Cedar Glades of the Nashville Basin

Disaster at Daisy Trail

2010-05-19T22:27:00.003-05:00

Daisy trail cedar glade spent nearly 2 weeks entirely under as
much as 6 feet of water as a result of all the flooding over the
1'st and 2'nd of may here in Tennessee.

This land should actually be high and dry ,as most cedar glades are,
but Percy priest reservoir changed that when it was constructed in
the 1960's bringing the shore live within 100 yards of the cedar glades,
and occasionally flooding into the lower glades, never this badly.

It is not known at this point whether the glades will survive,
i can confirm that the autumn onions, limestone fameflower,
and ruellia have survived, however many other plants boiled
or suffocated in the shallow sunny water, 6 feet of standing
water was a bit to much for many of the plants which are specially
developed for dry spring summer conditions, and have perished.

I estimate a loss of 30 plant species in this glade for st least this year,
time will tell what the seed bank held on to.

Right now it is a mucky brown mess full of dead baby fish and minnow,
and has certainly changed the chemistry of the shallow limestone soils.

Camera is in the shop so pics to come later, perhaps we will document
the recovery of this cedar glade, as this has never before happened
here and who knows if it can recover or if it will be lost forever.

Diversion~Spring ephemeral~ Karstlands

2010-04-01T20:38:00.004-05:00

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!!

Wildflower Wednesdays ~ Cedar Glade Cress

2010-03-25T00:05:00.003-05:00

Leavenworthia stylosa, or cedar glade cress,

also known as Nashville mustard,

is blooming away signifying the start

of another blooming season here in

the Cedar glades of the Nashville basin.

They have such a sweet musky small that just says

Tennessee springtime to me , as if

it were taylor made to the area.

Interesting fact about leavenworthis stylosa,

plants in the cedar glades in the southern half

of the nashville basin have pink or white flowers.

Plants in the northern edge have blazing yellow
to even orange/yellow blossoms,
and a much stronger smell.

I hope you'll stay tuned, we will be exploring some

new to the site glades this year!

Winter Light

2010-02-02T18:56:00.003-06:00

This photo for contest, my
entry for this months picture this photo contest, "winter light"

the shadows reach for the dark warmer shelter of a certain
weathered crack in the bedrock I have featured on this blog
before-

Same crack in summer,this photo not for contest.

Snowy Glade

2010-02-01T01:40:00.001-06:00

Snowy Glade

Some pictures of the late January snow,

2010

Tyler Alley Sykes memorial trail

the sky was so blue

the colors popped through the snow

the stream trickled through the ice and snow

an ice shelf overhangs the channel of the stream

Here and there the moss peaks through the snow

Some prickly pear, O. humifusa,

peaking out through the snow,

cacti in the snow!

the glades are really a place

of working contradictions !

Here and there there are small sinkholes in the limestone

releasing warmth from deep in the ground

it melts the snow from the stone

delicate and rarely seen ferns like this

pellaea thrive in these chasms

I do wish it would snow this way each winter,

I actually find the season tolerable

so long as there are bright snowy days

to cheer up the gloom of our winters,

Thank you all for reading in 2009,

here's to many more years of cedar

glade beauty for me to share with you all!!

"Nashville snow" and a success in Daisy trail cedar glade.

2010-01-08T20:40:00.004-06:00

"Nashville snow" and a success for Daisy trail cedar glade.

Daisy trail cedar glade is a beautiful

and diverse area at the end of my own street,

I have been visiting this glade since

we moved into this home and this

is the first time I have seen it in the snow

albeit a "Nashville snow" that's barely

dusted the grass.

While their leafy friends are deeply dreaming,

These stunted eastern red cedars

are wide awake and playing in

the snow.

The exposed bedrock has a nice

white covering of fresh snow.

As do the karst areas between the hickories

that surround the glade.

Amazing textures in a broken sheet

of ice that had covered a pool which drained

away, deer most likely broke the ice.

Snow dusted moss covers the rocks in the

margins of the glade.

Frozen mud creates textures in the

ice by a frozen pool.

Most of the nearby percy preist lake has

been drained to winter low levels

and frozen over.

*And now for the small success*

That's right, Daisy trail cedar glade is now protected!

not that I can officially take any credit,

but i don't know anyone else who has been

blogging about this out of the way unknown

cedar glade ,cataloging its rare and

endangered endemics, and sending emails and

letters to the state of Tennessee on it's behalf (eh hmm).

In reality the area spoke for itself when

surveyed at some point, it is a small

but diverse glade area and

one surrouded by flooded

out caves which surely harbor

their own oddities.

