
{"id":22204,"date":"2011-12-01T12:54:30","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T17:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=22204"},"modified":"2011-12-01T12:54:30","modified_gmt":"2011-12-01T17:54:30","slug":"flora-occoneechee-our-biggest-little-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/12\/01\/flora-occoneechee-our-biggest-little-mountain\/","title":{"rendered":"FLORA: Occoneechee, our biggest little mountain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure id=\"attachment_22205\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22205\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/chestnut-oak-acorns.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"467\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22205\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/chestnut-oak-acorns.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/chestnut-oak-acorns-113x150.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/chestnut-oak-acorns-84x113.jpg 84w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/chestnut-oak-acorns-74x100.jpg 74w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22205\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Large chestnut oak acorns are essential for wildlife and a nice snack for some humans. Photo by Ken Moore<\/figcaption><\/figure><strong>By Ken Moore<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Flora Columnist<\/em><br \/>\nAmong several little mountains scattered about the county, the tallest, at 867 feet, occupies Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area near Hillsborough.<\/p>\n<p>For folks out for a vigorous walk, there are several miles of up-and-down terrain to satisfy the most active. For those who enjoy poking along to see what one can see, several hours can pass by quickly. <\/p>\n<p>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the most biologically diverse natural area in our region with several rare plant and animal species identified by the N.C. Natural Heritage Program.<\/p>\n<p>From the high dry (xeric) Chestnut Oak Forest to the Piedmont Bottomland Forest, there are at least seven distinct plant communities, including extensive mountain laurel thickets so evident in the winter, and a lush fern glade evident spring through fall.<\/p>\n<p>Whenever one explores the mountain, there are multiple discoveries to be made along the way. During the warm months, butterfly enthusiasts will be eager to spot brown elfin butterflies that feed on huckleberries and lowbush blueberries, as well as the sleepy duskywings that feed on leaves of the chestnut oak. Both of these little brown butterfly species are unusual for this area.<\/p>\n<p>You can count on the mountain laurel being in flower every Mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Day weekend.<\/p>\n<p>My favorite time of year on the mountain is winter because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fully visible. Rock boulders scattered atop the summit and ridges invite exploration. Resting on any of those boulders, one will likely marvel at the massive rock chestnut oaks,<em> Quercus prinus<\/em>, that dominate the forest.<\/p>\n<p>Some of those trees must be up to 200 years old. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll likely be curious about the contorted appearance of some that have three, four and even five massive trunks radiating from the base. This oak is noted for sprouting vigorously from the ground if injured by fire or harvested for its timber. <figure id=\"attachment_22206\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22206\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Chestnut-oak.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"467\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22206\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Chestnut-oak.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Chestnut-oak-113x150.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Chestnut-oak-84x113.jpg 84w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Chestnut-oak-74x100.jpg 74w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22206\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An impressive multi-trunk chestnut oak \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sprout\u00e2\u20ac\u009d resulting from a fire long ago  Photo by Ken Moore <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n<p>The forest floor this time of year is a lovely thick carpet of mostly chestnut oak leaves. Beneath the leaves in some spots you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll find large, 1-to-2-inch-long acorns beginning to sprout a little tap root. Like the white oaks, these acorns are edible and worth the effort to roast a few for winter snacks.<\/p>\n<p>Occoneechee is steeped in history, beginning with the Native Americans who named it. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an abandoned quarry dating back to the 1880s on one side of the mountain and a present-day active pyrophyllite mine on another side. Curiously associated with the mountain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s erosion-resistant quartz rock is the soft phyrophyllite being quarried for the manufacturing of products ranging from soft, fine talcum powder to heat-resistant electrical insulators.<\/p>\n<p>The more than 630-million-year-old geological story of the Occoneechee area is beautifully described and illustrated in the N.C. Geological Survey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Information Circular 35, <em>A Geologic Adventure Along the Eno River<\/em>, by geologist Philip J. Bradley. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very readable resource. (geology.enr.state.nc.us). In addition to descriptions of rock types and geologic history, the publication contains guides to the geology of four popular trails along the Eno River.<\/p>\n<p>I recommend at least monthly explorations of Occoneechee, our highest little mountain.<\/p>\n<p><em>Please note: Guided walks scheduled this month include a geology hike on Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. and a Christmas sunset hike on Dec. 22 at 5 p.m. Call 383-1686 to register.<br \/>\n<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Email Ken Moore at flora@carrborocitizen.com. Find previous Ken Moore Citizen columns at The Annotated Flora (carrborocitizen.com\/flora).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Among several little mountains scattered about the county, the tallest, at 867 feet, occupies Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area near Hillsborough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":22205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-flora"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22204"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22207,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22204\/revisions\/22207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}