By Steve Roark
Volunteer Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

If you've ever picked up an old board or a rock that's been lying on the ground a while, you've no doubt found pillbugs, which live in moist, dark places. They are also known as sowbugs or rollie poley bugs but are called Isopods by the science guys.

When it comes to trees, we live in a blessed place, with more varieties of trees, shrubs, and vines than anywhere in the world except maybe the tropics. Each tree and shrub has its own unique leaf that, with a little practice, will allow you to identify it.

With summer upon us we will instinctively seek shade to get out of the hot sun, which can be readily provided by trees. No one will argue that trees add value to a home, but a well-placed shade tree can save on energy costs as well.

Hickory trees are so common in our area that most of our woodlands are classified as the "Oak-Hickory" forest type. They provide humans and wildlife with important food and fiber.

There are several hickory species growing in our area, the three most common ones being Shagbark, Mockernut, and Pignut. All have compound leaves that have 5 to 9 “leaflets”. The leaves and nut husks have a strong spicy odor. The bark can be identified by its diamond shape pattern and hardness. The easiest hickory to identify in the woods is Shagbark, which has bark that hangs down in long shaggy plates that bend away from the trunk. In earlier times the non-shaggy species were called “tight bark” hickories. They will grow almost anywhere but are more often found on dry slopes and ridges.

As an amateur naturalist I have a curiosity to know how things work. In college I once saw the chemical reactions involved in photosynthesis laid out on a large poster. This all-important method plants use to make food for themselves (and ultimately us) was incredibly complex and took up half the wall. It is so complex that it’s tempting to simply say that plans bring in carbon dioxide and water, add sun energy, then a miracle happens and out comes oxygen and food. This is true but let me attempt to elaborate on the miracle part.

Many sayings or colloquialisms are centuries old but still in common use today. Most of them originated in Europe and have surprising beginnings.

Armed to the teeth: In Scotland the ruler “Bonnie Prince Charlie” was preparing for war and sent out word to his captains to gear up for battle, and rendezvous at a place near the Teeth River. His message was “Come armed to the Teeth”. Another theory is that pirates of Jamaica in the 1600s wanted to maximize their weaponry and would carry a flintlock in each hand and a knife in their teeth, hence the phrase.

Violets are very abundant this time of year and are probably the most common and the easiest to identify family of spring wildflowers in our area. You can find them about anywhere, even in your yard unless you’re a grass purist that uses herbicides.

Wild violets typically have heart shaped leaves that are blunt toothed along the edge. The flowers have five petals arranged so that two point upward and three down, with the lower middle petal sticking out a little longer than the others to provide a landing zone for pollinating insects.

Every season a pair of bluebirds nest under the eve of my house, which I allow because I enjoy having them around. They are pretty things with an appetite for insect pests. Also their song sounds like they are quietly cooing at their young and is very relaxing to hear. The first sighting of bluebirds is considered by many to be a sign of Spring.

The recent Artemus flight put the spotlight on the Moon, which for centuries has fascinated us humans with speculations about conditions there, such as: that it’s a very dry world; that it has Earth-like mineral soil; that weathering doesn’t occur because the lunar surface is in a vacuum, and the like. Information retrieved from the Lunar Prospector probe launched to the Moon several years ago, along with long term study of lunar rocks retrieved from the Apollo missions, has turned up some interesting facts.

By Steve Roark
Volunteer Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

With spring comes the urge to work in the yard and plant things. This often involves going to a garden center and buying plants alien to our area. Some of them can escape your yard through seed dispersal and grow where they are not wanted, negatively impacting local forest ecosystems. So if you get the itch to plant a tree, consider seeking out native plants to use in landscapes.