This was the first week for us North Carolina interns to venture out into the field on our own, without our lovely supervisor, Amanda. We traveled through many National Wildlife Reserves and NC Coastal and Estuarine Reserves in search of seeds for our SOS East collections. Around this time of year, many of the seeds of sedges, grasses, and rushes are ripening, so we particularly had our eyes pealed for those.
We visited a total of four parks in search of seeds: Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Alligator River NWR, Currituck Banks Coastal Reserve, and Kitty Hawk Woods Coastal Reserve. They were all extremely beautiful, and we ended up making a total of six seed collections over the course of the week!
Collecting Juncus effusus (Common Rush) while at Pocosin Lakes.
Lauren collecting drupes from Prunus serotina (Black Cherry).
We also found some Monarda punctata (Spotted Beebalm) which we are excited to collect from in the future!
Though our trip was filled with many seeds, wildlife encounters (we came across a total of six black bears while at Pocosin Lakes, as well as dolphins at Currituck Banks), and beautiful landscapes, we also had our fair share of wandering through thick forests! We found ourselves cutting through brambles of Smilax (like Common Greenbrier…their thorns will get you!), Quercus virginiana (Live Oak), and sadly, our least favorite Toxicodendron radicans (Poison Ivy) several times. Luckily, after unsuccessfully walking for an hour and a half through some thickets at Currituck Banks in search of some Typha (Cattail) species, we exited the brambles right next to our car! We felt this was a major victory and celebrated our chance to take a break in some air conditioning.
This is what we had just hiked through…
And this is what we felt like…
…But Emily, Jake, and Lauren were also pretty pumped that we came out of the woods right next to our car!
All in all, it was a great trip. The Outer Banks are beautiful, and we felt lucky to take a dip in the ocean after one of our long days out in the field. We’ll definitely be back here come August and September, so until next time!
-Maggie
CLM Intern at the North Carolina Botanical Garden