The weather thus far in New England has been unseasonably mild as of late, with only one day below freezing through the end of Halloween.  The leaves on the oaks and aspens were turning beautiful shades of ochre and vermilion as October came to a close; most of these have since fallen.  With the weather on our side, the New England team has already exceeded our collection quota (239 of 200) for the season.  Consequently, not much is left for us to collect, save for certain late-season asters (e.g., Baccharis halimifolia) and species with persistent fruit (Ilex verticillata, for example).

Milkweed field and forest edge, Callahan State Park, MA

Sea myrtle (Baccharis halimifolia), Avalonia Land Conservancy, Stonington, CT

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata), Round Marsh, Jamestown, RI

It is hard to believe that this is my final month of the CLM internship; though the time flew by, I have learned an immense amount, not simply about plant identification and phenology but also the habits and function of these plants in their respective habitats.  It has given me an incredibly comprehensive understanding of the ecology of New England biomes, and I hope to apply this knowledge in future field internships, graduate school, and careers.

The collecting season is short here in New England, and we are nearly done with our quota (182 of 200 collections to date).  We have noticed a distinct pattern in the dominance of the species we have collected based on their abundance and phenology:  Back in July and the first half of August, we were mostly collecting the saltmarsh blackgrass (Juncus gerardii), and from the latter half of August to mid-September we were primarily collecting marshelder (Iva frutescens).  For the past four weeks we have been collecting mostly asters, in particular Eupatorium sp. sensu lato and Solidago sp.  These are all wind-dispersed seeds that are easy to collect, usually later in the season.  Unfortunately, many of the species we collect from both look incredibly similar and grow together, especially in the case of the Solidago species, of which we have collected four thus far (S. altissima, S. canadensis, S. sempervirens, and S. rugosa).  For example, S. altissima and S. canadensis look identical, except that S. altissima has an evenly hairy abaxial leaf surface and stem, whereas S. canadensis has hairs only on the midveins, with the rest of the abaxial lamina and stem completely glabrous.  On paper this seems diagnostic, but of course, Nature has given us individuals that look intermediate between the two (e.g., very sparsely hairy on the abaxial leaf lamina and stem) and we have to make do between our trusty Flora Novae Angliae key and our best understanding of goldenrod gestalt.

Tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima), Grape Island, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, MA

We have also made some great collections of species that once were all lumped in the Eupatorium genus.  Of those we have collected, most are now in the Eutrochium genus, e.g., E. dubium and E. maculatum., but the boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) has remained in the old genus.  All these species tend to grow very large floral heads and make for superb seed collections.

Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum), Harwich, MA

With much of our work now focused on wind-dispersed seed (Asteraceae and others), we couldn’t help but take advantage of helping Nature out with dispersal too, with these milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) seeds:

Over the past month, the New England SOS team’s seed collections have surged from 32 collections on 8/25 to 120 on 9/25–just about everything is fruiting in the narrow growing season of America’s northeast.  A month ago we were collecting about one species per day; now, we collect about six or seven.  Consequently, all four interns are bursting at the seams trying to properly dry, de-pest, and package the seeds for cleaning following collection.  Though the weather is now cooling down and the salt marshes are a little less rife with mosquitoes, our apartments, though booby-trapped with dozens of no-pest strips, are getting buggier and looking, well, seedier:

Scene 1 – Dining room table, from left: Eutrochium maculatum, Limonium carolinianum, Carex lupulina, Asclepias syriaca, Iva frutescens (top right), and Panicum virgatum (bottom right)

Scene 2 – Living room, from top: Scirpus cyperinus, Iva frutescens

Scene 3 – Dining room round table (aka the Graminoid table), clockwise from top right: Schizachyrium scoparium, Cyperus diandrus, Echinochloa walteri, Schoenoplectus acutus, Cyperus strigosus, Schoenoplectus pungens

Since we also have to collect specimens, our plant press is also very full:

Ran out of blotting paper…newspaper will have to do.

Despite the sudden rapid pace of collection, we are working hard and I think we are much more efficient at finding all the target seeds that we need on this giant plant scavenger hunt.  The time is flying by…soon it will be November, we will have made >200 collections, and our two dozen aluminum trays will be filled with–not seeds–but turkeys and stuffing.

