Insects made their appearance early on this warm fall day-catching up with the group at the beginning of the hike (I was a few minutes late, led astray by Google maps!), I encountered a Blackburn’s earth-boring beetle ( Geotrupes blackburnii) on the trail-fall seems to be the time of year when I encounter these and their close relative, the splendid earth-boring beetle ( G. In the lower areas we found river oats ( Chasmanthium latifolium), their distinctive flattened seed-heads ripe brown on still green leafy stems, colonizing drainages along and inside the woodlands, and a single patch of rock muhly grass ( Muhlenbergia sobolifera) was also seen inside the woodland. We also saw a few plants of a less common relative, Elliott’s bluestem ( Andropogon gyrans), its exaggerated bracts surrounding the terminal seed-heads and resembling the inflorescence of a bird-of-paradise (I think this is a very attractive grass that would look nice in native plantings). Broomsedge ( Andropogon virginicus) was abundant along the trail, resembling little bluestem but with its seed-heads guarded by elongated bracts and a bit more “yellowish” rather than reddish in color. However, a number of other grasses were present that tested our skills (good thing we had Alan with us to help us out). Little bluestem ( Schizachyrium scoparium), big bluestem ( Andropogon gerardii), Indian grass ( Sorghastrum nutans), and witch grass ( Panicum capillare) were common, as expected, and although all three are common species it was good to see them together as a reminder of their distinguishing characters: little bluestem with its small, curved seed-heads exposed along the stem, big bluestem with its “turkey foot” terminal seed-heads, and Indian grass with its robust, solid terminal spike of a seed-head. But, this was a botany outing, so I spent much of the time reinforcing my winter identification skills of the native warm-season grasses that grow in abundance along the paved trail that slices through the dry-mesic oak/pine forest. The weather today was spectacular-almost too warm (I prefer a crisp, cool, sunny day for fall hiking), but the warm temps did have a bonus: a wealth of insects, some of which are not commonly encountered and one that I’ve never seen before. Joe State Park is one of my favorites, and the Farmington Trailhead is a hidden gem that gets us away from the traffic of the park’s more popular bike loop and especially the grating noise of the ORV area. I wish I could have joined the group this summer, as that is when all the good stuff to see is out, but off-season botany is still fun, and the chance to test my ID skills with other experts only adds to the fun (not to mention just socializing as a group). I collected seed of all of them to sow in the back slope behind my house-the woodland species on the shadier side portions and the sun-loving species in the sunnier central area.įor the first time in many months I was able to join the WGNSS (Webster Groves Nature Study Society) Botany Group on their regular Monday field trip (my frenetic bug collecting schedule and travel w/ Madam during this past summer had made this all but impossible). Another grass, still undetermined, was found growing in patches in the riparian areas, its foliage still showing much more green than any of the other grasses and often growing intermixed with bottlebrush grass. virginicus, which is distinguished by its inflorescence being barely (if at all) exerted from the sheath. Nathan Aaron (via iNaturalist) identified the latter as Elymus glabriflorus (southeastern wildrye) based on habitat and season and suggested that the first one could be E. Broomsedge bluestem ( Andropogon virginicus) growing in dry-mesic upland oak/hickory forest.īottlebrush grass ( Elymus hystrix) occurred sporadically along the trail in the lower elevations within the forest, as well as two as yet undetermined species of wild rye (also in the genus Elymus)-one found along the trail inside the forest in moister areas (distinguished by its smaller, “hard-to-strip” seed-heads) and another found only in the much more open semi-glade (distinguished by its much more robust and “easy-to-strip” seed-heads).
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