Category Archives: Sites around refuge

28 March 2015 – The Quest to Rediscover the Odenton Magnolia Bog

Renowned naturalist Waldo Lee McAtee recorded the presence of numerous magnolia bogs in the Washington, DC area during the early part of the 1900’s. Among the ones he cataloged in A sketch of the natural history of the District of Columbia – 1918 was a bog in Odenton, the exact location of which is not clear. He described this bog as “one of the best developed magnolia bogs in the region” that was “somewhat cut up by railway embankments.” He also noted that it was near a “sandy locality of considerable interest to collectors.” In the late summer, orange milkwort (Polygala lutea) and white-fringed orchid (Platanthera blephariglottis) in the bog is said to make a “gorgeous show.” Bear oak (Quercus ilicifolia) and pitch pine (Pinus rigida) were also sighted in the area. McAtee also noted that the floristic composition of the Suitland Bog and the Odenton Bog is similar to the Pine Barrens of New Jersey (McAtee, 1918).

With this information in hand, it might be possible to rediscover the Odenton Magnolia Bog. There is a candidate area on the Patuxent Research Refuge which deserves consideration, and that is the putative magnolia bog that is located just south of the Clean Fill Dump (CFD) on the eastern edge of the Refuge’s North Tract. There are at least three references of this so-called magnolia bog in documents describing the CFD. (Environmental Protection Agency, 2000; URS Group, Inc., 2011; Fish and Wildlife Service, 2013).

The author has not yet been able to find a direct historical connection between the magnolia bog described by McAtee and the one south of the CFD. However, the descriptions of the bogs provides a possible clue. McAtee referred to the bog being “cut up by railway embankments.” The eastern edge of the CFD bog is about 500 to 600 feet from the Penn Line. This means that McAtee’s Odenton bog and the CFD bog could be the same site. A closer examination of the site and the discovery of historical references may resolve this question.

Sphagnum moss hummock
Sphagnum moss hummock

Initial surveys conducted in March 2015 confirmed the boggy nature of the CFD site. The area exhibited a dense understory with scattered patches of medium-sized sphagnum moss and hummocks covered in sphagnum moss spread throughout. The central muck in the bog reached depths of 2 to 3 feet, situated on a gentle slope of 5 degrees or less, crisscrossed by various meandering water channels. Evidence suggests an upward vertical hydraulic gradient, with water observed percolating through leaf litter towards the CFD and along its western side. This phenomenon was also documented in assessments conducted by the Army and the EPA. Adjacent to the boggy area, there is an elevated upland forest to the northwest, likely serving as the water source for the site.

Gravel and cobblestone mixed with sandy silt soil
Gravel and cobblestone mixed with sandy silt soil found just off site

On the road bordering the northern side of the CFD, exposed soil comprised of rounded gravel, cobblestone-sized rocks, and sandy silt was visible in certain spots, upslope from the CFD. This soil type might also be present in the boggy area to the south, although it could alternatively be fill dirt brought in from elsewhere.

In general, the habitats appear to transition from a magnolia bog type in the north near the CFD to a more swampy habitat in the south. Towards the southern end, there is a notable area dominated by Phragmites. Water runoff continues southward until it reaches the Little Patuxent River, just east of Bailey Bridge Swamp.

American holly found in the drier areas next to bog
American holly found in the drier areas next to bog

An attempt was made to estimate the concentration of sweet bay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) in the area, but since it had not yet leafed out, a crude estimate was made by examining the leaf litter. Some areas showed little evidence of sweet bay magnolia leaves, while others had a high concentration. A more accurate estimate will have to wait until later in the season.

Throughout the area, American holly (Ilex opaca) was scattered, particularly in drier spots. Green brier (Smilax rotundifolia) appeared to be ubiquitous. Pitch pine and Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana), along with other upland forest tree species, were also present. At least one pitch pine observed from a distance exhibited black-colored bark, suggesting the possibility of a recent fire.

Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) was in full bloom and visible throughout the site. Red maple (Acer rubrum) was just beginning to bloom.

Skunk cabbage in full bloom
Skunk cabbage in full bloom

The CFD is about 13 acres in area according to EPA assessment done for the Record of Decision (Environmental Protection Agency, 2000). The total extent of the historic bog is unknown, so it may be difficult to determine how much of the debris and soil from the CFD actually covers the original magnolia bog.

Clean Fill Dump debris
Clean Fill Dump debris

Upon examining the micro-topography of the site and the direction of water flow into the bog, it appears that some toe slope seepages are situated on the western side of the CFD. Based on the author’s understanding of toe slope seepages, it’s possible that debris from the CFD has covered much of these seeps. While there is evidence of toe slope seepages around the CFD margins, it’s hoped that some may have been overlooked and expert confirmation is needed to clarify their status.

