O. Humifusa in Connecticut

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Andy_CT
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O. Humifusa in Connecticut

Post by Andy_CT »

I had been planning to go to the shoreline of Connecticut in search of our only native cactus. The local paper then runs a story about a cactus patch in Plainville, much much closer to me. I quickly checked it out.

Plainville is a tiny town in west central Connecticut, Lots of retail in the area. Just a short hike off a busy road is a lookout that houses the cactus. The hills in this area seem to be largely trap rock. This is not a natural lookout but man made . Its always possible somebody could have tossed a pad here. If its a wild patch then I expect there to be more patches here and there along the whole ridge that runs for many miles. Flowering was all done here, mine at home still have a few flowers left.

A glance at the climate for this local area: 50-53 inches (127-135 cm) of yearly rainfall on average. No dry season whatsoever, though any given month can be mostly dry or crazy wet. Average snowfall is 45" (114 cm), snow here often has a high water content which allows it to hang around for long periods. Avg high in January is 33-34F (1-2C), Avg low in January is 17-18F (-8C). Avg high for July is 83F (28.3C), Avg low for July is 62 (16.7C)

Image view of the lookout from the road below.

Image View of the habitat, lots of trap rock on the surface, this place bakes in the sun

Image main patch

Image close up

Image under the big rock

Image growing with some wild berries

Image I pushed some of the trap rock "dressing" aside to expose a brick hard soil.

Image views from the lookout, not a pretty area

Image hey you can see the shopping plaza sign, Lowes, Dicks and Kohl's among other box stores.

Image saw this flower on the path, a wild orchid?

Image very nasty patches of poison ivy too :evil:
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CoronaCactus
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Post by CoronaCactus »

Great pics Andy! Thanks for the hike 8)

You're on the ball, dude. Bearly a few hours after reading that article, and you've got pics!
ihc6480
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Post by ihc6480 »

Thanks for the pics Andy :D
Bill

If it sticks ya or pokes ya, I like it
peterb
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Post by peterb »

It's great to see humifusa in the wild in the northeast. Reminds me of finding it along the Appalachian Trail near my hometown when I was a kid in Pennsylvania.

peterb
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Andy_CT
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Post by Andy_CT »

Thanks guys, I aims to please.

I'm going to have to explore these ridges more closely after the yellow jackets go away in the fall. I bet I can find more. Plus I'm gonna hit the sand dunes at the shore too.
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John P Weiser
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Post by John P Weiser »

Andy
Great shots! Well whats your opinion wild or not wild? It looks like you found more that one clump.


By the way the other flower is in the pea family. Lathyrus japonicus common name of "beach pea" is a native species. Native in the New England area through the great lakes north to Arctic Canada west ward to the pacific coast and south to California.

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masscactus
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Post by masscactus »

Nice work Andy!
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Andy_CT
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Post by Andy_CT »

John P Weiser wrote:Andy
Great shots! Well whats your opinion wild or not wild? It looks like you found more that one clump.
All the cactus are located inside the second picture, there are a bunch of seperate clumps within a 10 foot area. Plus a few tiny pads were just lying around, possibly kicked around by walkers. Funny I see no slug damage here yet at home the slugs are having pad salad every night :evil:

Its probably wild, I'd like to find more clumps in the area to be sure. There's lots of ledge and cliffs along this ridge and it runs through several towns. Too hot and muggy to do serious hiking now plus that darn poison ivy. November's a better time to mess around in the woods.
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John P Weiser
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Post by John P Weiser »

Well enjoy your fall hike and good luck with the search.

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daiv
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Post by daiv »

Very cool Andy! Peter is not the only one who can see native cacti in an afternoon. :P

What are they digging out of the ground?
All Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are Cacti
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Andy_CT
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Post by Andy_CT »

daiv wrote: What are they digging out of the ground?
trap rock
RayC
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Post by RayC »

:( Can't see the pics fom here, I'll have to try from home. I'm also going to take a ride over there and look around a bit myself. Evidently these particular plants don't know they are only supposed to be in the shoreline counties in our area :D
RayC
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Post by RayC »

I took a ride (and walk) there this morning before it warmed up to much. Pretty neat seeing them there. This spot appears to be one of the rather unique micro-climates this ridge line has (according to wiki topic on metacomet ridge). Protected from east/north winds by tall trees and really baked in the sun (currently from about 9:30 to way late in day) and the steep and deep drop-off to the south that prevents even tall trees from shadowing it. Also from the wiki I see this spot (or perhaps another) has been seen before (without mentioning exact location) From 2002:
Image
daiv
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Post by daiv »

Neat, you guys both made it there to see them!
All Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are Cacti
RayC
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Post by RayC »

Dusting off an old topic here. I managed to find some more in a more typical habitat here in Connecticut after three trips here and there looking for them.
I had heard there are some at West rock ridge state park (about 1500 acres) but in 2 trips there haven't found them. I also heard of them at long beach in stratford, but coudn't find them there either (and later found out there are some at russian beach a short distance away but with very limited public access).
Yesterday I went to the Connecticut Audubon Society
Coastal Center at Milford Point and managed to find these growing in the mostly sand environment on a spit of land that seperates Long Island sound from a salt marsh. You are supposed to stay on the boardwalk and not wander there but fortunately some are close enough for pics.

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These two pics are of a group that grow under some short deciduous shrubs and are larger then the rest, presumably because they may have a little more organic material from fallen leaves (but no flower buds seen)
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This is one of 2 that I saw flower on, looks like it is just starting there (perhaps late this year due to weather)
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Last edited by RayC on Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:40 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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