Natural Beauty in Kentucky

Ground Cedar - Jenny Wiley State Park, Kentucky

Here is another reason to go to Jenny Wiley State Park in Appalachia.  There are things that you don't see in other regions.  Take this ground cedar (Lycopodium digitatum) for example.  It is found in the eastern mountains.   Ground Cedar is very attractive and it grows in large patches of the forest floor.  It needs an acidic soil.  It is a club moss and it commonly grows to one to two and one half inches tall.  Deforestation has reduced its presence to limited areas of the east.  This plant is also known by names like “Wandering Cedar” and Crowsfoot.”  This plant also belies the talk that one hears about the end of color once the trees lose their leaves.  The end of fall does not bring the end of color.  This plant could not be any deeper in its own shade of forest green.