Dry Lands

As our very dry summer continues to keep our local meteorologists busy tabulating data, the rest of us try to spend as much time outdoors as possible. But even to the casual nature lover, the dry state of our local parks and trails is obvious. In particular, we visit Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve on a regular basis all year because it is nearby and offers good walking trails. This time of year in mid-September it is normally fairly dry at the preserve, but this year takes the proverbial cake in terms of dryness. The ponds are usually just starting to dry out now, but this year they are long since dried out.

     

The Pintail pond shown above on the left looks like the Dead Sea and the Bobcat Marsh pond on the right, had a good weed crop going at this point. Only the North pond still has a bit of water, and that's where I saw the egret and geese.

North Pond and Nodding Beggarticks

That said, on a recent outing at the preserve (9/08/2015), we were amazed at both the dryness of the marshy areas as well as some of the remaining plant life. It was no surprise that we did not spot any waterfowl to speak of except for a stray Great Egret and a couple of geese.

On the other hand, nearly every step along the trail released dozens of crickets from their resting places. I mean, we are talking a cricket big bang here folks, with possibly millions of the little musicians hanging out here. There were a few songbirds moving through the areas with trees, and no doubt picking off a few of the crickets.

Also surprising was the number of plants still hanging in there with blooms. The most widespread blooming plant at this time was the native Nodding Beggarticks, which seems to be taking over a large swath near the north pond. Next in line, by general observation, was the Willamette Valley Gumweed, another native that prefers wet meadows.

The rest of the blooms shown below were growing here and there, and were still attracting insects. So was I for that matter, but nothing was biting me! Mouse over or tap the thumbnails below for plant identification; the * means the plant is not native to our area.

     

     

     

     

     

     

And finally, for a chuckle, get on Google and search for "How dry is it? jokes."  :-)

Living Fossils?

No, I am not talking about my older relatives, although it is tempting; then again I'm no spring chicken either, so that might lead to a heavy "relativity" discussion. But I digress...

More to the point, imagine taking a walk through Forest Park and being surrounded by giant ferns and 100 ft. tall horsetail trees! Well you may have done this 350 million years ago.... if you were a dinosaur of course. Those horsetail trees were the ancestors of today's much shorter, but unique, horsetail plants we see almost everywhere in western Oregon. And because of that, I wanted to post about them, even though this primitive plant has no actual flowers, proving that this is a very inclusive blog.

Typically seen growing near damp, somewhat sunny areas, they are Common Horsetail - Equisetum arvense. World wide, there are about 20 species of horsetail plants, some growing up to 6 feet tall. These vascular plants do not seem to have any natural predators and they are highly resistant to bacteria and other plant woes, which explains their durability over the centuries.

Because horsetail has no flowers or seeds, they rely on spores and rhizomes for spreading. And as you have probably observed while out walking, this works very well. Horsetail colonies are common throughout our area and are considered invasive in some places.

To me, the horsetail plant does not really resemble a horse's tail; that is, unless the horse has just been electrocuted. It is also called snake grass and scouring rush in other areas for that matter. But the curious plant actually has two forms. An early spring, spore-bearing form that looks like an asparagus stalk comes up first and then dies off. Later, the green stalky form with brush-like green bristles emerges. The bristles are actually mutated leaves of a sort, but still very primitive.

Strobilius form, with spores on 3/24/2015 at Orchard Park

Sterile, photo-synthetic form on 8/26/2015

Twine-like leaves on silica stalk.

Horsetail colony near the Metolius River.

In the herbal medicine world, there are many references to the benefits of horsetail. It is considered an astringent, a diuretic, and can theoretically help with bone health due to the silica content. As with many such claims, there is little actual scientific evidence to support these benefits so don't go on a harvesting trip just yet.

Other "living fossil" plants you may see in Oregon are the Ginkgo tree, the Monkey Puzzle tree, the Dawn Redwood tree, and the Cycad plant, which would be an indoor resident around here. Note that some experts take issue with the "living fossil" term. See link below for a short discussion.

Dawn Redwood at Rood Bridge Park

Living Fossil Insights

Dawn Redwood Information

Top image courtesy of the Royal Ontario Museum