First the announcement, and then I talk about one of the best hikes I have ever taken. In the upper right-hand corner, I am creating a list of nature preserves in the central Illinois area which I have visited and which I describe and provide information for. Some of these preserves are well known to the locals, while others are not. However, visitors to the area interested in more than Lincoln, state government, and/or visiting family might want to check these preserves out.
On to Line Creek. This is an area I have hiked multiple times, in Peachtree City, Georgia. It is hands down one of the best areas I have ever hiked. I've noticed that happens a lot when I go hiking with my dad, as I did on this occasion. (Craggy Pinnacle, Nipper Wildlife Sanctuary, and more) Not to say that doesn't happen also with my mom, but that is for another time. At one point, I had seen the leaves of Tipularia discolor, the Crane-fly Orchid, in the past at this site. I had visited twice previously, and you will see some of those pictures herein. Here is the picture of the Crane-Fly orchid that I saw. No, those leaves in the dead center of the photo are not dead. They are the overwintering leaves of the orchid.
Line Creek Natural Area is a 70-acre preserve maintained by the Southern Conservation Trust, containing upland hardwood and softwood forests, glades, north-facing slopes, an artificial lake, and a rocky creek. The small size and mix of environments makes this site an excellent place to hike. I have hiked it in late winter, late spring, and the fall. In the summer, it is popular for local residents to swim in the cool waters of the creek.
My most recent trip to this area, in late May, 2015, was undertaken to find the aforesaid crane-fly orchid, if possible. I have since learned that late May is the ideal time NOT to find crane-fly orchids. As my dad and I turned north towards the area where I had first seen the orchid, I took a lot of pictures. Prolific Christmas ferns (Polystichum acrostichoides) grew everywhere alongside seedlings of both oak and pine trees. This fern can be found occasionally in Central Illinois as well.
Striped Wintergreen or Pipsessewa, Chimaphila maculata, grew in the acidic ground. As most of Illinois lacks acidic soil or the pine forests that Pipsessewa prefers, it is a rare plant of Cook County and the far southeastern counties in Illinois, though abundant in Line Creek.
As I stood looking around at a plant I didn't recognize, I realized it was an orchid. No matter the size or beauty, orchids are my favorite group of plants. This plant had the advantage of being one I had never seen in my life before, Malaxis unifolia. I would give you a common name, but who's ever heard of Malaxis anyway?
If this is all sounding strangely familiar, it's because my very first posts were on orchids. See here for details. These Malaxis plants are tiny, aka about six inches tall at the most. Indeed, the smallest orchid in all of North America north of Mexico is a Malaxis species. I saw dozens of these plants, all in flower. Probably no one else at the preserve cared about such a tiny green flower, but I was grinning ear-to-ear. Malaxis unifolia is rumored to be found in Menard County, as well as a few other limited sites in Illinois. Continuing on, I still hadn't seen the crane-fly orchid (and indeed I never did on that trip) but I was in plant heaven.
Here is the area where I was hiking, below a retaining wall for the road. Walking through the ferns, head bent over, I about stepped on the second and final orchid of the day. I had never seen Goodyera pubescens anywhere outside of a book before that day, but the snakeskin pattern which gives this orchid the name of rattlesnake plantain identified it immediately.
About a dozen or so of these attractive orchids grew in the pine needles around me. They were a few weeks from blooming, I would guess. According to BONAP, these grow in Central Illinois, and the closest populations are in Mason county. I will have to investigate this at some point. After taking plenty of pictures, we moved on down into the floodplain of the creek. Ferns of all kinds grew in the area.
I have no idea as to what species the last fern is, and if anyone could identify it, please leave a comment below. The creek was in flood stage as we approached it. Invasive mimosa trees grew over it, flowering with their lovely pink flowers. In Illinois, this exotic species, Albrizia julbrissin, is a fairly common, well-behaved ornamental tree. In the South, however, it has gone rogue and taken over.
We reached the edge of a glade, full of plants that looked more in place back home. Scorpions have been sighted by others in this area, hiding under logs, so it isen't exactly like home. However, flowering spurge (Euphorbia spp.) and woodland sunflowers (Helianthus spp.) are both common Illinois plants, the latter very much so.
And then, I spotted a plant that I discussed here, Mimosa pudica, the sensitive plant, a plant whose foliage moves when you touch it. Apparently, it's a weed in Georgia. Who knew?
Vascular plants weren't the only plants represented. The mosses and lichens were very impressive as well:
For those who are bored of all the plants, here's a picture of some more plants across a river.
As you can see, the rapids are hiding the rocky ground underneath. This area along the creek is a mixture of lowland woods, upland woods, and dry granitic barrens. Unsuprisingly, a reptile appeared, a large black snake that shot across our path before any picture could be taken and dove into the creek. Having a strong affinity for snakes, I was dissapointed that I did not recognize it. My best guess is a sort of watersnake. I have seen other snakes in this preserve on a previous trip, a Dekay's snake (Storea dekayi). This is a common U.S. woodland snake that is remarkably small.
