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Ohio Plants

The companion web site to EEOB 2210

  • HOME
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  • Winter Botany
    • WOODY TWIG BIOLOGY
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    • Fern Biology
    • Appalachian Gametophyte Article
  • Inflorescences
    • Inflorescences Explained
    • Photo Gallery Slide Show
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    • Flowers & Fruit Biology
    • Fruits to know and love
  • Plant Families
    • PLANT FAMILIES
    • 8 ESSAYS
    • Plant Families Descriptions
    • Plant Families Questions
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    • Eight Asteraceae to know and love
  • Bryophytes
    • BRYOPHYTE BIOLOGY
    • MOSSES TO KNOW
    • GATHERING MOSS CHAPTERS
  • Ecosystems
    • FLORISTIC QUALITY ASSESSMENT INDEX
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    • Prairie
    • Darby Plains Prairie Plants
    • At the Tip of the Prairie Peninsula (John Mack 2002)
  • Invasives
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    • LICHEN BIOLOGY
    • LICHENS TO KNOW
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    • TREES LECTURES
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    • OHIO GEOBOTANY
    • SEEDLESS VASCULAR LECTURES
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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
    • Plant Families Icons Quiz
    • Family Descriptions Quiz
    • Family Recognition Characters Quiz
    • Floral Formula Quiz
    • Fruit Types Quiz
    • Inflorescence Quiz
  • 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

"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
Wavy broom moss, Dicranum polysetum, has broad lea Wavy broom moss, Dicranum polysetum, has broad leaves (for a Dicranum) that are shiny and wavy-textured. The leaves emerge off the stem equally in all directions (i,e, are not windswept-looking), and the stems are densely felted with reddish tomentum. It is much less common here than its congenor and frequesnt associate, Dicranum scoparium (common broom moss). This was seen yesterday in an open Virginia pine woodland on a former surface mining site in southern Ohio. #moss #bryophyte #nature #botany
Tetraphis pellucida (four-toothed moss, so-named f Tetraphis pellucida (four-toothed moss, so-named for a sporophyte feature) produces these cute birds-nest-like gemmae cups. This was seen in the rain yesterday on a well-decayed stump in in southern Ohio. #moss #botany #bryophyte
The apples aren't ripe yet! This is "apple moss," The apples aren't ripe yet! This is "apple moss," Bartramia pomiformis, seen yesterday on a wet shaded sandstone ledge in southern Ohio, bearing sporophytes that are spear-shaped now but will be topped with plump round sporangia in a couple/few months. #bryophytes #botany #moss
Callicladium (formerly Hypnum) imponens growing in Callicladium (formerly Hypnum) imponens growing in a mat along with Dicranum scoparium (and Polytrichum ohioense, not shown) on a flat sandstone ledge in east-central Ohio's Licking County. #moss
I'm greatly enjoying a close reading of "The Liche I'm greatly enjoying a close reading of "The Lichen Book," a masterpiece 648-page identification guide self-published (self-printed as well) in 1947 by polymath rennaissance man Guy Nearing, a New Jersey nursery owner better known for developing rhododendron hybrids. See this page spread with his drawings showing unaided-eye views (uncircled), a hand-lens view (in single-line circle) and a compound microscope view (in double-lined circle) of Physcia stellaris. Given the breadth, depth, quality and usefulness of this unique work, one wonders why it isn’t more well known, and evidently was not widely adopted even when it was current, as it seems to bridge the long gap in comprehensive works between Bruce Fink’s "The Lichen Flora of North America" (1935) and Irwin Brodo, Stephen Sharnoff, and Sylvia Sharnoff’s "Lichens of North America" (2001). #lichens
Lesser smoothcap, Atrichum angustatum, growing on Lesser smoothcap, Atrichum angustatum, growing on a sandstone ledge in southen Ohio a few days ago. The genus name means "no hairs," setting it apart from most other members of its family, the Polytrichaceae, which means "many hairs." All this talk about hairs is in reference to a covering, or in this case a lack of it, on the calyptra (the cap covering the developing sporophyte). #moss
Common on branches, a little button-shaped clump o Common on branches, a little button-shaped clump of moss with short stems, some topped by barely emergent sporophytes sporting calyptrae that resemble neat winter stocking caps, this is Ohio bristle moss, Orthotrichum ohioense, as seen a few days ago in southern Ohio. #moss #plants #bryophyte
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