Substrate-associated Plants
Sourwood
Sourwood is mentioned by Forsyth as a species associated with acid sandstone places. The flowers from sourwood produce a nectar collected by bees and made into honey with a floral taste. These flowers attract all types of pollinators, making it a good pollinator plant. The leaves of sourwood are long, elliptical shaped, finely toothed, and sour if you taste them. In the fall they turn a deep red/dark wine color.
Vaccinium Spp.
Vaccinium spp. is mentioned by Forsyth as a species associated with acid sandstone places. This species is deer berry. The berries on the plant can be eaten by humans and have been used to make pie filling. These berries are also used by animals like deer and birds as a food resource. Deer berry produces purplish-black berries that mature late summer or fall. This plant spreads by runners and is drought tolerant.
Chestnut Oak
Chestnut Oak is mentioned by Forsyth as a species associated with acid sandstone places. Chestnut oak is a great source of firewood and can be used for industrial uses like cabinetry. This tree provides food and shelter for many animal species such as deer, squirrels, turkey, woodpeckers, and more. Chestnut oak is in the white oak family. It has a darker bark color and deep vertical ridges.
Ferns
Maiden’s Hair Fern
This fern’s frond type is monomorphic and frond dissection is bipinnate.
Polypody
This fern’s frond type is monomorphic and frond dissection is pinnatifid.
Christmas Fern
This fern’s frond type is hemidimorphic and frond dissection is pinnate.
Vittaria appalachiana – Appalachian Gametophyte
Vittaria appalachiana, or the Appalachian gametophyte, is a unique fern that exists only in its gametophyte form, with no known sporophyte stage. It grows on rock outcrops in the Appalachian Mountains and reproduces asexually through gemmae—small propagules much larger than typical fern spores. Due to their size, gemmae are dispersed short distances by wind, water, and possibly animals, such as slugs.
The plant’s limited range, confined to the southern Appalachians, suggests it lost its ability to produce sporophytes before or during the last ice age. It is unlikely that current populations are supported by tropical sporophytes. Instead, its wide range likely dates back to a time when it still produced spores. Today, the species survives through short-range dispersal of gemmae.
Grr-Arghh! Plants
Barberry
Japanese barberry is from Japan and was brought over as an ornamental replacement from common barberry so it wouldn’t spread black stem rust. It became invasive in forest and does well in the understory. They spread easily and create thick, hard to manage stands that crowd out native plants. Ticks also like them. They are banned from sale and propagation and should be eradicated when found in natural areas. Ways of management are physical removal, chemical treatment cut stem, and more.
Ashley Kulhanek; Educator; Ohio State University ExtensionTim McDermott DVM; Assistant Professor; Educator; Ohio State University ExtensionKathy Smith; Program Director; Forestry. (2022, June 17). Invasive species management: Common and Japanese barberry. Ohioline. https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/anr-0106
Trees in Trouble!
American Chestnut
The picture shown is of a Chinese chestnut tree, a close relative of the American chestnut. The introduction of a deadly blight from Asia, pathogen Cryphonectria parasitica, cased a huge reduction in American chestnut trees. The tree is not extinct, but is considered functionally extinct due to the fact that it cannot grow past the shrub stage. The American Chestnut Foundation is working on developing a blight-resistant American chestnut tree through research and breeding, in hopes to restore the species to its native range.
History of the American chestnut. The American Chestnut Foundation. (2024, May 28). https://tacf.org/history-american-chestnut/
