Call of the Wildflowers

Natural History, May, 1999 by Barbie Bischof

Come May, botanical gardens and backyards burst with cultivated colors. But we shouldn't forget the native blooms of seashores, deserts, swamps, and prairies

PRAIRIES

A broad band of tallgrass prairies--from the Guff of Mexico to Canada--once divided the eastern and western United States. Only about 2 percent of the nation's grassland remains, now a scattered patchwork ranging from Texas to Minnesota and Montana; many are protected within the National Forest and the State Park and State Reserve systems.

Grass height increases with rainfall, which is more plentiful to the east. Prairie bloom occurs from March to September, with most species flowering in late spring and early summer, before the dry season in late summer and early fall.

Established by the former First Lady, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (www.wildflower.org) in Austin, TX, is an excellent place to get on the prairie wildflower trail. The organization's hotline, (512) 832-4037, provides suggestions about the best areas around the state for viewing wildflowers.

Custer National Forest spans twenty counties in Montana and North and South Dakota, and includes three National Grasslands: Sheyenne, Grand and Cedar Rivers, and Little Missouri. Its headquarters are in Billings, MT, (406) 657-6361. An overview of grasslands in the heartland can be found at www.gorp.comgorp/resource/ us_national_forest/gtplns.html.

The Missouri Prairie Foundation's Lek Trek, a campaign to restore grassland birds within Missouri, runs all summer and sponsors walks to raise money for prairie conservation. Find out more at www. moprairie.org.

May: Wildflower Month The Arboretum at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, (608) 263-7888, or www.wisc.edu/ arboretum

May 17-22: Celebrate Wildflowers Denver Botanic Gardens, CO, (303) 331-4000

May 15-June 10: Wildflower Walks Wenatchee Resource Area BLM, Wenatchee, WA, (509) 665-2100

June 26-27: Wildflowers Seminar Kings Canyon National Park, CA, (559) 565-3759

SWAMPS

The bogs of the southeastern United States house the greatest number of carnivorous plant species in the country. These plants trap insects to obtain the nitrogen vital for their growth but rare in the soggy acidic soil.

Pitcher plants (members of the Nepenthes and Sarracenia genera) drown insects that fall into a reservoir hidden within the slippery walls of their folded leaves. Sundews capture insects in the sticky drops that coat their surface. Venus's-flytrap captures its prey by quickly closing its jawlike leaves when an insect touches its trigger mechanisms.

From late April to May, the flowers of carnivorous plants infuse the air with a smell both musty and sweet, enticing their pollinator bees to visit them.

Small roads wind around swamps and forests all through the South, and these are the best places to look for the plants. Good destinations are Cypress Gardens, (843) 553-0515, and Francis Marion National Forest, both in South Carolina. The Atlanta Botanical Garden, (404) 876-5859, also houses bog plants.

SEASHORES

Most seaside flowers are annuals, blooming on sandy coastlines from late May until the first signs of frost. Battered by constant winds, frequent summer storms, and occasional hurricanes, the seaside denizens survive either as small plants growing close to the ground or as tall wispy grasses that bend and flex like fishing rods. They anchor themselves in the shifting sand, stabilizing dunes and protecting the coastline from erosion.

A hike to the edges of a number of maritime forests will reveal a pink-and-white surprise tucked away behind the dunes--beach (or salt-spray) roses (Rosa rugosa) on thick prickly bushes, which begin blooming in May.

On Folly Island, SC, ask the locals the way to the old Coast Guard station. Thick hedges of beach roses line the tattered road, which leads to the north point of the island and a magnificent view of Charleston Harbor and the Morris Island Lighthouse.

Some of the well-managed, federally protected National Seashores are Cape Cod, MA; Fire Island, NY; Point Reyes, CA; and Cape Canaveral, FL. Cape Hatteras, NC (www.nps.gov/caha) is especially impressive and offers an additional point of interest: just north of the park lie the mammoth dunes where Orville and Wilbur Wright made aviation history.

For specific information and maps of national parks, go to www.nps.gov/ parklists/TI_maps.htm.

June 25-27: Salt Marshes, Backshores, Dunes, and Wetlands Field Trip North Cascades Institute in Sedro-Woolley, WA, (360) 856-5700, ext. 209, www.ncascades.org

DESERTS

In summer, the cacti of the Southwest flower at sunset to reduce evaporation. The musky smelling blossoms attract nocturnal bat and moth pollinators. Clusters of queen-of-the-night (cereus) bloom together on different nights of the year, infusing the desert air with a thick sweet fragrance.

Although many other wildflower species grow in the desert, don't expect to see them if there haven't been winter rains (see "This Land," page 76). Bladder-pod, creosote bush, and jimsonweed, however, are trusty bloomers, even in dry years. Cacti will also bloom without seasonal drenching because of their ability to retain moisture; the saguaro and organ-pipe species show off their blooms beginning about mid-April and May. Around this time, the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ, and the Mojave National Preserve, CA, are rewarding destinations.