Mountain lover growing in the snow and shade. Photo by Robert Dryja
By ROBERT DRYJALos Alamos
Conifers stand out in the winter because they remain green. Deciduous trees such as gambol oak shed their leaves. However some of the plants underfoot along the Ranch School trail remain green all winter. Others will remain green well into the start of winter.
Mountain lover is a plant that remains green all winter. The name reflects its preferred habitat in the mountains. It can be seen toward the bottom of the Ranch School trail, deep in the shade of the spruce and fir trees. Mountain lover plants grow only about six inches high and in clusters.
The clusters may be spread over an area four to six feet long. Their green leaves stand out from the snow surrounding them. Kinnikinnick looks similar to mountain lover. It also is an evergreen understory shrub that grows in stands about six inches high. However it grows where there is some exposure to sunlight.
Both Mountain lover and Kinnikinnick appear to be minor low lying shrubs with nothing interesting about them except being green in the winter. But there may be more. Box huckleberry looks similar to Mountain lover. It grows about six inches high and similarly lives in the shade of trees. Box huckleberry grows by cloning. New stems are sent upward from its rhizome roots. The result can be a grove spreading over a great distance as a result of the roots growing outward. One grove in Pennsylvania has been measured to be 6,500 feet long.
Measurements show that the roots grow an average of six inches a year. This indicates the huckleberry plant is about 13,000 years old. Other estimates take historic climate conditions (the ice age) into consideration and result in an estimate of 8,000 years old.
Now, what if something similar is occurring with Mountain lover? Mountain Lover has rhizomes. Mountain Lover also can develop roots where its low lying branches touch the ground. Rather than a rhizome sending a new stem upwards, a stem may be sending a new root downwards.
One Mountain lover plant is reported to be forty years old and is six inches wide. There is a patch of Mountain Lover in Acid canyon that appears to be composed of several separate plants, but is this correct? These are growing close to one another in a patch that is about four feet across. Could this patch be 320 years old, based on branches spreading out six inches every forty years? Kinnikinnick is reported as being “long lived”. There is a mat of Kinnikinnick that is about twelve feet across that is growing along the Ranch School trail. How old might it be since it also has rhizomes?
Bunches of grass grow episodically along the trail. They typically grow where the trees are not shading the ground very much. Grasses decline into winter dormancy over several weeks rather than stopping all at once. Although much of the grass is brown and dormant with the arrival of winter, some bunches still have green blades. These bunches usually are growing where some moisture trickles from melting snow or rivulets. The soil is above freezing if it can absorb liquid water. Roots can continue to be biologically active and provide soil nutrients to the grass blades above. Temperatures still go above freezing for part of the day in early winter. The grass blades in turn can provide some nourishment from photosynthesis to its roots below during these warmer periods. Grasses growing where the soil is completely dry receive no nutrients from the roots below. Cold temperatures eventually penetrate down into the soil, freezing any liquid water. A bunch of grass now becomes completely dormant.
Exploring down the Rabbit Hole —Learning more like Alice
Learn about Box Huckleberry at: https:////pabook2.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/Huckleberry.html
Learn about Kinnickinnick at: https://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_aruv.pdf
Learn about Mountain Lover at: https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of- the-week/paxistima_myrsinites.shtml
Kinnikinnick growing in the snow but where sunlight is available. Photo by Robert Dryja
Grasses may keep growing in snow if their roots are receiving liquid water. The soil below is not yet frozen even when snow is lying on the surface above. Photo by Robert Dryja
Grasses become completely dormant if their roots are not receiving moisture to support some growth in early winter. Photo by Robert Dryja
