By: Amelia Basile, NJSOC Education Intern
At NJSOC, you can find a large variety of beautiful native plants and flowers. In this post, you will learn all about our most common and favorite flora found here! You will also learn how to spot them and some fascinating facts.
Starting with the larger plant species, you will see red pines or you might spot a tulip tree. Red pines (Pinus resinosa) are all around the campus and can grow as tall as 80 feet! They are conifers meaning they do not lose their leaves in the winter and bear cones. The species can be identified by their thick reddish colored bark and 4-6 inch long, two-clustered needles. Red pines are native to the northeastern U.S., as well as the western provinces of Canada, however, they are only native to a few northern counties in New Jersey, including Sussex County. This evergreen is used for lumber, pulp, and decoration. Red pines have a concern for extinction in New Jersey because they are endangered, as they are very sensitive to human destruction, but conservation and reforestation efforts will keep their species alive. For example, when the Civilian Conservation Corps developed this area as a camp in the 1940s, they planted red pines throughout the campus! These trees are still here today! Another beautiful tree you might spot at NJSOC is a tulip poplar tree (Liriodendron tulipifera). This deciduous flowering tree can grow quickly and up to 90 feet tall. Their flowers are yellow and orange and resemble tulips. They bloom in May and June which attracts pollinators, but other animals use the tree for cover, nest sites, and food. Humans like to plant the tree for its beauty and the shade it provides.
Some small flowering plant species you may spot on a hike through one of our trails include vibrant-colored ones, like cardinal flowers and pink lady’s slippers. Cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis) are perennials with bright red blooms resembling the color of a cardinal bird. This species grows best near streams and wet meadows, and bloom from July to September. They attract many pollinators but are most adapted for hummingbirds to use their tongues to get to the nectar. Unfortunately, due to habitat loss as well as overpicking, cardinal flowers are decreasing in numbers. It is important to conserve this native plant because they provide beauty to the area and improve biodiversity through pollination. On your hike you may also find the pink lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule). This orchid flowers pink, however, it is rare to see a white version. The pink lady’s slipper gets its name from its unique shape and a slit through the middle flower. Pollinators use this slit by pushing their way in to pollinate it. This orchid also has a symbiotic relationship with fungus in the soil, as the fungus gives nutrients to the flower in its early life, and as it matures, it takes nutrients back from the flower’s roots.
One of the most interesting flora found here at NJSOC are ghost pipes (Monotropa uniflora). These spooky plants are actually parasites that feed on fungi and are non-photosynthesizing (meaning they can grow in places without sun rays!). At a glance, you may suspect a cluster of ghost pipes to be mushrooms, however, these unique plants share a parasitic relation with fungi underground. This is similar to orchids, like the pink lady’s slipper, which feeds on fungi in its adolescence and gives energy back to the fungi when it is grown. The type of parasitic relationship that the fungus and ghost pipes feed off is mycorrhizal with other plants. This means there is a three-way relationship for the ghost pipe to obtain nutrients. Essentially, the energy from a photosynthesizing tree goes to a mycorrhizal fungus which then goes to the ghost pipe. The fungus is giving nutrients and increasing water absorption to the ghost pipe in return for energy while the ghost pipe “tricks” the fungus into thinking it is mycorrhizal despite it really being a parasite. Scientists were able to figure this process out by introducing radioactive carbon into the photosynthesizing plant leaves and tracing it throughout the process of becoming sugars for the ghost pipe. If you are looking out for a group of these plants, you will have most luck looking in moist, leaf covered areas. You could even find a super rare pink ghost pipe! This is caused by certain nutrients given by trees or fungi.
Keep a lookout for these native flora on your next trip to the NJSOC. You just might see a rare pink ghost pipe or a lone pink lady’s slipper. Snap a pic and tag us on Instagram @nj_soc , and add it to our iNaturalist “NJSOC/Stokes State Forest Biodiversity Project”!
Resources:
http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/oct2002.html
https://www.jerseyyards.org/plant/liriodendron-tulipifera/
https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/natural/heritage/docs/pinus-resinosa-red-pine.pdf
https://pinelandsalliance.org/flora-and-fauna-to-look-for-in-may/
https://seagirtconservancy.org/plant/cardinal-flower/