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Ohio Plants

The companion web site to EEOB 2210

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  • FIELD EXPERIENCE AU24 (external link)
  • QUIZ SET 1
    • Tree Genus Quiz
    • Tree Sketch ID Quiz
    • Dendrology Fun Facts Quiz
    • Moss Life Cycle Quiz
    • Plant Families Drawings Quiz
    • Flower Parts Quiz
    • Plant Families Photos Quiz
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  • QUIZ SET 2
    • Twigs Quiz
    • Fruits to Know Quiz
    • Ferns Drawings Quiz
    • Conifers Quiz
    • Mosses Quiz
    • Lichens Quiz

Welcome to ohioplants.org, your on-line companion to flora classes across Ohio and the Midwest.
Look here for examples of the concepts covered in lecture and lab.
Visit dendro.ohioplants.org for info about woody plants
Visit u.osu.edu/marionprairie to learn about the Ohio State Marion Prairie.

trematodon
Rhynchostegium aquaticum is a fairly large aquatic Rhynchostegium aquaticum is a fairly large aquatic moss that Michael S. Ignatov in Flora of North America Volume 28 explains can be found on rock in running water of small streams and springs, beds of waterfalls, and seepy cliffs. He adds that is has an affinity to limestone areas, but this population seen a few days ago in south-central Ohio's Fairfield County was on sandstone. Evidently there are some calcareous elements in the sandstone there. Until recently (and, surprisingly, still, on iNaturalist) it was known as Rhynchostegium riparioides, but, as Ignatov tells us "North American aquatic species of Rhynchostegium were long attributed to R. riparioides (Hedwig) Cardot. The molecular phylogenetic analyses by S. Huttunen et al. (2006) and Huttunen and M. S. Ignatov (2010) demonstrated that European-African populations and American-Asian-Australian populations of R. riparioides represent two groups of differing origins. Rhynchostegium aquaticum is widespread in North America." When I firs t met this moss, it was known as Eurhynchium riparioides...and the for a while Platyhypnidium riparioides, which is why iNaturalist spuriously gives it the common name "Platyhypnidium Moss." #bryophytes
Once again I've been invited to lead a 3-day moss Once again I've been invited to lead a 3-day moss workshop in August at OSU's Stone Laboratory, located on a beautiful island in Lake Erie. Please consider signing up for it, and/or spread the word. Thanks! #moss #botany
The lichen genus Peltigera consists of large groun The lichen genus Peltigera consists of large ground-dwelling foliose species that are among the roughly 10% of lichens that have a cyanobacterial, not green algal, photobiont. I have a hard time telling the species apart. Because the upper surface of this one seems kind of shiny and not at all tomentose (wooly), I'm guessing it to be Peltigera polydactylon. It was seen yesterday in a glade-like hillside in central Ohio's Franklin County. Note those fingerlike upwardly projecting structures; they are the apothecia, with their spore-producing surface on the backwards-facing side. #lichens
A leaf of Fissidens osmundoides as seen through a A leaf of Fissidens osmundoides as seen through a microscope at 400x, showing the costa (mid-nerve). #bryology
A sloping sandstone ledge kept wet by an intermitt A sloping sandstone ledge kept wet by an intermittent spring that seeps water much of the year is prime real estate for a robust semi-aquatic moss, Rhynchostegium riparioides. This was seen a few days ago in southern Ohio's Fairfield County at a site that is indeed quite fair, but is not a field by any stretch of the imagination. #moss #botany
The great Edwin "Ketch" Ketchledge, who taught me The great Edwin "Ketch" Ketchledge, who taught me and many others about mosses at SUNY ESF's Cranberry Lake Biological Station was a perfect gentleman who would never make an off-color remark. Nonetheless, he deigned to call this moss, (Amblystegium serpens) "sexy moss," because of the great many sporophytes it produces. This was seen a few days ago on a log in woods in a prepositional phrase in central Ohio. #bryophyte
Cool chunk of substrate that this Caloplaca (Rusav Cool chunk of substrate that this Caloplaca (Rusavskia) elegans is growing on. It's a specimen from 1960 that just got entered into the OSU Herbarium database a few days ago. #lichens
"Ciliate hoarmoss" (Hedwigia ciliata) is well know "Ciliate hoarmoss" (Hedwigia ciliata) is well known for growing on granitic boulders. So what's it doing on my neighbor's roof? I suspect that roof shingles, being covered with crushed stone, are chemically similar enough to boulders to be a perfect home sweet home for Hedwigia. #bryology
