The Glass Menagerie, Botanical Style

Note:  Somehow "Botanical Garden" doesn't have the same feel as "zoo" or "menagerie" to me so, in naming this blog post, I borrowed the title of a famous play and took some serious license with it....

These days we have digital cameras to record plant details.  With their immediate results and cheap cost per image, these wonderful cameras join a long history of technologies and methods with which we've tried to capture the beauty and uniqueness of the plant world to learn about the variety of species and to share our knowledge of plants with others.

Over a hundred years ago, the methods and technologies of recording plant information were much fewer.  The classic methods were written descriptions, botanical drawings, and pressed plants.  All of these methods, while still valuable, were limited.  True 3-D specimens were not possible.  Colors faded.  Visualization from written reports was limited.  Once upon a time, though, several men conspired to find another way, financed by a wealthy mother and daughter....

In the late 1800's, Harvard began to develop a Botanical Museum.  Prof. George Goodale, its first director, wanted to create lifelike models of plants for display, but the only methods for modeling that he knew about were relatively crude, either papier-mache or wax.  When Prof. Goodale heard of Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka, a father and son team of glass artisans who lived in Germany and created exquisite marine invertebrate models from glass, he traveled to their home to meet them and to see their work firsthand.

The Blaschkas' glass work was, indeed, amazing, so Prof. Goodale talked them into creating a few plant specimens for the newly developing Harvard Botanical Museum.  These specimens were so exquisite that a wealthy Bostonian woman and her daughter offered to finance an entire collection of glass botanical specimens as a memorial to Harvard alumnus, Dr. Charles Eliot Ware.  The results of this combination of generosity and artistry are available for all of us to see, if we have the opportunity and desire to visit the Harvard Museum of Natural History, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

When I heard about the Glass Flowers Collection recently, I decided this was definitely something I might enjoy glancing over.  We were heading to Boston to visit our son for Thanksgiving, so I had an opportunity to "Seize the Day!", so to speak.  Greg and Sean both indicated an interest as well, so last Thursday we headed over to Harvard Square on the T and wandered across the Harvard campus until we found the Museum of Natural History.

Although not botanical, the first thing that caught our attention as we entered the museum was a glass case with 3 bird skeletons in it:  a rhea, a great auk, and...a dodo.  This is our son, Sean, standing by the case to give you a sense of scale.  The dodo is the medium sized bird in the middle.

It was quite sobering to stand a few feet from the actual remains of an animal that lived fairly recently and whose entire species is now extinct, due totally to human greed and arrogance.

After pausing for a while to take in the enormity of meeting a dodo, even if it was just a skeleton, we opened the door and went into the Glass Flowers Collection.  Where do I begin to tell you about it?

The collection is exquisite.  Truly.  Even after 100+ years.  As difficult as it is to believe, the specimens don't look like glass.  They are all life sized and they range in type from trees (showing leaves, twigs, flowers, and fruits or nuts) to flowers to grasses to cacti.  There are a few aquatic plants.  There are orchids.  A few of the specimens even have pest species shown as part of the display.  Some of the colors are a bit faded and there is a tiny bit of breakage, but overall the condition of these delicate works of art seems pristine.

One of the first specimens to catch my eye was this pitcher plant.  Each of the "pitchers" is about 9" long.

Other southern species included sweet azalea, Rhododendron arborescens, ...

...and mountain laurel, Kahlmia latifolia.

There were several clematis species, including two of my favorites, Clematis texensis and Clematis crispa....

Note the fine petals on the blossoms of the fringetree, Chionanthus virginicus!

The beautiful arching of the Canada goldenrod, Solidago canadensis, panicle is perfect, ...

...as is the upright stiffness of the showy penstemon, Penstemon spectabilis, ...

...and the clusters of swamp milkweed, Asclepias incarnata, blossoms at different stages of opening.

Even the spines of the candy barrelcactus, Ferocactus wizlizeni, seem perfect, in both their individuality and their totality....

The accompanying sections of the ovaries with their developing embryos (seeds) caught my eye in their fascinating symmetry.  I find my interest in the plant families and their identifying characteristics ignited after seeing this exhibit.

How did these 2 artisans capture the living details of these plants, especially when so many of the plants live and thrive half a world away from where they lived and worked?  This was well before color photography.

How did these specimens survive shipment from Germany to Boston?

Here is a photo of the type of equipment the Blaschkas used to create these glass marvels.  Such simple and relatively crude tools to create such fine details.

As the following label describes, this project even led to the development of new materials and methods by these talented glass artists....

Here is an overview of the specimens he eventually created to illustrate red maple, Acer rubrum, complete with the vibrantly colored fall foliage. 

There are many, many more examples that I could share with you, but I'll stop here and encourage you to see this collection for yourself, if you are ever in Boston.