A brief inspection of the bog on the southern edge of the CFD revealed no visible contamination or siltation. However, the author lacked the means to conduct chemical water testing. Assessments conducted by the Army and EPA might provide valuable information regarding potential chemical contamination levels.

Further investigation is required to confirm the exact habitat type of the area. A comprehensive floristic survey is scheduled for the 2015 planting season. Additionally, research into the historical background of the bog and the CFD will be pursued.

If the bog at the Clean Fill Dump is indeed the same one noted by McAtee in 1918 as located in Odenton, it raises the question of why it remained overlooked by bog enthusiasts until now. The answer likely lies in the fact that the land was originally part of Camp Meade, established in June 1917, which restricted access to scientists (http://www.ftmeade.army.mil/museum/Meade_Intro.html). It’s unclear who initially rediscovered this site, but its designation as a magnolia bog in documents related to the clean-fill dump indicates that knowledge of its existence persisted at least after the land was transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service. The assessments of the clean fill dump inadequately describe the site, and recent significant research on the area has yet to be found.

 

CITATIONS

Department of Army. About Fort Meade, Fort Meade Museum On-line. http://www.ftmeade.army.mil/museum/Meade_Intro.html Accessed 10 April 2015.

Environmental Protection Agency. 2000. Record of Decision, Clean Fill Dump (CFD), Operable Unit – 07, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland.

Fish and Wildlife and Wildlife. 2013. Patuxent Research Refuge, Comprehensive Conservation Plan.

Harrison, J.W., W.M. Knapp. 2010. Ecological classification of groundwater-fed wetlands of the Maryland Coastal Plain. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service, Natural Heritage Program, Annapolis, MD. June 2010. 98 pp.

Hitchcock, A.S., Standley, P.C. Flora of the District of Columbia and Vicinity. Vol. 21. 1919.

McAtee, W. L. 1918. A sketch of the natural history of the District of Columbia. Washington, DC: Bulletin of the Biological Society of Washington

Simmons, R., Strong, M. 2001. Araby bog flora surveys. Maryland Native Plant Society, SAMMS.

Simmons, R., Strong, M. 2002. Fall Line Magnolia Bogs of the Mid-Atlantic Region. Audubon Naturalist.

URS Group, Inc. 2011. Draft Final, Second Five-Year Review Report, Clean Fill Dump Operable Unit, Patuxent Research Refuge – North Tract, Anne Arundel County, MD.

16 March 2014 – Quirky Hybrid Oaks of Patuxent

Did you know that the Patuxent Research Refuge is the home to several types of hybrid oaks? Read on to learn more.

20140316bThe oak-rich Patuxent Research Refuge has 16 native oak species, one naturalized exotic oak species, and at least ten types of trees that are regarded as oak hybrids. The reason so many oaks species call the Refuge their home is due to the Refuge location near the Fall Line between the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont and at the same time, it is at a crossroads between northern and southern species of oak.

In North America, there are two basic groups or sections of oak species, the red oaks and white oaks. An easy way to tell them apart is determine whether or not there are bristles at end of the lobes of the leaves. Red oaks have bristles while white oaks do not. When considering hybrid oaks, it is important to distinguish between these two groups of oaks because red oak species will cross only with other red oak species and white oak species will cross only with other white oak species.

Hybrid oaks may be found anywhere two parent species are found. However, the Refuge seems to have more than its share of hybrids when compared to other areas, with at least ten types of hybrids identified so far on the Refuge. Undoubtedly, there are other types of hybrids on the Refuge which have not yet been identified. The reason for the richness of hybrid oaks on the Refuge is probably due to the influence of human activity.

Under normal conditions, there are barriers against hybridization. These include pollination timing, closeness to other trees of the same species, and the rejection of “foreign” pollen by the female (pistillate) flowers. While hybridization occurs naturally, many of these barriers can be easily broken down and the process accelerated because of human disturbance. This phenomenon is easily observed on the Refuge due to the Refuge’s long history of farming, logging, and more recently, military training. These activities have contributed to an increased number of opportunities for individual trees to become isolated and marginalized from others of their own species. When this happens, these isolated trees are overwhelmed with pollen from nearby trees of a closely related species – under normal circumstances they would not readily cross. It is interesting to note that this means the mother tree of the hybrid can generally be assumed to be the tree that was isolated from others of its species.

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There are several young Fernow’s Oak (Quercus ×fernowii) trees at one location along Wild Turkey Way. (The Fernow’s Oak is the hybrid between the Post Oak (Quercus stellata) and the Common White Oak (Quercus alba.)) Here, a mature Post Oak which found itself isolated from other Post Oaks but surrounded by a large number of Common White Oaks. As a result, the pollen from the surrounding Common White Oaks fertilized the female flowers of the mother Post Oak and the progeny of this tree are found nearby. As with most other hybrid oaks, mature Fernow’s Oak can produce viable acorns. However, none have been noted here yet.

