Volume 6, Number 1 e Turk's Ca> The newsletter Of The Delaware native plant Society Spring 2003 In This Issue A Call For Articles Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 A Call for Articles New Members Letter From the President Letter From the Editor Plant-animal Highlight Resources and Reviews Letter From the President continued Feature Article Native Plant Highlight Natural Community Highlight Event Highlights Resources and Reviews continued Thoughts From the Edge... ' Feature Article continued Page 7 " Upcoming Events How Can I Get Involved? If you would like to write an article for The Turk’s Cap, we would love to print it. With like minded individuals as an audience. The Turk’s Cap is a great venue for plant or habitat oriented writings. We’ll take just about anything from gardening tips to book reviews to poetry. Of course, it has to be about native plants, or issues related to native plants; just a minor constraint. Your imagination is the real key. Contact Eric Zuelke (ezuelke@juno.com), or Keith Clancy at 302.674.5187 for more information. A Leafy Emerald Green Welcome T o Our Newest Members January through March Frederic Homan S. Joseph Lesley Abby Rae Barbara O'Toole Eric Wittman Susan Yost & Michael Maciarello Letter From The President The Delaware Native Plant Society is open to everyone ranging from the novice gardener to the professional botanist. One of the primary goals of the society is to involve as many individuals as pos- sible. The DNPS is working on some significant projects at this time. We have begun a reforestation project at Prime Hook State Wildlife Area and will be doing direct-seeding reforestation projects along Blackbird and Cedar Creeks, originally scheduled for 2002, but now postponed until 2003. In addition, help is needed with our native plant nursery at the St. Jones Reserve with the monitoring of the new greenhouse we just purchased and constructed. For more information on how to get in- volved, E-mail us at dnps@delawarenativeplants.org. Or visit the new DNPS website at www.delawarenativeplants.org. Our website will have all of the past issues of The Turk’s Cap along with a large section on native plants, as well as links to other environmental and It seems spring is teasing us more than usual this year. The few days of warmth are punc- tuated by returns to chilly days. Yesterday’s fore- cast for today in central Delaware was for tempera- tures in the upper 60s, yet the thermometer barely inched above 50 degrees. Yesterday morning I took a drive to the Great Cypress Swamp in south- ern Delaware hoping to photograph horse sugar ( Symplocos tinctoria) in flower (it wasn’t). Even though I came up empty-handed, I was relishing the weather. Temperatures were in the upper 70s and I was soaking it up. However, by the time I got back to Dover in mid-aftemoon the temperatures were only in the 50s. I am looking forward to the warmer days of spring and a chance to get out and enjoy the riot of colors offered up by the many spring ephemerals. Our Society has many activities planned for April and May (details in this issue of the The DNPS Vision T he purpose of the Delaware Native Plant Society (DNPS) is to participate in and encourage the preservation, conservation, restoration, and propagation of Delaware’s native plants and plant communities. The Society provides information to government officials, business people, educators, and the general public on the protection, management, and restoration of native plant ecosystems. The DNPS encourages the use of native plants in the landscape by homeowners, businesses, and local and state governments through an on-going distribution of information and knowledge by various means that includes periodic publications, symposia, conferences, workshops, field trips, and a growing statewide membership organized by the DNPS. The Turk's Qp , Volume 6, Number 1 Letter From The Editor Spring has sprung, sort of After what seems to be a very sluggish spring, a few spring ephemerals are finally poking their heads out. Though l don’t mind because all the snow we got this winter was fabu- lous! However, it was rough on all the plants in my little wild- life habitat in my backyard. Most of my saplings got gnawed off by the rabbits at the 1 8-20 inch mark, just where the top of the snow was. That’ll be a definite set back, but plants have an amazing ability to rebound after being chomped on. If you get the chance to go tromping around this spring to look for some of those spring ephemerals, be sure to look for the one featured in our native plant highlight. It’s a diminutive little tiling, but quite beautiful when you finally find one. And though it is not in full swing until later in the summer, it would be well worth your time to familiarize yourself with the wetland type discussed in our natural community highlight. Some of the rare species there are awe inspiring. Our plant-animal highlight was inspired from a recent DNPS field trip where we discov- ered lots of beaver activity and were amazed at the size of the trees they tackled. The DNPS has been busy lately with lots of great speakers at our bi-monthly meetings, some great field trips, and a big push to move our nursery out of its childhood and into a more grown up world of plant propagation. See inside for more details... 