New England is absolutely stunning. When I originally applied to the SOS internship with New England Wildflower Society, I was nervous to be far from my home in Georgia, but eager to learn new flora, see new landscapes, and create rewarding memories with fellow plant enthusiasts. I did not realize the vast diversity of landscapes that I would be able to see and study. I have only studied Botany in the Ohio area because that is where my college was located. New England has introduced me to much more than the beech-maple forest and deciduous woodlands that I was used to studying. Our SOS trips so far have ranged from dry sand dunes, salt marshes, freshwater wetlands, bogs with lush Sphagnum mats.
Ponkapog Bog in Canton, MA. So lush!
I have learned so many species of water-loving plant that has made me view coastal flora in awe. Among my love for these species I have also found a new-found love for graminoids. My fascination sparked when I first saw a Sparganium in flower.
Sparganium americanum in flower. So beautiful!
The intricacy of the male and female flower is nothing I have seen before from a grass-like plant, especially a plant that is so morphologically different then the Typha, which is also in the Typhaceae family. When we started learning more about the other graminoid families Cyperaceae, Juncaceae, and Poaceae the intricate details of these flowers and seeds were beautiful. Although Poaceae is still daunting to me after taking a course at NEWFS garden, Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Juncaceae are as fun to look at as they are sometimes challenging to identify. The seed heads and seeds are cool too! The perigynia in the sedges look similar to awesome and fleshy medieval maces. In the Juncaceae family, the little tubercles that crown the achenes of Eleocharis like little fertile queens ready to be sown into the ground. In fact, we made our first collection yesterday of Eleocharis palustris.
The love of my life, yet the bane of my existence in deep mud flats: Eleocharis palustris
There had been a big rain before we got to the muddy wetland area. As I was searching for mature seed heads I could not help but fall right through the mud, thighs deep. I dug myself out and crawled on all fours to get to more stable ground to continue to collect. After laying my eyes on those cute little tubercles, I decided that I did not mind repeatedly sinking in the deep mud with flooded boots for these achenes. My eyes have been opened to the beauty of graminoids and I cannot get enough. The diversity of graminoids is something that I am eager to explore further in this internship and beyond!