On a recent mountain bike ride with a group of women, I
quickly fell behind the lead group while easily staying far ahead of the
beginner group. Alone in the forest on the first hot day, it was bliss. The
Makwa Trail flowed gracefully through deciduous woods south of Seeley, WI, and
as evening fell, I wallowed in the rich smells of the summer woods.
Riding alone allowed me to stop and smell the roses. The
bright white flowers of wild strawberries and the canary yellow flowers of
barren strawberry (both in the Rose Family) lined the trail. The first produces
a juicy red berry, the second, despite its similar set of three toothy leaves
and five-petaled flowers, only makes a few dry seeds. Trilliums, violets,
starflowers, bluebead lily, and a late-blooming wood anemone also caught my
eye.
Barren Strawberry along the Makwa Trail |
Wild Strawberry |
I’m pretty sure that Lois Nestel, the Museum’s first
naturalist and director, would never have joined me on a mountain bike ride,
but I know I would have loved walking attentively through the woods with her.
This week, I’d like to share her description of the residents of woods and
fields as summer begins to bloom. Slow down a minute with me, we’ll smell the
roses, and I think you’ll find it rewarding.
Lois wrote, “Although the woodland flowers of spring are
passing as increased foliage cuts off the light, there are still numbers of
delightful varieties to be found. Both pink and yellow lady-slippers are
blooming now as are some of the bog orchids. Many smaller shade-loving blooms
may also be found if one cares to expend the extra energy to find them. Dainty
gold-thread, pipsissewa, and twinflowers lift their lovely blooms only two or
three inches above the forest duff. The dwarf dogwood, known as bunchberry,
masses its four-petaled green and ivory flowers along banks and around old
stumps, and nearby the yellow bloom of Clintonia
or bluebead lily may be found.
“But from now until autumn the floral emphasis will be
upon the blossoms of open areas, roadsides, fields and glades—and the variety
seems endless. Drifts of color along roadsides and in meadows are more
spectacular than are the more modest flowers of spring. Daisies, hawk-weed, and
other composites now dominate the scene, and the yellow-flowered salsify, best
known in late summer for its huge dandelion-like seed head (commonly known as
goat’s beard), is one of the most interesting. It is related to the oyster
plant grown in gardens.
“Perhaps the loveliest flower of the season is the wild
rose, and differences in varieties and habitat allow their season to be quiet extended.
While color may vary from deep pink to almost white, the typical rose fragrance
varies little. Simple perfection personifies the rose.
“In damp meadows, golden alexanders spread their wheels
and along the edges, in sheltered nooks, wild columbine nods its spurred bells.
In drier fields and roadsides, flat-topped aromatic heads of yarrow vary from
dingy white to mauve or pink. From hillside to hallow, from northern to
southern exposure, great differences can be seen in the development of the
floral community. In sunny, open areas some plants will already be seeding
while their counterparts in cool depressions are only in bud.
“Summer’s profusion together with our modern way of life
can be a disadvantage. Traveling swiftly by car, one sees sheets and belts and
blurs of color…sees and yet does not see. The quantity bedazzles, the quality
is not seen.
“Take time to walk, to examine the intricacies of the
individual flower; look for the less obvious. It is rewarding.”
Special Note: Emily’s book, Natural
Connections: Exploring Northwoods Nature through Science and Your Senses is
here! Order your copy at http://cablemuseum.org/natural-connections-book/. Listen to the podcast at www.cablemusum.org!
For 50 years, the Cable Natural History Museum has served to
connect you to the Northwoods. Come visit us in Cable, WI! Our new exhibit:
"Better Together--Celebrating a Natural Community" is now open!
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