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Happening
at the Crossroads
July 28,
2008
by Coggin
Heeringa
In
the nature preserve of Crossroads at Big Creek, the prairie and meadow
areas have changed from purple to yellow. The tallest plant, so far
(the Compas plant will be bigger) is the velvet-leafed plant called
Mullein. This plant does not reach its potential height of seven to
eight feet in one growing season. It requires two, even three years to
bloom.
The first year, when the seeds germinate, a rosette of
pale green leaves form. When I was a child, we called the low growing
plant "rabbit ears" but I've heard all sorts of common names from
"rouge plant" to "flannel plant."
If legends are to be
believed, "nice" pioneer girls were forbidden to wear makeup, but from
time to time the young girls would want their cheeks to look pretty and
pink. So they would rub the leaves on their faces.
They got that
rosy glow. You see, the little hairs have a skin irritant in them.
[Note to campers and hikers: Mullein is NOT a good toilet paper
substitute.]
The little interlocking hairs of Mullein do more
than irritate skin. They are great insulation. Pioneers stuffed the
leaves into their shoes for warmth. Actually, a number of insects spend
the winter deep in the center of the rosette, curled up and cozy in
their own little velour blanket.
he function of the
rosette is to collect the sun's energy. Through photosynthesis, the
soft green leaves manufacture food which is stored in a taproot and
eventuallly used for the production of the tall flower stalk.
The
flower stalks look rather like torches. Not surprisingly, in ancient
times, Romans dipped mullein stalks in tallow and burned them,
particulaly for funeral processions.
Truly ephemeral, each
individual yellow flower lives but a day, but that is long enough for
seed production, estimated between 130,000 and 170,000 seeds per plant.
Mullein seeds are dispersed with every gust of winter wind. They may
grow immediately or they may survive in dormant form for maybe a
hundred years or until growing conditions become favorable, which
ever comes first.
Mullein is a truely outstanding plant, and on
Sunday at 3:30, the naturalist will lead a wildlflower hike to the
upland areas of Crossroads to enjoy these and other August blossoms.
Other
family programs will include "Our Moon" on Saturday afternoon at
2:00, free tours of the Historical Village on Sunday from 1;00-3:00,
"Learning from Little House" on Monday morning at 10:00 and "Trash Talk
on Tuesday at 11:00, and "Planet Earth Discussion" at 3:30.
The monthly meeting of the Door Peninsula Astronomical
Society will dedicated to planning for the International Astronomy Day
2009. Visitors are welcome to join them at the Stonecipher Astronomy
Center at 7:00 PM on Tuesday.
You can enjoy the flowers and
upland birds without a guide. The trails are free and open to the
public. Crossroads is located at the intersection of Highway 42/57 and
Michigan in Sturgeon Bay.
Crossroads
at Big Creek is located at the intersection of Highway 42/57 and
Michigan in Sturgeon Bay. The trails are free and during summer, all
are open people and their keen-nosed pets (if the pets are on leash and
under control.) The Wisconsin Wildlife Exhibit in the Collins Learning
Center is open to the public 1:00-3:00 daily during the summer.
Many of
the Past News articles may be retrieved from this directory,
indexed and named in the following manner: 080101-news.htm
where
the first two numbers are the year, the second two the month and the
last two the date.
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