  Several very observant students discovered a few surprises like this well-camouflaged Green Frog.

Green Frog at Mill Pond Park.

Staring contest

Even more well-hidden was a Red-Winged Blackbird nest, nestled in among the cattails.

Red-winged Blackbird nest among cattails

Tucked down in the bottom of the nest was a single pale blue egg, mottled with dark spots.

Red-winged Blackbird egg

Wildflowers of 2016 - #27 and #28

Yesterday, between school programs, I was able to get to Chipp-A-Waters Park long enough to find two new wildflower species for the year.  The first of these species was my third non-native species of the year and the second was a native plant.

Wildflowers of 2016 - #27 Garlic Mustard (Alliara petiolata)

A patch of Garlic Mustard on the bank of the Chippewa River

Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is a very aggressive non-native species that will quickly outgrow many native species.  In addition to growing quickly and producing hundreds of seeds, Garlic Mustard also is an allelopathic species.  Allelopathy is basically a form of chemical warfare by plants.  Garlic Mustard releases chemicals into the soil that inhibit the germination and growth of other species of plants - resulting in large pure stands of Garlic Mustard and the elimination of native species in an infested area.

Like other Mustard plants, Garlic Mustard had flowers with four petals.  Other distinguishing features include heart-shaped leaves and a "garlic" smell.  This plant is a biennial - on first year plants the leaves are more rounded.  If you find this plant growing anywhere PULL IT and dispose of it before it spreads further.

Garlic Mustard - note four-petaled flowers that indicate this is a member of the "Mustard family" (Brassicaceae)

Unfortunately, Garlic Mustard is common in areas of Mill Pond Park and Chipp-A-Waters Park.  This cluster of plants was growing along the edge of the Chippewa River at Chipp-A-Waters Park.

Wildflowers of 2016 - #28 Downy Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens)

My second species of the day and number 28 for the year was Downy Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens).  I found this species growing at Chipp-A-Waters Park in a large patch of mixed wildflower species near the rear of the park.

Downy Yellow Violet - Michigan's only native yellow violet

Downy Yellow Violet is the only native species of yellow-flowering violet.  With the exception of Florida, this species is found in every eastern state.  It can be found as far west as Wyoming.  It is also found in seven Canadian provinces from Saskatchewan east to Nova Scotia.  It is found in all 82 counties in Michigan.

This plant is highly variable.  Some individuals are densely covered with short hairs; others are mostly hairless.  This variability has led to the species sometimes being split into several subspecies.  The examples that I photographed were mostly hairless, but had dense hairs lower on the stems.

Downy Yellow Violet - note hairs on stem

Wildflowers of 2016 - #22 through #26

Last Monday (25 April 2016), I was able to add five additional species to my Wildflowers of 2016 list, bring the total to twenty-six species for the year.  In 2014, I did not find my twenty-sixth wildflower species until May 11th.
 
Wildflowers of 2016 - #22 Large-flowered Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)

Large-flowered Trillium in a patch of Wild Leeks

I noticed several Large-flowered Trilliums (Trillium grandiflorum) as early as April 17th, but none were open until a week later.  Even then, overcast skies meant that the flowers were not completely open. 

Large-flowered Trillium - notice all of the parts that come in threes (leaves, sepals, petals)

To learn more about the Large-flowered Trillium, please check out this species profile from April 2013.


Wildflowers of 2016 - #23 Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)

While the large white flowers of Trillium were easy to find,  I had to search far and wide for my second species of the day.  There are several large patches of Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense) to be found at Chip-A-Waters Park - the rhizomes of this species grow outward to easily form large colonies.  Finding the plants is only the first step to finding the flower as the flowers grow below the leaves and rest directly on the ground.  Even knowing where to search, I still had to search through two patches of Wild Ginger before I found a single flower.

Wild Ginger flowers grow directly on the grown between pairs of leaves

Wild Ginger flowers are urn shaped, have three petal-like sepals, and measure approximately 1 inch across.  The sepals may vary in color from brown to purple to (less commonly) greenish-red.  Because the flowers sit directly on the ground, they are mainly pollinated by several species of ground-dwelling beetles.  The flowers and all other parts of the plant are covered with fine "hairs".

Wild Ginger - note fine hairs on all parts of the plant

Wild Ginger is found throughout the eastern United States and Canada as far south as Alabama and Georgia and as far west as the Dakotas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.


Wildflowers of 2016 - #24  Whitlow Grass (Draba verna)

Whitlow Grass is often found in lawns and other disturbed areas

My third flower of the day was growing in a lawn area, near the trailhead at Chipp-A-Waters Park.  Whitlow Grass (Draba verna) is only my second non-native species of the year.  This European native has naturalized across much of North America, being absent from the Great Plains.  I have a feeling that this species is more common than indicated by the USDA maps and is simply under-represented in herbaria collections.  The plant is small - measuring 2 to 12 inches tall, with a basal rosette of leaves that measure 3/8 to 3/4 inches across.  The flowers are white and have four deeply notched petals.

Whitlow Grass is small and easy to overlook

Whitlow Grass flowers have four deeply notched petals

Wildflowers of 2016 - #25 Early Meadow-rue (Thalictrum dioicum)

My next species of the day was Early Meadow-rue (Thalictrum dioicum).  I found this species nearly a month earlier than in 2014 (May 20th).  This is one of five Meadow-rue species found in Michigan.  It can be distinguished from the other species by looking at its leaves.  Three of the other four species have leaflets with three or fewer lobes - Early Meadow-rue has leaflets with 5 to 9 lobes.  The other species with leaflets with more than three lobes (T. venulosum) is not found in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

Early Meadow-rue leaves

Early Meadow-rue - note leaves have more than three lobes

 
The drooping flowers of Early Meadow-rue are found on branched clusters known as panicles.  Male and female flower are found on separate plants.  Male flowers have four purplish-brown or greenish-white petals with many yellow stamen dangling underneath.

Early Meadow-rue - male flowers

Wildflowers of 2016 - #26 White Trout Lily (Erythronium albidum)

If I want to see White Trout Lily (Erythronium albidum) growing wild in the Mt. Pleasant area, I know of only one small woodlot where it can be found.  This plant is not common in Mid-Michigan, we are at the very northern edge of its range in the Lower Peninsula (a population can also be found in the western Upper Peninsula).  Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) is much more common in Mid-Michigan even in the small woods where the White Trout Lily grows.

Like many other species of plants, I originally stumbled upon this flower by accident.  When I found it the first time I saw only one flower in bloom, and then I didn't see it blooming again for five years.  During those five years, beaver felled many of the trees in this small woods opening the canopy and allowing more sunlight to reach the forest floor.  In 2009, I found about ten White Trout Lily in bloom and I have managed to find it every year since.

This time I found a single plant in bloom.  This species does not flower every year.  It takes several years for the plants to produce enough stored energy in their corms (bulb-like structures) to produce a flower.  For several years, the plant will produce a single leaf and no flower; finally, after as many as seven year, the plant will grow a pair of leaves and a single white flower.

The single White Trout Lily that I found had not entirely opened up.  The flower petals will often curl upward to reveal its pistil and stamen.

White Trout Lily - this flower remained closed due to overcast skies