Following Nature in South Carolina

Evergreen Most Unlikely The Southern Magnolia is one of the most iconic trees of the American South.        Glen Campbell's 1977 song Southern Nights is a love letter to the American South, describing the beauty of its nature in the evening. If you haven't heard it before, you should give it a listen! The album cover centrally features a framed Magnolia flower, with wide white petals and glossy, vibrant, green leaves. These trees and flowers are absolutely baked into the Southern landscape, and that includes South Carolina!        The Southern Magnolia, or Magnolia grandiflora ,  is native to the Southeast region of the U.S., but has cousins all across the world. It reaches between 60-80 feet tall, on average, and spreads about half as wide as it grows. As the title suggests, the Magnolia is an evergreen. As someone who has spent most of their life in the upstate of South Carolina, near the bottom of the Blue Ridge, I can say it was always od...

 The Lettered Olive It's hard to see, but it's there.        The Lettered Olive, or Oliva sayana ,  is a predatory snail (the picture you see on the left is its shell, the picture you see on the right is the mollusk component with  the shell), and South Carolina's state shell! The Lettered Olive looks like an ancient creature, especially considering that it gets its name from markings that bear similarities to Egyptian hieroglyphics — but it wasn't discovered until 1834 by Dr. Edmund Ravenel, a native Charlestonian. While they are common in SC, they are not just found along one state's coast. Rather, they are native to the entire West Atlantic coast.        The Lettered Olive shell is special to many collectors because of its high luster (which comes from the snail's shell-building tissue), and is a fun find or those who engage in shelling! I grew up with shell display cases around the house (see picture below), because my mother w...

 A Pretty Scary-Looking Spider Not a fan, personally.        All things considered, the Carolina Wolf Spider is more bark than bite. That doesn't mean that I like them. They grow up to 3-4 inches, after all. As the SC State Park Service points out, "ALL spiders carry some venom". Sure, it doesn't promise the painful bite of, say, a Black Widow, but it can still be harmful, and even cause dangerous allergic reactions in some folks.        The Carolina Wolf Spider gets its name from the fact that, instead of trapping its prey in webs, it hunts it down. When the females are pregnant, they must raise their abdomen to protect their silken egg sacks from dragging on the ground, but they still hunt effectively ( SC State Park Service ).        Generally speaking, the rule is to not disturb the spider: Unless you seek it out in the middle of the woods and handle it, it's not going to seek you out in the middle of the woods and bi...

 The Green Anole Let's face it: He's everywhere.        According to the USNPS Species Profile , Green Anoles are the only kind of anole native to the U.S. We spend a lot of time discussing non-native species in South Carolina, so the Green Anole is a little bit of a change. The Green Anole can grow up to eight inches long and even change color between shades of green and brown! Males possess a red throat pouch called a dulap that is used to attract females (more on that in the video below), but both males and females possess "oversized toes for better traction" ( USNPS Species Profile ), as the Green Anole spends lots and lots of time climbing trees, fences, and porch railings. SCETV What's Wild: Green Anole Feature

The Great Grape-Colored Vine You know it's Spring in SC when you see Wisteria in bloom! Chinese and Japanese Wisteria Distribution Map    State of Indiana Cooperative Invasives Management        While SC does see both American and Kentucky Wisteria bloom, most of the visible Wisteria is of the Chinese or Japanese variety. Like the previously discussed invasive vine, Kudzu, the Wisteria vine came from Asia in the early 1800s, touted for its ornamental purposes. Notice how both Kudzu and Wisteria have spread into many of the same areas in the United States, as shown on the map. And much like Kudzu, its rapid growth was unpredicted and therefore unmanaged. The result? Wisteria vines have been known to create canopies over forests (shading plants meant to grow in the sun), choke and break tree limbs, and even completely overtake smaller trees . Native vs. Non-Native Aren't they all just purple flowers?        American Wisteria (pictured lef...

 A Rare Sight "That's the biggest bird I've ever seen."        If you grew up in the Outer-Coastal Region of South Carolina, or at its Western border along the Savannah River, occasionally, you would spot this mighty bird and get pretty excited — at least, I did. The Sandhill Crane seemed pretty cool as a kid, averaging around 47.2 inches with a wingspan nearly twice that, and a great streak of red above its beak ( Cornell Lab Sandhill Crane Identification Page ). It always moved slowly through marshy areas along the previously mentioned South Carolina waterways, carefully stalking small amphibians and insects or feeding on plants that grow above the waterline.         While the Sandhill Cranes along the Western border are typically there as a result of their migratory pattern (Cornell Lab map shown below), Sandhill Cranes in the Lowcountry are non-migratory, but not a particularly common species to come across. Famous South Caroli...