What this brand new sign basically means

Is that people are now prohibited to damage stuff

up in Daisy trail cedar glade,a subject which

has frustrated me for 3 years of

watching people dump,drive through,cut donuts

on atv's in,burn,steal from,and(gasp) even MOW

once two years ago. yup someone MOWED this cedar glade,

the area abutts several neighborhoods

and the kids play there often,

someone was also overly happy with their riding mower.

None of these people even know what a cedar glade is!!

well THAT is the point of this blog.

Because this area borders the lake,and hunting

and fishing are allowed there, it won't become

a Glade reserve area such as Flat Rock,

Mt View, or Couchville glade, but there

is now a hefty fine for anyone doing

the aforementioned actions.

so it's a happy day for Daisy Trail Cedar Glade

Winter Solstice

2009-12-21T16:46:00.005-06:00

These pictures of moss from Mt View cedar glade,

moss dominates in its favorite season, winter,

which just started today, it loves winter because

sunlight can reach the forest floor around the
gladesedges and along the gravel while
the plants and trees are sleeping
naked over the winter.

You can see where migrating birds have

eagerly picked this common glade moss

to bits looking for goodies underneath.

Some wild strawberries

waiting patiently for spring

a HUGE deerfoot lichen wakes

up breifly in the low solstice sun

Some moss on a log

another kind of moss nearby

and yet another,

youll see this one stuffed

in orchid pots at

the market.

a most diminutive resurrection fern

growing in an assortment

of mosses and lichens

I have never seen one with such sparse

growth and small leaves!

Could it be environmental?

one of the oldest cedars around is at

the entrance to mt view cedar glade

as is this sign

These were all taken on Dec 21, 2009

as the solstice sun was already

beginning to set around 2 pm,

it looks like later in the afternoon,

due to the southern sun of the northern winters.

Mt view glade is precariously sandwiched

between a development and a highway,

but manages to have one of the

densest echinacea populations,

and a colony of coreopsis.

We'll come back here in the spring and take another look around,

Until then you guys, Happy Holidays!!!

We need a Spring Preview!!

2009-12-15T23:54:00.004-06:00

For those of us whom live where winter is a cold season,

there is always a longing for spring blossom's sweet breeze,

despite all the work that there is to do in the garden!

Let me indulge you for a moment on some things

you can see in a few months if you visit a cedar glade,

Southern ragworts

Purple prairie clover

I even miss the fleabane,and I have purposely planted

it at home!

Festive prickly pear blossoms

look like wax sculpture.

Crows foot or glade phlox

Hello daisies, we have coined them!

Echinacea tennesseensis

Waving "hello, hello!" in the breeze.

a white form leavenworthia stylosa

Rose vervain

southern ragworts

American columbo,spring,they form a stalk

with green and white intricate flowers.

The dogtooth violet,

Redbuds, spring cedar,and sickly sweet

fields of yellow Nashville mustard.

Come and take a stroll in one this spring!

Another couple of videos

2009-12-04T14:41:00.002-06:00

A video on the Cedar Glades of middle Tennessee.

2009-12-02T18:15:00.001-06:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-25T16:43:00.002-06:00

End of the Line

2009-11-21T22:24:00.002-06:00

Here is my entry for the “End of the Line” photography
contest,my first entry in this contest ever.

This is more of the end on a line,
There are definitely strong lines and an end in there!
This was taken at the end of the season
in a cedar glade here in the Nashville area,

it is the ultimate end of one of the many
cabbage white butterflies that have flourished
in this glade of a different flower,

and here at the end of the line we see the grasses

and the wings of the butterfly returning to the earth

to nourish another generation of creatures next year,

thanks for reading and looking guys- JJ

I had several to choose from and after a day of consideration

of the others I chose the one more appropriate for the end

of the growth season, another I considered was this one

At some point long ago,

this exposed solid stones rivergroup limestone bedrock

(shoo a mouthful)

cracked,and water spent many years flowing

into the crack as it settled atop the stone

in a poolwearing the stone open ans smooth

on either side, As you can see, the crack

has more recentlycontinued its course from

the ending point.

I also considered the end of the line for this

once brave and mighty Hickory of the glade,

This was taken in early winter last year.

The grave of Sir Hickory

I concluded to present the first as my entry,

Boy these photo contests could get fun!

Under the surface

2009-11-14T19:36:00.005-06:00

Dancing stumps in a Skeleton of a cedar glade that is usually

under water for much of the year, you can see the "skeleton" of the cedar glade

because most of the lighter gravel and soil have been washed away.

The supporting stone structure is all that is left behind.

This glade would have been part of the Daisy Trail cedar glade systems.

In a shallow pool in the glade,connected

to the cave systems that underlie this glade

a resident crawdad enjoys some afternoon sunlight.

There are a few flowers lingering along the way

Like these susans

Susan thinks it is springtime,apparently.

And there is a lobelia or two as well

The last leaves flutter away from a giant shumard oak

dancing in the sun adjacent to Daisy trail cedar glades.