I can only imagine what the family of Mrs. Ware and her daughter said upon being first told that they were underwriting the production of this superb collection of glass botanical specimens.  I am deeply thankful, however, that Mrs. Ware and her daughter decided to go ahead and provide the funding, because it has given the world exquisite works of scientifically important art that are still breathtaking and unique, a century after they were made.  There are certainly many, many, less lasting and less important ways to spend money.

Mystery Treefrog - A Stowaway?

As I was walking around my yard and gardens yesterday morning, I happened to notice this odd, little blob of gray-green on a clump of Spanish needles (Bidens bipinnata) that I've come to enjoy under my downspout.

Looking a little more closely, I realized that it was a treefrog.  So I took a photo, aiming for a side view so I could see its markings a little more clearly.

I've seen treefrogs like this before, so I didn't think much of it...

...until I tried to identify it this afternoon, so that I could include it in a post about yesterday's walkabout.  Things turned out to be a little more complicated than I expected.

None of the treefrog species were looking right when I compared my photos to the possibilities shown in the most recent Amphibians, Reptiles, and Turtles in Kansas.  So I took down a nationwide reference I had, The Frogs and Toads of North America, thinking that this might be a more southern species that had expanded its range a bit north with all our recent heat and the mild winter.

Well, even in that reference, the only species that looks even remotely similar is the Pine Barrens Treefrog, Hyla andersonii.  My little treefrog wasn't "similar" to a Pine Barrens Treefrog, he was a dead ringer for one.  According to the range maps shown in the above book, this species is found in 3 rather limited locations in our country:  southern New Jersey, the coastal plains of the Carolinas, and an area in the panhandle of Florida.

I presumably didn't think anything of seeing this little tree frog, because we lived down in Mobile, Alabama, for 6 years and have visited my brother in Pensacola, Florida, many times during that time and since then.  I must have seen this species at some point, or even many times, while we lived and/or visited down there.

But, we don't live down there now - and we haven't lived in the area for over 6 years.  Why am I seeing it in my yard, here and now?  Well, we haven't been to or received visitors from either New Jersey or the Carolinas in years and years...but, we WERE down visiting our daughter in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, at the end of May.  We didn't bring back any plant material or anything that I can think of that might have harbored a stowaway...except for our car itself.

The only explanation I can think of is that this little tree frog chose to sleep under our car, parked in front of Jess's home, when morning came on the day we were due to drive back to Kansas.  He must have been somewhere on the underside of our car (perhaps in a wheel well?) and came with us all the way back from Florida to Clearwater, Kansas.  That was a 17 hour drive, involving an overnight stay at a hotel - but here he is.

I haven't seen him since I took the photo although, truthfully, I haven't looked very hard.  Even I am not enough of a WEE (wild-eyed environmentalist) to drive him back to Florida, if I were to find him.  Nor can I imagine that he'd do too well being sent through the mail or by UPS.  I can't imagine that he'll survive the winter here.  Even if he does, there will be no mate to discover conjugal happiness with.  And even if, by chance, both Mr. and Mrs. Pine Barrens Treefrog made the trip together, I really can't imagine that the prairies of south central Kansas will provide a suitable habitat for this species to get established.

So I'm not too worried that I've unleashed biological Armageddon here.

However, this does highlight a very real problem that does occur with distressing frequency:  when we travel, insects and other small animals stowaway in our vehicles or anything else that accompanies us.  Serious pests can be  - and have been - accidentally brought into an area because of unintentional stowaways.  Right now plant people here in Kansas are keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of emerald ash borer, a small wood-boring beetle that kills basically all ash trees.  These beetles were unintentionally introduced from Asia into southeast Michigan in 2002 and have spread widely from there.  They were sighted in Johnson County, Kansas, just a couple months ago. 

Many other examples of biological stowaways creating big time havoc are well known:  zebra mussels, Dutch elm disease, and Japanese beetles, to name just a few.

We certainly didn't plan on bringing back any stowaways - and if I hadn't tried to identify this little treefrog, I would be blissfully unaware that we actually did - but that didn't keep it from happening.  I guess the moral here is to be careful and try not to translocate any wildlife when you travel...although that's obviously no guarantee that it won't happen anyway.

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

Years ago - sometimes it seems like it was in another life - I worked with and for the Kansas Audubon Council.  One of our projects at the time was trying to get the Z-Bar Ranch, as it was known then, into federal protection as a national park.  Through the work of many dedicated people and organizations, with the Kansas office of The Nature Conservancy serving as a key link, that dream came to life - and the American people now have under their protection the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.

The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve has the Z-Bar Ranch, originally known as the Spring Hill Ranch, as its core.  Located near Strong City, Kansas, the Spring Hill Ranch was settled by a wealthy cattleman and his family in the late 1870's and early 1880's.  Stephen Jones built a literal mansion out of native Flint Hills limestone, situated on the side of a hill above the main road into Strong City.