0000 Eric Zuelke, Editor o o o o o o Plant-animal Highlight HOW NOW BROWN BEAVER Indiscriminate. Persistent. Independent. Obsessive. Ecological keystone species. That’s the North American Bea- ver. The beaver (Class: Mammalia, Order: Rodentia, Family: Castordae, Castor canadensis) is one of natures most ecologi- cally influential personalities. The sound of running water is the call that beavers respond to and they seem to have an over- whelming instinctual urge to silence that water. In doing so, through their well engineered dams, they create deep ponds that not only serve their own needs, but create habitat for many spe- cies of fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, river otters, mink, muskrats, raccoons, small mammals, and many species of plants. Beavers also help to protect water quality by slowing water velocity. When the water flow slows behind a dam, sus- pended sediments have a chance to settle out, reducing the amount of sediment moving downstream and eventually to larger bodies of water. What is most amazing about the beaver is how they are inexorably linked to the plants in their environment. Not only do they kill certain types of plants, but by doing so, they inad- vertently provide life for numerous others. The most blatant evidence that alerts humans to the presence of beavers are all those gnawed tree trunks. Beavers don’t seem to be real picky about it either, they have been reported to chew on aspen, wil- low, alder, birch, cottonwood, ash, maple, poplar, red oak, white oak, cherry, ironwood, hop hornbeam, elm, bitternut hickory, shagbark hickory, cedar, and pine. Not only are trees the primary component of their dams and lodges, along with mud, stones, and dead vegetation, but they serve as an im- Psge 2 portant food source during the winter months when the beaver eat the cambium layer of the inner bark. During the summer months, they can indulge their vegetarian diets with shoots, twigs, leaves, roots, and bark of woody plants, plus herbaceous plants like sedges, grasses, ferns, algae, the roots and sprouts of skunk cabbage, and the rhizomes of water lilies. Beaver have a tremendous impact on plant communi- ties in the wetlands they inhabit. What starts out as a moderate- ly forested swampy stream side with moderate canopy shade and little herbaceous vegetation can be transformed into an open, mostly sunny marsh with a great diversity of sedges, rushes, grasses and other herbaceous plants in just a few years. By flooding large areas of land, the floristic composition of a wetland changes with the creation of deeper water in the middle of the pond that kills trees, and the deposition of silt in the now slower water along the edges that creates shallow marsh habitat for herbaceous vegetation. Whether you love or loath beavers, they are here for a purpose-just as all life is-and they seem to know this concept because they are one of natures most indiscriminate, persistent, and obsessive creatures when it comes to altering their surrounding environment. 0000 Eric Zuelke, Editor o o o o o o Resources And Reviews OCTORARO NURSERY WEBSITE Octoraro nursery is pleased to announce that their new website is now posted (www.octoraro.com). The most exciting part of the site allows you to search the inventory for prices for bidding purposes, and more importantly to check the current availability and place orders on-line. The current availability section will be updated weekly. You can also search for information about plants in the plant reference section, get answers to some of the most frequently asked questions and search the web for related links. Native and non-native plant booklets The list of Rare Vascular Plants of Delaware has been revised and can be found in Adobe format on the webpage of the Dela- ware Natural Heritage Program, Div. Fish & Wildlife (www. dnrec. state. de.us/fw/ wildrehe.htm). In addition, the list of Non-native Plants of Delaware has also been revised and