Credits

Created by Virginia Pellington, Christina Prehn, and Robert Copus, Explore Natural Communities Interns Summer 2016, NatureServe.

Music: Easy Lemon by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0.

Photo: Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) plant, by PA Natural Heritage Program PNHP. Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0.

References:
Garlic mustard
Harbinger of spring 1
Harbinger of spring 2
Harbinger of spring 3

Transcript

Podcast time: 3:04 minutes

Turkey Run Park is a great place to jog or to simply stroll through nature and watch the Potomac River roll by. Along the Turkey Run Loop, the landscape is very hilly, so not only will you get a great workout, but also you'll be able to witness a natural community truly unique to the area—the Rich Cove / Mesic Slope Forest. To identify this forest, look for slightly sunken—or concave—sections of the steep slopes above the Potomac River.

This natural community is exceptionally diverse and beautiful, hosting many plants you won’t often see in other places, like blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) and harbinger-of-spring (Erigenia bulbosa). In the United States, north-facing slopes like this one receive less direct sunlight. That, along with help from a shady canopy of sugar maple trees, protects this natural community from the harsh sun and keeps it cool and moist.

The concave shape of this community’s sloped terrain has allowed it to accumulate nutrients, creating rich, moist soils—an excellent home for a diverse collection of plants, like Dutchman’s breeches, which is especially eye-catching in spring!

The forest floor of the Rich Cove / Mesic Slope Forest is dense with early-blooming native spring wildflowers. One that is special and uncommon is blue cohosh, a native plant that flourishes in excellent soils. You’ll notice this plant by its bluish-green foliage and round, blueberry-like fruit after it blooms in mid- to late spring.

Even earlier in the year, when the forest floor is still bare and brown, keep your eyes peeled for another wildflower called the harbinger of spring. This is the first native plant to flower here.  It stands a few inches to one-foot tall at most, with a dime-sized cluster of what might look like maroon-spotted white flowers at the top of the stem. They’re actually pure white flowers with colorful anthers that release their pollen and then dry to a black color. This is how the plant gets its other name, pepper and salt. This plant is of conservation concern in Virginia, and that makes its presence in this natural community even more precious.

Native plants like these aren’t the only ones trying to grow in this prime habitat! They face competition from a destructive invasive plant—garlic mustard ! Garlic mustard, with its garlicky smell, produces biochemicals that inhibit the germination and growth of other plants. Don’t be fooled by the garlic mustard’s seemingly harmless exterior—this herb is really quite a nuisance!

You can help keep our native plants thriving in natural communities like this one. Contact the park to find out how you can become a trained volunteer to protect this unique forest from species like garlic mustard. This natural community is much too beautiful to let invasive, non-native plants take over!

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