Hitchiti Experimental Forest Lab

River along Hitchiti Forest

For this lab we went to the Hitchiti Experimental Forest. It is called an experimental forest because scientist will set parts of the forest on fire to learn and understand how forests recover from fires and what sorts of plants and animals live in such areas. We went on a nice long hike and say some beautiful aspects of nature. We also learned a lot about different types of plants. 

experimental forest fire

Wild Ginger

One plant we learned about was Wild Ginger aka Asarum. Wild Ginger is a low growing herb that the natives of this area would eat. It is called wild ginger because its tatste is very similiar to the taste of ginger root. Wild ginger favors moist, shaded sites with humus-rich soil.

Me hugging a tree

Another plant we learned about Sassafras, which is a tree. Sassafras is really interesting because it actually has 3 differernt leaf types. It has a leaf shaped like a glove, a mitten and a typical leaf shape. assafras leaves and twigs are consumed by white-tailed deer in both summer and winter. 

The different leaves of a sassafras tree!

Dr. Rood sticking his hand in a random hole, hes crazy!