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The Mountain’s Call Part 2

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “White Turtlerheads 92520a” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

Deeper into the hidden world the Mountain’s call pulls me. The big blue truck rolls beyond the old fence posts covered by roses that have gone feral and surrounded fallow ground with thorns and bright red hips. Below the road and beneath twisted branches squirrels play where once a groomed orchard grew. And still, the sleeping mountain calls me deeper into the seldom seen to show me how well she has been healing. And there in a ditch where the forest meets the road was a treasure I’ve only seen in books and gardens during all my wanderings. A colony of white Turtlerheads! Now I realize that this is a common sight in the garden but in 52 years I have not found them in the wild. Which is odd to me because here we have an Appalachian Native plant that seems to have migrated from forests to gardens.

The plant gets its name from the shape of the flower which resembles a turtle with it’s mouth slightly open.

Image is titled “White Turtlerheads 92520b” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

There is a reason for the open mouth look. In the pre-Columbian era this ensured pollination by bumblebees. The opening is slightly more narrow than a bumblebee’s body. But, only the bumblebees are strong enough and the right size to force their way into the mouth to reach the supply of nectar that pools in the bottom of the flower. European honeybees are not strong enough to force their way in and the large carpenter bees are too large to fit in. So the bumblebees are the sole pollinators for Turtlerheads. If you look closely at tonight’s Feature Image you’ll notice a structure that looks amazingly similar to a human tongue. And the top lip seems to have a single “tooth” hanging down. These are the reproductive organs of course. As the bumblebees wiggle their way into the flower they pick up and transfer huge amounts of pollen.

However, the European honeybees have discovered a hack. They chew their way through the side of the flower and rob the nectar without any pollination. None of research actually says it but I conclude that the same pollinators that are so necessary for the food production of the world are also a limiting factor in the success of the Turtlerheads. So what does it matter. Well, it matters to the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly that hosts its eggs almost exclusively on the Turtlerheads. The implications being that without the flower we lose the butterfly. Fortunately, we have many cultivars that are planted simply for beauty by some and specifically for preservation of the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly by others.

Image Titled “White Turtlerheads 92520c” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

But what really made these special is because in the mid 90s I helped cruise the timber that was clear cut before the mountain was strip mined down to bare earth. And we’ll soon be coming up on the 30 year mark in the forest regeneration of this mountain. So to find a plant that I have not found in the wild growing so close to an unlikely location gives me great hope for the full restoration of the forest in this area. It takes a long time for nature to reclaim this kind of thing on her own but she can do it. I have been on land that is beautiful rich forest today but was cleared fifty or more years ago. But don’t think that makes me against mining. These men pull light from darkness and supply the carbon that strengthens the steel that modern world is built from. No, I am pro reclaiming that which was mined. We can have the best of both worlds and all it takes is a little thinking and planning. But that will have to be a topic for another day because this post has gotten way larger than I intended. So good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

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The Mountain’s Call Part 1

Color Photography

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Cardinal Flower 92520a” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

The cool shadows have begun to grow noticeable longer as rattling sounds of grasshoppers fade away like the heat of summer. The unpaved county road leads my big blue truck slowly through the the rich bottomland where dust rolls off of the road like the mists of a river. Diesel engines growl in the distance as tractors move giant rolls of hay under the shelter of a barn. And the road calls me deeper into the hidden world beyond the boundaries of Asphalt and concrete into a labyrinth of trails and gravel to seek a treasure overlooked by miners and lumberjacks many years ago when they laid bare the mountain’s bones. They pulled forth a city in lumber and powered it with the coal. The mountain gave birth to civilization and fell asleep. For age she slept and healed preparing for the day when her true treasures could shown again. The big blue truck drifts to halt in a welcoming fold between the hills. Here in the shelter of a young forest I find a treasure of floral rubies not planted by the hands of mankind. The Cardinal Flower stands proudly on the edge near her Blue Lobelia and with a special prize that I have not found in person until I yielded to the mountain’s call.

To be continued…

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Forage Friday #77 Coltsfoot.

Color Photography, Forage Friday

Coltsfoot 92520a — Hello Friends! Tonight’s photos were taken specifically for Forage Friday. All photos found on my website are my original work unless otherwise specified and are available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

Tonight’s Forage Friday deals with a plant that is considered UNSAFE due to hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids ( also known as PAs) which are mostly found in the roots like the PAs in comfrey. According to the US government PAs can damage the liver and cause cancer. Therefore, all of the information covered in this article is presented as trivia and not a recommendation for the treatment of any health issues.