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Another easily observed and notable hybrid specimen is a Saul’s Oak tree located along Wild Turkey Way near Snowden Cemetery. The Saul’s Oak (Quercus ×saulii, a cross between the Common White Oak and the Chestnut Oak (Quercus prinus.)) This particular tree is a known prolific acorn producer. The mother tree is probably a Chestnut Oak based on the fact that there are a large number of Common White Oaks at this location.

You can see a short article on Saul’s Oak on the refuge by clicking here.

Sometimes it is difficult, if not almost impossible, to determine the parentage of some individual trees which appear to be hybrids. These trees may clearly exhibit some, but not all, of the characteristics of one parent species, but not the other. There are several trees on the Refuge that fall into this category. It might be possible to clear this up by DNA testing.

Then there is the process called introgression or hybrid swarming. This happens when a viable hybrid will backcross with one or another of the parent species creating progeny that are not clearly intermediate between the two parents. The observer is forced to speculate on the parentage of the tree based on what species of trees are located nearby. If backcrossing with the parents, other hybrids, and backcrossed trees continues, trees exhibiting a highly variable range of characteristics between the two parents can result. There is evidence that this is also happening on the Refuge.

Finally, it is possible for hybrids to cross with a third species or even hybrids from different sets of parents to cross with each other. The resulting individual trees have three or more “parents.” This is not yet known to happen on the Refuge, but has been well documented as happening in other locations like California.

If there is interest, the Refuge may schedule a walk focusing on oak hybrids in the future.

PATUXENT RESEARCH REFUGE OAKS –

Hybrids –
Bush’s Oak – Quercus ×bushii [marilandica × velutina] –
Fernouw’s Oak- Quercus ×fernowii [alba × stellata] –
Bartram’s Oak – Quercus ×heterophylla [phellos × rubra] –
A hybrid oak – Quercus xhumidicola
A hybrid oak – Quercus ×incomita [falcata × marilandica] –
Jack’s oak – Quercus xjackiana
Saul’s Oak – Quercus ×saulii [alba × montana] –
Subfalcate Oak – Quercus ×subfalcata [falcata × phellos] –
Willdenow’s Oak – Quercus ×willdenowiana [falcata × velutina]

Native Red Oaks –
Scarlet Oak – Quercus coccinea
Southern Red Oak – Quercus falcata
Bear Oak – Quercus ilicifolia
Shingle Oak – Quercus imbricaria
Blackjack Oak – Quercus marilandica
Pin Oak – Quercus palustris
Willow Oak – Quercus phellos
Northern Red Oak – Quercus rubra
Black Oak – Quercus velutina

Native White Oaks –
Common White Oak – Quercus alba
Swamp White Oak – Quercus bicolor
Overcup Oak – Quercus lyrata
Swamp Chestnut Oak – Quercus michauxii
Chestnut Oak – Quercus montana
Dwarf Chinkipin Oak – Quercus prinoides
Post Oak – Quercus stellata

Naturalized Exotic Oak –
Sawtooth Oak – Quercus acutissima

Planted Not Established Exotic Oak –
Bur Oak – Quercus macrocarpa

American Hazelnut - Corylus americana

15 March 2014 – Only four plant species found to be blooming – still late winter!

Eastern Skunk Cabbage - Symplocarpus foetidus in bloom.
Eastern Skunk Cabbage – Symplocarpus foetidus in bloom.

 

Today, I looked around the refuge for plants that might be blooming and found only four species! Last year at this time, at least 20 species of plants were blooming. This indeed has been a long cold winter. And… the weather man is predicting 3 to 8 inches of snow tomorrow!  When will spring come?

 

 

The four species of plants that I saw blooming were:

Whitlow Grass – Draba verna

Persian Speedwell – Veronica persica

American Hazelnut – Corylus americana

and

Hairy Bittercress - Cardamine hirsutaHairy Bittercress – Cardamine hirsuta

I am quite sure that the Eastern Skunk Cabbage – Symplocarpus foetidus – was probably also blooming, but I did not look for it.

SONY DSCSkunk cabbage flowers inside of the spathe (the structure that covers the flowers).

6 July 2013 – Short’s Hedgehyssop (Gratiola viscidula Pennell) – A Maryland State Endangered Plant

Stems poking through the water surface - 6 July 2013
Stems poking through the water surface – 6 July 2013

Today, one of my stops was to check on the health of the Short’s Hedgehyssop (Gratiola viscidula Pennell) population. You see, the Short’s Hedgehyssop is listed as a state endangered species by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Natural Heritage Program. (For more details – click here.)

