The Start of Prairie Flower Season

At first glance, the mid-spring prairie appears to be clinging tenaciously to winter.  The dead stalks of Indian Grass, Big and Little Bluestem and Side Oats Gramma hide from view the first of the season’s prairie bloomers.  The plants that will bring color to the field in summer are just beginning to grow, but hidden down in all of that brownery, early flowering species are hard at work.

I consider the blooming of the Hoary Puccoon to be the beginning of prairie flower season.  Hoary Puccoon is the first showy species to flower and at its peak will shower the prairie with orange.

Young plants begin as a single stalk.  Once they become established, they will form a multi-stemmed clump.

One of the earliest bloomers is almost lost from view.  Juniper Sedge, Carex juniperorum, is a low growing, grass-like plant that looks as if it’s been ground beneath someone’s boot heel.  The thin leaves radiate out from a central core in an almost horizontal manner.  It’s nothing to get excited about unless you know the story of its rarity and how it managed to remain unnoticed by professional botanists for decades before being recognized as a new species just 25 years ago.

Its flower has past its prime, but with something as nondescript as this, it’s hard to tell.

I’m certain that I don’t have this particular species on the Blue Jay Barrens plant list.  The only reason I don’t add it now is the fact that I’m not certain of the identification.  I originally saw it late last year and thought it might be Senecio plattensis, but the plants were too far gone to be certain.  However, when I run this plant through the keys it quickly falls out as Senecio pauperculus, listed as a Threatened species in Ohio.  That would be the end of it if I didn’t know that the keys are just an aid in identification and not the last word.  When I go on to read the species description, things don’t seem to match.  Then, as seems to happen to me all too often, I read that these Senecio species can show much variety and have a tendency to intergrade. 

So, I’m going to have to study these plants a little more closely before making up my mind.  Until then, all I can say is that I have a field full of some lovely little Senecio plants.

Wood Strawberry is doing quite well this year.  The ripe berries are a favorite of the Eastern Box Turtles.

Fringed Houstonia, Hedyotis canadensis, is blooming in profusion, but with a height of only a few inches it is barely noticeable.

Pussytoes are poised to bloom.  They tower above the emerging prairie grasses.

White Blue-eyed Grass is scattered throughout the prairie.  Even though it is also a diminutive plant, it is generally easier to see than its companion spring bloomers.

Of course, plants aren’t the only things showing off their colors.

A newly emerged Luna Moth, fluids still being pumped into the expanding wings, brings an added dimension to the prairie.

Botanical forays to the prairie now include a serenade provided by the Prairie Warbler. 
 

Even though prairie is part of their name, it’s actually the scattered cedars that attract the Prairie Warblers.  Short cedars and pines are common nest sites for these birds.  By the time these warblers end their singing, the prairie will be brightening with the early summer prairie flowers.

Luna

I find at least one newly emerged Luna Moth each year. They’re always a treat, but it makes me wonder just how many of these lovely creatures there are in my woods. If I can inadvertently blunder into a couple each year, might that mean that there are hundreds or even thousands that I haven’t seen? I hope that’s what it means.

The image of a Luna is often used to indicate something mystical in nature. As a child I found the Luna to be most magical and wondrous. It was a creature that I would not confine and any I found were helped along their way.

I recall finding a spent Luna when I was nine or ten. Its body was shriveled and the wings were battered and there was no way it was going to survive. I mixed up a batch of sugar water and tried for hours to get it to drink. It was years later that I learned the Luna had no mouth. The adult form is essentially a machine designed for reproduction. The males exist to fertilize the females and the females exist to lay eggs. It all happens in a brief few days and then it’s over. If I’d known that at an earlier age, I would have left the Luna in peace and not subjected it to the ancient sugar water torture.

The Luna is one of the few species of giant silkworm moth that is still common in this area. The others have declined steadily over the last 20 years and most haven’t been seen for several years. One possible reason is the increase in security lights surrounding Blue Jay Barrens. Many species of these huge moths are highly attracted to the lights and studies have shown that an increase in lights results in a decrease in moths. It could be that Lunas are not as highly attracted to the lights or maybe the females lay many eggs in the vicinity of their hatching spot before moving out where they would contact any lights.

The radar-like antennae are the sign of a male moth. The antennae are highly attuned to the pheromone produced by the female moth and will guide the male toward a fruitful union. I hope this male finds a female that will lay a bounty of eggs, so that I can enjoy finding Lunas again next year.

Luna Moth

I found this newly emerged Luna Moth yesterday evening. The wings are still expanding and are at that extremely vulnerable stage. Too much disturbance now and this moth may never fly.

This is a female, as evidenced by the smaller antennae. Male antennae are much more plume-like and are used to track the pheromone trail to a female.

Several hundred eggs may be produced by this female. I hope they all get placed in suitable locations. Numbers of large silkworm moths are declining here as more people place all-night security lights near their homes. I’ve read that these lights attract the moths from a great distance and may eliminate all moth populations within a mile of the light.

I can’t decide if this looks more like a table lamp or a jelly fish. The color and shape reminds me of fragile antiques.

I hope this Luna doesn’t become a tasty treat for a hungry Cardinal. Cardinals tend to forage later into the evening than a lot of your daytime feeders. I’ve see a lot of these moths get eaten as they begin to move around in the evening shadows.