can be found at the same web address. The results from the revision of these two lists are alarming in regards to the protection of biodiversity in the state. Results of the update to the list of Rare Vascular Plants show that 40% of the native flora (629 taxa) is of conservation concern, 26% (403 taxa) is rare to extremely rare, 1 1% (170 taxa) is thought to be historical, and 3% (56 taxa) is thought to be extirpated. In addition, 4% (69 taxa) of the state’s native flora is known from only a single occurrence or population. Results of the update to the list of Non-native Plants show that 625 species and varieties of non-native vascular plants are known to occur in Delaware, which represents 28% of the states known flora, and 65 of these species are invasive. Continued on page 5 The Turk's C3p, Volume 6, Number 1 Letter From The President Continued from page 1 Turk’s Cap and online at www.delawarenativeplants.org). I hope that many of you will be able to participate in these events. I look forward to seeing you out and about Delaware this year. Activities at out native plant nursery will be picking up soon. Recently, the Delaware Native Plant Society took deliv- ery of its “Little Greenhouse” -in-a-kit. We have prepared the spot where we plan on erecting it by laying down a gravel pad. Next weekend (April 12-13) we will build it. The greenhouse measures 8.5 x 14’ and is constructed of a wooden base in which the front, back, and side walls, composed of interlocking PVC pipes, are attached. The whole will be covered with 4 mil polyvinyl plastic, an exhaust fan at one end will provide cool- ing. The greenhouse will have benches on both sides for pot- ting. The video that came with the greenhouse kit provided a glimpse at the challenge we have in its construction; wish us luck. I am very excited about this greenhouse and the ability it will provide us in our propagation efforts. We will be able to propagate many more plants and species. In the past few weeks I have planted hundreds of seeds in flats that I will be moving to the greenhouse as soon as its ready. I am also motivated to get out today and collect seeds (this is a very good time to go out looking for fruits of native plants, with the added benefit that the seeds have already received their pre-treatment require- ments for germination). I am also very excited about this coming year and all of the Society activities planned. Please join us at our 5 th Annu- al Meeting on April 26, 2003. The featured event for this day includes a detailed look at the under-appreciated world of bryo- phytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts). Premier botanist and DNPS vice-president Bill McAvoy will introduce us to this fascinating group of plants through a slide show and a field trip at Abbotts Mill Nature Center. In May, we are scheduling the 1 7 rh for a trip to the Mt. Cuba Center for the Study of the Pied- mont Flora (check inside this issue for details; members will have to call the Center at 302.239.4244 to reserve a space). On May 24, expert botanists Janet Ebert and Jack Holt will lead us on a wildflower walk in the White Clay Creek Valley. Plans for our summer field trips are not yet finalized, but we hope to have several exciting trips scheduled (stay tuned!). I would also like to do another canoe/kayak trip, a very awesome way to experience streams ide vegetation. Since many members do not have their own canoe or kayak I am looking into organizations that may be able to provide us with canoes or kayaks for free or at a nominal cost. I want to mention that our website has been and is being revised. Many new additions and updates have been add- ed. We are in the process of writing up descriptions of native and non-native species with photos and these will be added to the site in installments over the coming days and weeks. Since it’s a beautiful sunny day and they arc forecast- ing snow for tonight and cold throughout the week, I think I will wrap-up this letter so T can get outdooors and enjoy this great day. I look forward to seeing all of you at our upcoming events. Sympatrically yours, Keith Clancy I s 1 Natural Quotes “Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life's relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the window-panes, which vanish with the warmth.” Soren Kierkegaard j 1 1 g Feature Article Cypress swamp : a look back to 1797 (. Editor's note: This an excerpt of a letter first printed in The American Universal Magazine for Monday, July 10, 1797). Answers to sundry queries relative to the Indian River, or Cy- press Swamps, in the Delaware State, in a letter to Thomas