Green River Flower Shops

Green River WY News

Nov 27, 2015

Wild Side: Many plants still green in November

Lycopodium species grow in northern woods throughout the U.S. and Canada. Extensive patches of evergreen river horsetail, Equisetum fluviatile, were growing in the sand and gravel floodplain areas. Also known as ‘scouring rush’ for their tough silica-rich stems, plants in the Equisetum genus were once used to scrub pots and pans. Able to grow on low-nutrient sites, Equisetum species are widespread in North America. Bright green patches of Pennsylvania sedge, Carex pennsylvania, were growing in openings in the woods. This fine-textured sedge grows in short clusters and spreads by rhizomes to form a lush carpet. It grows in forested areas throughout much of eastern North America. Liverworts were growing close to the stream, pasted on the rocks in shady places.  They are a bit dark this time of year but still green. They were growing along with many species of mosses. There are about 140 species of liverworts and 388 species of mosses in Wisconsin. It will take some study to learn more about these small but fascinating plants. It’s great to see all the green plants this time of year knowing that snow will be here soon. Botanizing and hiking is fun exercise for the mind and body. There’s a long tradition of hiking and botanizing here in Wisconsin going back to John Muir and Aldo Leopold. I fondly remember hikes with Dr. Robert Freckmann leading our botany class at UW-Stevens Point. Dr. Freckmann taught plant taxonomy and agrostology (the branch of biology dealing with grasses) at UW-Stevens Point for 32 years. Starting with one cabinet and about 1,000 plant specimens in 1969, Dr. Freckmann and Dr. Frank Bowers built the herbarium into the third largest in Wisconsin, currently with over 200,000 specimens. Now you can study the Flora of Wisconsin, a collaborative effort between the herbaria of the UW-Madison, UW-Stevens Point and other Wisconsin herbaria at: wisflora.herbarium.wisc.edu. Please send any comments and suggestions for this column to me at rfjsports@rivertowns.net. --Dan Wilcox, outdoor columnist ... (River Falls Journal)