Hearing a rustling in the leaf litter, I used a small net I had carried with me to attempt to catch the animal. I managed to capture it finally, and look at it. While I probably shouldn't disturb animals in their natural enviroment, I did. Initially, I assumed the animal was a snake or a legless lizard. Here it is.
This is in fact a lizard with legs, the rarely-seen but fairly common ground skink (Scicella lateralis), a resident of southern Illinois as well as most of the Southeast. These lizards move like snakes through thick leaf piles and generally remain concealed. My guess is that this specimen was sunning itself and, noticing me and my dad, dived into the leaves to escape. Here's another photo. After a few photos, the lizard was released back into the wild to dive into more leaves.
Nearby, we saw a few yuccas (Yucca flaccida?) growing in the dry stony soil of that particular area. Then we heard yet more rustling.
Armadillos! Nine banded Armadillos, or Dasypus novemcinctus, which no one in their right mind is ever going to call them. These may or may not be in Central Illinois. At any rate, they are moving northwards, and are firmly entrenched in parts of Southern Illinois. They are in the middle of the picture below, though hiding quite well. We were within twenty feet of the armadillos, and they seemed unbothered by our presence as they rooted around in the leaf litter.
After watching the armadillos for awhile, we moved on. I spotted a Resurrection Fern, (Pleopeltis polypodioides) so named because they shrivel up in dry spells and unfurl in wet ones, growing on the side of a tree. Yes, it's an epiphyte, or tree-grower, and you may have seen a few in my Costa Rica posts as well, as it's extremely common on trees down there. This also ranges, like the armadillo, into far southern Illinois.
Yuccas grew nearby on a glade. This is most likely Yucca filamentosa, the species most commonly grown in Illinois. Not true desert plants, most Yucca filamentosa grow in partial shade in the wild. There is another species of yucca that can grow in the area, Yucca flaccida, which I saw earlier on the trail and showed you earlier. The difference is that Yucca filamentosa holds its leaves straight out, whereas Yucca flaccida leaves bend down as they age. Both are grown in Illinois gardens, and it has been questioned whether they are not two separate subspecies of the same species. All I know is that I saw both... and only just realized that I saw two separate types on that hike today, thanks to research I just did for this article. Cool.
Here is a similar glade in the area from an earlier trip. Glades are excellent homes for many species of rare plants, and many others who just prefer it a little drier.
This section is an acidic granite glade interrupted by a creek, and that makes this area a unique mix as far as the plant life goes.
Of course, the next plant I see is a species of Scutellaria. As far as I understand, almost all Scutellaria species, commonly known as skullcaps, either grow in wetlands or drylands, but not in-between. At least, the species I am familiar with grow in extremes. This particular species is unknown to me. If anyone knows for certain, please let me know. My hat makes a cameo in the background, as I was using it to block the sun in the photo.
Next, I saw a fern that I do not recognize. I think it's a spleenwort (Asplenium) of some kind, and knowing the genus Asplenium, I will be glad to leave it at that. If you would like a headache, study Asplenium, the spleenwort genus. Distributions, hybrids, identifications, gardening, anything to do with spleenworts requires expert skills. The sole spleenwort species I grow in my garden, Asplenium trichomanes, was sold under the name of a different fern, and I had to identify it as something else. Boy, that was an evening of pure research. I still am uncertain whether I am correct or not in my identification. If you spend a lot of time in rocky moist areas, you'll see quite a few of these little ferns.
Anyway, at this point, we decided to make our way back to the parking lot, after looking back at the creek. Here's a picture of the area in winter. As people were swimming in the area at the time of my last visit, I did not take pictures.
On our way back, we passed up through a fairly extensive glade. Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa) grew out of the moss. That was a plant combination I never thought I'd see.
Nearby, a male eastern fence lizard, Sceloporus undulatus, was busy in a territory display. The third reptile of the day, he was very handsome, and ran off immediately after this photograph.
One last look at the glades as we walked out of the area. This is a general shot of the area in the spring.
Around the parking lot was a power strip cutting, an excellent area for butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) to grow. This is a fairly common southeastern species, although found throughout Central Illinois.
Earlier, on a previous trip, I had seen some species of bluets (Houstonia spp.) growing in the same general area, albeit a more closely mowed section.
This was one of my absolute favorite areas to hike, and I cannot show all the beauty of the area in a photograph. If you are in the Atlanta area in any season, I highly recommend visiting Line Creek. As for me, I will be revisiting Nipper not today (wind chills in the negatives Fahrenheit) but sometime this month. Hope you're all having a great January.
Piney Creek Nature Preserve in Randolph County, Illinois is almost exactly like Line Creek. I thought your photos WERE of Piney Creek. I spend many weekends there.
ReplyDeleteIn considerable irony, I'm visiting Piney Creek for the first time this weekend. If it's like this, I'll love it.
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