Here is a sunrise shot taken during what appears to be the peak bloom of the blazing star at Wah-Sha-She this year. I had been here only hours before shooting the moon, in the sky that is - I was able to avoid getting any of that pesky tickle grass up my pants.
Great shot and, yes, that is definitely peak for blazing star. I was there the day before and the hardpan prairie seen here across the road was being mowed and bailed on the same day! Hopefully, additional endangered hardpan prairie adjacent to Wah-Sha-She Prairie Natural Area will be protected someday. If I could only win the lottery...
Amazingly narrow window for the peak of blazing star, approximately two days = last Thursday and Friday!
Congrats, Bill, you nailed it!
Best,
Don
Posted by Wayne Rhodus on July 23, 2008 at 10:06 AM
What a beautiful field of wildflowers Bill. The hay bales don't do much for me except provide a contrast to the "wild" field of flowers. All things considered, I like your earlier post hands down.
Hope you get out a lot more before school is back in session, I've been amazed by the work you've produced this summer!
Wayne, not sure if you are being sarcastic here but this is not a "field of wildflowers." This is an extremely rare type of prairie called a hardpan prairie. There is a layer of clay about 20 inches below the surface that keeps water from slowly draining through and allows for a perched water table in the spring. The saturated soil is preferred only by a select number of prairie species. Contrast that in the summer where the clay layer keeps the plant roots from breaking through to go deeper for moisture. That leaves a droughty condition also favoring a select number of species. The blazing star event seen in Bill's photo occurs once every decade or so. In fact, this is the best display that I have seen on this prairie since I have been visiting it over the past 20 years. Can you tell that I think this is a special place and not just a "field."
The reason this type of prairie is endangered is because most of it has been converted to cropfields. In fact, from inventories we know that Wah-Sha-She Prairie is the best of its type left in the world! Okay, now I'll get off my soapbox.
Thanks guys. Don - how much had been mowed across the road when you got there? Now I'm cuious as to what it looked like before being cut...
Posted by Wayne Rhodus on July 23, 2008 at 11:11 AM
Hey Don, thanks for the information and no, I wasn't being sarcastic ... just ignorant about the "prairie's" special characteristics. My post was simply intended to indicate that I liked Bill's previous post for its astetic qualities. I had no idea that what Bill photographed was a rare, maybe once in a decade event.
The expertise found in our members (and willingness to share it) is one of the reasons I love this venue, I get exposed to a wealth of knowledge about the flora & geology of our region that I would never have been exposed to without it. Class is in session and I'm loving it!
Now if you all want to know about a sales tax return ....
Wayne, good to know about your expertise in sales tax returns. My only request is that you stop calling it a field!
Bill, I don't have my file handy but there is about 40 acres across the fence, owned by a real estate agent in Springfield, MO. The blazing star display wasn't as strong there this year. More hardpan prairie 40 acres north of there, Another 60 acres north of Wah-Sha-She Prairie and to the west another 80 acres and another 20 acres to the southwest. It would be nice to get all of it rolled up into one area. Maybe someday...
I contacted the adjoining landowners about 15 years ago and none wanted to sell. Since then I have pestered The Nature Conservancy, owner of Wah-Sha-She Prairie to buy more hardpan prairie and contacted the manager of the TNC tract, Missouri Department of Conservation but so far neither entity see it as a priority. Sometimes the rarest of the rare don't mean nuttin'.
Best,
Don
Posted by Wayne Rhodus on July 23, 2008 at 12:33 PM
You know Don, some students are just dense! Man ... how am I going to explain this bad report card to my parents!
Ok Don, let me jump in and demonstrate my ignorance here. Are you saying that a layer of clay 20 inches or so deep is rare? Because if it is every posthole I dug for Dad went through that same stuff. When you're 15 and strike a "spring" 2/3 of the way through digging a posthole that's exciting stuff.. then in 5 minutes it quits.
BTW Bill that is absolutely georgrous. Did you by chance swing by Diamond Grove Prarie and check out the Blazing Star there? I haven't had the chance to get out but I did swing by Monday and saw a couple of stands at least that thick. Sounds like I've missed the best of it though.