 

Clump of healthy plants above the water level in July 2011
Clump of healthy plants above the water level in July 2011

 

I first found this member of the Plantaginaceae family on the North Tract in July 2011 thriving on the muddy shore of a pond. There were several clumps of it, it was in full bloom and appeared to be very healthy. Before my discovery of this population, there was only one other known population in Maryland, and that was on the refuge’s Central Tract. In August 2011, another plant enthusiast Dwight Johnson and I looked for it but failed to find it.

 

Clump of plants covered by water - 6 July 2013
Clump of plants covered by water – 6 July 2013

 

Last year the plants were partially covered by water as the water level in the pond had risen a bit. This year, they were completely inundated and did not look very healthy. Further investigation revealed that some beavers had blocked the outlet to the pond and that was why the water was higher. A couple of weeks ago, refuge staff removed the debris from the outlet and the water level receded to a level just higher than it was in 2012.

Close-up of a stem poking through the water surface - 6 July 2013
Close-up of a stem poking through the water surface – 6 July 2013

 

Although most of the plants were submerged today, there were a several stems poking up above the water some distance from the main submerged clumps. A couple of stems were actually making their presence known on the muddy areas just above the water level. Even so, all of these stems would have been underwater were it not for the refuge staff clearing out the debris placed by the beavers at the pond’s outlet.

Continued monitoring of the plant population’s health and of the water level of the pond may be necessary for the plant’s future survival at this site.

Flower in full bloom - 1 July 2011
Flower in full bloom – 1 July 2011

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Looking down the throat of a blossom - 1 July 2011
Looking down the throat of a blossom – 1 July 2011

 

5 July 2013 – Dense Tuft Hair Sedge (Bulbostylis capillaris)

Tufts of this small plant - Notice the light-colored sand.
Tufts of this small plant – Notice the light-colored sand.

Today in a sandy area in the northwest part of the refuge’s North Tract near the highest elevation on the refuge, I spotted a small tufted grass-like plant. I was unsure of its identity so I reached out to some botanist friends and Mark Strong of the Smithsonian Institute’s National Herbarium came through and identified it as Bulbostylis capillaris (L.) Kunth ex C.B. Clarke (Dense Tuft Hair Sedge.)

Inflorescence with three flowers.
Inflorescence with three flowers.

This member of the sedge family (Cyperaceae) is found throughout much of North America, but is absent from the Northern Rockies, Washington State, Western Canada and Alaska. It is usually 1.5 to 12 inches high.  At this location it was less than 4 inches high. It prefers dry sandy areas, poor soil, and is found in various locations from railroad ballast to open woods.

Below are some additional photos of this plant.

Full view of a tuft including the roots, <4 inches tall
Full view of a tuft including the roots.
A tuft in habit
A tuft in habit

 

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1 July 2013 – Specimen number 8000 – Forked Panic Grass

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8000!

Today I collected specimen number 8000 on my lifetime list.

The plant that has the honor of being my 8000th specimen in my collection is the Forked Panic Grass, scientific name Dichanthelium dichotomum (L.) Gould. Forked Panic Grass is a variable species with several different recognized sub-species.

Dichanthelium is Greek dich for “two” and anthelium for “flowering” – a fair translation is “twice-flowering”, and dicotomum means forked. Many members of the genus Dichanthelium characteristically take two forms, an erect form in late spring and early summer, and a mat-forming one in late summer and early fall. The plants bloom each time.

Last fall I collected the mat-forming form near the Bur Reed Swamp. To make the collection complete I went back to the same spot and collected the erect form, and this is the specimen that has the collection number 8000 attached to it.

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27 April 2013 – Backwards-grafted Tree

SONY DSCToday, I found something really fascinating. It was a tree which one of its branches grafted back on to itself without human intervention. The technical name for this phenomenon is inosculation, but I call it backwards-grafting.  It can also happen when two trees of the same species touch each other and over time naturally grow into each other. In this case, it is also is called conjoining. Inosculation can be encouraged artificially. Some people have succeeded in making ladders and interesting looking lattice work.

The tree was an American beech tree (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) and it is located next to the road which leads to Scout Camp 1. I tried to take pictures from various angles to show what this looks like.

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1 April 2013 – Thinleaf Alder – Alnus incana

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A full view

 

The Thinleaf Alder (Alnus incana (L.) Moench ssp. tenuifolia (Nutt.) Breitung) is a subspecies of alder that is found in Western North America from Alaska, Yukon, and the Northwest territories on the North to Arizona and New Mexico on the South.

 

Looking up through the canopy

It is a thicket-forming suckering shrub or small tree that can reach 25 to 40 feet in height, which prefers streamsides over other habitats. In Washington State, it is found on the eastern slopes of the Cascades and along the Idaho border on extreme eastern part of the state. These pictures were taken in the Tower Mountain complex at the Iller Creek Trailhead near Spokane.

Male catkins in front with female catkins on the end of the twigs.