McKean, Esq. from a citizen of Delaware. Honored Sir, Swamp Location The Indian River Swamps, otherwise called the Cy- press Swamps [ed. note: current day Great Cypress Swamp Conservation Area], are situated in Delaware and Maryland states, a little to the southward of the true Cape Henlopen and distant from the sea about ten miles. They are a full seven miles from east to west and ten or twelve from north to south, so that they must contain near fifty thousand acres of land. Several rivers are traced up to this great source, such as the Pocomoke, Indian River and Saint Martins. The first of these traverses the Peninsula to the south- west and falls in the Chesapeake - the two latter run east and fall into the Atlantic. The whole of this swamp is a high and level basin and consequently very wet; though undoubtedly the highest land between the sea and the bay, the waters descending from it in all directions. Until 1759, it lay in a measure unlocated, and was thought to be of little value; but since that period most of it has been surveyed for different proprietors. As early as the year 1726, General Dag worthy’s father patented a large quantity of it; and since that date the general has added considerably to what his father has secured. Green cypress About one fifteenth part of this vast tract was once covered with the beautiful green cypress, or rather cedar [ed. note: Atlantic white cedar], whose regular and majestic height cast such a venerable shade that it kept every other tree of the forest at an awful distance and impressed the beholder with a religious solemnity. The cedars always grow at a distant from the fast land and are everywhere surrounded with maple or gum. It appears as if nature intended the latter as a guard to check the fury of the violent winds incident to our situation. And indeed, it is certain that without such protection the former would always be blown down before they had ac- quired their full growth; as their roots enter the soil but a little Continued on page 6 The Turk's Csp, Volume 6, Number 1 Psge 4 Natural Community Highlight Piedmont Streamside Seepage Wetland Carex stricta - Impatiens capensis - Onoclea sensibilis Herbaceous Vegetation Tussock Sedge - Jewelweed - Sensitive Fern Herbaceous Vegetation Description This community type characterizes a diverse group of small, freshwater wetlands, typically associated with streams in the Piedmont. These wetlands are fed by groundwater year-round and tend to occur at the base of steep slopes. The species com- position is highly variable, but dominant species typically in- clude tussock sedge ( Carex stricta), orange jewelweed (. Impatiens capensis), sensitive fern ( Onoclea sensibilis), and tearthumbs ( Polygonum arifolium, P. sagittatum). Other fre- quent associates include scattered woody species, such as red maple (A cer rubrum), smooth alder (A Inus serrulcita), and black willow (Salix nigra), and the herbaceous species include broad- leaf cattail ( Typha latifolia), rice cutgrass ( Leersia oryzoides), sweetflag ( Acorns americanus), marsh fem ( Thelypteris palus- tris), false nettle ( Boehmeria cylindrica), hop sedge ( Carex lu- pulina), mild water-pepper ( Polygonum hydropip eroides), woolgrass ( Scirpus cyperinus), fowl mannagrass (Glyceria stri- ata), winter bentgrass ( Agrostis hyemalis), and dodders ( Cuscuta spp.). Significance Although generally quite small, these wetlands are important for a variety of reptiles and amphibians, including a number of rare species. There are also several rare plant species known to occur in these wetlands, including fringe-top bottle gentian 0 Gentiana andrewsii), hairy-fruit sedge ( Carex trichocarpa), rough bedstraw ( Galium asprellum), and slender false-foxglove ( Agalinis tenuifolia ). Distribution This community is known from a number of places in the Dela- ware Piedmont. On public land, there are several small sites in White Clay Creek State Park, but probably the most well known occurrence is the freshwater marsh in Brandywine Creek State Park. This is the largest Piedmont streamside marsh in the state, and includes a boardwalk, as well as some interpretive information at the park visitor center. Rangewide, similar communities occur from Maine south to Virginia. 