Other than that the glade is mostly an array of dried

seed heads from any number of plants and grasses ,

evidence of extreme lushness in the glades this year.

Let us take a glance back through the seasons

of 2009 from a viewpoint of this area

at Daisy Trail cedar glade.

Early spring, leavenworthia stylosa dominates the scene

A little later,and the glade sandwort has stolen the show

late spring flooding ,there were ducks swimming in the glade!

Lets hope next year is even better in the glades,

Many plants here are endangered and the hearty weather

has helped them multiply and spread .

October Orchids & Asters

2009-10-15T17:32:00.019-05:00

October Ladies Tresses

October ladies tresses are a fragrant species of Orchid that grows right
here in Tennessee, and oddly it blooms in October,when the cold
night breeze wakes her up for her autumn show. The smell is sweet,
floral,and amazing, you'd want to bottle this one,but if you happen
to see one, NO PICKING!!they are quite rare in occurance within their range.These are growing in very boggy,mossy
conditions in long, shallow,
soil and limestone gravel filled chasms in
the deep limestone bedrock that is exposed
nearby, their drainage is very poor,
the soil is VERY alkaline,
and they get all day blazing sun.

There are several
orchids native to north america and most are ground orchids like
this one, and a few others live in and around the glades, including
the cranefly orchid, which wakes it's leaves up for winter when
the sunlight can pierce the trees and reach the mossy floor in
the forest near the cedar glades.
Cranefly orchid,leaf

There are several species of Aster are coexisting in Tyler Glades,
they all seem to have their own spot in the glades that is just right
for them, I will attempt to name a few,although many of these
have been reclassified as symphyotrichum.

This is White Heath Aster

And this one is White wood aster, which is more of
a lavender,despite the name.

Here I am lost, but this one is definitely different.

This one is New England Aster, a classic.
Thank goodness for the cool weather,or I may have
alerted any number of tiny sweat bees that were sleeping
on its blossoms,and I hate sweat bees.
Yes,even though they are green and sparkly.

Here in the foreground you see the common Shorts aster,
Symphyotrichum shortii, this is the one you will most likely
see along the roadsides and throughout the open woods forming
a purple mist throughout.

So there's plenty going on while waiting for the fall colors
to fill out, and during what seems like a slow time for
flowers in the glade you may just find something
radically unusual, like an orchid!,and find yourself lying
in the mud oogling and snapping pictures!! Everyone agrees
there's just something about orchids...

This glade was very wet,it's basically a very wide,
very shallow river, normally equivalent to a
dry creek bed and a great quantity of water flows through
here in the wet season, shaping the glade and continuing
to wash away substrate where other cedar glades remain
more stagnant and you don't see so much active erosion.

Water oozes from the gravel,

it trickles from the grass,

it pours through the moss from between the trees,

it cascades between the stones in the paths,

and pours across the limestone flats,

it seems there are suddenly brooks babbling
and pools filling everywhere you look,
in what is normally the driest place in middle Tennessee.

Gattengers Lobelia is still blooming and seeding.
Usually gone by July, it has bloomed all year
in this wet weather.

Spiked gumweeds have also managed a few last minute blooms

And more from the dark side this Halloween season,
muahahaha!!! Here is an endemic roach in the cedar glades,
he has a remarkable vibrant red to black fade coloring,

ew ew ew I know right, roaches, but consider that in this
glade, in their habitat they are functional,beautiful little
critters, and their numbers are balanced by nature.

Some wicked looking mushrooms, fed by the rain,
are devouring the dead, muahahaha!!! and bringing life
to the soil of the karst between the limestone glade areas.

All sorts of beauty is washing up in this rain,

Huge snails in a wash collected by an aster.

Relics of an abundant and glorious season of lushness
in the Cedar glades, which have loved the excess rain
this year, unlike other areas which may have suffered.

Opuntia cacti are fruiting heavily, but I'll leave these prickly
boogers for the deer and coons over the winter.

And the promise of another season of bounty to come,
already showing SPROUTS!Widow's cross sedum is
sprouting before winter even comes, over the winter
it will grow low and trail along with these flat wide leaves
Next spring it will grow thick and full, before growing
little stalks with pointy leaves

and blooming along
with a full spring show here in the
Cedar Glades of the Nashville basin.

Revisiting the Wild Rose

2009-10-02T15:09:00.009-05:00

Let us revisit with the wild roses of the cedar glades.
This past year they have grown thick and full
in the wet and cool weather we've had in this
"year that summer never came" of 2009.
Rosa carolina ,curled petals

and rosa multiflora,sometimes pink
are quite common in the area, Beautiful and
although invasive in many areas,
their numbers are few in the glades.
Rosa carolina come in many forms,
and many in the glades seem dwarfed,
seen blooming and fruiting inches off the surface.

