Category Archives: Nature

Finally, a plant species list for Pearl Creek Farm!

Nature, , , ,

After digging through notes, field notebooks, field guides, and the furthest recesses of our memories, we’ve compiled a vascular plant species list for Pearl Creek Farm. So far, we have 221 species listed, which is not bad for 10 acres. I’ve marked several with codes indicating their native status and whether or not we “imported” them as part of one of our restorations. As you can see, we have some identification work to do on some of the plants here.

With the help of John Atwood at the Missouri Botanical Garden, I’ve also compiled a list of 16 bryophytes for the farm.

New Species for 2014

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It’s been an interesting year at Pearl Creek Farm. Plus, we also observed some new species to add to the list.

The most exciting find for me was an Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata) right at the edge of our prairie. Still, it was totally expected. In fact, it was amazing it took so long. We’d been finding them on the road within sight of our house almost since we moved in. Wait until we find our first Bullsnake!

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Mystery object

Nature,

I’m sure someone will know what these are. The halves are heavier than they look and fit together to form an imperfect sphere. The whole thing looks like a petrified walnut as the two halves fit together. The smaller globe is stuck inside the larger “shell”. The objects appear to be sandstone of some type (sandstone is abundant at Pearl Creek Farm) and I’m pretty sure they’re natural but not biological in nature. They were found near the creek and we find them or something similar occasionally, sometimes not broken apart. Any guesses?

Mystery objects
Mystery objects

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Frost Flowers

Nature, ,

It’s a good year for frost flowers. These “flowers” form during the first really cold nights of the fall. Basically, water is forced up through the stems of certain species of plants and is forced outward, forming intricate patterns. Most of these frost flowers formed on the stems of Verbesina virginica, White Crownbeard.

This is by far the most frost flowers I’ve ever seen in the wild. This is the third time I’ve seen them at Pearl Creek Farm. The other times I saw one or two only. There are more than two dozen out there now!

2014-11-13_14-04-15

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June Plants

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I hope June finds you knee-deep in native plants! Our prairie has gone from spring beauties and violets all the way through coneflowers, horsemint, and at least two types of milkweed. I can see ashy sunflower, blazing star, and various species of Silphium ready to round out the summer. Tufts of native grass are thicker than ever. The pond has yellow spatterdock, white waterlily, arrowhead (Sagittaria), and lizard’s tail all blooming right now. There will no doubt be more as the season progresses.

New butterfly

Nature

Here are some photos of an unknown butterfly species I saw today. Any lepidopterists out there?

butterfly-2 butterfly-1

Edit: That didn’t take long! John Oliver identified this guy as a Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa). It was not the first butterfly we saw but the first one I managed to photograph. Thanks, John!

Why are invasive species so successful and so bad?

Nature,

In my first post on non-native and invasive species, I explained the definition of these terms, gave several common examples, and explained why these terms are not synonyms. Let’s leave the general topic of non-native behind for a bit and concentrate on invasive species only. What makes them “bad” and why are they so successful?

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Our New Houseguest

Nature

No, I’m not talking about Jordan this time. We found this hatchling Black Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoletus) crawling around in the lowest part of the basement today. Enjoy!

Western Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoletus)
Western Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoletus)
Western Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoletus)
Western Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoletus)