A Year in the Pines, recap- 2024

[Rooftree]

It’s been a good year, so I’d like to go over some high points. Back in 2023, while Bob was conducting surveys on known Swamp Pink locations, I told him of an area that had good potential for finding Swamp Pinks based on its habitat; a slow moving, defined pure clean stream meandering under the cover of pines and cedars. So, we met up back in April to see what we could find. With the difficulties (at least for me) in making our way through thicket and squishy areas which are part of the game to stay close to the stream, it started out slow in finding any Pinks. To our surprise we found one. Well, I think we were pretty convinced that they were there, so now it was time to get down to business. As we continued, we spotted more. Moving further along, we started to count, as Bob was concerned that I may miss one since I was at the lead while Bob was recording the finds and taking photos. I believe he found one I missed. I promised him that that wouldn’t happen again (lol!). This is serious stuff now, you know. As we came to where the stream flowed into a larger one we stopped. We found a substantial amount of Pinks. Bob was in heaven. As this was a ‘new find’, Bob reported it to the State.

A 'must have' in any ones home.

Bob recording a find. Is more then a tally mark. In addition to be on the State's Endangered List, it is also on the Federal List.

Helonias bullata (Swamp,Pink)

The habitat

Moving on. During my years of exploring the Pines, I had discovered three colonies of Arethusa, all along the same water source, each about ½ mile apart. I decided that this would be the year to do a more thorough search to see if more could be found in this area. Back in Feb through April, I spent a good number of days scouting out an extended area to see if the habitats were conductive to this orchid. The habitat looked good. I marked waypoints of spots to check later, and especially spots for water crossings. This area is so pristine.

So the big day came when the Arethusa was in bloom. On May 28th, Bob came with me. We first started at the original water source and we found more Arethusa. Later we moved on to the new area where I was scouting out earlier. I was under the gun since Bob was with me, if my work proved well based on habitat alone. As soon as we entered the prime area I spotted one right away and the rest was history. Was I relieved. We ended up spending two days on two additional water sources counting Arethusa. Again, we counted a substantial number of plants. Arethusa bulbosa (Dragon’s mouth) is an endangered (rare) plant. A pure white Arethusa is exceptional and uncommon to find in the wild. We found three of them. This area was also a new find that Bob reported to the State. This was a significant find.

The habitat

Arethusa bulbosa (Dragon's Mouth)

Pure white one.

Bob

And me.

Lastly, one other new find. While using Boyd’s Lidar map to find new areas to explore, I came across an unusual geometric shape. I used his map set because it picks up trails not seen on satellite maps. Going to Vermeule 1870 Topo map, the area showed a mining site. So, I had to make a trip to check it out. It was an old sandstone excavation site, with a massive trenching system meandering through a pine forest. Thanks; Boyd. Your maps have been useful on many occasions.

The real reason for this post is to thank Bob. It was back in 2017, before I was a member on this site, I rang Bob’s doorbell. I had found a population of Swamp Pink nearby. Knowing he had interest in this plant, I felt he should know. Being out of my comfort zone I stopped at his house. Actually, I stopped twice. The first time I didn’t get out of the car and drove off. About a mile away, I just had to let Bob know and I returned and rang the bell. After an awkward introduction of myself, he let me in. We been friends ever since.

It always fun being out with Bob. We, being at both end of the knowledge spectrum; Bob being a Field Botanist and me being two-bit novice, who can’t pronounce the scientific names, hit it off well. Always joking and nothing serious. We had lots of laughs. One day as we hike down the trail he starts to sing “They ran so fast that the hounds couldn’t catch ‘em, on down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.” I don’t know why Bob started singing that song that day. On that day I went down over my boots. A short time later I got a package in the mail. Bob bought me boot dryers. That was the third time I did that while with Bob.

I’m not sure what 2025 will bring me as I turn 80 years old later in the year. But I still plan to be out there……..somewhere.

 

[bobpbx]

It’s been a good year, so I’d like to go over some high points. Back in 2023, while Bob was conducting surveys on known Swamp Pink locations, I told him of an area that had good potential for finding Swamp Pinks based on its habitat; a slow moving, defined pure clean stream meandering under the cover of pines and cedars. So, we met up back in April to see what we could find. With the difficulties (at least for me) in making our way through thicket and squishy areas which are part of the game to stay close to the stream, it started out slow in finding any Pinks. To our surprise we found one. Well, I think we were pretty convinced that they were there, so now it was time to get down to business. As we continued, we spotted more. Moving further along, we started to count, as Bob was concerned that I may miss one since I was at the lead while Bob was recording the finds and taking photos. I believe he found one I missed. I promised him that that wouldn’t happen again (lol!). This is serious stuff now, you know. As we came to where the stream flowed into a larger one we stopped. We found a substantial amount of Pinks. Bob was in heaven. As this was a ‘new find’, Bob reported it to the State.

