A UVM blog Aiden’s Blog

Entry number 2, Willoughby State Forest

Part 1: Wednesday June 28th 7:30 pm. Weather, slightly rainy and damp. Approximately 20 minutes after a hard rainfall. Very dark and cloudy, much darker than usual this time of day.

Part 2: I arrived at the site and the leaves were very moist because of the past few days of rain. When I was walking around in the site the ground was sagging about two inches into the ground whenever I took a step. One of the first things I noticed was the absence of flying bugs. Last time I visited I was. getting bitten and mobbed by small gnats and mosquitos, however, today there were no bugs in the air I am not sure if this was because of the rain or the cooler air. Another difference was the presence of bugs on rocks and logs. I counted a total of 8 slugs on various moss-covered boulders during my visit. I noticed they looked one of two ways. More elongated and lighter brown color or larger and stubby and a darker brown color with various spots. I am unsure if this is because they are the same species different age or different species all together. Everything was lusher in general and green. I tested how full of water each of the different moss species were on the rocks and found they absorbed water very well especially this partially lush green species that grew about an inch and a half off of the rock in firm but soft points. It would be interesting to see how long it would be able to hold onto water after the rainfall stops. I heard no birds perhaps this was because of the rain. I noticed a lot of spiders under the leaves of shrubbery and in the nooks of bark. These were spiders I did not recognized they had long thin legs and a pale abdomen and a pronounced head. It was not a daddy long leg. Overall, the site conditions had changed a lot since I saw them last, the site had absorbed a lot more water and I saw new bug species as well as the absence of others.

Part 3: The species I could not identify was a small plant, it was approximately a foot tall with three large leaves in a rounded diamond type shape they were strong leaves not flimsy, they also seemed to have a waxy appearance. They came to a point at each end. The stem was very strong. It was a smooth stem that went straight into the ground and by estimate was a centimeter in diameter. The most noticeable feature, however, was the flower the sprouted out of the middle of the plant. It was a purple violet flower its shape was uncertain because the rain had caused it to droop but around the flower there was three smaller leaves that were shaped as triangles.

The plant I found this to be was Trillium erectum commonly known as red trillium. In order to identify this plant I took a look at a few of the sites that were recommended but instead I looked up common flowering plants in Vermont and used the state of Vermont’s database. It sent me to a website called Go Botany. On this site It asked for the type of plant I choose the option orchids and related plants because it held similar appearances to an orchid and didn’t fit in other categories. Once I chose this, I knew it wasn’t an orchid so I selected iris and other monocots, this brought me to a broad range of plant options that were in my area. I searched through when finally I found a match that looked exactly like the plant I had found I then looked up more pictures of the plant to make sure and was able to verify it was a red trillium.

Interesting Fact: Indigenous tribes of America as well as European settlers in north America used red trillium to enable the labor of childbirth. It was also used to cure other problems related to gynecology.

Part 4:

Conclusion: I enjoyed this project, while drawing is not my strong suit nor is it something I have ever really had to use for school I found that it helped me look at the details. When I was drawing it held my focus and interest, it really had me examine the unique parts of the species and things I was drawing enabling me to get the most accurate picture. When I return I want to place more emphasis on the insect and bug life at this site. I’ve noticed a shift in the bug and insect life in the field however I want to get more details and look harder for the different things present especially in different weather conditions, I’ve gone in two different weather conditions and noticed very different environments regarding bug life I want to be hyperaware of this next time and take more notes on it.

Skip to toolbar