Wild for flowers

Plant lover reveals secrets, lore of Poland Municipal Forest.

By ALISON KEMP

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

The lack of sunshine in the Poland Municipal Forest does not stop the wildflowers — it just limits the varieties that bloom.

The types that thrive are ephemerals, plants that live only a short time. They grow stems, leaves and flowers, bloom and seed before the woody plants bloom and prevent sunlight from reaching the forest floor.

Marilyn Evans Kobulnicky gave a tour of the forest recently, identifying many wildflowers because she knows a good majority of the plants in the forest.

Kobulnicky, a Poland Municipal Forest board member and creator of a wildflower spotter list for the forest, is not a biology major and has no formal training in plants.

What she has, instead, is a love for plants and a desire to know their names.

She said she has a “terrific memory and a terrible psychological need to categorize things,” which is why she knows the plants. When she finds something she is not familiar with, she gets out her Peterson guide to wildflowers and looks it up.

Kobulnicky still finds plants that she does not know, which she says is the best part of her walks through the forest.

Flowers to look for

Skunk cabbage, one of the wildflowers in the forest, is the first to grow in the spring, Kobulnicky said. It creates a pocket of heat to warm the ground around it, allowing it to grow. If a person were desperate, the plant could be eaten, she said.

Daisy fleabane is another flower that can be seen in the forest. “Bane” means death or poison, so this plant would have been used to ward off fleas, Kobulnicky said. Dogbane was also blooming. Whether or not either of the banes wards off what their name suggests, she does not know.

Another flower with a story is the ramp or wild leek. The ramp is from the onion family, and when eaten, a strong odor will emanate from the eater. She said she has heard of festivals in West Virginia where ramps are celebrated.

Folklore also tells the story of the knotweed. This wildflower has a dark mark on its leaves, which was thought to be the mark of the Virgin Mary.

Nettles are abundant in the forest, Kobulnicky said. Nettles sting like a wasp when their fiberglass-like hairs are touched.

Enchanter’s nightshade can also be found, and Kobulnicky is confused by its name.

“Why name such an insignificant plant with such an elegant name?” she asked.

Lousewort is aptly named. “Louse” means lice and “wort” means plant, and this flower was used for killing lice.

Additionally, she pointed out dog rose, buttercups, sweet rocket, wild morning glory, cowslips, marsh marigolds, forget-me-not, May apples, false Solomon’s seal, skunk cabbage, quaker-ladies or bluets, dame’s rocket, Virginia creeper, snake root and touch-me-not.

The lady behind the list

She made the list last year, which is available at Village Hall, and is improving it this year by looking for particular plants that she thinks should be in the forest and has not seen yet. One of those flowers is ginseng. The list contains wildflowers that grow from April to September.

She walks through the forest daily, winter and summer, rain and shine, and said the park is different every day.

She jokingly said she offers a service to everyone who visits the forests by walking the paths early in the morning, catching the cobwebs that formed over night.

Kobulnicky has lived in Poland for only a few years, moving here from Connecticut. She said people around town know her for her flower garden, and when there was an opening on the forest board, she was nominated for the position.

“I think I just signed on to tell the names of the plants,” she said.