View attachment 23909
A 'must have' in any ones home.

View attachment 23910
Bob recording a find. Is more then a tally mark. In addition to be on the State's Endangered List, it is also on the Federal List.

View attachment 23911
Helonias bullata (Swamp,Pink)

View attachment 23912
The habitat

Moving on. During my years of exploring the Pines, I had discovered three colonies of Arethusa, all along the same water source, each about ½ mile apart. I decided that this would be the year to do a more thorough search to see if more could be found in this area. Back in Feb through April, I spent a good number of days scouting out an extended area to see if the habitats were conductive to this orchid. The habitat looked good. I marked waypoints of spots to check later, and especially spots for water crossings. This area is so pristine.

So the big day came when the Arethusa was in bloom. On May 28th, Bob came with me. We first started at the original water source and we found more Arethusa. Later we moved on to the new area where I was scouting out earlier. I was under the gun since Bob was with me, if my work proved well based on habitat alone. As soon as we entered the prime area I spotted one right away and the rest was history. Was I relieved. We ended up spending two days on two additional water sources counting Arethusa. Again, we counted a substantial number of plants. Arethusa bulbosa (Dragon’s mouth) is an endangered (rare) plant. A pure white Arethusa is exceptional and uncommon to find in the wild. We found three of them. This area was also a new find that Bob reported to the State. This was a significant find.

View attachment 23913
The habitat

View attachment 23914
Arethusa bulbosa (Dragon's Mouth)

View attachment 23915
Pure white one.

View attachment 23916
Bob

View attachment 23917
And me.

Lastly, one other new find. While using Boyd’s Lidar map to find new areas to explore, I came across an unusual geometric shape. I used his map set because it picks up trails not seen on satellite maps. Going to Vermeule 1870 Topo map, the area showed a mining site. So, I had to make a trip to check it out. It was an old sandstone excavation site, with a massive trenching system meandering through a pine forest. Thanks; Boyd. Your maps have been useful on many occasions.

The real reason for this post is to thank Bob. It was back in 2017, before I was a member on this site, I rang Bob’s doorbell. I had found a population of Swamp Pink nearby. Knowing he had interest in this plant, I felt he should know. Being out of my comfort zone I stopped at his house. Actually, I stopped twice. The first time I didn’t get out of the car and drove off. About a mile away, I just had to let Bob know and I returned and rang the bell. After an awkward introduction of myself, he let me in. We been friends ever since.

It always fun being out with Bob. We, being at both end of the knowledge spectrum; Bob being a Field Botanist and me being two-bit novice, who can’t pronounce the scientific names, hit it off well. Always joking and nothing serious. We had lots of laughs. One day as we hike down the trail he starts to sing “They ran so fast that the hounds couldn’t catch ‘em, on down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.” I don’t know why Bob started singing that song that day. On that day I went down over my boots. A short time later I got a package in the mail. Bob bought me boot dryers. That was the third time I did that while with Bob.

I’m not sure what 2025 will bring me as I turn 80 years old later in the year. But I still plan to be out there……..somewhere.

A great post Ron! Your love of the pines shows through, and I'm always happy to have you along as one of my good friends who are willing to get dirty and wet and risk a dunking.

My father Robert died in a truck accident up in Metuchen, when I was 17 months old, in 1955. I have no memory of him, and that stings me. But you mention my singing out in the woods, which I do quite a bit of. I was surprised and pleased in 2019, when I visited my Uncle in Deltona Florida. He told me something I never knew. My father lived on Central? Avenue in Metuchen when he was a boy. He had to walk through some woods to get to his school, and my Uncle said he was usually singing when he did so. Many of the songs were likely old cowboy tunes popular on TV or in the movies at the time. That warmed my heart to hear that.

PS: my real last name is different than Moyer. My stepfather (moyer) adopted me in 1966 when my mother died. I was too young to realize the impact of that, and that bothers me; I should have changed my name back to my real birth name, but now it's too late, as my late son died as a Moyer. I just can't do it because of that.

 

[manumuskin]

A great post Ron! Your love of the pines shows through, and I'm always happy to have you along as one of my good friends who are willing to get dirty and wet and risk a dunking.

My father died in a truck accident up in when I was 17 months old, in 1955. I have no memory of him, and that stings me. But you mention my singing out in the woods, which I do quite a bit of. I was surprised and pleased in 2019, when I visited my Uncle in Deltona Florida. He told me something I never knew. My father lived on in when he was a boy. He had to walk through some woods to get to his school, and my Uncle said he was usually singing when he did so. Many of the songs were likely old cowboy tunes popular on TV or in the movies at the time. That warmed my heart to hear that.

