Project Update

We have identified and collected a lot of new plants this week. We found a side trail off our man trail that lead us to a structure called "the cistern". We found several need species on this interesting new trail along with a small creek! We identified some plants in the field and some when we returned to the lab. There are still a few species we need to identify and document but we now have proper GPS coordinates and altitude for each plant we collected which is helpful if we need to return for additional collecting. I apologize for the pictures I can not figure out how to arrange them properly.

 

             

Phenology Post 4/25

We returned to Ruffner Mountain again Friday to check on our phenology species again. All of our species are pretty much in the same stage they were in when we visited Wednesday. Our first species, Asimina triloba or pawpaw, is still at first leaf, now with about 75 percent of leaves fully unfolded. Secondly, we observed Liriodendron tulipifera still in full leaf with even more leaves than Wednesday. Next species,Quercus alba, is also still in full the full leaf phase as seen in the picture below. Lastly, Cornus florida was still in full leaf now with no visible flowers. 

Asimina triloba
photo by Hannah Spivey

Liriodenron tulipifera
photo by Hannah Spivey

Quercus alba
photo by Hannah Spivey

Cornus florida
photo by Hannah Spivey

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Phenology Post 4/23

We returned to Ruffner Mountain Wednesday to check on our phenology species. We are still following four of the the five species we started with.  Our first species, Asimina triloba or pawpaw, is still at first leaf with about 60 percent of leaves fully unfolded. 

Asimina triloba
photo by Hannah Spivey

Next, we evaluated Liriodendron tulipifera, it is still in full leaf. We have seen other individuals that have flowers but our selected specimen has yet to produce any. 

Liriodendron tulipifera
photo by Shay Gibson

Our third species,Quercus alba, is also still in full the full leaf phase as seen in the picture below.  

Quercus alba
photo by Shay Gibson

Finally, Cornus florida was still in full leaf. Most of the dogwood flowers can now be found on the ground. 

Flowering Dogwood
photo by Shay Gibson

Phenology Post

Asimina triloba at first leaf

Photo by: Shay Gibson

Cornus florida in full leaf

Photo by: Shay Gibson

I braved the pouring rain today and returned to Ruffner Mountain to check on our phenology species. At this point we are still following four of the original five species.  Our first species, Asimina triloba or pawpaw, is now at first leaf.  You can see the leaves unfolded from many branches in the picture below.  The second species, Liriodendron tulipifera, is now in full leaf. I think we mistakenly labelled leaves as flowers last week. The picture below shows the tulip tree in full leaf.  Our third species, Quercus alba, appears to be in the full leaf phase as seen in the picture below.  Finally, the dogwood tree, Cornus florida, was in full flower last week. When I returned to Ruffner this morning, the tree no longer had flowers, but was in full leaf.



        

Liriodendron tulipifera in full leaf

Photo by: Shay Gibson

Quercus alba in full leaf
Photo by: Shay Gibson














Phenology Post     

Asimina triloba flowering 

photo by Hannah Spivey

We returned to Ruffner Mountain today (04/11) to continue collecting plants and check our phenology species.  Our Asimina triloba, pawpaw, tree had first flowers out (which is indicated by the visible stamens on flowers on at least three branches) and almost full flower.  There are still no leaves present on the tree.  The two pictures below show the pawpaw tree we are tracking. 

Cornus florida in full flower

Photo by Hannah Spivey

The tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera seems to have changed only a little since our last visit.  The flowers are more unfolded so we are saying it is at first flower. Our last tree,Cornus florida, showed an even bigger change since our last visit.  Last time we jsut saw bud bursting, but this time we see all the leaves and flowers unfolded on the dogwood tree we are following.  This seems to have happens fairly quickly.

Liriodendron tulipifera in first flower

photo by Hannah Spivey

Project Update

We collected many species of plants today from herbaceous to woody. Unfortunately, we have an abundance Toxicodendron randicans, Poison Ivy, which we have to be very careful of. We were also able to clearly identify Shagbark Hickory, Carya ovata, by its distinct shredded bark. We also have several Trillium sp. plants. A few weeks ago we saw yellow flowers with tie-dyed looking leaves which we then identified in lab as Trout Lily, Erythronium americanum, it no longer has flowers on the plants at out site. We also collected many samples that we plan to key out later. 

Aesculus paviaphoto by Hannah Spivey

 Toxicdendron radicans 

photo by Hannah Spivey 

 

Lonicera japocina
photo by Hannah Spivey

Trillium sp.
photo by Hannah Spivey

Phenology Post

Asimina triloba flowers and leaves.

Photo by Hannah Spivey

We returned to Ruffner Mountain today (04/04) to continue collecting plants and check our phenology species.  Our Asimina triloba, pawpaw, tree had first leaves out (which is indicated by the leaves unfolded on at least three branches) and almost first flower.  The flowers were not opened up enough to see stamens, but we expect they will be by next week.  The two pictures below show the pawpaw tree we are tracking.

Asimina triloba flower beginning to open up.
Photo by Hannah Spivey

The Quercus alba tree we have been tracking is hard to see, but we think that it is at bud burst.  The branches are way up in the tree, and it's hard to see the buds for our vantage point.  The tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera seems not to have changed since our last visit.  The flowers nor leaves have fully unfolded yet.  Our last tree, Cornus florida, showed a big change since our last visit.  Last time we did not see bud burst, at all, but this time we see all the leaves unfolded on the dogwood tree we are following.  This shows you how quick things can change with plants.