To go along with his mansion, he built a huge limestone barn, a limestone outhouse (a 3 holer!), a limestone ice house, a limestone chicken coop, a limestone curing house and a limestone carriage house.  And 30 miles of limestone "fence."

A little to the north of his ranch headquarters, he donated land for a school house...and a limestone school house was built.

All of these beautiful limestone buildings still stand today.  For decades, they intrigued travelers along Highway 177, which runs directly in front of the ranch house, but very few were privileged to see the insides of any of the buildings, even though they were rarely owner occupied after about 1900.

Now travelers are privileged enough to be able to explore both the buildings AND the surrounding prairie through a collaboration between  the National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy.  There are self guided tours of the buildings, wonderful nature trails of various lengths, bus tours of the "back country" during the summer and fall, and events held throughout the year.  There is a newly built interpretive center, too, which is due to get its permanent exhibits sometime this spring.  For now, they show a 10 minute film about the preserve and the tallgrass prairie, have bathrooms, a gift shop, and a very helpful park ranger to answer questions or give you guidance.

While our son Sean was home from Boston for Christmas, we decided to go up and check it out.  Neither Sean nor Greg had ever been there, although we'd all driven by it many times traveling between Wichita and points north and east. Plus, while December temperatures that are regularly in the 60's make me nervous about global warming, I have to admit that a bright blue day with a high of 64 degrees F. was extremely pleasant for exploring the prairie!

Here Sean and I are posing for the camera on the old road bed, with the mansion behind us on the hill.

The old road bed in front of Spring Hill Ranch is extremely obvious from some angles and almost invisible from others.  Here you can see the path of the old road to Strong City, running next to the new highway, with an old American elm (Ulmus americana) arching over it.

That old elm just fascinated me!  Such a huge, majestic tree!  And out on the prairie - thriving!

The site selected by Stephen Jones for Spring Hill Ranch was rather unusual in that it had a good spring located on top of a hill - hence the name, Spring Hill Ranch.  Rather oddly, then, the vegetable garden was located on top of the hill where it would be easy to water during dry times.  With the suppression of fire around the ranch buildings, a cedar grove has established on top of Spring Hill also.

The Southwind Trail starts by this vegetable garden, goes through the cedar grove, and meanders the pasture to the north of the ranch buildings, with a spur going up to the limestone schoolhouse.  This is a pleasant, relatively level trail that is just right for an easy stroll.  As we left the cedar grove, this pair of cedars, with the small series of steps between them, felt like a gateway into the open prairie.

In the shrubs to the right of the "gateway", several bright orange clusters of berries caught my attention - American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens)!  Although this attractive vine is native here in Kansas, I haven't seen it growing in the wild for a long time.  I suspect that most of it, at least along the roadways, has been killed by overcollecting for Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations.

Just beyond the "gateway," if you look to the north, you can see the old limestone schoolhouse on the next hilltop....

Sean and Greg decided to go up to the schoolhouse, while I stayed on the main loop of the trail and photographed a few shrubs and wildflower seed heads.

I could ramble on for a long, long time about all the interesting and beautiful things we saw...but I won't.  Instead I will recommend one last treat that we discovered in the downtown Strong City.  Having not had any official lunch and having explored the buildings, the visitor's center, the Southwind Trail, the schoolhouse, and the Bottomland Nature Trail, we were rather dry and hungry when we left the Preserve.  Sean had seen a restaurant in Strong City whose name appealed to him, so we pulled in to check it out....

Ad Astra was wonderful!  We were expecting to just get a coke and a snack, then go home to eat, but an enjoyable atmosphere of brick and stone walls with a gorgeous tin ceiling, as well as a gourmet sandwich and entree menu, enticed us to have dinner here.

A delicious bison burger with a side of black bean chili called to Sean,...

while I fell for a Reuben sandwich with homemade potato chips and a homemade pickle, and Greg had a fantastic looking (and tasting) ham and cheese creation with a broccoli salad side.  Boulevard and Ad Astra ales were on tap, so we were able to quench our thirst too!  Last of all we decided to splurge on dessert:  a decadent peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake slice for Greg, a rich peppermint and chocolate cheese cake slice for Sean, and a delicious creme brulee for me.  All worth the stop, just on their own!

All in all, a most excellent adventure!  If you've never checked out the Tallgrass Prairie Nature Preserve and you live somewhere within a couple hours, I'd say it would make both a nice trip for yourself and a great place to share with visitors.  If you're driving through Kansas sometime, I'd highly recommend checking it out for a unique and memorable experience.  It's one of the only places left where you can truly experience the American tallgrass prairie in its vastness and openness.  Just don't forget to refresh yourself at Ad Astra (or in nearby downtown Cottonwood Falls) when you're done!