Saturday, May 5th marked another successful field trip for the OSWP! At our first stop,
Canoe Creek State Park, we saw Epipactus helleborine (non-native summer blooming
species), as well as dozens of large yellow lady slippers (Cypripedium parviflorum var.
pubescens) blanketing the hillside near an old limestone quarry. Although some of
the blossoms appeared frost damaged, & weren't quite as showy as last year, we all
managed to get some good pictures. In addition, we saw wild columbine (Aquilegia
canadense, pictured to the left), long spurred violet (Viola rostrata) and several
patches of Pennywort (Obolaria virginica), a small flower in the gentian family, which is
extremely rare in Pennsylvania. Also of interest at this location, we saw tree swallows,
eastern bluebirds, Baltimore orioles, a yellow warbler, & two snakes.
From there, we headed to our second stop, on state game lands near State College.
Here, we visited a number of sites where we saw pad-leaved orchid (Platanthera
orbiculata, a summer bloomer), downy rattlesnake orchid (Goodyera pubescens, a
summer bloomer with showy foliage) and too many pink lady slippers (Cyp acaule) to
count. Also of interest here, we saw fringed polygala (Polygala paucifolia, small pink
orchid-like flowers), various club mosses, wild cranberries, teaberries, and blueberries,
our native pinxter azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides) in full bloom, and lots
of butterflies as well.
Although it made for a long day, we covered a lot of ground & saw lots of interesting
things...please consider joining us next year!
POSSIBLE 2012 SUMMER FIELD TRIP I'm looking at a site in West Virginia for the
end of June. (Possibly Sunday 6/24, although it's hard to predict at this point when
things will be blooming.) It may end up coming together at the last minute again!
Please let me know if you are interested in going.
I will update you as the time gets closer. Hopefully, we'll get to see some different
species including Calopogon, Pogonia, & Platanthera.
Amy Cignetti
ahcignetti@hotmail.com :: 724.733.3066