Flora/Fauna

AREAS-

BISCOE, NC

What a strange little community. Went up to a friends cabin a few weeks ago in Biscoe and took this photo while I was there.

I did some tromping through the woods and didn’t have a whole lot of success ID’ing trees. Did stumble upon a lot of Hollies. Mostly American (Ilex opaca). Stuff was everywhere. I brought my infuser and made a little tea. Some Hollies have a lot of caffeine and make a pretty good tea. 

My buddies house is technically on a tree farm. There’s a couple out there. Mostly Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda). 

Wish there was more leaves on the trees. Pretty interesting to take a look at some of the trees in this photo right near the bank that are growing tall and have a trajectory straight up. Wonder what those guys are. 

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Weels ago my car died. It’s totaled and now I am virtually immobile.

I decided to try and make it work and have been ever since. I’m thankful my dad lives in town and will usually come get me if I am really stuck somewhere. Usually it does not come to that and situations find a way of working themselves out.

I am also very thankful that there is a grocery store, coffee shop, beer store, and bar all within walking distance of my home. It’s really not a bad deal at all. I would encourage anyone to go on a long long walk in their hometown one day. Cross bridges on foot that you’ve known all your life via car. Perspective is everything.  

I must admit that I do feel less empowered without a car. 

However, its been getting me to make some positive life choices, such as eating at home more rather than going out and spending more time with my brother/roomate.

I’ve always been very into the idea of public transport, but not the bus. I think the bus gets a bad wrap, but I’ve taken to many all nighters in the China town bus to see my ex in NYC to want to set foot in another bus.

I suppose this is an involuntary step towards diminishing my carbon footprint, but with graduation coming up I am expecting so moo-lah to come with it. I think that’s still a thing even for people that arent over privileged.

Foraging:

Dandelion Tea.

Pick some blossoms. Cut off the green buds. Put them in an infuser and add to hot water. A little honey helps for taste, but it’s not bad.

Spring is here time to get out there and forage. Made some dandelion tea this morning. Pick’em they’re invasives from Asia. You can eat the leaves, the blossoms, and the roots. 

Flatweed or false dandelion is commonly misidentified as dandelion. This plant is also edible. One difference is Flatweed can grow more than one blossom per stalk. Dandelion is always one blossom per stalk. 

The leaves are very toothy. You can eat them raw or boil them. The leaves are a common diuretic. They make your body produce more urine. Also used as an appetite stimulate. 

 The roots can be baked, grounded, and used as a coffee extender. They have been used to soothe arthritis pain, and to help kidney function. 

 The blossoms can be made into a tea or battered and fried. They have an antioxidant property and some believe they improve the immune system. 

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AREAS: Grayson Highlands State Park, VA

Did some backpacking at Grayson Highlands State park. Good times were had all around. It’s a really solid spot and is only two hours away from my home base. It was good to put on a few miles on the AT.

Similar ecology to Mt. Mitchell. Spotted more Fraser fir and Red spruce. Lots of rhododendron and mountain laurel thickets.  

Grayson has it all from rocky outcrops, wide open sweeping balds, and even some old growth forest right around Mt. Rodgers. 

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AREAS: SHACKLEFORD BANKS

NOTE: ALL PHOTOS ARE TAKEN BY ME. 

[Photo 5 is a Cedar in Beaufort because I forgot to take one on Shack]

Spent 3 nights on the magical Shackleford Banks. The island is about 9 miles long and a mile or less thin. I’ve been visiting shack since my first visit in 2010. This is probably my 11th or 12th voyage out to the isalnd. 

It doesn’t take a long relationship with shack to notice a difference in its fluctuating landscape. Since 2010 I’ve seen swaths of trash, primarily plastics, coat the shorelines. A friend of mine used to always say “no matter how far you get into nature your still bound to find a Natty Light or two.” 

Since 2010 I’d venture to say 500 yards of the island is now underwater on the south shore. 

Lets get to some ecology.

Shack is comprised of several ecosystems:

Ocean/Shore: [Photos 4&7] 

A popular spot to find good shells. I took home a whelk, a green sand dollar that was probably still alive the day before I picked it up (for anyone who didn’t know sand dollars are living sea urchins), and the classic conch shell. Hope I didn’t fuck up the carbon cycle too much. On a regular day on the shore your bound to spot a pod of dolphins or a washed up Portugese man o’ war (Physalia physalis). Yet to spot a sea turtle although they do nest on the Outerbanks. Loggerheads (Caretta caretta) primarily I believe. What you can guarantee you’ll see depends if you are sound side or shore side. 

A few birds I’ve ID’d on the shore are the American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus),  Sanderlings (Calidris alba), Plovers, Ring billed gull (Larus delawarensis), Laughing gull (Leucopheaus atricilla), Herring gull, Black backed gull (Larus marinus).

Sometimes you’ll spot waterfowl out past the surf. If you’re out there in the Winter or Fall.

Natural Maritime Forests: [Photo 8]

Straight out of a fairytale. Live oaks (Quercus virginiana) loom over head everywhere. Naturally pruned by the salt spray from the sea these oaks canopies can be warped into some really odd shapes. Long leaf pines! (Pinus palustrus) they can only get to about 20ft on the island, but still great to see two of my favorite trees so close by. Lots of Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides)  this particular March.. Guess the horses aren’t the only invasives on the island. You’ll find some Cedar along the edges of the forests.