 

The Thinleaf Alder blooms in early spring. The male (staminate) catkins are up to 4 inches long and the female (pistillate) catkins are less than that 1 inch long. The female catkins mature in the fall to cone-like fruits. The cones are persistent throughout winter and can be seen in the spring as shown here. The seeds are small, 1–2 millimeters long, and light brown with a narrow encircling wing.

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Close-up of female catkins on the right and male catkins on the left
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Cone-like fruits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The leaves are thin, oval, doubly-serrated, and alternate, 2 to 4 inches long, dark green above, paler with slight pubescence below. I was unable to take pictures of the leaves because they were not out yet.

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A trunk with light gray colored bark

 

The tree’s bark is generally smooth in texture and green-gray to reddish-brown in color with light colored horizontal lenticels, which become scaly as the trees mature.

 

 

 

 

 

31 March 2013 – Hood’s Phlox – Phlox hoodii

Close-up of a flower

Hood’s Phlox (Phlox hoodii Richardson) is a highly variable, widespread species found in Western North America from Alaska to Northern Mexico on the west to Manitoba, Nebraska, and New Mexico on the East. It is a common constituent of the sagebrush community, and is one of the first blooming plants in the spring after the snow melts. It is not found along the coasts. In Washington, it is found east of the Cascades.

Hood’s Phlox
Phlox hoodii Richardson

 

Phlox hoodii is also referred to as Carpet Phlox, Moss Phlox, and Spiny Phlox among other names.

The morphology of this species is highly variable with several recognized varieties. I am not sure which variety this one is, but it is one of the mat forming ones growing from a deep tap root. There is at least one variety that is more erect.

Close-up of leaves

 

 

The leaves are sharp-pointed barely more than 1 cm long. The herbage is hairy in texture, the hairs short to long, woolly to cobwebby. The inflorescence consists of a solitary flower in in shades of blue, pink, and white. The throat of the flowers are about 1 centimeter long, and spread out to a flat five-lobed corolla.

Hood’s Phlox
Phlox hoodii Richardson

 

 

Sir John Richardson who first collected this species in present-day Saskatchewan, Canada named it after Lieutenant Robert Hood, a junior officer who accompanied Richardson on one of his expeditions.

 

25 March 2013 – Winter Wonderland

The announcement board by the main entrance.
The announcement board by the main entrance with snow covering the lower one third of the sign.

On the way home today, I drove by the refuge to take a few pictures of our overnight “snowstorm.” Late winter/early spring snowstorms like this are not unheard of in this part of Maryland. At nearby Fort Meade, they recorded 4 inches of snow today so far.

Bald Eagle Drive looking south going towards the contact station
Bald Eagle Drive looking south going towards the contact station

 

 

Trailhead of the Little Patuxent River Trail
Trailhead of the Little Patuxent River Trail

 

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The road to the contact station was slushy, and passable.  No problem there.

 

 

 

 

However, the side unpaved roads were snow covered and impassable by vehicles. Hiking on the established trails would require snow boots.

 

 

 

The snow was wet and made a pretty scene in the woods.

 

 

 

The Little Patuxent River.

16 March 2013 – Foray to Shangri La Forest

AJ standing by a tree in a stream near the Salamander Pond.
AJ standing by a tree in a stream near the Salamander Pond.

Today, AJ and I ventured out to the Shangri La Forest. It is the area at the center of the Inner Core and is located between Shangri La Pond and the Little Patuxent River.  It was our first time to the area and we wanted to check out the level of human influence there.  We parked the Jeep by the Salamander Pond and walked in from there. (Click on thumbnails for larger views.)

Shangri La Forest
Shangri La Forest

 

The level of human influence was relatively low, and appears to be mostly from an occasional hunter.

There was also evidence of healed scars of old military activity, and even at that, it was not as great as elsewhere on the refuge. We documented by photography a lot of the evidence of the human activity we saw, most of which was on the periphery of the Shangri La Forest.

Barbed Wire embedded in Beech Tree
Barbed Wire embedded in Beech Tree

 

Just outside of Shangri La Forest, we spotted several trees with embedded barbed wire.  By the looks of the things, the wire has been in the trees for at least 50 years.

 

Orange tape wrapped around a tree
Orange tape wrapped around a tree

 

 

Near the center of Shangri La Forest, someone, apparently a hunter, wrapped orange tape around at least three trees.  Maybe he thought this was a good place to come back to and marked the area this way.

Rails spanning a stream near the Little Patuxent
Rails spanning a stream near the Little Patuxent

 

Someone placed these rails/I-Beams across a stream near the Little Patuxent River. This location is well outside of the Shangri La Forest, in the bottomland woods next to the river. We have no idea what these rails were used for because obviously they are not strong enough to carry a vehicle of any size. What do you think?

