a southern naturalist almanac: A Prairie Hymn

You might think that pictures such as these were taken in a botanical garden or nursery, but the Prairie Celestial (Nemastylis geminiflora) is a wild plant. You might also imagine that such beauty and grace might have inspired settlers in Louisiana to conserve such plants and the habitat they depend on. Unfortunately, Louisiana prairies have been dramatically reduced--marginalized to mere "remnants" now, mostly on roadsides and right-of-ways where infrequent mowing keeps them from being out-shaded by forest species. This kind of "accidental" conservation is better than nothing but it does not compare to the fire and wild-grazing that many prairie species evolved under. Roads expand, right-of-ways get sprayed, tilled. The Prairie Celestial has a conservation status of S2 in Louisiana, which is defined by the Louisiana Natural Heritage Program as being "imperiled in Louisiana because of rarity (6 to 20 known extant populations) or because of some factor(s) making it very vulnerable to extirpation". Fortunately, not all stories end in tragedy. Thanks to people I refer to as plant detectives, populations of rare plants have been discovered, land owners informed, and prairies preserved. Today I visited one such prairie with a fellow plant detective. Beth Erwin, one of the founding members of the Louisiana Native Plant Society, oversees the Kalorama nature preserve in Colinson, LA.

Flame Azalea (Rhododendron austrinum) and a native hybrid.

Sweet Shrub (Calycanthus floridus)

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)

After showing me many of the rare and simply gorgeous plants on the Kalaroma property, she took me for a ride to see the Rector's prairie. After a short drive we came upon an unusual ridge overlooking the Handy Brake National Wildlife Refuge.

After being pointed to several unusual and rare specimens, I got to meet Mr. Rector, a retired telephone company owner, who purchased the land somewhere in the late 80s not knowing exactly what he had but keeping the prairie open because it was pretty. Then, around 1991 he invited some friends onto his property to do some gardening and along with them a certain LSU extension officer, Terry Erwin, to assess the soils. His wife Beth came along and after discovering what he had, helped him to properly manage it and identify the plants. Over the years scientist and public agencies have been involved in the maintenance of this well kept secret. Mr. Rector's walked with us for a while and invited me into his rustic wooden cabin to show some photos from previous years, and the response to burns and management.

Mr. Rector and Beth Erwin, champions of plant conservation in Louisiana.

Pale Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) by the thousand, a picture that hangs proudly in the Rector kitchen

Early Documentation

This early in the year not much is blooming in a prairie but there were many signs of a promising summer full of color and surprise. And of coarse these heavenly blossoms.

Wild Hyacinth (Camassia scilloides)

In just a few hours, my eyes and ears had been flooded with shapes, colors and sounds of plants and animlas, a natural community, a living, breathing tapestry of life, thriving despite the many threads unraveled across the landscape. In this small patch of heaven on the Bastrop Ridge just north of Monroe, Louisiana were hundreds of Prairie Celestials. Henslow Sparrows, LeConte's Sparrows and Yellow-headed Blackbirds have all been documented on the property. Have you been to a Louisiana prairie yet?