Salt Marshes: [not pictured] Come at the right time and you may spot casts of Fiddler crabs. Or if you’re even luckier a Great Egret (Ardea alba), Great blue heron (Ardea herodias), or Snowy Egret (Egretta thula). The horses hang out here too, but after awhile they’re pretty lackluster. Was hoping there would be some Glass wort (Salicornia virginica) to eat. Apparently, March is not the season for Saltwort. However, the Black needle rush (Juncus romerainus) was out in full force. Didn’t see a whole lot of are good friend Marsh cord gras or (Spartina alterni flaura), but its close cousin salt marsh hay or (Spartina patens) was close by along with seashore saltgrass or (Distichilis spicata).

Dunes: [Photos 1 & 7] (Uniola paniculata), (Uniola paniculata), (Uniola paniculata) or Sea oats. Stuff is everywhere along with American beach grass (Ammophilia breviligulata) Which is good considering these plants root systems pretty much singlehandedly hold the dunes in place. Some other stuff hear and there. May find a dune prickly pear in your foot or cockspur or(Opuntia pusilla) in your foot. I got one in the leg. 

Graslands: [Photos 3 & 6] THE HORSES! You may see a rabbit or racoon also. Some wild blackberries. Old dead Cedar forests that have been bleached blue.  Best spots to camp. Let the dunes handle the wind for you.

GO EXPLORE.

DERRICK

SUSTAINABILITY: 

PLANTS:

Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata Mill.)

Cones are 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches long.

also known as rosemary pine, yellow pine, and old-field pine.

Found this guy a few weeks ago at Hanging rock state park. Wedged in between some of the rocks towards the top you can find Table Mountain Pine, which is pretty cool to see this far east in NC. Found a cone, but misplaced it unfortunately.

Check this NC parks digital inventory out:

http://www.dpr.ncparks.gov/nrid/public.php

Traveling to Grayson Highlands, VA this weekend. So, later this weekend look out for a post about the communities up there! Maybe, i'll spot a critter.

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SUSTAINABILITY:

DO NOT FORGET YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT. 

Diatribe:

You're a vegetarian or vegan and saving the word, your nasoya tofu, made from international soybeans is on its' way from MA to you! Meanwhile, someone eats a chicken that was raised in his or her backyard, killed in his or her backyard, and possibly eaten in his or her backyard OR meanwhile someone eats a chicken made from a chicken that was raised in his or her state and eaten within that state. 

Real Example:

Egg lovers...

You can buy your cage free organic buzz word buzz word eggs from Whole Foods from a ranch in Hillsborough, NC (1hr 10min away) for about $6.95 for 30 eggs. Nice people. Chatted with them on the phone. Good practices. Family biz, local economy blah blah.

or 

You can buy your same buzz word eggs from lets say Harris Teeter or Wal-Mart from Eggland's Best in PA (7hr 44min away) for about $3.95 for a dozen.  

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AREAS: 

Mount Mitchell (6,884ft) 

Highest peak east of the Mississippi 

A friend and I went up Mt. Mitchell on the 12 mile hike from Black Mountain Campground. Love this trail. Highly recommend it. It is very strenuous and can be almost tedious. In the Winters it freezes over and you can pretty much guarantee a few slips.

These photos don't really demonstrate it well but, the hike begins in your typical NC deciduous mixed hardwoods/thickets of rhododendron and mountain laurel and then ends in old growth conifers, primarily Frasier fir (Abies Fraseri) and Red Spruce (Picea rubens).

Why this is awesome:

Frasier fir naturally only grows in NC & VA.  Look at the range. It's tiny. 

This is about as far south as you'll ever see Red Spruce. It's not super common in NC.

IT'S AN OLD-GROWTH FOREST. (Google it) It's hard to come by old-growth in NC outside of the Smokies. Teeming with life, happy lichens, the greenest lushest mosses you've ever seen. 

A study in 2009 shows that we only 21% of our original old-growth forests. Preserve our healthy, thriving ecosystems. These forests are crazy biodiverse.  

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Hello friends of the trees (hopefully).

I guess it'd be just plain rude to not introduce myself. My name is Derrick Knowles and in the words of Forrest, Forrest Gump, that's about all I have to say about that.

A blog needs a purpose, right? Otherwise its just self indulgent ramblings (much like this one.) Vomitting my internal monologue onto the interweb.

Things I'm going to do. Promises to you, myself, God, my country, the children, the sad dogs on the sad dogs infomercials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO9d2PpP7tQ

1). PLANTS- 

Photos: (All taken by me), with a brief description, range, scientific name, source, and a brief identification tid bits. 

Videos: Same shit, but a video.

Recipes: All made with locally found flora and fauna. With photos and videos. The how to. If i end up yaking there may be some explicit material, so tuck the kiddies in before indulging in your guilty pleasure (surely this trees blog). 

2). AREAS- 

I go hiking and camping frequently. There's some good stuff out there. This will be dedicated of a more broader identification. Finding different biomes in NC and abroad and looking at the diversity of their flora and fauna (who knows maybe a critter or two will sneak in.) 

3). ACTIVISM/SUSTAINABILITY- 

If there's opportunities. I'll surely share them. For now, just don't have kids, don't eat tuna, and give this short article by Derrick Jensen a read please.

https://orionmagazine.org/article/beyond-hope/ 

I will be compounding on these promises. Which will result in more text, yuck. 

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Pinus strobus L. (Eastern White Pine)

Long cones.

5 needles per cluster.