Plant Identification Class

Last night I went to a plant identification class at Arcola Mill. Boy, am I glad I went! The class was free of charge plus they had giant cookies there. I had driven from Northfield. Because of construction on Hwy 494 I had no time to stop for dinner or even buy gas so that cookie really hit the spot. Arcola Mills is a lovely retreat used for education, art, and spirituality. They have many acres and a lot of shoreline on the St. Croix. We had three tour leaders. I went with a woman who is a botanist and a forest ecologist. Like all great teachers, she had a lot of enthusiasm. She would get all worked up about a fern. One of her goal was to teach us five ferns. We saw interrupted fern (the stem is interrupted), ostrich fern (tall, showy and majestic), lady fern (lacy and with hairy legs-she must not have shaved), bulblet fern (has bulblets underneath), and maiden fern (on black stems). She showed us all the silver maples in the flood plain; the hillside trees of basswood, ironwood, pin oak, and sugar maple; and the upland oak forest. The St. Croix valley has many springs and seep areas. We saw watercress and ferns and other wet and cool loving plants. The property is positively gorgeous. Sometimes I felt like I was on a movie set and Robin Hood would peek out from behind a tree. We walked up steep hills and looked down many deep ravines while listening to the scarlet tanagers sing. I thought I heard an ovenbird in there. We saw a giant chunk of "Hen of the Woods" mushroom also known as sheepshead or maitake. Several people asked if they could have it. This is a preserve so we weren't allowed to pick anything but invasive species. Volunteers on the site are working to eradicate the buckthorn. The poisoned, dead stalks of buckthorn held a wonderful surprise - a hummingbird nest located just three feet off the ground. Last night the moon was full, the weather was perfect, the mosquitoes were scarce, and I was with people in the woods who could answer all my questions. Circumstances just don't get any better than that.