Glenn Echo park is a 7.8 acre conservation area in Columbus, Ohio. There is a creek, a ravine, and several fairly steep slopes within the hilly landscape. The park is dominated by oak trees, with a few lower story maples, some elm, beech, and sycamore trees. There is a wide breadth of shrubs, flowers, and vines growing within and a few different microclimates. The three different ecosystems that I searched for plants in was a clearing under a powerline, a steep south facing slope above the river, and the area right around the river. The ravine right by the river had beech, sycamore, elm, and oak trees with a lot of asters scattered on the ground. The south acing slope had a lot of maple and oak trees, as well as quite a few honeysuckle bushes. The area under the powerline had a large black walnut tree and a lot of invasive species.
Plant knowledge and fun facts came from a variety of sources, listed at the end of this page.
I found poison ivy almost as soon as I walked in! You can recognize Toxicodendron radicans by its three compound leaves, with the middle leaf being on a longer stalk than the two leaves framing it.
Plants!
Common burdock, Arctium minus, is a conservation coefficient of 0, meaning that it tolerates a wide variety of ecosystems. A fun fact about common burdock is that it inspired the invention of velcro!
Rough-stemmed goldenrod, Solidago rugosa, is a flower in the Asteraceae family! It has a conservation coefficient of 2, meaning that it can survive in a variety of ecosystem ranges. A fun fact about rough-stemmed goldenrod is that goldfinches will eat its seeds in the winter!
American basswood, Tilia americana has a conservation coefficient of 6, meaning that it has a narrow ecosystem range. A fun fact about American basswood is that it is called the ‘bee tree’ because its flowers are so fragrant that bees love to visit it!
American sycamore, Platanus occidentalis, has a conservation coefficient of 7. This means that it’s pretty narrowly rigid as far as the ecosystems that it can exist in go. A fun fact about the sycamore is that its fruits can be crafted into buttons, giving it the nickname ‘buttonball tree’!
Black raspberry, Rubus occidentalis, is a thorny shrub or vine. It has a conservation coefficient of 1, which means that it is very flexible on the ecosystems it inhabits. A fun fact is that the first year canes are glaucous, meaning they have a whitish powder on them, that you can rub off! See below.
Southern arrowwood, Viburnum dentatum, is a viburnum, which is a shrub. It has toothed, roundish leaves that are opposite in arrangement. It has the straightest twigs of any viburnum, and Native Americans used to use those twigs to make arrows!
Invasives:
Japanese honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica, is an invasive woody vine (Liana) from East Asia that was brought over for landscaping purposes. It is common in edge habitats and woodlands. The most efficient way to remove Japanese honeysuckle is to cut the stem down to the ground and apply a broad-spectrum herbicide to the stump. When I worked at The Dawes Arboretum, we used Roundup put into a paint pen for easy application.
This is Japanese honeysuckle’s shrub cousin, Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera mackii). It is also from East Asia, and also commonly found in woodlands and edge habitats. Removal of Amur honeysuckle is the same as Japanese honeysuckle, but instead of clipping the stems it is best to use a large pair of loppers and a handsaw.
Multiflora rose, Rosa multiflora, is an invasive woody vine (liana) from East Asia. It is typically found in grasslands and woodlands. One solution to controlling the multiflora rose invasion is allowing goats to browse infested areas.
Burning bush, Euonymus alatus is an invasive shrub from East Asia. It is commonly found in woodlands, and is identifiable by its winged stem between the leaves, and its bright red foliage in the fall. It is recommended to pull out small sprouts and saplings, or dig large shrubs out with a shovel.
Fruits:
The fruit of the dog rose is a bright red rose hip, which is technically an accessory fruit. It has a glossy look to it (even though these are slightly wilted), and the rosehips are often eaten or used in skincare! The hairs inside the hip are itchy.
This acorn appears to be a fruit of the Northern red oak, due to the dark margins on the cap scales, the scales being that neat distinctive pattern, and the fact that the cap is fused to the nut. Below we can see some underdeveloped red oak acorns.
Virginia stickseed, Hackelia virginiana, is a flower that has horribly sticky seeds, hence the name. Besides being annoying, it was used in Cherokee herbal medicine. The seeds are schizocarps.
The bright red fruits of Japanese honeysuckle are key identifiers – they are true berries (fleshy throughout) and eaten by a variety of wildlife, which is not good because the berries are less nutritionally beneficial than other fruits birds can eat. The red berry is always paired between the opposite leaves, and when you smash them, they leave red juice everywhere.
Mosses + Lichens:
In this picture we can see common greenshield lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata).
Star moss, Syntrichia ruralis, is pictured above.
Broom moss: Dicranum scoparium.
Hammered shield lichen – Parmelia sulcata.
https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/biodiversity-counts/plant-identification/tips-to-identify-poison-ivy
Common Lichens of Ohio Field Guide – ODW
Ohio Plants Field Experience Website
Wikipedia
https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/plants/wild-flowers/dog-rose/
https://shop.arborday.org/arrowwood-viburnum?srsltid=AfmBOor_nQ1anNrPPbv4T2oAu1qpuUlIOueRO99lchr3xb40VjVrsvoQ
https://www.bellarmine.edu/faculty/drobinson/Sycamore.asp
https://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/forest/htmls/trees/T-americana.html