Spring Ephemerals in Bottomland Woods
Spring Ephemerals, Virginia Bluebells and Lesser Celadine, poking up in Bottomland Woods

 

 

The spring ephemeral plants were not quite in bloom yet, but we could see that they were getting ready to bloom any time.  Most notably we saw Virginia Bluebells and the aggressive invasive Lesser Celandine poking through the sandy silt soil.

 

 

This area is remote, and will require at least three to four hours at a time per foray to make it worthwhile. It may hold some surprises yet. (Look below for more photographs of our foray.)

AJ standing on the banks of the Little Patuxent
AJ standing on the banks of the Little Patuxent
Little Patuxent River looking downstream
Looking Downstream, Little Patuxent River
Skunk Cabbage
Skunk Cabbage
Skunk Cabbage

 

Rattlesnake Orchid
Rattlesnake Orchid

14 March 2013 – Spring has sprung!

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Virginia Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)

 

It has been a while since I have posted something here. There is no time like the present to resume….

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Closeup of Whitlow Grass (Draba verna)

Spring is here. So far this year I have seen 16 species of plants blooming despite the fact it can still get below freezing. Like tonight, the weather folks are predicting lows tonight in the upper 20’s.

 

I estimate that, this year, flowers are blooming about 2 to 3 weeks later than last year despite the warm January.

In January, at least four plants were blooming! See the list below for the annotation.

I am posting pics of a Virginia spring beauty (Claytonia virginica) that I spotted along Duvall Bridge Road and of Whitlow Grass (Draba verna) which was doing well in the wildflower bed in the Wildlife Observation Area.

  1. Acer rubrum – Red maple
  2. Cardamine hirsuta – Bittercress (blooming in January)
  3. Cerastium fontanum – Common mouse-ear chickweed
  4. Cerastium glomeratum – Sticky mouse-ear chickweed
  5. Claytonia virginica – Virginia spring beauty
  6. Corylus americana (American hazelnut)
  7. Draba verna – Whitlow grass
  8. Forsythia ×intermedia – Showy forsythia
  9. Lamium amplexicaule – Henbit deadnettle
  10. Poa annua – Annual bluegrass
  11. Senecio vulgaris – Common groundsel (blooming in January)
  12. Symplocarpus foetidus – Skunk cabbage (blooming in January)
  13. Taraxacum officinale – Dandelion (blooming in January)
  14. Thlaspi arvense – Field pennycress
  15. Ulmus americana – American elm
  16. Veronica persica – Birds-eye speedwell

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13 March 2013 – Mill Race Swamp

SONY DSC I drove by Mill Race Swamp today and discovered that the water level was way down. I think that is because someone removed the beaver-placed debris from the drainage culvert. Anyway, the swamp is an impoundment. The road that borders it on the south side is a dike. Before they built the road, the area that is now the swamp was an bottomland forest. SONY DSCYou can see what a bottomland forest looks like on the south side of the road. In the swamp itself, you can see the old semi-rotting stumps and logs of the trees that used to stand here. Botanically, the area is dominated by swamp tolerant grass and some swamp shrubs. There are just a few interesting plants. Sigh. The beavers love it and I have seen a bald eagle or two flying over the area at times. I saw evidence of a river otter passing through on one of my visits last year.

30 October 2012 – Sandy: Flood at the Main Entrance to North Tract

Today, I had the day off because of Sandy and so this morning I decided to go the North Tract to check things out. As soon as I came up to the entrance of the North Tract, I spotted an Anne Arundel County Police patrol car blocking Maryland 198. The officer in the car told me that the highway was blocked because the water was too high going under the bridge and they were concerned that the weight of vehicles on it could cause it to collapse.

I looked to the right and discovered that the ball field next to Bald Eagle Drive and Bald Eagle Drive itself were completely inundated. Obviously, the main gate was blocked due to the water.

Enjoy!

The Inner Core – Untouched by Human Hands (Mostly)

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this article is to draw attention to and spark interest in a special parcel of land on the North Tract. For the purposes of this article, I will call it the “Inner Core.”

Boggy Area on Southern Edge of Beaver Valley
While there is no true wilderness on the North Tract, the Inner Core has probably had the least amount of anthropogenic impact of any area on the North Tract, and if any land on the North Tract comes close to being a wilderness, this area might be it. According to initial field observations, this area appears to be the most pristine of all the areas within the North Tract and probably the whole Patuxent Research Refuge. Biologically speaking, this area is like a time capsule.

There some rare and uncommon plant communities in this area. One plant community of particular interest is the Southern Red Maple – Black Gum Swamp Forest, a type of acidic seepage swamp. It is found in several places on the North Tract, but none are in as pristine condition as the one in the Inner Core. This plant community is considered globally rare (G3) because of its limited distribution. The future preservation of this community on the refuge will be determined by the level of protection and the type of management provided. There are other plant communities found in the Inner Core, which while not rare, are uncommon and deserve elevated protection. Even if none of the plant communities in the Inner Core were rare or uncommon, the fact that such a biologically pristine area exists at all within a large metropolitan area is significant and would in my opinion still deserves a high level of protection.