I puzzled over this moss seen a few days ago on a I puzzled over this moss seen a few days ago on a dripping wet limestone cliff in west-central Ohio's Clark County because the asexual reproduction by propagula borne in leaf axils suggested it was a Pohlia, but the propagula don't match those of any of our Pohlia species. Turns out Philonotis marchica sometimes has axillary propagula. That's it then! #moss
Capsules of stellate bristle moss, Orthotrichum st Capsules of stellate bristle moss, Orthotrichum stellatum. They are distinguished by being deeply ribbed, with exostome teeth 8, reflexed, and endostome segments 8, well developed. #moss #bryology
Growing on bark, one of several little button-like Growing on bark, one of several little button-like tufts of dark green moss with sporophytes just barely poking out above the uppermost leaves of the stems that bear them, this is "stellate bristle moss," Orthotrichum stellatum. Aiding identification are the deep ribs of the capsules, along with the fact the peristome consists of 8 simple (not split) teeth. This was seen a few days ago in west-central Ohio's Clark County. #moss #bryology #botany #plants
There's a little old rural cemetery in central Ohi There's a little old rural cemetery in central Ohio's Delaware County where a couple of grave markers are adorned with this lovely and somewhat rare fruticose lichen, Ramalina pollinaria. Not especially known as a cemetery lichen, it more often occurs on semi-shaded sandstone cliffs and boulders. I'm grateful its home hasn't been "cleaned" by well-meaning maintenance people unaware or unappreciative of the wonderful moss and lichen diversity that cemeteries support. #cemeterylichens #lichens
One of the fun things about working with the Ohio One of the fun things about working with the Ohio State University lichen collection that dates back to the 19th century is seeing some cool old printed matter that was idiosyncratically used by some collectors to help package their specimens. Edo Claassen (1833-1932) was a Cleveland pharmacist who was big into botany, and a lot of his specimens are wrapped in fragments of pharmacy-related mail, catalogs and the like. #lichens
If you look closely at the inset photo you can (ju If you look closely at the inset photo you can (just barely, maybe) see that the peristome teeth are split. There are fissures in the dentition! Fissidens! (The origin of the name: Latin fissus, cleft, and dens, tooth, alluding to split peristome teeth.) #moss #botany #plants
Something I like to contemplate...these little wat Something I like to contemplate...these little water towers are (goblet moss, Physcomitrium pyriforme) sporophytes. They are plants (full stop). They were "born" (formed from a fertilized egg) sometime last November. That means that, save for the past 10 days, i.e., since spring began, they grew during the winter. Winter! Winter is not a dormant season for botany, and needn't be one for botanists. Yay bryology! #bryophyte #botany #nature #plants
Wart lichens--genus Pertusaria--are crusts that ha Wart lichens--genus Pertusaria--are crusts that have their "fruiting" bodies (apothecia) buried within raised mounds with small openings on top, thus looking like a tiny volcanoes. This one, that I tentatively ID'd a few years ago as P. xanthodes, was seen yesterday on the shaggy bark of a hickory tree in central Ohio's Delaware County. #lichens
Pale cow-hair moss, Ditrichum palldum, is an annua Pale cow-hair moss, Ditrichum palldum, is an annual cushion moss found on bare open ground. Extremely dense, it is a delight to see when the sporophytes are developing, looking like a green procupine or brush or patch of grass. This was seen yesterday in west-central Ohio's Licking County. #botany #bryophyte #moss
Many of the trees on the grounds of the Harding Me Many of the trees on the grounds of the Harding Memorial in Marion Ohio are adorned with hooded sunburst lichen, Xanthomendoza fallax. Note the soredia-producing lip-like expansions of the lobe tips. #lichens
This is Tortula (formerly Desmatodon) porteri, a m This is Tortula (formerly Desmatodon) porteri, a moss in the family Pottiaceae, many of which, including this one, have minutely bumpy (papillose), not smooth, leaf cells. That is a microscopic feature, and while I haven't read about this or heard it from an expert, it seems to me that mosses with leaf cells so ornamented have a light green matte finish compared with smooth-leaved plants that are deeper green and shiny. Thsi was seen on a flat limestone rock on an open forest floor in southern Ohio's Highland County. #moss
Gathering moss specimens for this weekend's moss w Gathering moss specimens for this weekend's moss workshop at The Highlands Nature Sanctuary, I found a branch adorned with this Ohio bristle moss, Orthotrichum ohioense, along a rurual road in central Ohio's Delaware County. I like the stylish stocking caps it wears (calyptrae covering the sporophyte capsules). #botany #moss #bryopthyte
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