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| Photo: Richard Freiheit |
In my last post I recalled collecting foxglove seed on a cold winter day in 2006, and how foxglove is now well established at LLELA. Although today is once again a cold, frozen over winter day, under the ice and snow there lives a wonderful secret. Since last fall, standing cypress seedlings have been quietly forming little Christmas-tree-like rosettes that now lie hidden in congested groups under the snow. They have spent their entire first year in this form, barely resembling their majestic second year siblings. But by May or June, Ipomopsis rubra, or standing cypress, will have shot up to around five feet, and produced one of my very favorite displays of color. Bright red or sometimes orange trumpet like blossoms cascade down each stalk, drawing attention from various insects and hummingbirds. When walking in one of these incredible congested second year stands, I feel as if I were walking in a miniature forest of flowering color. By the end of the year, the color will be gone, and each plant will have died off, leaving pods of profuse seeds behind to restart the biennial cycle.
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| Photo Richard Freiheit |
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| Photo Richard Freiheit |
Although I enjoy the color, the many deer at LLELA seem to enjoy cypress for its flavor. As the time for blossoming approaches, and each singular stalk creeps higher and higher, I often find numerous chewed off cypress tops. The plants don’t seem to mind, as they simply produce multiple stalks from the chewed off tips. More flowers (and seed) for everyone!
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| Photo Richard Freiheit |
Standing cypress is one of the best success stories to date regarding a species once lost at LLELA. Hand collected from local remnant prairies, mixed with grasses and other native seeds, Ipomopsis rubra is now easily collected in bulk, and germinates so readily that we have used it at LLELA as a marker species to show where we have sown seed. If you collect this one on your own, be prepared with a face mask and goggles after it dries. The dust particles of Ipomopsis rubra are a VERY strong irritant, and we have learned the hard way not to even open a bin of this seed indoors.
Great pictures! Was that photo at the bottom taken at LLELA?
ReplyDeleteUnless I am quite mistaken, that was the view during the 2010 season looking north (and a little west) from a position a little north of the buffalo coral. Ken and I seeded this section ourselves. Maybe a little too much standing cypress in the mix. ;)
ReplyDeleteInteresting information about standing cypress. How does it respond to prairie burns? Do the first-year rosettes survive fire, or does Ipomopsis rubra require a fire-free second year to bloom and complete its biennial cycle?
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