Rosa corolina, white form

The hips from both roses are sweet and edible, and contain
lots of vitamin c which means soury goodness.

Here's this year's rose hip harvest from a distant relative,
rosa rugosa ,hips.

since i dont like to let things go to waste these
tangy sour little goodies are going into treats for the holidays,
along with other gathered wild foods like hickory nuts and persimmons.
We'll soon say goodbye to madame rose for the season here in the Nashville
basin, and await her grand displays of next year, she's always been a favorite
of mankind around the globe, and her family brings us everything from apples
to loquats ,furniture and fragrances.

For extra credit bring me one of these rosa
carolina blooms from the feild next spring,
and i'll give you a zillion dollars!

The Dark Side

2009-09-22T18:46:00.015-05:00

Muahahahaha! welcome to the dark side of the cedar glades,
let's take a look at the more macabre players in the game.
Jelly molds and slime fungi feed on the dead wood of
an oblivious great giant shumard oak, which towers above the canopy.

I hope these funguys will forgive me ,
I am at a loss for the correct identifications
for these mushrooms, largely unseen
except for the fruiting bodies, fungi are the
secret underground kings of all the forests
and deserts, grasslands and jungles of
the world, their network of mycelium
lurking in the darkness of the soil, quietly
devouring the dead in order to
provide life to the roots of all plants.

Amanitas and Lepiotas

These were mostly growing in the karst hickory
/oak woods that line all Nashville cedar glades,
and the nuts were falling, one of these 4 inch hard
as rock nuts falling from 140 feet could do some
damage to the top of your head
or knock you out outright!
Near actual size, shellbark hickory nuts.
Angry squirrels were dive bombing away
Seems I was to close too their favorite nut tree.
I still got 3 bushels this year ,I'll have the last laugh!

seriously, if any of you have a hickory tree, don't let the nuts go to waste,
hickory nuts taste just like warm maple syrup with a heavy maple fragrance,
best ever in cookies and brownies(shagbark hickory nut blondies are freakin amazing)

Don't forget the witches butter muahahaha!!!!

Nostoc commune, or cyanobacteria, "witches butter"
this is a colony of cyanobacteria that live together in clumps
forming mats that spread out over the bare limestone ,
crackly and black when dry, green and jelly like when wet.
As it advances over the dry stone,it decomposes,leaving
behind thin layer of absorbent organic matter that paves
the way for mosses,lichens and small grasses and plants
to take root, these resemble the very first life
on land on this planet,and the earth was made
green by this very process,making the witches butter
organism about the only thing older than well, dirt!
from this

to this
to this!

And then heavy rains bring a flushing torrent,
which with time washes the hard limestone clear again,
depending on where the current has shifted,
as the patches of life dance around the glades in
ultra slow motion,taking decades to move a few feet.

Lichens also play a large role in breaking down twigs and moss into soil.

deerfoot lichens, common in art supply stores, model train kits.

lichens and fungi hard at work on dead twigs

Like the trees, when an animal falls in the glade, and comes to
rest there,or more likely is drug into the open by coyotes and
devoured like this deer, their bones are bleached in the sun,and the moss
buries them slowly ,bleached bones are a common site in daisy trail
and many other cedar glades.

So there are spirits here in the Cedar glades, light and dark,
their cosmic dance fueling life in this place of
teetering balance and rich starkness.

As we go into Autumn

2009-09-12T10:29:00.011-05:00

Wild Autumn aster - specific species unknown
grows like a white heath aster, but purple!

As we go into autumn the appropriately named
autumn onion or nodding onion is at full force
and so are the honey bees that love them!!
Settlers used this as an onion
in their foods and i have tried it myself, it has
quite a sharp chive onion garlic flavor when
fresh but when you toss a few peeled into a
roast they turn of so sweet after a few hours
of cooking.

Agalinis tenuifolia ,Slender leaf false foxglove, a new one for me this time, I love how you seem to be able to find something never before seen each time you visit a blooming cedar glade.

Or something familiar surprises you!
Mist flower

Lespedezas are in the pea family, and I don't think
they come any prettier, or in as many forms in one
place than in the glades.

And my sinuses arch enemy, the goldenrod,
beautiful though I believe it nearly killed me
by sneezing when I smelled it anyways- hehe.

So ends the blooming seasons in the cedar glades of the Nashville basin,
hopefully some pretty snow ice pictures this winter for everyone- and next year i plan to scout some more out of the way Cedar glades to bring you some photos of rarer and more endangered beauties.

The Cedar glade blues

2009-09-11T01:35:00.004-05:00

Wonderful texture, the blue stones? weathered paint from an old can? i don't know, but they caught my eye.

Just take a minute, see if you can spot .............