BOGGY AREA ON THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF BEAVER VALLEY

Numerous boggy areas are found within this area, but they are too small to be listed as vegetation types. One good area for this type of micro-community is the southern edge of Beaver Valley. They are usually typified by mats of sphagnum moss growing on top of a gravelly base. Boggy areas usually contain plant species that are not found in other locations. Fringe orchids (Platanthera ssp.) are examples of species found in these areas.

The possibility of finding rare and unusual plant species in the Inner Core is high. One rare plant to be on the lookout for in the Inner Core and adjacent areas is the federally threatened (G2) is Swamp Pink (Helonias bullata). Further study within this area and adjacent areas may yield some interesting finds.

LOCATION

The Inner Core is located in the area east of the Wood Duck Pond and includes the land that surround what is known as Beaver Valley and Shangri La. This area is known for its palustrine wetlands which formed from ancient riverbeds of the Little Patuxent River. The precise boundary of the Inner Core is fuzzy because it impossible to determine where the area ends and non-Inner Core land begins. What can be done is to exclude certain surrounding areas, and guess on the rest.

Map of Inner Core
Area outlined in blue = 1917 Army acquisition south of Little Patuxent River
Area outlined in red = Inner Core
NOTE: the alignments are approximate.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Let’s look at the history of this area to see why it is so pristine.

There is clear evidence of human settlement activity in the area surrounding the Inner Core. Maps from 1860 and the later 1800’s show that at least three homesteads existed in the western part of the Inner Core. There may have been abortive attempts at farming, but the swampy nature and inaccessibility may have made farming difficult. However, initial observations show that the trees in the Inner Core are mostly second growth, clearly indicating a history of logging. More study of the area is needed to understand the extent and impact of historic settlement and logging.

Historical maps show some primitive roads in the area, including one that runs just south of Beaver Valley and another one that transverses the Inner Core from northwest to southeast. However, it may be impossible to determine the exact alignment of these two roads by ground truthing because of their original primitive condition and because vegetation has overgrown the roadbeds.

If there was ever any settlement activity in the Inner Core, it would have come to an end in 1917 when the Army acquired the land for a military installation. Most of the land acquired by the Army at the time was north of the Little Patuxent River, with a small parcel of land south of the Little Patuxent River. The Inner Core is part of this small “south of the river” parcel. According to a US Geological Survey map from 1918, the “south of the-river” parcel is roughly bounded by the Little Patuxent River on the north and east, Telegraph Road to just north of Wood Duck Pond on the west, then by a line that runs roughly southeast from a point just north of Wood Duck Pond to a point near Salamander Pond, and finally by a line which runs northeast from that point towards the Little Patuxent River. Because of map resolution issues, the border of the “south of the river” parcel is not precisely determined.

Between 1917 and the late 1930’s, the Army probably did not conduct large scale exercises in the “south of the river” parcel because there was enough land available north of the river to conduct exercises, and the area was remote being on the “other side of the river.” For a short time in the 1930’s, the Inner Core was part of the “Meade National Forest” when the Army temporarily gave up control of a major part of the military installation. In the late 1930’s, the winds of war brought a great change, when the army re-acquired the “Meade National Forest” and annexed a large portion of land south of the Little Patuxent and north of the Patuxent River.

Since the late 1930’s, the Inner Core was probably largely ignored because military exercises could now be conducted in the large parcel of newly acquired land which was more accessible. Inner Core was also part of an area on Fort Meade which was used as an artillery shell impact zone. As a result, unexploded ordnance in the Inner Core and other areas probably became a concern for the area’s use for exercises.

Sometime before 1990, the Army stopped using the area as an impact zone, but the danger of unexploded ordnance lingered. After the early 1990’s when control of a large portion of Fort Meade was transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the only significant human activity in the Inner Core has been hunting and biological surveying.

COMMENTS ABOUT INVASIVE SPECIES

When one visits the Inner Core, you are struck by the absence of invasive plants when compared to the rest of the North Tract. That said, initial observations of the area indicate that there are some invasive species in the area, such as Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), and common reedgrass (Phragmites australis). A small number of populations of the first two species with few individual plants are found in the mesic woods which surround the palustrine wetlands. The common reedgrass (Phragmites australis) has been found in a couple of small isolated populations. Further study will probably show isolated pockets of other invasive species, but if they exist, they are probably not as pervasive as elsewhere on the North Tract

BOTTOMLAND FLOODPLAIN EXCLUDED

Although the bottomland floodplain along the Little Patuxent River also has had minimal human influence over the years, it is excluded from the Inner Core. This is because invasive plants have negatively altered the original pristine condition of the bottomlands. Various invasive species, such as lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria), ivy-leaved speedwell (Veronica hederifolia), Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica), Japanese stilt grass (Microstegium vimineum), and creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea), have been introduced into the bottomlands from outside of the refuge by periodic flooding and have taken a strong foothold. The Inner Core wetlands are subject to occasional flooding, but their relative higher elevation means that they are out of the Little Patuxent River floodplain which would slow the spread of these invasive species.