0000 Peter Bowman, DE Natural Heritage Program Ecologist Native Plant Highlight Listera australis (southern twayblade) Listera australis Lindl., the southern twayblade of the Orchidaceae, the Orchid Family is a spring ephemeral of Dela- ware’ s coastal plain physiographic province. Of the 48 species of terrestrial orchids known to occur in Delaware, this species is the first orchid of the season to bloom. In Delaware, the flowering period for the southern twayblade typically begins in mid-April, and lasts for only a short while. Flowers blossom and the ovary matures all in a few short weeks, so the window of opportunity to see this species closes quickly. The southern twayblade is actually hard to find due to its shy nature and diminutive size. It usually requires one to get down on their hands and knees in order to find it. It only grows to a height of about 6 to 8 inches and blends in very well with the surrounding pine needles and leaf litter. The inflorescence is a loose raceme of 5-25 tiny flow- ers that are purplish-green in color. The stem is slender and erect, also purplish-green in color, with two opposite leaves borne at about the middle of the stem that are sessile, green in color and ovate in shape. The flowers are pollinated by minute insects In Delaware, this species is found growing in wet, swampy woods usually with a mix of loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda) and red maple (Acer rubrum). Though considered to be an uncommon species in the state, occasionally one can find 1000s of individuals growing within a localized area. The southern twayblade is primarily a coastal plain species and has a more southern distribution, occurring from Florida to New York. This species is currently known in Dela- ware from Sussex and Kent Counties and was first documented in the state in 1990 by botanist Frank Hirst The genus Listera is represented by 25 species in North America, and the species australis is the only representa- tive of the genus in Delaware. The species name is from the Latin australis , meaning “southern,” referring to the more southern distribution of the species. oooo William McAvoy, DNPS Vice-President y AK Listera Australis Page 5 The Turk's Qp, Volume 6, Number 1 Event Highlights Grove Neck, Maryland This trip was taken on 22 March 2003 on a pleasantly sunny and mild day. Ten members met and carpooled to the Grove Neck Girl Scout Camp at the confluence of the Sassafras River and Chesapeake Bay in Cecil County, Maryland. Late winter/early spring plant identification has its own set of unique challenges because of the conspicuous absence of flowers and other morphological characteristics useful for species recogni- tion. At this time of the year one must rely on their knowledge of bark patterns, bud shapes, leaf scars, and twig coloration. But our leader, William McAvoy, did a great job in giving us all the knowledge we needed to sort out the dozens of plants we saw. We also got some lessons on the bryophytes of the area. We observed only one spring ephemeral, Clayton ia virginica (spring beauty), but did see some other highlights including Phomdendron leuccirpum ( American mistletoe), Lyonia ligus- trina (maleberry), Rhododendron viscosum (swamp azalea), Leucothoe racemosa (fetterbush), and some nice high quality shrub swamp wetlands. o o o o o o Thoughts From The Edge Of The Garden DNPS NURSERY UPDATE We’ve got some good news about the nursery and some bad news. The bad news is that most of our seedlings that were left in the pot-in-pot ground system overwinter got hit hard from rabbit browse. We are hopeful that they will bounce back. But the good news is that we now have a greenhouse! ! ! ! As Keith mentioned in his Letter From the President, the green- house is a PVC pipe kit that we will be putting together. Pur- chasing this greenhouse took a great deal of research and effort to find just the right one that would serve our needs. We’re hoping that things like rabbit and deer browse, squirrel pilfering and late summer heat scorching will be a thing of the past. The greenhouse has an exhaust fan, a misting system and we will be installing a thermostat and possibly someday a heater. Our long term goal is to someday offer as many species of native plants as we possibly can at our annual native plant sales. Backyard wildlife habitat program Jennifer Gochenaur gave a very informative presenta- tion at our DNPS meeting on 21 January 2003 about the National Wildllife Federation’s Backyard Wildlife Habitat Pro- gram. The DE Nature Society is the local facilitating organiza- tion for the NWF for this program. Getting your backyard certi- fied as an official wildlife habitat by the NWF is quite easy and only requires you to supply five elements to the wildlife in your yard: suitable native plants, food, water, cover, and places for your wildlife to raise young. If you would like to learn more about this program contact: Jennifer Gochenaur, Watershed Stewardship Coordinator Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program c/o