Dozens of tiny camouflaged butterflies!Eastern Tailed Blue
butterflies, by the bushel, and now their powdery
blue gray color makes perfect sense, for they spend quite a bit of time
browsing around these natural stones of the same color, their preferred habitat.

Open skies and a cool breeze

2009-09-11T01:17:00.003-05:00

Here are a few overview photos of Tyler glade,
the first week of fall on 9/9/09, tall grasses drying in the breeze
nodding onions and black eyed Susans by a glistening pool,
and a sky I could swear was bluer here , with clouds lazily drifting
along over the bleached trunks that stand like monuments
to once brave and vigilant hickories before some drought of passed years
brought them to matchsticks on the hot limestone, autumn will be here soon
and a harsh winter is sure to follow in this year that summer never really
came to middle Tennessee- get ready for sledding and snowmen !

Tyler Alley Sykes Memorial Trail, High Summer, July 2009.

2009-07-25T16:56:00.021-05:00

Tyler Alley Sykes Memorial Trail,
High Summer,
July 2009 .
1,2,&3.There are few things rarer in the glades than the blackberry lily, which is an iris! (sometimes called blackberry iris) an exiting find,though I'm a few days
off for full bloom.

4. Foliar fruit flagging is when the leaves of some
plants and trees turn color early to signify the ripeness of
fruit to birds and other animals.This is winged sumac.

5.Helianthus are blooming in the shade, The Jerusalem artichoke is a close relative and these are edible, Of course most things are, for that matter.

6.White flowered leafcup is very common in the preist lake area, often mistaken for celandine poppy before it has bloomed.

7.I love the mathematical symmetry of flowering spurge,
it flowers once,branches five,flowers,branches three,flowers,branches two,flowers.

8.It has been so wet and temps low enough that the gattingers lobelia is still going strong,this is the lilliputian form i love so much.

9,10,&11. Talking trumpets, this seems to be a variant specialized to this glade,large leaves with random indention,ruffled edges and stumpy growth,this one grew yup this cedar when it was alive,it has since died leaving the thick vine twining through the dead skeleton ,almost indistinguishable from the dead wood,it is a beautiful site reminiscent of Chinese floral arrangement.

12,13,&14. Whorled milkweed, as a hoya collector and a lover of all asclepiads milkweeds get me exited,this one reminds me of a hoya retusa or maybe a linearis, it is delicate and dainty ,swaying gently in the breeze.

15. More houstonia,the summer bluet,these are profuse in the wet weather we have had.
16&17.Rose pinks, a tonic tea is made from the plant.

18. Lesser flebane though common,can be beautiful in the proper setting, it dominates many glades in high summer,and this little guy couldn't stop dancing and "smiling" at me while being shot.
19-24. False aloe, hardy agave,rattlesnake master, naked lily, many names for this petal-less lily that comes in many forms,the fragrance is amazing, you have to smell one,if you can spot it!

25.Persimmons just waiting for my wild autumn goodies, you have to wait until the fall,and harvest the freshest ones from the ground,as the ones on the tree will have you puckerin' like nothing else, but the ones on the ground
are the closest thing to candy I have ever picked yum!

26&27 This old guy seems to watch over the glades with his
horrible expression,fitting as this is,in reality, a very harsh environment that has been plagued with problems since man arrived in the cedar glades,his crown divulges his age,many cedars in the glade are far far older than they look, due to the harsh stunting conditions and their normally slow growth, and in fact i have found that there are variations on our juniperus virginiana that are normally only found where there are sand dunes,the differentiation is most obvious in the berries.

28.Carolina buckthorn has attractive foliage and berries.

29. Slenderstalk beeblossom

30. Faded Tennessee coneflowers languish in the summer sun, the flowers never really wilt away.

31. I have always been a fan of the partridge pea, though common.

I hope you have enjoyed our little walk through the glades and i look forward to bringing you more, remember to tell your friends about this rare and endangered ecosystem so that your grandchildren can have glades to visit one day!

High Summer in Daisy Trail Cedar Glade

2009-07-21T11:43:00.011-05:00

High Summer
Is spiked gumweed
and rough fruited St. Johns Wort,

Fruiting shrubs, non toxic though
it looks like it should be! I keep wanting
to call it a penny bush.

There are
summer bluets

and glade petunias ,
lesser fleabane and brown eyed susans
galore.

It has been a very wet humid
summer and the growth is very lush in
all the Nashville basin cedar glades,
and a great year to take a walk and
see them in all their glory.

Mt View Cedar Glade may 22 09

2009-05-23T13:47:00.003-05:00

Tennessee Coneflowers starting to pop out among the Coreopsis lanceolata
which is native to Tennessee but i'm pretty sure its been planted in this glade.
nevertheless it doesn't seem to be causing any problems and it is quite beautiful.
Mt view glade is quite small, and it persists despite being surrounded by homes
for half a century, 10 feet away from a secondary highway,and most recently
having the surrounding forests and marginal glade areas clear cut for
neighborhoods with streets ironically named "coneflower trail" et.c.