CONCLUSION

The Inner Core can provide a rich area for future biological research. Perhaps elevated protection of some kind may be warranted to minimize future human impact on this area. The comparative lack of human activity and the relative pristine condition of the Inner Core make it a special place on the North Tract, indeed a biological time capsule. I hope this article has sparked some interest.

ANNEX

NVC VEGETATION ASSOCIATIONS IDENTIFIED IN THE INNER CORE AND ADJACENT AREAS

  • Central Appalachian Cutgrass March (Globally not rated)
  • Coastal Plain Oak Floodplain Swamp (G4)
  • Coastal Plain/Piedmont Floodplain Forest (G4)
  • Eastern North American Ruderal Wet Meadow and Marsh (Globally not rated – Ruderal)
  • Mid-Atlantic Mesic Hardwood Forest (GS)
  • Northeastern Coastal Plain Mixed/Oak Heath Forest (G4G5)
  • Pine Barrens Lowland Forest (possible) (G2G3) (NOTE: This plant community may exist within the Inner Core; further field observations are needed to verify or refute.)
  • Red Maple/Upright Sedge Wooded Marsh (G3GS)
  • Southern New England/Northern Piedmont Red Maple Seepage Swamps (G4GS)
  • Southern Red Maple – Black Gum Swamp Forest (G3)
  • Successional Sweetgum Forest (Globally not rated – Modified/managed)
  • Successional Tuliptree Forest (Globally not rated – Ruderal)
  • Successional Virginia Pine Forest (Globally not rated – Ruderal)

    • 5 May 2012 – Close Encounter of a Slithering Kind

    Watch it buster!
    Today while slogging in the steam which flows between Beaver Valley and Shangri La I had a close encounter with a snake called a Black Racer – (Coluber constrictor). It did not try to slither away like most racers I have seen before. Instead it coiled up and tried to look threatening. I spotted it next to the stream in a patch of sun that was poking its way through the tree canopy. I assume it was trying to get some sun, but because it was next to the stream it was still cold and sluggish. Anyway, the closer I got the more it coiled up and when I was on top of it its tail was shaking rapidly. In order to see what its underside looked like I carefully pick it up and took a quick photograph and let it go.

    (Click on thumbnails below for larger view.)

    21 April 2012 – Beaver Valley – Search for more Bogs

    Today, I went back out to Beaver Valley to explore the east end and north bank.

    Example of bog at Beaver Valley

    I discovered that most of the good bogs are on the west end of the south bank. On this trip, I ventured further on the south bank to find the east end of Beaver Valley. This part of the “valley” was mostly filled with a fairly good-sized pond with trees popping up in the middle and the edge of the pond were mostly mudflats. At first, I thought it was this way because of beaver activity, but I found no evidence of a dam. However, I could have missed it. The far east end is near Salamander Pond, and was mucky but shallow. Again, although there were some good patches of sphagnum moss in patches, I did not see any areas that would qualify as a bog. I rounded east end and explored the north bank. The dominant vegetation on the understory was skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) with Round-leaf Hedge Hyssop (Gratiola virginiana) scattered throughout the mudflats. The topography on the north bank is not as steep as the south bank. There is a little stream that flowed from Beaver Valley to the Shangri La pond. I got a surprise when I tried to move a log in the stream to make it easier to cross. When I reached into the water, I felt something leathery. After a few seconds, a snapping turtle poked his head up. The poor thing was as startled as I was, and fled. Thank goodness it did not turn around and bite me. O the hazards of botanizing.

    The area in between Beaver Valley and Shangri La is mostly upland forest. I noticed the lack of invasive plants there except for an occasional Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica).

    Callitriche heterophylla Pursh – Two-headed Water-starwort

    Found some Two-headed Water Starwort (Callitriche heterophylla) in side pool along the edge of pond in Beaver Valley. It is one of those plants which is easy to miss. The leaves are dimorphic with the submerged leaves being lanced shaped and the emerging leaves being oval-shaped. The pistillate (female) flowers were found in the axils of leaves along the stem. The staminate (male) flowers are found on the distal end of the stems. Both types of flowers have no petals.

    Podophyllum peltatum L. – May Apple

    Earlier in the day, I explored the south bank of the Little Patuxent River by Bailey’s Bridge for some May Apple (Podophyllum peltatum) because I had not yet collected it for the project. Not very many plants were blooming compared to last year. The population pictured here was on the bank of the river.