Diversion~Spring ephemeral~ Karstlands

I've decided to provide a little diversion here at cedar glades of the Nashville basin and do an entry covering spring ephemerals in the karst lands at bakers grove

which is very near the couchville, mt view, and daisy trail cedar glades.

Karstland at bakers grove trail

An ephemeral plant is one marked by short life cycles, usually six to eight weeks. The word ephemeral means transitory or quickly fading. In regards to plants, it refers to several distinct growth strategies.

Early saxifrage and spring ferns enjoy the sun on the bluffs

click to enlarge

Spring ephemeral describes a life habit of perennial woodland wildflowers which develop aerial parts (i.e. stems, leaves, and flowers) of the plant early each spring and then quickly bloom, go to seed and then quickly die back to its underground parts (i.e. roots, rhizomes, and bulbs) for the remainder of the year. This strategy is very common in herbaceous communities of deciduous forests as it allows small herbaceous plants to take advantage of the high amount of sunlight reaching the forest floor prior to the leaf-out of woody plants.

 Yellow Corydialis , a spring ephemeral

related to Dutchman's breeches and bleeding hearts .

Tennessee has is one of the richest and most diverse environments for spring ephemerals

on the entire planet, lets take a look at some of the things i saw

today on this 4 mile medium difficulty hike at bakers grove trail,

i strongly recommend taking the walk soon if you are in the area,

especially if you are fond of trout lilies and dogtooth violets

yellow trout lily

they are thick on the north slope of the big hill 

this trail winds around

 And when i say thick i mean THICK

they cover the forest floor.

 There are also white ones,dogtooth violets,

 just as thick and lush as the yellow

  On the south side it is drier and leafier, and there is less moss.

things like trillium and may apples are at home here

Trillium

 mayapples stretch into life already full sized

rue anemone

 a large colony of cranefly orchids,
i have yet to catch these in bloom.

cutleaf toothworts grow through out the trail.

The gem of bakers grove trail is definitely the bluffs, a sturdy but rocky

in places foot trail winds along these 100 foot bluffs over

Percy priest lake, and face the sunset, a lovely and romantic 

view for an afternoon hike or a picnic. 

sailboats viewed from the bluffs, nice and breezy here.

 sweet fragrant Chickasaw plum flowering along with cedars on the bluffs.

soft spring fern foliage blankets the pathway as 

you stroll through the boulders

an underground stream emerges from a pile of boulders full

of mossy grottoes

Here we have Mr Hugh "bullfrog" Hefner lounging

in his mossy grotto waiting for some lunch to happen along

please enlarge this pic to spot him near center.

this is a porthole to an underground stream,

and you can hear the water trickling softly

through the mossy earth.

the same stream emerges completely and flows

into the lake, there is a large footbridge over it, 

the only large footbridge on the trail, so you can follow 

that stream only a few hundred feet uphill 

to see these things for yourself!

If you like old graveyards or vinca minor, then

you are in luck at bakers grove trail!

there is an area several acres across that used to be a graveyard

where the vinca minor has run amuck, as it does, being

a terrible invasive, although still quite beautiful.

this amazing and horrifying area is quite near the entrance,

but its nothing compared to the amount of privet 

that crowds the first 100 yards or so. 

I hope you've enjoyed our Nashville basin karst

woodlands spring display, get out there and see it for yourself

if you can! spring is here! spring is here! at last at last!!