2009-05-23T13:38:00.002-05:00

Daisy Trail glade is drying up nicely, below you will see the
same spot inundated with lake water, daises along the trail
going strong, glade bluets and white sedum in the breeze on
a warm spring day with white fluffy clouds drifting along.

2009-05-17T23:28:00.003-05:00

White Moth Mullein Has a flower designed to make
insects like wood bees and moths fall in love with it,
seeking comfort in its furry arms and tricking the
insect into pollinating it. You've seen it along the roadsides,
its not native to the glades but it is marvelous, there is
also a yellow and purple form.

Gattinger's Lobelia tall hardy form in couchville cedar glade,
a nice companion to the moth mullein, is abundantly
flowering nearby, there seems to be a more delicate and tender
form that i have photographed at daisy trail glade last year,
the first post or so on this blog, both forms are pictured
in the description at bioimages home for gattingers glade lobelia.

2009-05-17T23:21:00.007-05:00

Here we have an assortment of early bird summer blooms and
some mid spring flowers from Couchville cedar glade.

1.Narrow leaf vervain, verbena simplex

2. Southern Ragwort

3.Ox Eye Daisies

4.Downy Woodmint

5.Early flowering tennessee coneflower

6. Flowering spurge single flower before the spray

7.Gattingers lobelia and ox eye daisy

8. a lone early brown eyed susan

9.False Gromwell, a lush looking borage,

10.leaft prarie clover, Dalea foliosa.

Catching the Eye

2009-05-17T18:56:00.006-05:00

Many interesting colors and textures can be found
for photographing in the cedar glades, from limestone
patterns and interesting dry creek beds,to grass ,trees
and sky, here are a few photos i'd like to share of
scenes that caught my eye on a cool breezy day in May.

Daisy Trail Glade, may 7 2009 flooded!

2009-05-07T22:07:00.007-05:00

Flooded! percy preist lake has inundated
the lower cedar glade limestone area,
and its now gladier than ever! not every
day you see a pair of mallards swimming
in a cedar glade!

we also have some of Daisy Trail Glades
unique daisies, Astranthium integrifolium, (thanks Gail
of clay and limestone blog) in full bloom.
they are indeed a light pink , and very tender,
nothing like the common ox eye daisy you see
on roadsides, or the other flower pictured, which
is also in full bloom now.

2009-04-29T01:04:00.015-05:00

I think , after having visited other cedar glades, that I still
prefer the first one I found, out of the way, no public access,
nameless until I named it not only for the street I live on,which
dead ends into the western border of it, but a strange daisys unique
to cedar glade margins in this area if not to this glade alone.
Daisy Trail Glade is home to many unique and endangered plant
species, here are some pics from Daisy Trail Cedar Glade taken
on a breezy spring day.

1. Namesake daisy, she is very tender, not your roadside daisy,
a pale blush pink,and a much different branching habit, with a
single flower at the end of each segment of stem. name unknown.

2.Glade Sandwort, single specimen showing the leaflessness
and bridal spray form,these sprout from a tine cold weather
rosette that dies away.

3.4. the glade sandwort smells every bit as sweet as the
Nashville mustard, leavenworthia stylosa,and makes just
as extravagant a show as it carpets the glade in white.

5.6. small skullcap, it is blooming profusely throughout.

7.8. SUPRISE!! Daisy trail cedar glade does indeed support them!
picture proof!, and they are being run down each year by atv's!

9.10.11.12. Shooting stars, Dodecathion, what beautiful color and pattern,
i found one which turns some if its flowers upright and splays the petals out
flat, unusual.

13.14. Pale blue eyed grass is peeping out at you all over.

15.16. up close and personal with tennessee milkvetch,
astragalus tennesseensis.

17.18. up close and personal with eastern white flower
beardtongue, penstemon.

19. even common buttercups are more beautiful here with
all these showy friends!

20. Yellow star grass Daisy trail form, note the differences
between these and the ones at couchville glade,these are
much more slender and less furry.

21.22. Violet woodsorrel, tennessee shamrocks.

2009-04-16T23:39:00.007-05:00

On a lovely sunny spring day I decided to visit Couchville cedar glade,
The ground was spongy and the flowers were going nuts in the moist
spring weather, I'd like to share some photos with the world , heres
a list from top to bottom of the previous post-

1&2 . Rose Vervain In Situ, you have probably seen this one in the
garden somewhere but this is its natural habitat.