Delaware Nature Society P.O. Box 700 Hockessin, DE 19707 302.239.2334 ext. 42 www . delaw arenaturesociety.org Resources And Reviews Continued from page 2 Arden’s sherwood forest inventory This slide show from 2 November 2002 by botanist Janet Ebert and biologist Jim White is on videotape. To borrow the video of then presentation from the Arden Archives, contact Danny Schweers at 302.475.0998, or www.ArdenClub.com for more details. Center for plant conservation website The Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) has launched a new website that provides comprehensive information about the country's native, imperiled plants. The plant profiles, available at www.centerforplantconservation.org, contain a description of the plant, its distribution and conservation status. A complete bibliography follows each plant profile, and the pages contain more than 5,000 references. Each plant profiled is included in the Center's National Collec- tion of Endangered Plants. This collection contains plant material for more than 600 of the country's most imperiled native plants. An important conservation resource, the Collec- tion is a back-up in case a species becomes extinct or no longer reproduces in the wild. It’s also an important resource for the scientific study of plant rarity, rare plant life cycles and rare plant storage and germination requirements. The Chicago Botanic Garden, partnering with the University of Illinois - Chicago, coordinated the project. The Center's partici- pating institutions, located across the country, supplied content and photographs for the profiles. The CPC is dedicated solely to preventing the extinction of America's imperiled, native flora. The center is a network of more than 30 of America's leading botanical institutions. By conducting conservation programs in horticulture, research, awareness and information exchange, the center’s network is striving to save our rarest plants from being lost forever. The great cypress swamps This hardcover book authored by John V. Dennis is a fascinat- ing reference text on the cypress swamps of the southern United States (including a description of Delaware’s Great Cypress Swamp). Here’s one review: “Their role in the ecology of the South became more appreciated as people became aware of the rare creatures and plants these forests and lakes held, and when they also became aware of their economic utility in such areas as purifying water, etc. This book brings out these facets of cypress forests as well as clearly and excellently discussing the flora and fauna found in them. The discussion on these marvel- ous trees, themselves, is worth the book price. Excellent photos abet this effort very well. The major swamps are covered on a chapter-by-chapter basis. The reader gains an appreciation of the unique nuances of each. I found the chapters on the Great Dismal Swamp and the discussion of the mysterious Carolina Bays most enjoyable.” Check your look bookstore or Ama- zon.com to order a copy. The Turk's Qp, Volume 6, Number 1 Psge 6 Fea ture Article Continued from page 3 way or rather grow upon it. The cedar has few, or no branches, except near the top; the leaves are short and of a fine strong green; the flowers are small and grow in clusters; the seeds are enclosed in a soft membrane about the bigness of a pea, the outside of which is rough and angular; the bark is a dark red or reddish-brown, and rough with deep furrows on its surface, from which oozes a fine transparent gum that is excellent, for fresh wounds and which 1 incline to think may be the true frankincense. The wood is soft, but very durable and by reasons of its gum not subject to eaten by worms, there are many instances of trees lying down of two and three feet diameter and others of the same bigness growing directly upon them and both equally sound. Water near cedars The water found among these cedars though stagnant, never putrefies, is always perfectly clear, and in color resembles strong beer. It has a peculiar indescribable taste, but not disa- greeable. In dry seasons it tastes much of the acid, and sparkles when poured into a glass. The people that drink it are of a thin habit, but healthy, and live until a very old age. I do not find form enquiry or recollection, a single instance of any person that has used this water constantly; dying since I have lived here, which is now upwards of nineteen years. The air, too, by its salubrious and healing virtues, may contribute not a little to their longevity. It may abound with balsamic volatile effluvia. Bald express The bald cypresses are also collected together, but they take possession of the