Bruce, I was at Diamond Grove Prairie Saturday evening in the middle of that stand of blazing star you saw. Yes, it was on its downside of peak. Last Wed. was near peak, Thurs. and Fri. peak and Sat. just shy of peak. What I am classifying as peak is when the top flowers still have their stamens intact so you get that column of fuzz (stamens). The plants flower from top to bottom. When the top flowers loose their stamens, the column doesn't look as good. I know, picky, picky. If you look at Bill's first post, "Afternoon at Wah-Sha-She," you will see as he points out that a couple of the blazing stars upfront are ever so slightly past their peak. Not many would notice that but now you will everytime because of me. Ha
As for your clay question, over a long period of time, in really flat topography, sometimes clay filters down through the soil and for some reason stalls around 20" below the surface. That layer is solid clay about 2 inches thick. I have seen it in Illinois when I inventoried the unique and interesting post oak flatwoods in the Southern Tillplain of Illinois and the hardpan prairie in the Osage Plains of SW MO. Where I live in hilly central MO, the clay has a strong presence starting just a few inches below the surface combined with silt and sand but it does not form an exclusive layer like the two natural communities that I mentioned. Go figure!
Ed - sorry, I've been a little lax on exposure/processing details lately.
D2x, 80-200, f/16, 1/25 sec., full frame
This is a blend of two exposures using the layer mask technique described by Reichmann on The Luminous Landscape website.
Discussion
17 repliesBrad
Amazingly narrow window for the peak of blazing star, approximately two days = last Thursday and Friday!
Congrats, Bill, you nailed it!
Best,
Don
Hope you get out a lot more before school is back in session, I've been amazed by the work you've produced this summer!
The reason this type of prairie is endangered is because most of it has been converted to cropfields. In fact, from inventories we know that Wah-Sha-She Prairie is the best of its type left in the world! Okay, now I'll get off my soapbox.
Best,
Don
The expertise found in our members (and willingness to share it) is one of the reasons I love this venue, I get exposed to a wealth of knowledge about the flora & geology of our region that I would never have been exposed to without it. Class is in session and I'm loving it!
Now if you all want to know about a sales tax return ....
Bill, I don't have my file handy but there is about 40 acres across the fence, owned by a real estate agent in Springfield, MO. The blazing star display wasn't as strong there this year. More hardpan prairie 40 acres north of there, Another 60 acres north of Wah-Sha-She Prairie and to the west another 80 acres and another 20 acres to the southwest. It would be nice to get all of it rolled up into one area. Maybe someday...
I contacted the adjoining landowners about 15 years ago and none wanted to sell. Since then I have pestered The Nature Conservancy, owner of Wah-Sha-She Prairie to buy more hardpan prairie and contacted the manager of the TNC tract, Missouri Department of Conservation but so far neither entity see it as a priority. Sometimes the rarest of the rare don't mean nuttin'.
Best,
Don
Prairie!!!
BTW Bill that is absolutely georgrous. Did you by chance swing by Diamond Grove Prarie and check out the Blazing Star there? I haven't had the chance to get out but I did swing by Monday and saw a couple of stands at least that thick. Sounds like I've missed the best of it though.
As for your clay question, over a long period of time, in really flat topography, sometimes clay filters down through the soil and for some reason stalls around 20" below the surface. That layer is solid clay about 2 inches thick. I have seen it in Illinois when I inventoried the unique and interesting post oak flatwoods in the Southern Tillplain of Illinois and the hardpan prairie in the Osage Plains of SW MO. Where I live in hilly central MO, the clay has a strong presence starting just a few inches below the surface combined with silt and sand but it does not form an exclusive layer like the two natural communities that I mentioned. Go figure!
Best,
Don
Wayne, I am like you and would have called this a field also. I enjoyed Don's explanation of the area.
Don, I have a shot of a flower that I took while in Colorado that I can not identify. I will post later, maybe you can help?
Tom, sure, I'd be happy to look at it.
Don
D2x, 80-200, f/16, 1/25 sec., full frame
This is a blend of two exposures using the layer mask technique described by Reichmann on The Luminous Landscape website.
Very, very nice exposure blending...