This hike has been on my “to do” list since The Arc of Appalachia Preserve System announced that the Kamama Prairie was open to the public. Uncharacteristically for myself, I patiently waited until we were entering peak prairie season in the Ohio River Valley, but I also wanted to visit it before our educator daughter, who would accompany us on this hike, started a new school year in mid-August.

The preserve features a short-grass alkaline prairie, which are extremely rare. This ecosystem, which is frequently referred to as cedar glades or cedar barrens, is characterized by thin, nutrient poor soil that overlies dolomite limestone bedrock. These qualities lead to an unusual and rare plant and animal community.

The name Kamama reflects the diversity of the preserve. It is the Eastern Cherokee word for butterfly, which is very appropriate as the 192 acre preserve shelters 75 of the 135 species of butterflies that are found in Ohio.

From the parking area we headed off on the Kamama Trail as it would give us the most time in the prairie on our time constrained day. The trail glided down a mild grade, running parallel to a lightly used county road, through a progression wood.

I’ve mentioned before that I frequently sense the theme of our hiking essays while on the trail. That was certainly the case with this hike. Shortly after starting the path the three of us had shared one word – variety. The diversity of the plant population struck us. Within 70 yards we had noted multiple species of yellow flowers from the Aster family.

Blackeyed Susan and Cup Plant

Tall Tickseed and Rosinweed

Also along this stretch of trail we saw the somewhat rare Pale Lobelia. Nearby we found Pale Indian Plantain, which was a new flower for us.

Eventually the trail drops into a creekside wood that had dappled sunlight passing through the tree canopy. As we traveled through the wood we continued seeing interesting plant specimens.

Wild Senna and Downy Skullcap

Soon we have an unimproved creek crossing to traverse – made more challenging by the slippery algae on the exposed bedrock.

Despite the woodland settings we are finding isolated flower specimens in the islands of sunlight on the forest floor. Based on the shape of this flower this is a Larkspur, perhaps Wild Larkspur, but it is a little late in the summer for it to be flowering. Did being in a shaded wood delay its maturation?

This Showy Tick-trefoil was noted along the wooded trail as well. It is both a nectar and larval plant for many species of butterflies.

As the trail canters back to the north, climbing a small grade, we find ourselves at the base of some large dolomite stones.

This is one of our favorite settings as they host unique plant communities. One small stone was covered with Columbine, a favorite woodland flower that blooms reddish-orange in early summer.

These Northern Beech Ferns had found a home in a crevice of the Dolomite stone.

As we neared the prairie the lightly shaded wood continued to offer up some nice wildflowers. This Woodland Lettuce had a single beautiful flower in bloom, with many others set to open. As the name implies the leaves of this plant are an edible green.

All in all the hike was already quite a success with several flower species that were new to us and we had not yet entered the prairie.

Upon leaving the wood we encountered a classic cedar barren – short grasses and forbs with isolated Redcedar trees as noted in the title photo and below.

I’ve read that grasses make up 80 percent of the non-woody plants of a prairie. Here we were primarily seeing Little Bluestem, but I’m sure other grasses were in the mix.

The Bluestem was just starting to flower itself.

Interspersed amongst the grasses were flowering forbs (non-grass flowering herbaceous plants), the part of the show that draws us to the prairies. The display at Kamama was outstanding and largely just getting started.

There were the usual meadow plants that we have featured in previous articles, and in the interest of time and space we will just mention those:

Queen Anne Lace, Slender Mountain Mint, Purple Coneflower, Grey-headed Coneflower, Trumpet Vine. and Carolina Petunia.

Other flowers would still be considered common but we felt that their appearance here was just outstanding, such as the Goldenrods. They are fascinating when studied up close, with their innumerable small flowers clustered together.

Ironweed is another plant that is common, whose vibrant color warrants its mention. It has appeal whether seen across a vista or up close. It looks great paired with Goldenrod which flowers at the same time. It will be blooming until the first heavy frost.

We have presented Meadow Pink before but its simple beauty is unrivaled.

One of the classic plants of cedar barrens is Flowering Spurge. It seems to thrive on poor soil and its airiness reminds me of Baby’s Breath seen in flower arrangements.

A unique prairie plant is Prairie Dock and it is just coming into its season. It is by far the largest leafed plant of the prairie. Its panicles of 2 inch blooms should be on display for the next 4 weeks. “Dock” is a botany term that references a large leafed plant that arises from a tap root. The large tap roots make them very drought tolerant, a necessity in prairie habitats.

