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YEAR:1012 A.D. LOCATION: WHAT WILL SOMEDAY BE CALLED PHILADELPHIA

Our time machine sputtered as we navigated through West Fairmount Park, along the Belmont Plateau. It was set for 1512 AD, on the exact date, April first.  Our Time machine, built in 1959 and purchased second hand, delivered us to 1012 A.D. instead.  Now, the real issue is if we can go back to 2012!   We had this idea of visiting Fairmount Park before the Europeans arrived and chopped down most of the trees. The old rust bucket took us back 500 years further, but we saw the same plants!

Spring in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
Spring in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia

Check this out. Instead of rowhouses, Philadelphia was full of trees and Mayapples. Sassafrass, Tulip Poplar and Oaks growing. ( Our photographs of the 180 foot tall Chestnut trees were lost during our very rough re-entry to 2012, most likely from electrical problems that erased our digital files.)

Spring in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
Spring in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia

This violet from April 1st 1012 was duly recorded.

Spring in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
Spring in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia

This cut-leaved toothwort was found in magnificent patches in the ancient woods just north of the Belmont Plateau of the 21st century.  After our return to 2012, we revisited the location and found the same plants still growing there!

Spring in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
Spring in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia

This 1012 image of the plant speaks volumes about the geometry of this specimen.  We took notes.

Spring in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
Spring in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia

It was so cool to see what we call today Spring Beauty and Mayapple growing 1000 years ago right here in our fair city, Philadelphia. However, after about an hour in the world of 1012, it started to get dark, and we knew we had to be to work the next day.  We had 1000 years to travel, and we better get started.  So back we went.  The time machine sputtered and backfired on the way back and boom! we were back in 2012!  we decided to go check out the same areas we were in 1000 years ago and here is what we found in this site:  After navigating through a maze of invasives, notably Japanese Knotweed, Lesser Celandine, Norway Maple, Tree of Heaven, Japanese Honeysuckle, we found the old forest still hanging on!  It was a vestige of what we saw in 1012, and it was under assault by the invasives, but it was still there!

Spring in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
Spring in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia

There was a roaring highway that cut through the forest creating a menacing presence.  The Schuykill expressway.

Oh yeah, that thing, and there it is.

The forest was still growing though, what left of it there was.

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THE HAPPY MAYAPPLE PLACE

Watching the Mayapples come up is joyful.  The little delicate green umbrellas are at it again!  The path between the Recycling Center and the Strawberry Mansion Bridge in West Fairmount Park has a great display of  the earliest emerging Mayapples on the west side of the Schuylkill River.

MAYAPPLES EMERGE FROM THE EARTH IN WEST FAIRMOUNT PARK, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
MAYAPPLES EMERGE FROM THE EARTH IN WEST FAIRMOUNT PARK, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

Podophyllum peltatum

This colony of Mayapples will go dormant before other later emerging colonies will. Like many plant colonies, this one has a distinct habit of being, different from other Mayapple colonies found in other parts of the park.  They are in a protected ravine, close to Skunk Cabbage, and a small brook. Much lower in elevation than in Morris Park. Beech and Red Maple above.

MAYAPPLES EMERGE FROM THE EARTH IN WEST FAIRMOUNT PARK, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
MAYAPPLES EMERGE FROM THE EARTH IN WEST FAIRMOUNT PARK, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

When Mayapples first come up they are shiny and perfect. When they do emerge, they grow very quickly. They open up just like an umbrella! Let us know if you find them in your woodland.

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DOWN BY THE RIVER

Isabelle enjoys Darby Creek, John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge
Isabelle enjoys Darby Creek, John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge

What a better way to spend the July 4th weekend than down by the water.  The old canoe in the basement was dragged out and strapped onto the Subaru station wagon and brought down to the only freshwater tidal marsh in Pennsylvania. This is what Indian creek, our Morris park creek drains into.  Here is Isabelle canoeing on Darby Creek.

 

Staghorn Sumac, West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia Pennsylvania
Staghorn Sumac, West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia PennsylvaniaÂ

We also dusted off the 1959 Chevrolet Impala sitting in the driveway and headed for the Schuylkill River in West Fairmount Park.

Isabelle buffs up our 1959 Chevrolet Impala in West Fairmount Park
Isabelle buffs up our 1959 Chevrolet Impala in West Fairmount Park

Before cruising the Belmont Plateau we settled in for a leisurely park and walked along the river.  Here we discovered a nice patch of Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) just below the Strawberry Mansion Bridge.

Staghorn Sumac and the Tree of heaven, West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Staghorn Sumac and the Tree of heaven, West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia Pennsylvania

The picture above may seem pretty straightforward but is actually an astonishing representation of two different species altogether.  To the upper right is the native Staghorn Sumac.  The lower left is the non-native invasive  Tree-of -Heaven (Ailanthus altissima).  They both look so similar at first glance and are growing right next to each other, with pinnately compound leaves about the same size with reddish leaf stems. To the untrained eye these two trees look almost identical.  We bring this up because there are just a few Staghorn sumac specimens growing in our area of scope in Morris Park, and they are surrounded by Ailanthus. Knowing the differences is helpful when we undertake our yearly maintenance effort at pulling the hundreds of Ailanthus seedlings up.

Staghorn Sumac, West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia Pennsylvania
Staghorn Sumac, West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia Pennsylvania

The leaflets of the  Staghorn sumac are dentate, with toothlike edges, while the Ailanthus  leaflets are smooth. The young twigs of the Staghorn sumac are densely hairy, a give-away characteristic of this large shrub or small tree, as well as the origin of its common name.  The dense hairs along the new growth resembles that of the antlers of a young male deer. The Staghorn sumac has incredible ornamental value.  Its reddish-brown seedpods and lush pinnately compound leaves and shrub status make it a great back-round plant.  Isabelle’s brother has one in his back yard in the suburbs of Paris, France.  Every year he prunes it so it has a nice shape.

Jewelweed in the Wissahickon, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jewelweed in the Wissahickon, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

On July 4th itself we chose the Wissahickon to spend the afternoon walking Keeba, only 15 minutes drive from Morris Park.  Here we explore a magnificent patch of the native wildflower Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis).  This one tops the list of our favorite flowers. We look forward to seeing them flower every summer.  We were careful to make sure Keeba did not prance about in this patch of very delicate plants.  The blue-green stems are very fragile.

Tulip Poplars in the Wissahickon, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tulip Poplars in the Wissahickon, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Tulip poplars in The Wissahickon are memorable.