February 2013 Hello and a good new year to all, The annual meeting was just fine. I know the weather kept away a few of you in the icy regions. We missed you. Tim Mousseau presented an overview of the radiation damage from scientific studies at the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disaster sites. I had seen a couple of Nature Scene episodes that made me feel as if nature had repaired itself. This is far from true as the charts and photographs indicate. There are extinctions and deformities affecting both plant and animal life. In a bizarre example downed trees in the radiated area have not deteriorated due to the lack of life that breaks down the wood. To learn more Tim provided us with this web site: http://cricket.biol.sc.edu/chernobyl/ I spoke with Tim today (2/15) and found out that a build-up of snow caused the roof at the plant to collapse. Looking on the Internet I see that the Ukrainian officials are reassuring the public there is no safety threat and radiation levels were unaffected. Tim said any dust kicked up by the roof could be a problem. Normally I like to take a nap after lunch but Josh Arrants kept me awake with his enthusiastic presentation. We heard how MaMa (his grandmother) influenced his life teaching him how everything in nature has a purpose. Josh grew up never dreaming how his life would be different from his family and friends. One opportunity after another has fueled his passion for all things natural. Perhaps he will have his own TV show someday. I found the above definition in a strange dictionary of the occult in the USC Caroliniana Library. I took the photo with my spy camera. Apparently Josh has been around awhile. I met Josh while taking a Master Naturalist class. He took a Master Naturalist class in Montana and has been working with Austin Jenkins and the Midlands class. If you have the opportunity take the class. SCAN would be enriched with Josh along on some of our outings. I hope he will be able to join us. Janie Marlowe has worked many years on a photographic database. A good description like you find in many of the field guides is very helpful for id work. Seeing flora photos in the different seasons along with descriptive identifying remarks is what sets her work apart from all the others. Below are notes from Janie: Jerry asked if I would write a recap of what I said at the annual meeting. The first thing I said is that I wished that more of the knowledge that has flowed through my fingers into the keyboard had settled in my head. Some of it has, but my brain's filing system is not dependable. However, I do know a good place to look things up: www.namethatplant.net Visitors to NameThatPlant are usually looking for pictures. Since that's what they expect, they often miss some of the site's other features. Say the synonymy - if you don't look closely at it, you might not realize that it's a little unusual. NameThatPlant uses the synonymy provided by Weakley's Flora, which kindly makes a point of telling us exactly how a new name relates to older names we may be more familiar with. For instance, the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas lists only Arundinaria gigantea, but Weakley's Flora lists A. gigantea, A. tecta, and A. appalachiana - each of which he says is "less than" Radford's A. gigantea. Or when Radford talks about Trillium viride, he's talking about what we now call T. maculatum, and Weakley explains that the viride name is now considered to have been "misapplied." Clicking the button next to a name allows you to hear the Latin pronounced. Clicking "Plants National Database" takes you to the same plant on the USDA site. Clicking under the physiographic province map takes you to a detailed county-by-county range map maintained by the UNC Herbarium. In the hurry to look at photos, the words under them are sometimes overlooked, but these often point out something significant in the picture. I'm a firm believer in the teaching potential of words and pictures used together - ask any kindergartener how they learned to read. Occasionally, under the notes which are under a picture, there may be a line that says "Compare." Clicking that will allow you to view similar or related plants, maybe some that could trip you up.... If you like this kind of thing, you can see a whole list on the Gotcha's page: http://www.namethatplant.net/gotchas.shtml The site allows you to search in several ways: scientific name, common name, family, etc. It also has a "search by plant description." This probably won't take you straight to the plant you're looking for, but it works better than it used to, and includes such things as "where did you see it?" "does the plant have milky sap?" and flower descriptions. When you search, before clicking through to a plant detail page, I encourage you to use the dropdown box at the top of the page to toggle between (and compare) the flower/ sepals or bracts/ leaf/ fruit/ map & habitat of the various species, and to manipulate the "sortable table of key characters." On that last, clicking the column headers allows you to sort your list by flower color, leaf arrangement, etc. Brand new to the site are beta versions of the "teaching keys" that I unveiled at the meeting. Their premise is not so much to take the user to one particular plant, but to build a framework in the user's head against which they can measure unknowns. The immediate feedback of simple illustrations and species lists which change with each selection, reinforces the meaning and the memory of the key's words.... Please visit these pages and help me find the bugs - I'd heap rather they be found by friends than by strangers. http://www.namethatplant.net/keys.shtml Another way you can help (Jerry told me tell you) is by contributing photographs (someone asked for a list of plants that need pictures: http://www.namethatplant.net/picsneeded.shtml ), or by volunteering to record Latin names. There are other less glamorous ways, such as creating an Excel file of a field guide's page numbers, or plodding through the new Weakley to see if a plant's name or synonymy or map or habitat has changed. Let me know what you think you'd like to do.... Thank you, and thank you again for allowing me to present www.NameThatPlant.net to such a great group! - Janie Marlow, [email protected] After the formal meeting we got together for potluck and social at Jan’s home. There was plenty of good fellowship. But you know me – I only went for the food. I have been bugging Sarah Simons for her Green Pea Salad recipe and finally got it. It would not bother me one bit if everyone brings it next year. Chilled Green Pea Salad – From Sarah Simons 2 Cans – Le Sueur Very Young Small Sweet Peas ¾ Cup – Chopped pecans 1 Cup – Chopped water chestnuts ¼ Cup – Diced pimento 1 – Small chopped onion (Optional, you may use green onions. I like shallots) ½ Cup – Mayonnaise (Must be Hellman’s at my house) Salt and pepper (optional) Lettuce (optional, I serve it as a vegetable with meats) Marinate chopped water chestnuts overnight in: ½ Cup – Olive oil ¼ Cup – Vinegar ⅓ Cup – Sugar (I substituted Splenda) Next day: Drain chestnuts in a colander. Now add the drained chestnuts to all ingredients, salt and pepper to taste (if desired). Serve on lettuce leaves or in a bowl. Note! Marinating water chestnuts overnight is absolutely necessary! Do not heat peas. I just store all the ingredients unopened in the refrigerator overnight while the chestnuts are marinating and then they are all chilled when I mix them together. Sarah There is a bioblitz at McAlhany preserve on May 11. This is a non-SCAN Saturday. Wayne Grooms will be attending. I will try to remember to add more information in the next newsletter but if I forget contact Wayne to get the details. Tom Jones mother, Joan, passed away February 4. I received word too late to alert the membership. Pat and I went to the funeral. The priest, Dr. Menger, spoke of her personality and character. She enjoyed her life. I wish I had known her personally. Jerry Bright South Bluff Heritage Preserve: “Coosaw Island Shell Ring” – Beaufort County – 10:30 A.M. Native American shell deposits are scattered along the South Carolina coast, in salt marshes and on the tips of landmasses within estuaries. Oyster shell is the primary component (see attached photo “Shells at South Bluff”), but various local plants and animals that Native Americans used for food and medicine are also represented. Considerable debate exists about the origin of these shell features. For instance, were they associated with year-round villages or seasonal ceremony/feast locations? The “Coosaw Island” or “South Bluff” shell ring is the most recently discovered shell ring complex in South Carolina, and one of only fifteen known sites of this type in the state. There are two distinct shell features on the 24-acre preserve. The crescent- shaped ring is approximately 55 by 35 meters in area, and 1.2 meters in height and about 20 meters wide. The other shell ring, once a complete circle, has been reduced by plowing and tree planting but the general outline is still apparent.