Battelle Darby and Cedar Bog | Ohio Plants 2023

Battelle Darby

While at Battelle Darby Metro Park, we visited a wetland area, the woods, and a prairie. We saw a wide variety of different plants, from small prairie grasses to big old forest trees. We started off looking at two woody plants in the wetland, as seen below!

American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)

This tree is known for its distinct shaped leaves and usually mottled bark. It grows in lowlands and is generally considered to be the most massive tree in the eastern United States. We saw a fairly small one, but they can reach up to 130 feet tall! (Petrides)

Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)

The Cottonwood is one of my favorites and can be identified by its coarse toothed leaves and flattened, linguine-like leafstalks. I believe one of our field guides described the leaves as “fluttering in the slightest breeze”, which is accurate. It lives in floodplains and river bottoms, so it makes sense that we found it in the wetland! (Ohio DNR)

After that, we took a look at some plants lower to the ground. First was one of many monocots found in the wetland, the Narrow Leaf Cattail.

Narrow Leaf Cattail (Typha angustifolia)

Unfortunately, this cattail is invasive in Ohio. It’s native to Eurasia and is tolerant of high levels of silt, salt, and nutrients. These plants are very hard to control, as their seeds are numerous and are viable in the seed bank up to 100 years. Herbicide, cutting, and flooding can help to control their levels (Midwest Invasive Species Network).

Second, we looked at a wide variety of graminoids, which include grasses, sedges, and rushes. Pictured below is a sedge called Bulrush (not confusing at all!)

Bulrush (Scirpus)

The Bulrush, like all sedges, has tiny wind pollinated flowers, triangular stems, and closed leaf sheaths. They flourish in wetlands and have lots of human uses. The seeds, pollen, young shoots, stem base, inner stem, and rhizomes are all edible! (AIHDP)

Next, we moved on to the woods. Here, we searched for calciphiles, aka limestone-loving plants. Among the many present at this site, we saw Hackberry, Fragrant Sumac, Hop Hornbeam, Basswood, Redbud, and Chinquapin Oak. More on these later when I discuss the geobotany of the area!

Up next in the woods we observed everyone’s favorite plant to avoid-Poison Ivy.

Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)

Poison Ivy is an important plant to know how to identify. The phrase “leaves of 3, leave it be” isn’t entirely accurate. It actually has compound leaves with 3 leaflets, so the phrase should be fixed to reflect that. It also has fruits of white drupes that wildlife feed on and is a woody vine that can climb trees. The oil on the plant, urushiol, causes the itchy rash associated with poison ivy (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia). Fun fact-this is the same oil that’s present (in much lower quantities) on mango skin!

At our last stop in Battelle Darby, we visited a prairie with the goal of observing grasses and forbs. Lucky for us, the area was filled to the brim with both! First up are the grasses.

Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardi)

This grass was dominant in this prairie and like all grasses, has an open leaf sheath that’s able to be peeled off. It can grow 6-8 feet tall and is a fantastic choice for erosion control. It also provides habitat for a variety of wildlife, like ground-nesting birds (US Forest Service).

Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans)

This grass was abundant in patches in the prairie and has a starkly different inflorescence from the Big Bluestem. It is a lowland species that can tolerate extreme drought. It used to be a dominant prairie grass, but now only well-managed lands have large stands of it (Native American Seed).

Next up are the forbs. Previous to this trip, I didn’t know what a forb was and I’m guessing most people don’t either. A forb is a wildflower that’s not a grass or sedge. Once again, this area was chock full of fantastic forbs!

Tall Sunflower (Helianthus giganteus)

The Tall Sunflower, also known as Giant Sunflower, is a member of our beloved Aster family. It can grow up to 12 feet tall and is characterized by its yellow radiate capitulum. The seed heads attract birds, but the leaves and stems can cause skin irritation and is fatal to animals if ingested (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center).