It's the Palmetto State, After All! South Carolina's state tree: The Cabbage Palm.        Unlike the Crape Myrtle, the Cabbage, Sabal, or South Carolina Palm is native to South Carolina. A branchless evergreen tree, the Cabbage Palm can grow up to thirty-three feet tall, and produces yellow, brush-like flowers, typically below its wide and divided leaves. While naturally occurring along the coastal plain of South Carolina, it is not uncommon to see Cabbage Palms planted throughout the state in both suburban and urban areas. They are a typical sight around state government buildings (especially in the state capital of Columbia), neighborhood entrances, and schools ( SCDNR ACE Characterization Study Species Gallery ). South Carolina's subtropic climate makes it easy for these palms to thrive even away from the humidity of the coast that they are used to. A Deeper Meaning But wait, why is it the Palmetto State, again?             On Ju...

What's the Buzz? Take a listen to the sound of cicadas, or Magicicada, below.         The average southern night is filled with the unrelenting song of male cicadas, trying to attract a mate. Annual and Periodical Not just one wave, but two.        The Magicicada , or North American cicada, is native to eastern North America, to include SC. Its population consists of twelve seventeen-year broods and three thirteen-year broods. While the term "brood" may sound like an alternative for "species", it is intended to describe a group of cicadas that emerges on the same schedule rather than shares the same attributes. In fact, a brood can contain multiple species of cicadas (UCONN Biodiversity Research Collections: Periodical Cicadas) .        Periodical cicadas will emerge from the ground in these broods every thirteen to seventeen summers after living underground, tunneling, and feeding on roots. At this stage, they are called nymp...

The Crepe Myrtle What? But it's not even native to Myrtle Beach, SC!        Native to eastern Asia, the Lagerstroemia, or Crepe Myrtle, came into the United States through Charleston, SC , in the late 1780s through the early to late 1790s, according to John Barrat of the Smithsonian . They did well in the warm, humid climate (similar to that of their native area), and as a result, spread all over the Southeast. That being said, they are an absolute staple of the South Carolina landscape with their many shapes and sizes, whether just a shrub or a full-blown tree, and their pink, purple, red, or white conical blooms. Pros and Cons of the Crepe Myrtle Ugh, is this another kudzu situation?        According to  John Barrat of the Smithsonian , with these trees individually producing a few pounds of seed each year, native birds have quickly added it to their diet, and in this way, it has had a positive impact on the ecosystem. Crepe Myrtles ar...

 The Classic Warning "You watch out for ticks and copperheads, now!"        If you grew up in South Carolina, your parents probably issued this exact string of words before you went outside to play. At that age, nothing seemed more terrifying than the prospect of stumbling across that venomous, wriggling entity, covered in tan hourglasses from head to tail. If and when that day finally came, you were frozen in fear, likely stuck in an awkward spot between a bit of brush and that football that you would no longer be retrieving! All About the Copperhead What sets the snake apart?        According to Clemson Cooperative Extension's Home & Garden Information Center , the copperhead is one of six venomous snakes found in SC. Arguably the most notorious in the state next to the Cottonmouth or "Water Moccasin" , the Copperhead is a pit viper, meaning that it utilizes heat-seeking pits on both sides of its triangular head to find prey. Its colori...

A Common Sight What's all that green stuff over there?        It sprawls alongside highways. It carpets entire swaths of forestry. It's everywhere, and it's important enough that in my third-grade South Carolina musical, we sang an entire song about it. It's Kudzu.       What began as a decorative plant native to Asia has ended in the harmful consumption of much of the American Southeast's natural environment: Kudzu is a vine that, "[o] nce established, [...] grows at a rate of one foot per day..." according to The Nature Conservancy . This quality has naturally lent itself to a fast and far spread, depicted in the graphic below, but it begs the question: How exactly did kudzu go from being an exotic porch plant to an invasive species?  https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/forestry-wildlife/the-history-and-use-of-kudzu-in-the-southeastern-united-states/ Kudzu in America How did it get here?        The Forestry and Wildlife section...

Background Common throughout the southeast, but special to one state.        If you grew up in South Carolina, there's one thing you never failed to hear in the mornings. Perhaps it drove you crazy, or was a comforting component of your childhood soundscape. Regardless of your personal feelings towards the fairly incessant call of the state's official bird, it is undoubtedly an ever-present part of South Carolina's environment.         If you are unfamiliar with the Carolina Wren song, think you might know it but are not quite sure, or want to be reminded, you can find examples at Cornell Lab's All About Birds  Carolina Wren Sounds . What is the Carolina Wren up to? Where does the Carolina Wren go? What are its habits?  Carolina Wrens are non-migratory birds, and they mate for life, so they are fairly stationary. Their habitat encompasses the entirety of the American southeast and even stretches into South America.   ...