3. A very vibrant spring moss is flourishing near the creek.

4. Violet Wood Sorrel, also glade shamrock.

5. Stinky,my rat terrier,and mother of the percy preist lake monster, enjoys the smell of Nashville breadroot ,
apparently she can detect a scent i cannot, this plant has
an aromatic and edible "potato" from which it sprouts 6 inches underground
that was once eaten by native peoples.

6. White form leavenworthia stylosa , and a whopper too!

7.The glade shimmers in the sunlight with all of the recent rain,
and the creek which goes dry in summer is flowing full.

8.Glade Phacealia, something about the way they all stand up so straight ,
they seem enthusiastic.

9. soft woodland spurge, very unique, she has cousins all over the world,including
the euphorbs ,a common cacti like plant from africa.

10.Pale Blue Eyed Grass, I adore this plant, it is actually in the iris family.

11.Here comes the green, hushing over the starkness of winter.

12. Cedar Glade Phaecelia

13&14.Check out these Hoary Puccoons, aren't they cute? i have never seen these
in the wild before today.

15,16&17. Hypoxis Hirsuta, yellow eyed grass or yellow stargrass,
it is quite prolific here in couchville glade ,elsewhere it may be sparse
when present.

2009-04-15T13:06:00.004-05:00

I often use the photos i take in the glades in my artwork,
i will show several of those here, This one I have entitled
"spirits of the stone", using natural textures that reminded
me of faces this one only required minimal alteration to
bring out the "spirits".

please click and enlarge the images

2009-04-12T19:01:00.003-05:00

Easter Sunday in Daisy trail glade was certainly color coordinated!
we had soft pastels and bright hues of many colors, heres a few photos
I'd like to share with everyone!
1. Nashville breadroot, up close .

2. Rose Vervain in situ

3. southern ragworts

4. fossil, fish? crab? plant? invertebrate?

5. shellbark hickory growing on a rock

6. the percy preist lake monster!!

7. crows foot phlox in all its pastel glory

Daisy Trail Cedar Glade April 2, 2009.

2009-04-02T14:43:00.009-05:00

Still getting the hang of how these posts come out, please bear with me!
I bring you some lovely photos of Daisy Trail cedar glade, which is about 3000 from my front door, so you will see me visit here often, I have almost come to think of it as an extension of my own garden, and so have my dogs Stinky and Little Buddy, the rat terriers , they love to swim in the lake which is only 500 feet or so from the edge of this glade(thanks google earth for the measurements!) and frolic in the sunny glades, we try to go every weekend, unless its recently rained in
1. daisy trail glade the summer as this glade houses
poisonous snakes!!!
2. White trout lily

3.they have so much fun here!

4.Stress in the up heaving fold of limestone that creates the limestone glades.

5.Fragrant Sumac, a glade only endemic.

6.Crows Feet, such a lovely blue lavendar.

7.young Frasera rosettes enliven the forest nearby

8. American Colombo, Frasera Caroliniensis

9. HUGE rue anemone!! the large bic lighter for scale, this was the only plant like it
and the double flowers must have been 2 inches across, I love how this species varies so.

10. Nothoscrodum bivalve, actually lilicae, although it resembles allium.

11.false garlic, nothoscrodum bivalve.

2009-03-25T15:09:00.016-05:00

I braved a heavy ,chilly rain to get these wet cedar glade pictures, an extreme condition of the glade rarely seen.

1. Some naturalized daffodils in the barrens at Couchville glade.

2,3,4. These pointy land snails seem to come from these mossy "hammocks" in the gravely parts of the glade here in couchville glade, they eat the lichen and I'm not sure if they are found in any other glades ,in fact i have been completely unsuccessful in identifying them myself.

5. white form leavenworthia stylosa

6.Nothing brings out the subtle colors
in the glades like a soft rain, this normally dry
grey old stump is transformed into a colorful
playground in miniature.

7.8. my favorite thing about couchville glade is the rock garden at the western border of the glades, a beautiful and natural rock garden no one could recreate. In places the limestone flooring looks as though it was pulled apart like taffy!

9. Early saxifrage is positively glowing! in the rock garden at couchville.

10. an early rainy view through the redbuds

11. Rue Anemone

12.13. Smooth rockwort

14. Wild Chickasaw plumb flowering

St. Patricks dayin Daisy Trail Glade.

2009-03-17T16:30:00.005-05:00

The Falcate Orangetip butterflies really are waking up in this warm sunshine ,
and apparently the color for this glade on St Patty's day is bright yellow-orange,This species coloration varies regionaly and these guy's spots are the same color as the little leavenworthia flowers ,and the underside of their wings is patterned and colored to match the thick lichen that grows around the glade, just look at these guys going crazy in a frenzied mating ritual, and who couldn't love the color provided by the Nashville mustard, Leavenworthia Stylosa, the smell is thick and sweet and its also what the butterflies are so happy about.