Stiff Goldenrod (Solidago rigida)

Another member of the Aster family, the Stiff Goldenrod often grows in clumps and has a flat-topped inflorescence of yellow flower heads. It is native to prairies and can attract butterflies (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center).

Geobotany

The geology of Ohio can generally be divided into two parts. The eastern part of the state is underlain mostly by sandstone, a fairly resistant rock. This means that it doesn’t erode very easily, despite water being able to seep through easily. In some places, it is underlain by shale as well. This rock is much less resistant and is worn down to low plains everywhere except where sandstone overlays it. As a result, the eastern part of the state is characterized by steep-sided sandstone hills. In contrast, the western part of Ohio is underlain by limestone. This rock is nonresistant in the humid climate, meaning that it erodes quite easily. Because millions of years have passed since erosion of the limestone began, the western part of the state is a very flat landscape compared to the east.

The original sequence of sedimentary rock strata in Ohio included sandstone at the top, shale in the middle, and limestone at the bottom. This was gently tilted into a low arch by the same pressures that created the Appalachian Mountains. The crest of the arch was north-south throughout western Ohio. The rocks in this area were eroded the most, exposing the limestone. The low-lying toe of the arch was in eastern Ohio. The rocks here were not totally eroded away, but some deep cuts were made. This resulted in the sandstone hills characteristic of eastern Ohio. Much of this erosion throughout the state was done by the Teays River, a famous preglacial stream. It flowed for about 200 million years and eroded land the entire time. It was eventually curtailed by the Ice Age glaciers that occurred less than a million years ago.

The Pleistocene glaciers invaded Ohio a few hundred thousand years ago and only extreme landscape features could stop them. Fortunately for eastern Ohio, the steep-sided sandstone hills were enough to keep the glaciers from encroaching. This created the glacial boundary cutting Ohio in two.

One result of the glacier invasion was deposition of a material called glacial till. This till is made up of a mixture of sand, silt, clay, and boulders. The composition of till depends on the substrate upon which the glacier moved. In western Ohio, the glacier moved over limestone bedrock. This means that the till contained quite a bit of lime and clay. In eastern Ohio, the glacier did not move over limestone and the till doesn’t contain much lime or clay.

After learning about till deposition, it’s no surprise that western Ohio has a limy, clayey soil. This results in a fairly impermeable soil that is neither well-drained nor aerated. This soil has a basic pH and an abundance of plant nutrients. In contrast, eastern Ohio has an acidic soil that drains very easily and is aerated. This soil type has low nutrient availability.

Because Battelle Darby Metro Park is in the western part of Ohio, the substrate is limy. We were able to catalogue a number of calciphiles, including Hackberry, Fragrant Sumac, Hop-Hornbeam, Redbud, and Chinquapin Oak. These trees are generally limited to this type of substrate-more on them below!

Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)

Hackberry is known for its rough-hairy leaves and uneven leafbases. It is in the same family as marijuana and can grow twigs bunched together called witches brooms. They often have pencil eraser shaped galls on the leaves, probably caused by a type of aphid. The fruits of the Hackberry are edible and are often used to make jam (Petrides).

Fragrant Sumac (Rhus aromatica)

Fragrant Sumac is a shrub with 3-parted leaves that look a little similar to poison ivy. But fret not-these leaves are safe to touch and are scratch and sniff. They have a pleasant fragrant odor when crushed and are very commonly cultivated. It’s found all over Ohio State’s campus, so keep an eye out next time you’re out walking! (Petrides)

Hop-Hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana)

Hop-Hornbeam (or just plain old Hornbeam) is characterized by its distinct bark. It looks very shredded and rough, almost like a cat scratched its claws against it. This tree gets the “hop” part of its name from its fruit. The Hop-Hornbeam fruit looks very similar to hops used to make beer. Unfortunately, you probably should not try to make beer out of this trees fruits (Ohio DNR).