The old mountaineer slowly walked along the dirt road with his eyes fixed on the ditches. Each time he spotted a cluster broad leaves the right size and shape he knelt down and placed a few leaves in his coffee can. Once his can was full he took his time laying the leaves out on trays made from recovered hardware cloth in the dry autumn sun. A second sheet of hardware cloth was placed on top to keep the breeze from claiming his hard work. It didn’t really take long for the constant breeze and sun to do their job while the mountain man checked his traps and drew from the well and completed the rest of his morning chores. He returned to the coltsfoot leaves drying in the wind and checked to make sure that the dew had all been removed by nature. Satisfied that they were dry he returned the can and placed it hot coals. Soon smoke rose up out of can and with no time at all the large leaves were chared black. He removed them from the can and immediately after his homemade ball mill reduced them a powder which went into a small Mason on the breakfast table. The black salt would be a wonderful addition to his next meal.

Among my grandfather’s depression stories was the concept of black salt. A finely ground charcoal made from the leaves of coltsfoot. The tradition of this type of salt goes back to the old days of the first mountain men. It’s a European tradition and a European native plant. I don’t know for sure who discovered that burning it made it salty but there it is. In a situation such as the great depression salt is a Commodity that could be in short supply. Even though West Virginia is home to one of first salt mines in the new world we can’t dig it out of any old hole in the ground and in the days before an interstate highway system transportation was a real problem in the steep Appalachian Mountains. So a little thing like being able to get salt from plants that grew wild often made a difference in the quality of life for our ancestors.

The other traditional use for coltsfoot is medical. The plant was actually smoked like tobacco for improving lung health. And was capable of soothing a cough in that way. The flowers were gathered in early spring and used in various teas and syrups for the same purpose. However, because of the possibility of liver cancer and other diseases said to caused coltsfoot its not really one that I can recommend outside of trivia.

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

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Orange Sulphur Butterfly On The Spillway

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Orange Sulphur Butterfly 92520a” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

The bright Fall sun washes through the spillway at the Battle Run area of Summersville Lake. When I just a little fellow this was a motocross track and I remember my dad racing in the event at least once. For whatever reason they shut the races down and allowed nature to reclaim the landscape. And what a beautiful job she’s doing. The purpose of the spillway of course was never to have a motocross track but to be a place where the water from the lake can go before it endangers the dam. Here in the middle of a hardwood forest is a Coniferous forest of Virginia pine. The creation of the spillway stripped away the biological soil and left the ground with nothing but bare mineral earth. As a pioneer species the pine able to grow in the poor conditions and rebuild the soil in the process. If the worst would happen and the water would flow into the spillway the trees are able to slow down the flow so that the flood is less damaging. The road going down to the old track is still serviceable and so I decided to ease the big blue truck down to the forest edge. I hadn’t actually been as far as the old track in over 30 years and so not knowing what condition the road is in I only drift at idle speed. This is also a place where people can put up a primitive camp and it’s not uncommon for there to be broken glass and other tire hazards. But that also means that there’s time to watch along side the road for Tortoises, chipmunks and whatever small life might call this home. And sure enough a leaf sprung to life and visited some late blooming daisies. Identified by Google as a Orange Sulphur Butterfly it completely ignored the big blue truck as I drifted forward to get a better look.

Image Titled “Orange Sulphur Butterfly 92520b

At one point she folded her wings tightly and gave me her impression of a sundial. The colors of Fall are yellows, oranges and browns. As I have seen fewer of blue butterflies and and more of the yellows and oranges are browns.

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The First Fall Leaves Bring Childhood Memories

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Dogwood In Scarlet 92520” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

The gentle days of Fall see the first of the change. In my part of the Appalachian Mountains we’ll see peak color in about two or three weeks. In a good color year the forest looks as though the mountains were painted to match the sunset. Brilliant leaves fill the streams in a parade of reds,yellows and golds. Among the first to turn are the dogwoods. Almost overnight the lush green leaves turn to velvety red. Small biscuits form on the twigs in promises of a beautiful Spring day when the sleeping forest will burst into bloom. I’ll be watching these buds all winter and waiting for signs of renewal.

Fall tends to bring out the kid in me which isn’t really all that hard. I look at leaves floating in the creek and I’m instantly taken back to carefree days when my brother and I hike down to the creek and race the leaves in the eddies like little boats. A stack of pebbles on the banks served as cannon balls on days that our leaf boats were manned by pirate hunters. We always found a treasure after sinking the leaves. Sometimes broken glass worn smooth by the current served as gemstones and the native painted sandstone pebbles made for good coinage. A few other things that make Fall a great time of to be I kid in mountains is the huge pile of leaves. Those were the days when Evil Knievel was at the highlight of his career. Young boys, bicycles and a pile of leaves and we had the best stunt show on the farm We raced down the dirt road and used an exposed root for a ramp and landed in the leaves bike and all. Even now as I focus my lens on the scarlet Dogwood leaves I have the urge to find a rake and pile as many as I can and with one giant leap land deep into my childhood.

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

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