lowest and most watery places. Though short of the green, with respect to numbers, they still cover a vast tract, and vie with the green, nay, surpass them and every other tree found here, in magnitude. It is a beautiful tree and singular in the manner of its growth. It rises to one hundred and forty feet, having but few branches until near the top, and these spread like an umbrella. The trunks of these trees are frequently four to eight feet in di- ameter; but these large ones are apt to be hollow. They are called the bald cypress to distinguish them from the green, because they shed their leaves late in autumn. The bark is of a lighter reddish brown, split into slen- der scales and of a resinous smell; the leaves are short and of a beautiful pale green the flowers small and inconsiderable; and the fruit is a kind of nut about the bigness of a nutmeg, which it resembles a little in color and taste. It is of a firm substance, but when ripe divides into several parts and the seed fall out. The fruit before dry contains a fine liquid gum, perfectly pellucid and very fragrant, and has a powerful styptic quality, as I once experienced when gather- ing them. From the roots of those trees, which run a great way from the trunk, grow hundreds of protuberances, which shoot up to eight or ten feet high, of a true conic figure their apex at top round and smooth. They are usually hollow. The tops are made use of by the country people for well buckets and other purposes. Swamp fires But the many fires we have had here have very much lessened the number of the green, as well as of the bald cypress- es. The most terrible conflagration happened in June 1782; the swamp being at that time exceeding dry, by some means took fire and burnt for many weeks before much notice was taken of it The drought continuing and the fire constantly spread- ing, it was on the 20 th of August, about two hours before sun-set, driven by a strong southwest wind, with such incon- ceivable fury, that it mowed or otherwise destroyed, at least three thousand acres of these venerable cedars in less than twelve hours- with myself and family, my buildings and proper- ty were in the utmost danger, and had not the wind providential- ly shifted, must have perished in it The smoke was so thick that we could not see a yard before us, and to prevent suffocation, were obliged to keep our mouths close to the ground; yet the vapor and ashes we una- voidably took in with our breath caused such an oppression of the breast, that it altered the natural tone of our voices; mine, I have not yet recovered. The scene was grand and terrific, the whole city of Philadelphia in flames, would give you but a faint ideas of this tremendous conflagration- “Wide and more wide is spread, and seemed to frame Huge lofty walls, and battlements of flame.” The light of this fire was seen seventy miles off. Ramins tree In September 1778, an exceeding dry time, as my son was coming out of the swamp, he discovered a raining-tree; his account led me immediately to examine it, which I found liter- ally true. In order to establish such an uncommon fact, I invited several persons of good sense and veracity, among who were General Dagworthy and his lady, to be witnesses of this singu- lar phenomenon. During all the time it rained, the weather was very dry, the mercury in the barometer stood higher than I had observed it for two months before; and there were few clouds to be seen. The drops were very small and shot out beyond the branches of the tree, it afforded one continued shower of fine rain for the space of three weeks and then left off, until September 1779, when it began again and rained nearly as long as before. In 1780, though I visited it often, I could never find it raining, which led me to conclude as the tree showed evident symptoms of decay, that it would rain no more. But in Septem- ber 1781 , it began again, but did not continue to rain for more than two weeks. In August 1782, it was scorched by the great fire, since which time it has not rained at all. The tree that possesses this singular property, is an old black gum, about two feet in diame- ter, and fully sixty feet high. It stands on the fast land about two hundred yards from the cedar swamp; and there is a water hole near it, that is seldom dry. It is not difficult to conceive that this tree may have an extraordinary power to pump up the juices or sap from the roots in greater abundance than will assimilate, but how, or in what manner it is projected with such force from thence, is utterly beyond my philosophy to account for. 0000 Submitted to the Editor by David Rickards ( Birdsong Gardens), DNPS