Today was our first attempt as a group to investigate natural populations of the C. americana (Bellflower) our plant of study. The American Bellflower is native to the forests and prairies of the middle region of the United States, meaning that natural populations can be found as far south as Florida as well as across the Midwest. Our scouting trip today took us just outside Wayne county to The Wilderness Center (https://www.wildernesscenter.org), a private nature conservancy that is dedicated to educating and entertaining the local populace with information about the wilderness by which they are surrounded. After a bit of a hike and a brief encounter with some stinging nettles, we located multiple spots where we believe the Bellflower to be residing. Yet because the typical flowering of these plants happens in July we could only identify the plants by there stalk and leaf structures, which is not particularly an easy task.

We left The Wilderness Center with a better sense of what the plants look like and a better knowledge of how to find them. As soon as the plants are flowering this process will be a piece of cake., but until then we will continue to better our skills as plant identification detectives.

Back at the green house our plants are happy and shooting up, our first buds have emerged and we are looking forward to more!