Lexington Wildlife Management Area

Back in early June, the Central Chapter of the Oklahoma Native Plant Society took a field trip to the Lexington Wildlife Management Area. With almost 10,000 acres of “natural” areas, this place is a potential treasure for native plant enthusiasts. As a landscape designer in Cleveland county, I’m always on the look out for under utilized plants that do well right here in my neck of the woods. I was glad to explore some place a bit on the fringe of my region. The most interesting areas we found were the prairies that were mainly along the roads. Two of my favorite finds were two “Texas” plants that also make their home here: Bouteloua rigidiseta (Texas Grama) and Nassella leucotricha (Texas Winter Grass). The latter of the two is not documented as growing in Cleveland county. Always cool to find things not listed. Toward the end of our visit we were blessed with a lovely early Summer thunderstorm. The clouds made for a fantastic backdrop and the rain was just right for cooling the small band of intrepid botanical explorers as we headed back to our caravan (and no one was struck by lighting!). In our short trip we barely scratched the surface of what this place may have. We will certainly be going back!

: Asclepias tuberosa with visitor

: Oenothera speciosa white variant with visitor

: Echinacea angustifolia

: Indian Plantain field

: Arnoglossum plantagineum (Indian Plantain)

: Dracopis amplexicaulis (Clasping Coneflower) field

: Nassela leucotricha seeds

: Tale of two greenthreads

: Whitish variant of E. angustifolia

Posted on 06/29/2016 by Adam

Quartz Mountain

On a recent family trip to Quartz Mountain I took some time out for a little botanizing (of course!). I’m really interested in the “xeric” ferns of western Oklahoma and Quartz Mountain had some awesome examples. The “Star Cloak Fern” was a new one to me and quite striking at that. The Seri people of Sonora used the leaves in a tea to promote fertility and they believed it had “supernatural value”, providing protection to those that carried some in a pouch. It’s rugged gray fronds have a distinct star pattern and curl up when dry. The grey/silver Cheilanthes (probably eatonii) fern that I found also had a rugged and striking appearance. I like all things with gray and silver foliage! I also found what I think to be Pilularia americana (pillwort). These strange ferns have no fronds and look more like grasses or spike rush. I did see what appear to be sorus looking features which lead me to my ID of this. I hope to go back in the summer sometime and see the grasses and forbs in full glory. Overall a very interesting place thats unique features create pockets of cool and somewhat rare plants.

Posted on 04/19/2016 by Adam

Pipevine

Aristolochia fimbriata (white veined pipevine) from one of our favorite local nurseries Wild Things. The other worldly blooms and attractive vining foliage make this a nice choice for hanging baskets. Pipevines are host plants for Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies. This particular species is from South and Central America but we have native Oklahoma pipevine species as well.

Posted on 07/04/2015 by Adam

Wildflower Workshop

Yours truly. Photo by Lynn Carey Michael.

Back in mid May I was invited to give a talk on landscaping with native plants at the Oklahoma Native Plant Society’s 37th annual Wildflower Workshop. This year’s was held in the Durant area. The first day was filled with some interesting talks which included the topics of wildflower photography, “good” insects for the garden, the rare Seaside Alder of Oklahoma and the overflowing dam at Lake Texoma, amongst others. My talk centered around a concept I’ve been toying around with for a while which attempts to organize the principles of ecological landscaping into a basic code. I’ll be expounding upon this more in the near future and I’m considering turning it into a book.

The second day of the workshop was spent out exploring the Durant area looking at areas of interest. Our first stop was what to me looked like a vacant field adjacent to a new giant Methodist church. Turns out that it is a somewhat rare remnant prairie once referred to as Carpenter’s Meadow, where the native Oklahoma orchid Calopogon oklahomensis can be found. This orchid is becoming increasingly scarce due to development and loss of habitat. If you didn’t know what you were looking for you might miss it. It’s a fairly diminutive little plant, but once you get up close and take a look, it’s quite a beautiful flower and a graceful plant. The reaction I get when I mention one of Oklahoma’s native orchids to people is usually one of disbelief, or amazement that we have native orchids in the state. In fact we have quite a few orchid species in the state. Unfortunately many of them are threatened and becoming increasingly rare. Carpenter’s Meadow was a very diverse field which led to some interesting “botanizing”. One of it’s features which was new to me is the phenomenon known as “pimple prairies”. These are strange little mounds found in undisturbed prairies in various pockets of the world. Their origin seems to be somewhat of a mystery but it was neat to see how different plants favored the various features of these mounds and the lower ground around them. All in all I had a great time, learned much and enjoyed getting to know the good folks of the Native Plant Society more.

Calapgogon oklahomensis rare native Oklahoma Grass Pink orchid

Calopogon oklahomensis 2

Eryngium yuccifolium (Rattlesnake Master)

Matelea biflora (Purple Milkweed)

Near Silo, OK. Lush from all the rain!

(Standing Cypress) Ft. Washita, OK

Botanizing with the Prez

Diverse species interplay

Asclepias viridis (Green Milkweed)

Fimbry sp. and Cerastium sp.?

Gaillardia aestivalis (Prairie Gaillardia). Eco logo anyone?

Plantago aristata. A fancy looking plantain!

Posted on 06/14/2015 by Adam

Bio Blitz 2014 Black Kettle National Grassland

A small Eco Landscaping delegation attended this year’s Oklahoma Bioblitz (rapid biodiversity inventory) which was held at the Black Kettle National Grassland in Roger Mills County. I really enjoyed spending some time in this region. Ever since my first childhood trip to New Mexico I have always had a special affinity for the West. This particular part of Oklahoma is an interesting interstitial area where the Tallgrass prairie gives way to the Shortgrass prairie and High Deserts of the West. The level IV ecoregion for the area is referred to as the Rolling Red Hills, a sub region of the Central Great Plains. The area we camped in was roughly 1000 feet higher than our home base in Cleveland County but much of the vegetation was similar with some notable exceptions. Our main area of exploration was the red rocky, gravelly arid hills above Dead Warrior Lake. My favorite finds were the more arid loving species like Echinocereus reichenbachii, Melampodium leucanthum, Artemisia filifolia, various Penstemons, Aster fendleri and Scuttelaria drummondi. Side Oats Grama, Little Bluestem, Hairy Grama, Opuntias and Yucca glauca dominated with the aforementioned forbs accenting and dotting the landscape. Would like to have had more time to explore and hence will have to make a return trip. The information in the county history museum on the folk artist and pioneer farmer Joseph Muhlbacher was really intriguing. Looking forward to next year in Osage co.