As I was looking at the BioBlitz sign up sheet, I wondered to myself, “Why do I have to do this?” I was looking forward to a relaxing, comfort-full Sunday. Walking around, while looking for wildlife was not what I had in mind when I imagined my relaxing Sunday. Furthermore, just contemplating the trip and time it would take to get there left me apprehensive about the journey. Nevertheless, unenthusiastic as I was, I eventually decided that the BioBlitz would at least be a bit interesting if I signed up for the reptile group. However, I got to Macaulay too late and was placed in the most boring group I could think of: plants.

When the bus got to the Botanical Gardens, the plant group was assigned the task of walking around Zone 2 and observing the plant life. What awaited me in this location changed my entire view on the BioBlitz. As we approached our designated area, the tremendous beauty of the environment in which we were to step foot became clear and I knew that my day at the Botanical Gardens would not be the waste that I initially thought it would be.

I have always found plants to be somewhat boring. However, as I looked at the lake surrounded by brilliant, vibrant shades of green belonging to tons of different plant species, I couldn’t help but be amazed. We began our BioBlitz by observing the Norway Maple Tree. This tree is an invasive species that is occupying the ecological niche of other maple trees. We then proceeded to learn that it is possible to differentiate Norway maples from other trees by breaking open its branch and checking for white sap. If there is white sap, then the tree is a Norway maple. This information left me dumbfounded. I had always looked at plants as a monolith, even though I knew that plants are diverse. However, this subtle way of differentiating between maples gave me my first real proof that plants are extremely diverse.

Time does indeed fly when you’re having fun and thus, time was racing by for me. Before I knew it, I had entries on iNaturalist for 14 different plant species, including hibiscus flowers, Quercus Alba (White Oak), and Toxicodendron radicans (Poison Ivy). I learned many new awesome facts about the plants we worked with. For example, Salix, which is the genus name for the willow tree, produces a compound that is essential to the synthesis of aspirin. Another cool fact I learned was that poison ivy plants always have 3 leaves. (Leaves of 3 let it be) The fruit of poison ivy is white (Berries white, run it fright). The most surprising thing about poison ivy is that it’s in the same family as pistachios. The most amazing thing about the exploration was that we barely scratched the tip of the iceberg in terms of all the plant species located near the lake.

I’m glad I went to BioBlitz, if only because it gave me a heightened sense of why I am taking this seminar. I had always understood the theory of biodiversity and conservation. I also thought I sympathized with the goals of conservationists. However, after that trip to the Botanical Gardens, I feel like I now truly understand why conservationists do what they do. That small lake had such richness of life that it could only be described as beautiful. Then, once I learned all the functions plants have in their natural environments, as well as all of the uses humans have found for plants, my conviction in conservation only grew stronger. I return from BioBlitz with greater enthusiasm towards learning about urban biodiversity and how we can protect it.