Cincinnati Wild Flower Preservation Society
Ohio Native Plant Society, Southwest Ohio Chapter
Updated Wednesday Jan 12, 2022 at 3pm
Our hikes and lectures are free and open to the public, and all are welcome. (but we depend on our memberships to cover our expenses.)
For descriptions and photos of the our other missed events, scroll down on our Newsletter tab.
What you missed- On Sunday January 9, 2021, Angela Carter led our group of 16 at Caldwell Nature Preserve for our Hardy Souls hike. Beautiful park with late afternoon sun, temp about 45. Photos – Group , Four Explorers , Marjie and Angela , Oak leaves.
What you missed – On January 9, 2021 , “The Reptiles of Ohio, 2021” was presented by Doug Wynn. Doug described the hard work done to create the new authoritative book of Ohio’s Reptiles and then talked about some of his favorite creatures, snakes.
--Our next event--
Friday January 14, 2022 at 7:30pm (Social Time at 7pm) by Zoom- “The Legume Family (Fabaceae): An Extraordinary Example of Plant Evolution” presented by Robert Paratley - Registration required by 2pm Friday, see link below
Robert Paratley writes “More than just a tour of the plant family (although it will be that, in part). I’m going to talk about evolution in the legumes, how they are an amazing example of what evolutionary biologists term "adaptive radiation”. Why amazing?
Because this large (3rd largest flowering plant family) has radiated into just about every conceivable ecological niche on the planet! And, of course, many legumes have formed an evolutionary relationship with humans as food crops, seed oils, resins, medicines, cover crops, noxious weeds & invasives.”
Our Speaker is Curator of the University of Kentucky Herbarium. Several years ago, he presented a program to us on Richard Evans Schultes (1915-2001), the Father of Ethnobotany.
Registration and attendance
1. Be sure to register by Friday Jan 14 at 2pm by filling out a brief form here . Please contact Bob Bergstein ASAP at address below, if you have any problems registering.
2. You should then receive an email by 3:30pm on Friday Jan 14 containing a zoom link.
3. On Friday evening, at any time after 7pm, open your Friday email and click on the Zoom-link. After a brief pause, you will be admitted to the meeting.
4. On Friday evening, if you can't find the email with the zoom-link, please check your spam folder. If you still can’t find the zoom link or with any questions, contact Bob Bergstein at 513-477-4438 or bergstein123@gmail.com . I can always send you the meeting zoom link, even at 7:30 Friday!
Friday February 11, 2022, our Zoom Lecture will be “Crinoids: Lilies of the Ancient Seas” presented by highly-respected paleontologist Dr. Carl Brett. Registration required. Registration info will be posted by Feb 1.
Crinoids are remarkable and ancient animals that look like flowers, but they are actually Echinoderms, relatives of starfish and sea urchins. This group has been in existence since the Early Ordovician Period, nearly half a billion years ago. They are abundant in limestones of the local Ordovician to Mississippian age (450 to 340 million year-old) of the Tristate area.
Most ancient crinoids had a “root-like” or volcano shaped attachment, or holdfast a column (stem), up to meters long made of poker-chip like columnals, and a crown with calyx and variously branched arms. Each arm has many tube feet used in suspension feeding Planktonic organisms. Stalked crinoids of this sort still live in the deep ocean (200 m) and modified unstalked crinoids are actually common in shallow water reef settings.
The multi-plated skeletons of crinoids are rather fragile and fall apart rapidly after the organisms die, forming at times enormous amounts of calcitic sediment. Under more extraordinary conditions, with very rapid burial, these animals may be beautifully preserved as nearly complete bodies that can provide great insights into their modes of life. Beds of fossil crinoids provide extraordinary evidence of ancient “Pompei”- like events on the seafloor. Crinoids formed a very important component of ancient shallow marine environments and produced vast amounts of limestone sediments.
Registration- info will be posted by Feb 1