Couchville glade March 10 2009

2009-03-10T14:58:00.005-05:00

1. wolf prints,deer prints,coyotes,fox.
2.reminds one of the Savannah in summer, without the heat,you feel eyes on you here hehe.
3.when a tree dies in the glade,it just slowly bleaches and crumbles with time, unlike in the forest where it quickly succumbs to rot.
3.Levenworthia stylosa this white/violet form had an eerie violet glow which doesn't pick up well on the camera, much variation on this in the small clumps some are pinkish and others stark white.
4.I've only ever seen these red small cacti that grow bear root over the poorly drained inch thick limestone in these glades,are they baby opuntias struggling for a good root hold? possibly opuntia fragilis form? i really don't know.
5.leavenworthis stylosa.
6.a creek runs across the exposed 400 million year old limestone in couchville glade.
7.lichens be likin the wet sunny winter
8.park trail headed dedicated to Tyler Alley Skies.
9.What amazes me about couchvinne glade is the cedar glades namesake resident,the red cedar, you can see the amazing diversity in form here in a single plot,and there are many of the oldest cedars i have ever seen in my life here.

2009-03-08T18:39:00.005-05:00

Daisy trail glade is an unprotected cedar glade,although i believe it is on army corps of engineers land there are no official barriers or signs posted
several rare endemics thrive over this 30+ acre tract of limestone xeric cedar glade.People dumping trash here and four wheelers tearing through the limestone greatly disturb the ecosystem and damage the flora.
There are invasive shrub and trees
including a full grown Bradford pear,
On the plus side it has one of the largest populations of Prairie Larkspur i have seen yet, along with the presence of Tennessee Milkvetch
and some lovely lobelia,possibly gattingers or maybe even one of its own, pictured belov in this blog.
You can view the location of this glade here DAISY TRAIL CEDAR GLADE
This glade is also unique to others I have seen because
it's full of little sinkholes and during heavy rains the entire
lower part of the glade fills up to a depth of 5 inches as it
drains away into these sinkholes, the surrounding woodlands
fill as well some pictures of that here as well. Perhaps the
absence of the Tennessee cone flower has led to a disinterest
in this particular glade, so i have named it and cataloged its
beauty here for all to see, thanks so much for taking the time to look

1.Daisy Trail Glade ,solid bedrock creek connects the clearings after a heavy rain.
2.A waterfall into a sinkhole nearby daisy trail glade.
3.Adjacent woods to daisy trail glade after heavy rain,
4.Daisy Trail Lower Glade ,this one will fill up like a lake during heavy rains.
5.beautiful,but invasive,a feral bradford pear. daisy trail glade.
6.Daisy Trail Glade sports rare Cranefly Orchids in its margins.
7.a sinkhole in daisy trail glade.
8.a sinkhole daisy trail glade.
9.Daisy trail glade winter 09
10.Daisy trail glade winter 09

oddities and endangerments

2009-03-07T17:18:00.001-06:00

Mt View cedar glade is in great danger,as you can see by these photos development has been allowed to encroach to the very edge of the limestone,and the grassy and marginal parts of this glade have been destroyed. Some very unusual Opuntia Humifusa live here in this glade,
they display a most unusual double blooming habit .

Late Spring/Early Summer in the Cedar Glades

2009-03-07T17:13:00.003-06:00

Spring in the Cedar Glades

2009-03-07T16:35:00.001-06:00

Here are a bunch of my own photos
of springtime in the glades, all photos
on this blog have been taken by myself in the glades.

Introduction to the Cedar Glades

2009-03-07T15:36:00.001-06:00

You may have encountered a cedar glade before if you enjoy walking through the woods in the Nashville Tennessee area, you would have been walking along through the cedars and would have come to a clearing, upon passing through you may have noticed how hot and dry it was,if in summer,or how wet and spongy the limestone gravel was ,if in winter.You may have had many of my own first thoughts , wondering "is this an old lot? perhaps and old road of some sort long degraded" before you started to notice plants you
hadn't ever seen in your life,even though you've lived
your entire life in the Nashville area, and if you had
been lucky enough to happen across one during spring
bloom time you'd notice the rainbow of colors blooming on those never before encountered plants, what an exiting place these glades can be!
In truth that place you thought may have been an old lot is a natural limestone clearing, possibly millions of years old , or at least old enough for the plants there to adapt to their unique environment. It's feasible to think that these places have been visited by animals and humans alike, for thousands upon thousands of years, being a natural clearing where one could camp or simply gaze up at the sky,and the way it seems so much bigger in the glades somehow, you can see the whole milky way sparkling there on a clear summer night, these places truly are a gift of natural beauty and diversity and a testament to the strength of life and its ability to adapt.

Here are some resources for Cedar Glade Research:

Cedar Glade Endemic Plants

Center for Cedar Glade Studies

Cedar Glade Wikipedia