A surprise on this hike was when we encountered a healthy farm pond.

Its presence allowed for the sighting of Mallow, our native hibiscus, which thrives in wetlands.

These flowers are about the size of luncheon plates and have a tropical feel.

Also on the shore of the pond was Swamp Milkweed. Its flowers have the classic milkweed shape but the leaves are more narrow and thinner than Common Milkweed.

As we wove our way around the preserve one developing flower spike intrigued us. While it was not mature I was struggling to identify it, and in fact had made that my homework assignment. We thought that we might come back in a couple weeks to see what it looked like. The white edges on the bud intrigued us. I have since learned that the green scales that surround the developing flower bud are actually modified leaves.

Then we noted specimens that were transitioning to red on the bud scales.

But when we got home and reviewed our photos we had the answer. I think that in the field we were so taken aback by the beauty of Rough Blazing Star, as seen in the photo below, which were frequently being visited by butterflies, that we failed to note the similarity of the immature buds lower down on the stalk. So the photos above are immature Rough Blazing Star before it demonstrates its flower. Rough Blazing Star blooms later in the summer than its cousins Dense and Scaly Blazing Star, which start flowering in June. In the gardening world Blazing Star species are called Liatris.

Blue is a somewhat rare flower color in summer but we found it with Helmet Skullcap in the prairie. It is in the same family as the Downy Skullcap that we had seen earlier in the woodland.

Sessile-leaved Tick-trefoil was seen scattered throughout the prairie. It is a larger cousin to the Showy Tick-trefoil seen in the woodlands earlier in the hike. If you look closely you will see a cartoonish face image in the flower.

Finally, we will cover the flowers that are extremely rare or entirely new to us. The first was Indian Paintbrush. Its presence was reported on the Kamama website but in fact we only saw one specimen on the sections of trails that we hiked. Its petals looked to have been dipped in scarlet paint. What is the ecological and evolutionary benefit of such unique pigmentation?

Biennial Beeblossom is a tall plant that holds its flowers up to 6 feet off the ground. As its name suggests, it takes two season to complete its reproductive life cycle. It is an important pollinator nectar plant.

Canada Wild Lettuce was interesting as its pastel yellow flower petals were almost transparent. The leaves of young plants are edible as a tasty green, and older specimens were used in many ways for folk medicine.

And lastly, Slender Ladies’ Tresses, from my point of view, the Plant of the Day. It is one of the orchids native to our temperate zone and this was the first time that we have seen them. The one-third inch flowers arise in a spiral along the stalk. I suspect the term Ladies’ Tresses comes from the appearance of the stalk to braided hair. You can appreciate the orchid nature of the individual flower in the close up photo.

In summary, our visit to Kamama Prairie was everything that we had hoped for. We caught the prairie just starting to fill with color and were excited and challenged to see so many flowers that were new to us. There was so much diversity amongst the plants and insects that we have decided to concentrate this post on the flowers and to do another essay about the great variety of insects that we saw along the trail. As we have said before, to get the most out of a prairie hike make sure that you slow down – a prairie hike is not a sprint, but rather a slow dance – perhaps a waltz – to the sounds of nature.

Footpaths would like to give a shout out to the Arc of Appalachia for opening this outstanding preserve to the public – a job well done.

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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns and Caroline Burns Grizzle.

Overview:

Location – 778 Steam Furnace Road, Peebles, Ohio, 73 miles from downtown Cincinnati.

Parking – gravel lot for 15-20 cars.

Trail Conditions – mowed grassed path through the prairies and bare dirt through the woodland. I would recommend long pants. There is a lot of sun exposure so pack water. On this hike, due to time constraints, we did a portion of the Kamama Prairie Trail and all of the Prairie Fire Trail, and I believe that we will return in the near future to complete the remainder of the Kamama Trail.

Print Map Link – https://static1.squarespace.com/static/640b875d14fa1852d6031793/t/65590599254b3365e1064364/1700332953579/Kamama+Prairie+Hiking+Guide.pdf

Facilities – none.

Benches – none noted.

Picnic Tables – none.

Kids – I would suggest 6 and over.

Dogs – prohibited.

Suggested Paired Hikes – There are three trails here. The Kamama Trail is the primary and longest trail, and the Prairie Fire Trail is a loop that arises off of it about midway along its route. A separate trail is the Blazing Star Trail, that also appears to be called Andy’s Trail which has “prairie influenced woodlands” and is reported to be a nice venue for spring ephemeral wildflowers.

Links:

https://www.arcofappalachia.org/kamama-prairie