member The Turk's Qp, Volume 6, Number 1 &PCcmMjrG £^V£jrrs P sge7 i Saturday, 26 April 2003 - DNPS 5th annual meeting at Abbotts Mill Nature Center from 10 AM to 3PM. Keynote Speaker Bill McAvoy, State of Delaware botanist presents: “The Microcosmic World of Mosses, an introduction to bryophytes: mosses, liverworts, & hornworts”, a field bry- OPHYTE EXPLORATION IN THE HABITATS AROUND ABBOTTS MILL, BUSINESS MEETING AND POTLUCK LUNCH. From points north, take Rte 113 south past Milford to Shawnee Rd. (Rte. 36), south on Shawnee Rd. to Abbotts Pond Rd. Go west on Abbotts Pond Rd. to Abbotts Mill at Abbotts Pond. From the south, take Rte 1 13 to Fitzgeralds Rd. (Rd. 207); west on Fitzgeralds Rd. to Shawnee Rd.; north on Shawnee Rd. to Abbotts Pond Rd.; west on Abbotts Pond Rd. to Abbotts Mill. Please Email us AT DNPS@DELAWARENATIYEPLANTS.ORG, OR ON THE WEB AT WWW.DELAWARENATIVEPLANTS.ORG, OR BY PHONE AT 302.674.5187 FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO RSVP. Saturday, 03 May & Sunday, 04 May 2003 - Delaware Nature Society's 2003 Native Plant Sale from 9 AM to 5 PM, and 10 AM to 3 PM. Thousands of native plants are offered for sale at the COVERDALE FARM, ON WAY ROAD, IN GREENVILLE, DELAWARE. FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 302.239.2334, E-MAIL AT WEBPAGE@DNSASHLAND.ORG, OR ON THE WEB AT WWW.DELAWARENATURESOCIETY.ORG. Saturday, 10 May 2003 - Adkins Arboretum 2003 Native Plant Sale from 9 AM to 1 PM. A variety OF NATIVE TREES, SHRUBS & HERBS ARE AVAILABLE. THE ARBORETUM IS LOCATED ON MARYLAND’S EASTERN Shore along the Tuckahoe Creek at 12610 Eveland Road, outside Ridgely. For more information CALL 410.634.2847, EMAIL AT ADKINSAR@INTERCOM.NET, OR ON THE WEB AT WWW.ADKrNSARBORETUM.ORG. Saturday, 17 May 2003 - Tour of Mt. Cuba Center to search for piedmont flora, 10 am or 1 pm. The DNPS is scheduling this date and times for its visit to Mt. Cuba’s Center for the Study of the Piedmont Flora. Any member (also open to the general public) interested in attending this trip, FOR EITHER TIME, MUST CALL MT. CUBA DIRECTLY & ASAP AND MAKE YOUR OWN RESERVATIONS. SPACE IS LIMITED SO CALL 302.239.4244 TODAY TO RESERVE YOURS. MT. CUBA IS OFFERING WEEKEND TOURS (AT 10 AM AND 1 PM) OF ITS GARDENS FROM LATE APRIL THROUGH 25 MAY 2003 (SO IF YOU CANNOT ATTEND ON May 17, try one of these other weekend dates). Once your reservation is made Mt. Cuba will SEND YOU A CONFIRMATION LETTER WITH DIRECTIONS; A $5 ENTRY FEE IS DUE ON THE DAY OF THE TOUR. Saturday, 24 May 2003 - Spring wildflower walk in the White Clay Creek valley into Pennsyl- vania FROM 10 AM TO 2 PM (OR THEREABOUTS). LEADERS WILL JANET EBERT AND JACK HOLT. THE GROUP WILL WALK ALONG THE WHITE CLAY CREEK INTO PA. AMONG ALL THE LATE SPRING EPHEMERALS WE WILL BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THE RARE WALKING FERN ( ASPLENIUM RHIZOPHYLL UM) . WE WILL MEET AT THE PARKING lot on Chambers Rock Road (New Castle Co., Delaware) in White Clay Creek State Park. Dress APPROPRIATELY FOR MID-SPRING WEATHER. BRING A HAND LENS & A BAG LUNCH. IF YOU NEED MORE INFOR- MATION AND TO SIGN-UP FOR THIS TRIP PLEASE CALL 302.674.5187 OR EMAIL DNPS @ DELAW ARENATIVEPLANTS.ORG. DNPS Bi-monthly meetings for 2003 - are currently scheduled the 3rd Tuesday of every other MONTH. OUR NEXT MEETINGS WILL BE: 26 APRIL (THE ANNUAL MEETING AT ABBOTTS MILL), 15 JULY, 16 SEP- TEMBER, AND 1 8 NOVEMBER. MEETINGS WTLL TAKE PLACE (UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTIFIED) AT 7 PM AT THE Aquatics Research and Education Center, Woodland Beach Wildlife Area, Rte 9 (4876 Hay Point Landing Road) about 1 mile north of Rte 6. we plan to have guest speakers at each meeting (SPEAKERS AND THEIR TOPICS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT LATER DATES). CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS OR EMAIL US AT DNPS@DELAWARENATIVEPLANTS.ORG. The Turk's C3p, Volume 6, Number 1 Page 8 l Membership Application I L ». ». ». ». ». _ , Member Information i Delaware native Plant Society , i Name: Business Name or Organization: Address: City and Zip Code: Telephone (home/work): E-mail address: " Individual $15.00 " Full-time Student $10.00 " Family or Household $18.00 " Contributing $50.00 " Business $100.00 " Lifetime $500.00 " Donations are also welcome $_ Membership benefits include: * The DNPS quarterly newsletter, The Turk’s Cap * Native plant gardening and landscaping information * Speakers and field trips Total Amount Enclosed: $ Make check payable to: DE Native Plant Society P.O. Box 369, Dover, DE 19903 Delaware Native Plant Society P.O. Box 369 Dover, Delaware 19903 Complimentary Copy