Part 1
Adena Brook is an intermittent stream that runs from East to West as it heads towards the Olentangy River where it eventually empties. It’s nestled in an urban setting with it’s immediate surroundings being thin wooded areas. The area is wet and there area few cliffs that are exposed.
Below you can see where Adena Brook/Overbrook ravine is located in Clintonville.
On my trip to Adena Brook I saw multiple plants, one of which I tried my best to avoid, poison ivy. You can identify poison ivy as it’s hairy, has leaflets in 5’s, and there were drupes on the underside of the plant.
Part 2
The area I observed was filled with pawpaw trees, or Asimina triloba. CC=6. In American homeopathy pawpaw is used for treating fever, vomiting, and paina nd swelling of the mouth and throat.
I also saw Hillside Hawthorn, or Crataegus punctata. CC=3. Hawthorn contains substances that may benefit the heart by dilating blood vessels, improving blood flow, and protecting blood vessels from damage.
Next I observed some woody vines. Below is Fortune’s Spindle, or Euonymus fortunei. CC=N/A. This vine is actually poisonous to humans and if ingested can cause serious complications.
Ligustrum quihoui, or Quihoui privet, is a woody shrub that doesn’t list a CC. This shrub is often eaten by birds and the larva of some butterfly species.
I also saw some flowering plants during my time at Adena Brook. Below is blue wood aster or Aster cordifolius. CC=4. Native Americans actually used the root ins in soups and the leaves as greens in their diet.
White snakeroot, or Ageratina altissima (CC=3) can be toxic to mammals and kill cattle and horses and humans can also die by drinking infected milk.
Part 3
Honeysuckle is an invasive that I see all the time and am constantly helping my dad get rid on our property. Honeysuckle is natively found in temperate zones of both hemispheres but also grows in the Himalayas. Honeysuckle grows well in woodland areas, especially the Southern midwest. The best control measures for honeysuckle are removal, herbicides, or burning.
The next invasive I found was Japanese stilt grass. Japanese stilt grass is native to Asia and is a problem in the eastern United States and Texas and Oklahoma. It survives well in flood-plains, stream banks, and moist woodlands. Control measures include hand pulling, mowing, or herbicides.
Spotted ladysthumb is native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. It is invading across the United States. It can survive well along roadsides, in wet meadows, and stream banks. Control measures include mowing, hand pulling, and tilling.
Common periwinkle is native to Europe, Asia Minor, and northern Africa. It is invading the eastern United States. It survives in forest understories, open habitats and roadsides. Hand pulling, mowing, raking or herbicides are all ways to control the spread of periwinkle.
Part 4
Below is a fruit from a pignut hickory tree. It is a drupe and you can identify the tree by the fruits pear or egg shape, smooth brown covering, and partially splitting husk.
The boxelder maple fruit is a samara, which is a winged nutlet that contains a single seed. The fruit is about 1-2 inches in length and are a brownish color at maturity.
Next I identified a black walnut tree by it’s fruit, a drupe. The round, globular, hard shell, and dark color of the husk of the fruit aid in identifying which tree it belongs to.
Lastly I identified a common spruce by its cone. The fruits are usually cylindrical and they hang downward after fertilization. They have papery scales that break off quite easily.
Part 5
Mosses and lichens!!!!!!! The first moss I identified is common duckweed.
Next I identified seductive entodon moss.
The first lichen I identified was fluffy dust lichen.
Lastly, I identified (I think) meadow spike moss. This was the most difficult because it was so difficult to see and I almost missed it when I first looked at the moss covering this rock.
