Lycopodium

 

Dendrolycopodium obscurum (Common Tree Club Moss).
A Lycopodium growing in
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Lycopodium, or club moss, is not a moss at all but a seedless vascular plant. It belongs to an ancient lineage with its origin in the Devonian Period, over 400 million years ago.  Lycopodium was an early land plant and predated the dinosaurs.  Today’s club mosses are small plants but during the Carboniferous Period some Lycopodium relatives were giant trees. Coal deposits in the Appalachian Mountains contain the remains of Lycopodium that reached heights of over 100 feet.  

Lycopodium reproduces by spores made in sporangia that are shaped like clubs (thus the name club moss) and extend above the branched stems.  These stems bear tiny leaves that carry out photosynthesis.  

The genus Lycopodium formerly had 10 species in the Carolinas.  New research has broken that genus up into 7 genera and about 13 species.  I will use the name Lycopodium to refer to this group but use the currently accepted scientific name for each species in the blog. 

 

Dendrolycopodium obscurum with sporangia.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Dendrolycopodium obscurum, Common Tree Club Moss, is a small plant of the forest understory.  It has horizontally spreading branches that resemble tiny trees.  The upright plants we see are produced from an underground stem, a rhizome. Common Tree Club Moss is often seen in large stands or in a line all coming from a rhizome.   

 

A line of Dendrolycopodium obscuru from an underground rhizome. 
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Lycopodiella alopecuroides, Foxtail Club Moss, grows along the ground with branching stems. This species grows in the wet, sandy soil of pine savannas on the Coastal Plain of the Carolinas. 

 

Lycopodiella alopecuroides, Foxtail Club Moss.
Wake County, North Carolina.  

Foxtail Club Moss with branching stems.
Wake County, North Carolina. 

Lycopodium reproduces by spores. These spores have interesting characteristics and some bizarre uses.  The spores are tiny, about 35 micrometers in diameter, and easily float on the air.  Plants release spores that are carried on the breeze, settle to the ground and establish new plants.   But if large numbers of Lycopodium spores are lofted into the air, they are highly flammable and even explosive.  The spores have a high wax content and a huge surface area.  This allows them to rapidly burn.  Lycopodium spores were used in the earliest flash photography.  Nineteenth century photographers would hold up a T-shaped tray filled with spores, squeeze a bulb to shoot the spores into the air and ignite them, giving a brief but brilliant flash to illuminate their subject.  Lycopodium spores have been used to produce theatrical stage flames and explosions.  In fact, Lycopodium spores are commonly called Dragon Breath by magicians who use it in their acts.  They were also used in Native American religious ceremonies. 

Danish-American photographer Jacob Riis using flash powder.
http://hspvaragtime.weebly.com/home/jacob-riis 

Video of flaming Lycopodium spores.

Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Lycopodium is a fascinating member of our flora.  The ancestors of these humble little plants were massive trees and their remains make up much of the coal we continue to burn and warm the planet.  When you see Lycopodium, think that long ago, it fed dinosaurs. 

A large stand of Dendrolycopodium obscurum.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Warblers Part 2

 

 Western Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) wintering in south Florida.
Palm Beach County, Florida. 

The American wood warblers, the Parulidae, are gems of the bird world.   When they return from the tropics in spring, their dazzling colors and brilliant songs light up the woods.  This blog continues with some warblers that breed in our area, others that pass through on migration and even an uncommon winter resident.  

A male Hooded Warbler (Setophaga citrina).
This bird stopped on a tiny island in the Gulf of Mexico
 to rest and drink at a pool during migration. 
Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida. 

Hooded Warblers (Setophaga citrina) are bright yellow on the face and breast.  Males have a black hood and females have a paler version of that hood.  They breed in the forests of the eastern United States and winter in south Florida and the American tropics 

 

A male Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor) on McDowell Prairie.
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.  

Prairie Warblers (Setophaga discolor) are small warblers that nest in scrubby fields and forest edges in the eastern United States.  Prairies are yellow with a yellow semi-circle under the eyes and black streaks on the face and side.  These warblers often wag their tails as they hunt their insect prey.

 

A male Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)
on his breeding territory.
Ashe County, North Carolina. 

Chestnut-sided Warblers (Setophaga pensylvanica) pass through the Piedmont on migration from their wintering grounds in Central America.  They breed from the southern Appalachians to the forests of the northeast and Midwest.  In the mating season, male Chestnut-sided Warblers have a greenish-yellow crown, a black and white face, white breast and belly with a chestnut streak down each side.  Their song is friendly rendition of “Pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha”.   

 

 A Yellow Palm Warbler on migration.
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. 

Palm Warblers (Setphaga palmarum) only spend part of their year where palms live.  In summer they breed in the boreal forest and in winter they stay near the coast of the southeastern United States, islands of the Caribbean, Central America and a small population along the Pacific coast of the US.  The wintering range of Palm Warblers is moving north with climate change.  Palm Warblers have a rufous crown, yellow under the tail and brown streaks on the breast.  Palm Warblers bob their tails as they feed in bushes, low trees and on the ground.  

