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Bioblitz

BioBlitz Reflection: Lots and Lots of Trees

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I enjoy being outdoors. I like being surrounded by trees of all sizes and shades of green. One of the most stimulating experiences of my life was definitely smelling real pine for the first time while hiking in Montreal. Although our time at Bioblitz was brief, we learned a great deal about plant observation methods.

Our exploration took place in the Thain Family Forest. The ‘Plant’ group was fairly large, so we split into smaller groups to survey the place. My group decided on focusing on trees as there were many different species to look at and we enjoyed looking through the tree guides to identify them.

While a few of the trees we found were very familiar to us, such as the Norwegian Maples and the Red Oaks, others were like nothing we had seen before. Sassafras trees have leaves with three lobes that are very fragrant when crushed. These trees are especially important in the production of root beer, and its parts were often used as antiseptic treatments by Native American tribes.

The leaves of the Tuliptree were the most interesting to look at; they resemble tulips!

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Tuliptree leaves

While some trees towered over us like skyscrapers, others where low and had different conformations. The American Hornbeam tree shown below, for example, grows in a “crown formation”, which means that it spreads radially from its trunk.

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American Hornbeam

Plants seem to only contribute to the ambience around us, but they can be as complex as we are. Scientists specializing in this field have extensive knowledge about all kinds of traits of plants: what they look like, how they’re useful to humans, and how they interact with other organisms in their environment. I was honestly amazed at the number of idiosyncratic facts our scientist shared with us during our shift. Considering that he worked at the New York Botanical Gardens as a graduate student, he was very familiar with the environment. He showed us one type of plant was capable of stinging, and another that is used in birch beer and tastes like wintergreen when chewed. I honestly never thought I would pick a leaf off a tree and start chewing on its stem but he convinced me to do so.

I’m happy that I finally got the chance to visit the New York Botanical Gardens. It’s amazing how much variety there is in the environment of NYC due to green spaces like parks and gardens. I’ve heard of Central Park being referred to as the “lungs of Manhattan”, and I’ve always liked that comparison because the dramatic change in scenery is refreshing for us and beneficial for other organisms that can now thrive in an environment that may otherwise be unsuitable. I appreciate getting the chance to finally smell Sassafras without having to leave the city; it’s not the kind of tree you’d see in Flatbush.

Bioblitz

Bioblitz Reflection: Plants

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Typically, nature and I can’t stand each other.  Plants make me itchy, pollen makes me sneeze, and bugs me jump around like a crazy person!  I imagined that this experience would be terrible, however, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I imagined.

I arrived at the Macaulay building at 9:05 AM thinking I was late, but the bus hadn’t come yet, and the bus wouldn’t come until 10! Waiting for the bus was a little frustrating, it seemed like we woke up early for no reason. Finally when we boarded the bus we hit an incredible amount of traffic, so we didn’t arrive to the New York Botanical Garden until around 11:30.  Nevertheless, we arrived, and we were off to explore some plants!  Each of us received a magnifying glasses, and one of us was asked to record the data – I volunteered hoping I wouldn’t have to touch any of the plants. Another one of us was asked to hold clippers to cut plants we would be observing, and another, asked to hold the book of the species to identify each plant we observed.

We arrived at zone 2 and began exploring various plants. The first plant we looked at was the Norway Maple – Acer Platanoides, we learned that this plant was a non-native plant, being that it was native to areas in Europe and southwest Asia.  The next plant observed was the Hawthorn  – Crataegus sp. (figure 1) this plant is a native plant and on the plant there are some berries, which didn’t seem edible.

Figure 1 - Hawthorn
Figure 1 – Hawthorn

The next plant we observer was Phragmites Australis (figure 1.1) – we were told that this plant is an invasive species and typically is grown near wetlands.  Moving to the next plant, Bitternut Hickory – Carya Cordiformis (figure 1.2). This plant is native and grows in moist areas; there is place on the plant where if you smell it, it smells like gin.

Figure 1.1 - Phragmites Australis
Figure 1.1 – Phragmites Australis

 

Bitternut hickery
Figure 1.2 – Bitternut Hickery

The next plant we observed was the Eastern white oak – Quercus Alba (figure 1.3), this species is a native plant. This tree provides us and our fellow squirrels with acorns.

Figure 1.3 - eastern white oak
Figure 1.3 – Eastern White Oak

We went on to a very pretty flower commonly called the Hibiscus – Hibiscus sp. (Figure 1.4).  With this flower and our previous knowledge from biology,  we were able to identify the parts of an angiosperm (pistil, stamen, petal, sepal, stigma…).

Figure 1.4 - hibiscus
Figure 1.4 – Hibiscus

The next flowering plant we observed was the bell flower – Lobelia Siphilitica (Figure 1.5). This flower is pretty tiny, you can see that by comparing it to the size of my fingers in the picture below. This species is native and they grow better at cooler temperatures.

Figure 1.5 - bell flower
Figure 1.5 – Bell Flower

The next flower we observed was the Mullein – Verbasum Blattaria (Figure 1.6), this plant is an invasive species native Eurasia and North Africa. We were told that this is used to repel or kill mosquito or malaria larvae.

We observed many more plants in zone 2 and then we were told we had to get back onto the bus.

The experience was great, I didn’t feel itchy the whole time, because it was enjoyable to learn about the various species of plants.  More importantly it was so interesting to learn about the biodiversity within this garden; we were exposed to so many different types of plants, which strengthened the idea of biodiversity. Before this experience I may have just looked at trees as all the same greenery, but now, it is obvious to me that each tree is different in its own way, whether it be the smell, or look of it.

It was amazing to learn about how in a city so focused on urbanization, there is a “city” within, dedicated to accommodate the non-urban aspect of New York City. This changed my outlook of how NYC feels about nature, clearly they do set aside space and time for the sake of nature. The experience is one I will not forget, because living in a city so focused on urbanization I don’t always have an opportunity to connect with nature, this experience allowed me to open up to the beauties and wonders of nature and now I appreciate nature much more. Thank you Macaulay for an enjoyable Sunday!

Sarah Kabariti