PS: my last name is really My stepfather adopted me in 1966 when my mother died. I was too young to realize the impact of that, and that bothers me; I should have changed my name back to but now it's too late, as my late son died as a I just can't do it because of that.

My Biological Dad died in 1966 in a car accident.He was 19 I was 2. I don't remember him as well.Him and Mom never married other wise my name would be Beavis .. I"m named after my Moms step Dad that raised her,Butthead ,She was raised by her maternal aunt and uncle,her mother had epilepsy and couldn't handle the kids she already had so her mothers sister took her. I had remembered you telling me you were adopted Bob but couldn't remember your birth name.It was a long time ago.

 

[Boyd]

( Putting on my admin hat to be a party-pooper )

All this family history is fascinating, I'm tempted to post some of mine. But stop for a moment and think about how much of this very personal stuff you want viewable by the public. I know this feels like a friendly place with good people, but you're actually in the worst kind of crime-ridden neighborhood (the internet). We reject an unbelievable number of bad guys who try to register here (around 150 per week). They're out there, constantly hoovering up everything we post and who knows what mischief Artificial Intelligence will enable them to do with it?

Of course, it's up to you but just be clear-eyed about what the internet really is.

 

[bobpbx]

By the way, my last

( Putting on my admin hat to be a party-pooper )

All this family history is fascinating, I'm tempted to post some of mine. But stop for a moment and think about how much of this very personal stuff you want viewable by the public. I know this feels like a friendly place with good people, but you're actually in the worst kind of crime-ridden neighborhood (the internet). We reject an unbelievable number of bad guys who try to register here (around 150 per week). They're out there, constantly hoovering up everything we post and who knows what mischief Artificial Intelligence will enable them to do with it?

Of course, it's up to you but just be clear-eyed about what the internet really is.

Sound advice. I just edited my post to remove my birth name.

 

[Rooftree]

Why did we find three white Arethusa while finding many in the their nornal color. Plants produce anthocyanins, a water-soluble pigments of deep red, purple, and blue. Flowers that are white cannot produce anthocyanins, likely caused by recessive genetic mutations; a change in the DNA sequence of an organism. Therefore, are rare in the wild. (Info came from the internet)

 

[Rooftree]

Another tidbit of information I had read about Arethusa (same as for other orchids) it needs a 'jump start' to share nutrients from other plants in this case sphagnum moss to help to produce a flower. This process is called 'mycorrhizae' through a network of fungi which connects roots of diffrent plants, allowing them to share nutrients absorbed from the soil creating a 'nutrient exchange'.

 

[bobpbx]

Another tidbit of information I had read about Arethusa (same as for other orchids) it needs a 'jump start' to share nutrients from other plants in this case sphagnum moss to help to produce a flower. This process is called 'mycorrhizae' through a network of fungi which connects roots of diffrent plants, allowing them to share nutrients absorbed from the soil creating a 'nutrient exchange'.

Yes, a lot of plants use that method. I 'think' maybe even one of the rarest does; Chaffseed.

But are you sure that sphagnum shares nutrients with Arethusa? It makes sense, but never heard that before.

 

[manumuskin]

Just altered mine instead of deleting it. Lets see what AI does with this!

 

[Rooftree]

But are you sure that sphagnum shares nutrients with Arethusa? It makes sense, but never heard that before.

Bob; you are right. I thought I read that fives years ago on the subject of mycorrhiza. But I might have read that Arethusa settles in poor to moderate sphagnum dominated habitats rather than typical open bog habitat.

 

[bobpbx]

Bob; you are right. I thought I read that fives years ago on the subject of mycorrhiza. But I might have read that Arethusa settles in poor to moderate sphagnum dominated habitats rather than typical open bog habitat.

Yes, I have never seen Arethusa growing in any medium other than sphagnum. Not sand, not dirt, not mud. Same with Xyris chapmanii.

 

[Rooftree]

Just Speculation. I have a hunch that the sandstone excavated from the mining site that I had visited was transportd by wagon to the site of the Harrsville Paper Mill. As the crow flies, the distance between the two is less than four miles. I can not find on the internet where the sandstone was transpoted to and were the sandstone came from at Harrisville. You would think there would be some history on this subject. I'm just throwing this out, I won't be looking into it.

 

[bobpbx]

Just Speculation. I have a hunch that the sandstone excavated from the mining site that I had visited was transportd by wagon to the site of the Harrsville Paper Mill. As the crow flies, the distance between the two is less than four miles. I can not find on the internet where the sandstone was transpoted to and were the sandstone came from at Harrisville. You would think there would be some history on this subject. I'm just throwing this out, I won't be looking into it.

Could have been Ron, but probably cart them out to the main road first.