A Western Palm Warbler in winter.
Palm Beach County, Florida.  

There are two subspecies of Palm Warblers. The Western Palm Warbler is the duller of the two and breeds west of James Bay in Canada.  Western Palm Warblers migrate west of the Appalachian Mountains and many winter in the southeast while others move to the tropics.  The second subspecies, the Yellow Palm Warbler, breeds east of the James Bay, migrates east of the Appalachian Mountains, winters along the Gulf Coast and is bright yellow.    

 

A male Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina) on migration.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Another warbler that breeds in the far north is the Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina).  These brilliantly colored warblers have yellow on the face, throat and breast.  Cape Mays have an orange cheek patch and black streaks on the breast.  This warbler’s name comes from Cape May, New Jersey where it was first collected on its migration.  Cape May Warblers spend the winter in the West Indies and Central America. 

Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis) in fall.
Henderson County, North Carolina. 

Canada Warblers (Cardellina canadensis) do breed in Canada but also in the northeastern and upper Midwest of the US.  They also nest at higher altitudes of the Appalachian chain as far south as Georgia.  Canada Warblers winter in northern South America after the long and dangerous flight over the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.  Canada Warblers are gray on the back and wings with a yellow throat and breast set off with a black necklace of streaks. 

 

Tennessee Warbler (Leiothlypis peregrina) on fall migration.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Another geographically named warbler is the Tennessee Warbler (Leiothlypis peregrina).  But these warblers only pass through that state whose name they bear on their way to breed.  They inhabit the same northern forests that host Canada Warblers, Cape May Warblers and Palm Warblers.  Tennessee Warblers spend the winter in Central and South America.  They are rather plain birds with a greenish back and wings, gray breast and a black eyeline.   

An Orange-crowned Warbler (Leiothlypis celata) wintering along the
 South Carolina coast. This birds shows a faint orange crown.
Myrtle Beach State Park, South Carolina.

Orange-crowned Warblers (Leiothlypis celata) are called the bird with no field marks.  They are very plain with an olive-yellow body, a faint eyeline and an orange crown that is seldom seen.   Orange- crowned Warblers nest from the Canadian Maritimes west to Alaska and down the Rocky Mountains as far south as Arizona and New Mexico.  They spend their winters in the southern United States, Mexico and Central America.

 

A first-year female Kirtland's Warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii) making
a brief stop in North Carolina on the way to the Bahamas.
Chatham County, North Carolina. 

The rarest of the warblers is the Kirtland’s Warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii).  Kirtland's are long-legged warblers with a broken white eye ring and a yellow breast and belly with bold black stripes. These warblers were nearly extinct by the late 20^th century, but conservation efforts brought them back from the brink.  Historically, Kirtland’s warblers were found throughout the pine forests of the upper Midwest.  They inhabit young pine stands but their habitat was drastically reduced in the 19^th and 20^th centuries by logging and wildfire suppression.  In the late 20^th century the range of Kirtland’s Warblers was reduced to a few counties in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.  In 1974 researchers found only 167 singing males and it was declared endangered.  The Endangered Species Act provided funding for habitat improvement and reduction of Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) populations.  Brown-headed Cowbirds are nest parasites that lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and dramatically reduce the reproduction of the parasitized species.  Kirtland’s Warblers are particularly susceptible to cowbird parasitism.  Through this extensive conservation effort the Kirtland’s Warbler population has grown to over 5000 and the bird has spread to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario.  The population success led the Kirtland’s Warbler to be removed from the Endangered Species List. Kirtland’s Warblers do not spend their entire year in Michigan.  After breeding the birds fly from the Midwest and Canada to the Bahamas.  Occasionally a Kirtland’s Warbler stops in North Carolina to refuel.  When that happens dozens, nay hundreds of birders turn out to get a look at this rarest of the warblers. 

Kirtland's Warbler.
Chatham County, North Carolina.

Despite the success of the Kirtland’s Warbler recovery, warblers in general are in trouble.  Nearly all the warblers discussed in this blog have seen a decrease in population over the last several decades.  There are many reasons for this decline.  Habitat loss and fragmentation of breeding grounds, migration routes and wintering areas all play a role.  Decline in insect populations due to pesticide use and farming practices have drastically reduced the warbler food supply.  Rachel Carson made an ominous prediction in her 1962 book Silent Spring.  She asked us to imagine a spring without the sound of bird song.  Her concern was DDT.  That pesticide was banned in the United States, but it is still used in South America. We have others poisons that took DDTs place in the US, so Carson’s fear is still with us.  I do not want to contemplate a silent spring. But there are small steps we can take.  Limiting pesticide use and using native plants for landscaping supports insect populations that feed the warblers.