It looks like summer has finally peaked here in New England!  The latter half of July brought some brutally muggy days with the occasional downpour, but these have since yielded to mostly clear skies with temperatures in the low 80s for early August.  The plants are responding well to the recent good weather, and our endeavors are finally beginning to bear fruit, which have to date comprised 15 collections; of these, nearly half are of the saltmarsh rush Juncus gerardii (which, unfortunately, has a tendency to play host to a parasitizing moth, Coleophora alticollela).  The remaining eight collections include false beach heather Hudsonia tomentosa, the sedges Carex scoparia, Carex crinita, Scirpus atrovirens, and the delicious ericaceous shrubs Gaylussacia baccata and Vaccinium angustifolium x myrtilloides)

The moth Coleophora alticollela which parasitizes the seed heads of blackgrass (Juncus gerardii).

Naturally occurring lowbush x velvet blueberry hybrid (Vaccinium angustifolium x myrtilloides), Wapack NWR, New Hampshire

Over the course of our collections thus far, we have voyaged as far north as Waterville, ME, to scout out the maturity of seeds borne by black spruce (Picea maritima) and purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea) in kettlehole bogs, east to Harwich Port on Cape Cod to collect Carex scoparia, and southwest to Stonington, CT to assess dam removal sites.  As a result of our sojourns, we’ve gotten to see a wide variety of flora and habitats:

Sphagnum mat, Foster Point Bog, Belgrade Lakes, ME

Red Spruce (Picea rubens) dominating the skyline on Monadnock Mountain, Wapack NWR, NH

Swamp rose-mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos), Long Pasture, Barnstable, MA

Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora), Bennett-Keenan Conservation Area, Lynnfield, MA

False beechdrops (Monotropa hypopitys), Bennett-Keenan Conservation Area, Lynnfield, MA

In addition, we have also seen quite a variety of wildlife too!

Painted turtle (Chrysemys picta), Bennett-Keenan Conservation Area, Lynnfield, MA

Nova Scotian Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele novaescotiae), Belgrade Lakes, ME

Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) on buttonbush (Cephalanthes occidentalis), Bennett-Keenan Conservation Area, Lynnfield, MA

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus carolinensis), Harwich, MA

Over the past several weeks the New England CLM interns have been focusing on salt marshes and the species that grow there, especially the ubiquitous Spartina alterniflora, S. patens, J. gerardii, and Distichlis spicata.  However, at our latitude the phenology schedule lags a bit behind those of our colleagues further south, so it wasn’t until July 14th that we made our first collection; at Scarborough Marsh in southern Maine, we collected some seeds and vouchers of saltmarsh arrowgrass, Triglochin maritima, family Juncaginaceae, which bears six seeds per pod along a stalk bearing 35-80 pods.

Saltmarsh arrowgrass (Triglochin maritima), Scarborough Marsh, ME

We are planning to continue our reconnaissance and collection over the coming weeks and months as more species start bearing ripe fruits; the Juncus is nearly ripe and we hope to start collecting that within the next few weeks!

CLM has been so rewarding in offering an opportunity to identify and learn about not only plants, but also insects and birds as well, which frequently accompany us on our excursions.  Here are a few snapshots:

Eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) on common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), Great Marsh NWR, NH

Hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus), Scarborough Marsh, ME

Here at the New England Wildflower Society, our goal for the next six months is to assist in preparing for restoration of salt marshes in New England, many of which have been degraded by natural disasters, such as Hurricane Sandy, as well as human activity. Since this project is the first of its kind for SOS on the East Coast and most of the land east of the Mississippi is not owned by the federal government, we have spent much of our time over the past week contacting landowners, state governments, universities, tribal groups, and watershed associations in order to obtain permission to survey sites for potential seed collection and restoration. Since associations between these groups and government agencies that provide them grant money are often complex and convoluted, it has lately been a little difficult to contact the right people who can grant us the necessary permissions. Nonetheless, we persevered, and we managed to visit three wildlife refuges in Rhode Island this week to scout for potential seed collection and restoration: Chafee and Satchuet on 6/10, and Ninigret on 6/12.

Common reed (Phragmites australis)

Blue iris (Iris versicolor)

White waterlily (Nymphaea odorata)

Oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)

All three of these refuges featured a typical marsh ecosystem, with the cordgrasses Spartina alterniflora, Spartina patens and the rush Juncus gerardii dominating, with smaller amounts of the small succulent Salicornia and assorted sedges of the Carex genus, all of which we hope to collect from for Seeds of Success.  However, all the marshes also seemed to be significantly disturbed, especially by boating traffic.  And all three were plagued with nasty infestations of an invasive strain of the weedy reed species Phragmites australis.  On higher ground we saw a bit more floral diversity, including meadows of the daisy Leucanthemum vulgare and thickets of shadbush, Amelanchier.  Looks like we have our work cut out for us — but we’re excited to start!

James