Redbud (Cercis canadensis)

Redbud is an interesting tree in regards to distribution. It is found all over the state, including more acidic soils. It’s on this list because it’s especially abundant in calcareous sites. It can be recognized by its heart shaped leaves and showy pink flowers in the springtime. These flowers can be eaten and are reportedly tasty in salads! (Petrides)

Chinquapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii)

Chinquapin Oak looks remarkably similar to Chestnut Oak, one of our acidiphile plants from Deep Woods. Both trees have shallowly lobed leaves, but the Chinquapin Oak has sharper lobes. Because it’s part of the White Oak group, its acorns only take a single season to develop and have distinctive caps. They have a smooth inner lining that resembles a shiny bowl (Ohio DNR).

Some plants are limited to the high-lime and clay-rich substrates from the thick glacial till of western Ohio. These include Beech (Fagus grandifolia), Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata), Red Oak (Quercus borealis), Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum), and Swamp White Oak (Quercus palustris).

Other plants have a distribution limited to the acidic soils of the sandstone hills in eastern Ohio. We explored these on the Deep Woods webpage, but here’s 5 of them: Chestnut Oak (Quercus montana), Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia), Huckleberry-Blueberry (Vaccinium ssp.), and Bellwort (Uvularia perfoliata).

Some species aren’t limited just by substrate, but by other factors. Sweet Buckeye, for example, is limited to the unglaciated region of Ohio. However, it is not limited to acidic soils. It is believed that it hasn’t repopulated the rest of Ohio because of low seed dispersal ability. Because the glaciers diminished their range, it is now limited to eastern Ohio. In contrast, Hemlock has been able to repopulate after the glaciers. They are now widespread throughout Ohio because they had wind dispersal abilities. They prefer to grow in cool ravines and are distributed based on that microclimate. Sweet Buckeye and Hemlock are trees that had very different outcomes after glaciation. Rhododendron is a different story entirely. This plant’s distribution is based on where the Teays River used to run. It is confined to the river’s drainage area and isn’t found outside of it. Even ancient river systems can dictate where plants grow!

Cedar Bog (that isn’t a bog)

Now, on to Cedar Bog (that isn’t a bog)! As it turns out, Cedar Bog is actually a fen. What’s the difference you might ask? Well, a bog clogs. This means that water enters as rain but can’t drain or go anywhere. It sits in the clogged bog until it evaporates. A fen will flush, meaning that the water can drain out through small streams. Water can enter through rain or groundwater springs, and the limestone in the groundwater makes it alkaline and very clear. Cedar Bog is located in a valley and gets much of its water from upland surface runoff, groundwater filtering through gravel, and deep groundwater that follows the ancient Teays River. All this water is forced to the surface and is very cold and nutrient rich. This allows a significant amount of plants to grow in the fen and swamp forest, including some that don’t grow many other places in the state!

My “scavenger hunt” assignment was to find two different fruit types. Lucky for me, there were tons and tons of fruits around. First, I found a very special type of berry…

Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)

The Elderberry has a berry fruit type. It is a shrub and can be identified by its large leaves with 5-11 coarse-toothes and elliptic leaflets. The berries are small, juicy, purple-black, and appear from August to October (Petrides). As you can probably guess, these berries are edible! They are used to make pies, jams, and preserves and are thought to have many health benefits. However, they should be cooked before being eaten-don’t just grab a handful off the shrub and eat them! (US Forest Service)

My second fruit was BURSTING with fun…

Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Also known as touch-me-not, Jewelweed fruits are pretty unique-they explode to release seeds when you touch them! We had a lot of fun on the field trip with these fruits. Because they split along multiple sutures to release seeds, I believe they might be a capsule fruit. They can be identified by their alternate oval shaped leaves, weak watery stems, and zygomorphic bright orange flowers. These aren’t just fun to look at-sap from the leaves and stems can be used to relieve itching and pain caused by poison ivy (US Forest Service). Next time you accidentally touch it, keep an eye out for Jewelweed!

Our final task of this field trip was to identify plants and find out their coefficient of conservatism (CC) value. Because Cedar Bog is so unique, many of the plants there had pretty high values. Here are some that I found…