Plant Driven: Ozarks, Part 2
To the readers who’ve sent emails and well-wishes…thank you in return! Your encouragement powers us on! Some of you have asked why I chose the Ozarks as the debut trip for my Plant Driven escapades. The Ozarks are home to a number of plants that also call Iowa and the rest of the tallgrass biome home. Though you could argue that forms from southern latitudes would be less hardy farther north, this rule doesn’t always hold fast. In fact for species like Asclepias purpurascens (purple milkweed), the issue for upper Midwestern gardeners isn’t so much cold hardiness but genetic diversity. Up north this species grows more sporadically than it does down here. I wouldn’t hesistate to call it abundant here in southern Missouri, and in just a few miles of driving we probably spotted five or six color variants. Larger assemblages (ie-areas with a greater abundance of plants) generally harbor more genetic diversity, which means a greater range of morphological expression (colors, leaf shapes, plant habits, etc.) and potentially genetically healthier populations. ‘Nuff said about science at this late hour!
Asclepias purpurascens
So what cool plants popped up on our plant exploring radars today? Well first off, two of the coolest vines the American native plant catalog has to offer. Both, though, are sadly underappreciated. Matelea decipiens, the climbing milkweed, boasts gorgeous clusters of chocolate-colored flowers with a satin finish. Imagine a trellis or arbor wrought with their silken blooms! The only downside I can see (smell) with this plant is its fried-food odor. The first thing my compadre Elizabeth said when she sniffed was “fry daddy!”
Matelea decipiens
The second emits virtually no perfume but would look classy tangling and rambling amid roses. Clematis pitcheri, the leatherflower, sports smallish but cute-as-a-button flowers in various two-tone combos. We found about three different forms today all happily vining up viburnums, hydrangeas, or hops trees (Ptelea trifoliata). About the size of the quarter, the flowers would look charming cut in a nosegay with antique roses, the perfect combination of texture, color, and geometry. Don’t doubt the power of small and simple! Speak softly and all that, after all.
Clematis pitcheri
Ferns, ferns, ferns. I can’t get enough of them even though I’m a hopeless novice with their nomenclature and identification. Forms and variations abound! Of the dozen or so finer species we observed and photographed today, the finest (in my humble opinion) grows right out of the cliff face. Cheilanthes feei, the slender rockfern, first made contact with my neurons when I read cover to cover (for the second time) Claude Barr’s Jewels of the Plains. This wide-ranging species grows throughout middle America always on cliff faces or in rock outcroppings. Small and fuzzy it is, wimpy and cuddly it is not. This dandy tuft of fronds has got to be one of the toughest ferns around. Think about it. Would you grow in 14 inches of rich, rotting leaf matter or a half an inch of silt with a pebble thrown in for good measure? The slender rockfern might just well find a home in rock gardens or in nooks and crevices along the retaining wall next to the sidewalk. Whatta ya say?
Cheilanthes feei
The greatest find of the day came near the end of our travels (it was getting hot, we were getting tired, you get the picture). I stumbled upon this plant, let out a yelp, and scrambled to find the camera in the menagerie of junk hanging around my neck and off my shoulders. The false aloe (Manfreda virginica) is one of the only members of the Agave family (Agavaceae) that you’ll find in the Midwest. But look at the variegation on this one! Spots and dots speckle many all throughout its range, but I’ve never seen one with such intense red coloration and pronounced splashing. Shebang!
Manfreda virginica
Wow this got long! AND more is on the way! See you tomorrow.
 | Published on June 12th, 2009 | Posted by kdnblog |