Woodland Wildflowers Signal Spring , Healthy Forests RANGE SCOTT HARMON Penn State Forest Resources Extension UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) After months of drab win ter hues, wildflowers are bright ening Penn’s Woods and pro claiming the arrival of spring. Many woodland wildflowers take advantage of the few weeks when the forest floor is awash in sunlight after the soil thaws. Soon leaves from shrubs and trees will cast shade over low growing plants for the remainder of the growing season. To take advantage of this brief window of opportunity, many woodland wildflowers use energy stored in underground bulbs, roots, or rootstalks to jump-start the rapid growth of leaves and flowers. Many bloom for only a week or two, although the leaves may per sist longer. Here are some flowering gems to look for in Pennsylvania wood lands this month. (Most bloom sometime between late March and early May): Harbinger of spring is one of our first wildflowers to bloom. Its clusters of tiny white flowers “sprinkled” with reddish brown anthers gives it another common name; pepper-and-salt. Trout lily leaves have blotches of color reminiscent of the fish of the same name. The nodding flowers can be white or yellow. Hepatica flowers may be white, pink, or blue. Each flower grows on a separate stalk and has be tween 5 and 12 parts. Because of its lobed leaves, hepatica is also known as liver leaf. Dutchman’s breeches has white flowers that dangle from the stem, reminding some folks of pantaloons hanging on a clothes line. POWERED BY THE PEPPER Spring beauty has narrow leaves and 5-parted white flow ers, often with pink veins. Trillium has large petals and showy flowers that, as its name suggests, come in three parts. Our three common native species have white or purple flowers. Bloodroot has white flowers with 8-10 delicate petals around a golden-yellow center. The deep ly lobed leaf often curls around the flower-stalk. As the name im plies, the “root,” which is actual ly an underground stem, produc es a red juice. A rich mix of native wildflow ers is one indication of healthy conditions in the lower layer of the forest, which is known as the understory. Healthy forests con tain a variety of flowers, shrubs, trees, and other plants, which occur in layers, from ground level to the treetops. This variety and complexity allows many different animals to thrive and fosters en vironmental stability. When strands of this intricate web of life are missing, the entire ecosys tem can be altered. Predicting the effect of missing species on the whole system can be very compli cated if not impossible. However, in some Pennsylva nia woodlands, the lack of tree seedlings, wildflowers, and other plants leaves little doubt that there is a problem. Two of the culprits behind a dearth of un derstory growth are an overabun dance of white-tailed deer and in vasive plants. Like most humans, deer are se lective eaters. They browse on their favorite forest plants when they are available and resort to less-preferred foods when their favorites can’t be found. Long term studies in the Allegheny Na- jftMERICA'S HOMETOWN INTERNET COMPANY! ' gives you... | Inlimvted _ Internet Access IT'S SO EASY! You can sign-up online, 24 hours a day! Plus, get FREE "chili" tech support! Join today at www.chilitech.com or call toll-free 866-392-4454 u for only SQ9S per month* with a 12 month tional Forest show that as deer increase in an area, wildflowers and other ground cover species decrease. To compound the problem, deer generally avoid eating most ferns. As a result, large expanses of ferns cover the forest floor in many Pennsylvania woodlands. To many people, a verdant blan ket of ferns in an open, park-like forest is a beautiful site to behold. However, these conditions are signs that something is very wrong, ecologically speaking. Without a vigorous growth of new tree seedlings, the future of the forest is in jeopardy, and ani mals that depended on the miss ing plants for food and shelter may not find what they need to survive. Studies in the Allegheny Forest show that high deer densi ty causes a decrease in songbird diversity, in addition to the de creases in wildflower and ground cover species mentioned previ ously. Invasive plants are another cause of decreased plant diversity in the forest understory. Most in vasive plants come from other parts of the globe. In their new home in Penn’s Woods, they proliferate because the natural controls that keep the plants in check in their home lands do not occur here. Such natural controls include specific kinds of diseases and insects. Like ferns, introduced species can take over a site, displacing native plants and preventing seedlings from developing into trees. If you are one of Pennsylva nia’s half-million forest landown ers, take another look at your woodlands. Do you see a diverse array of native wildflowers and other low-growing plants? If not, do you have a sea of ferns or a predominance of just one or two types of plants? If so, chances are that deer or invasive plants are affecting your wood lands. While these are tough problems to address, there are re sources available to assist you. The Pennsylvania Forest Stew ardship Program provides pri vate forestland owners with in formation and assistance to promote healthy and productive forests. It produces many free publications, including Forest Stewardship Bulletin #9; Under standing and Conserving Biologi cal Wealth in Our Forests, Inva sive Plants Fact Sheets, and From the Woods: White-tailed deer. Backyard Composting Workshops, Free Bins CHAMBERSBURG (Franklin Co.) The Pennsylvania De partment of Environmental Pro tection (DEP) and Penn State Cooperative Extension are team ing up to offer composting work shops and free backyard com posting bins to Franklin County residents. Each person who preregisters for a workshop and attends will receive a free composting bin, as long as supplies last, and with the limitation that only one bin will be given per household. Two workshops will be con ducted at the Penn State Cooper ative Extension Office which is located at 191 Franklin Farm Lane in Chambersburg on Thurs day, May 2. The morning work- 100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE! WE ARE SO CONFIDENT THAT YOU'LL LOVE US, WE ARE OFFERING THIS RISK-FREE TRIAL! Yes, that's our great 30-day money back guarantee! If, for any reason, within 30 days you're not happy with our Internet service we'll refund 100% of your money no questions asked, no explanation needed. We will issue a full refund of your entire purchase price! Call us today and you'll see why thousands of people have joined Chili Tech, America's Hometown Internet Company! Great "chili" tech support, every time! chilHech | AMERICA'S HOMETOWN INTERNET COMPANY!* Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 6, 2002-B9 shop is from 10 a.m.-ll a.m. and the evening workshop is from 7 p.m.-8 p.m. A third workshop will be con ducted on Tuesday, May 7, at Tayamentasachta, from 7 p.m.-8 p.m. Tayamentasachta, A Center For Environmental Studies, Greencastle-Antrim School Dis trict, is located at 500 Leitersburg Street, in Greencastle. To attend the workshops and receive a free composting bin, you must preregister by calling your Penn State Cooperative Exten sion Office at (717) 263-9226. The workshops are being spon sored by Tayamentasachta, PADEP, the Franklin County Recycling Program, and Penn State Cooperative Extension. To request these publications or to leant more about the Forest Stewardship Program, call 1-800-235-WISE (toll-free), send e-mail to RNRext@psu.edu, or write to Forest Stewardship Pro gram, Forest Resources Exten sion, The Pennsylvania State University, 7 Ferguson Building, University Park, PA 16802. The Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry and USDA Forest Serv ice, in partnership with the Penn State’s Forest Resources Exten sion, have many upcoming Penn sylvania Forest Stewardship Pro grams scheduled throughout the state. For a schedule, contact them at the above listed phone and e-mail addresses.