Keith P. Tomlinson,
The Allegheny Highlands harbor many botanical secrets.
Comprising the highest elevations in the mid- Atlantic it's a place of subtle
contrast and surprising northerly climes. Perhaps no place embodies this
remarkable region better than West Virginias Cranberry Glades. The
"Glades" as it's known among wilderness enthusiast, is a rich mix of
northerly hardwood forests and dense stands of red spruce among a random mosaic
of shrubby cranberry and sphagnum moss glades. Buffeted by a massive ridge on
the east it forms two watersheds, the Cranberry and Williams River. Ultimately
both merge into the ancient Gauley River further downstream. The attending mountains
and hollows that steward these highland rivers are biologically more akin to
parts of eastern Canada than the Virginias. Vast expansive views spread across
boggy hollows and steep ravines. While the backcountry wilderness is a major
attraction, there is something very special for the garden enthusiast and plant
explorer.
A quick walk into this highland ecosystem reveals a world of
moss and lichens adding an elfin woodland affect to the forest. Dome shaped
mounds of star and plume moss provide an important seed nursery for trees and
shrubs. Intermixed in the moss mounds are many lichens, some leaf-like, others
like tinny green flakes. Reindeer moss (a type of lichen) forms demur,
tendril-like fingers to create a tiny ghostly, pale green shrub. Most interesting
perhaps, are the British soldier lichens. Like miniature trees the
"soldiers" frequently exhibit a stunningly bright red cap of spores,
some curiously trumpet shaped. Often attending the mounds of moss are clubmoss,
the most primitive vascular plant in the forest. Not a moss at all, but a fern
ally. Club mosses are indeed club-like or like perfect miniature pine trees.
The life cycle for clubmoss is twenty years, spores require highly specific
soil conditions, rich in fungus and undisturbed by human activity.
Much of Cranberry Glades fascinating plant life is only
accessible while hiking on mountainous trails. But one particular area along
the Cranberry River is so beautiful and unique the U.S. Forrest Service
recognized it should be conserved and interpreted as a distinct botanical
area...a wilderness garden for the horticulturally curious native plant
enthusiast. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974.
Around the country many botanical gardens work hard to
recreate particular habitats to cultivate native plants. At the National
Arboretum, Fern Valley displays native plants from the mid-Atlantic. Meadowlark
Botanical Gardens in northern Virginia has a garden for plants found only in
the Potomac River basin. Near Boston, the New England Wild Flower Society grows
an amazing variety of north easterly native plants. Not far from Newark
Delaware, Mt. Cuba Center for the study of Piedmont flora is world renowned for
native plant horticulture. Huge effort goes into these collections; they are
both botanically and horticulturally focused. Garden staff may spend decades
propagating and tending the most difficult native plants in a prized
collection. Yet they can never recreate a true ecosystem developed over
millions of years that fostered growth of a complex native plant habitat. Only
the wilderness can do that, and the Cranberry Glades Botanical Area is proof.
Instead of visiting a botanical garden to see the carefully curated native
plant collection, here you visit a natural area where the gardening is up to
nature.
The botanical area at Cranberry Glades is circled by an
elevated board walk; this allows access where it’s nearly impassible due to
deep, wet, boggy soil. For the garden visitor interested in native plants this
is the ultimate collection, entirely wild but blissfully accessible. Walking
into the botanical area one realizes open pasture-like glades are a big part of
the habitat. The tell-tale sign that the area has a distinct northerly
character is the cotton grass. Not a grass, but a sedge with cotton -like filaments
that speckle the glade with tawny-white tufts. These curious plants spread for
acres beyond the board walk above a mix of emerald sphagnum moss and squat
cranberry shrubs. Mixed along the walk as if planted in an intentional boarder
are large rust-colored cinnamon ferns, often reaching four or five feet high.
This unique fall coloration would thrill any ornamental gardener. Nestled among
the ferns, native winter berry displays a spray of bright red berries as if
ordered from a fine florist. But their more than beautiful, when the harsh
cold arrives, the berries will sustain many native animals who ride out the mountain
winter.
Fall flowers in the botanical area make a visual statement
any carefully tended garden would be lucky to achieve. Blue lobelias emerge
happily from a damp margin, their deep color unique in the fall landscape.
Nearby, boneset burst forth with a whitish-gray flowers reaching for the sun as
butterflies happily harvest nectar. Golden rod makes an appearance in several
locations, but determining which one is tricky, more than fifty species are
known in the mid-Atlantic. New England asters form a cluster of small daisies
draped over a perfectly reclining log. Bright yellow tick-seed sunflowers flow
along the boardwalk in a near perfect bunchy, floral display. Very often these
flowers emerge from shrubbery of great rhododendron and one of several native
viburnums.
Beyond the shrubs
many northerly trees signal the fall color change. Red maples crimson leaves
mix with shades of yellow from basswood and sweet birch while the clustered red
berries of mountain ash feed south-bound migrating birds. Standing like knowing
sentinels, the mighty red spruce changes little and simply awaits another cold
winter, its branches soon to be swept with blowing snow. For the true high
Appalachian garden experience Cranberry Glades Botanical Area shows that nature
can be the ultimate gardener when native plants in the wild are revealed in
their natural habitat.
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