If you start reading about plants you’ll find yourself learning many new vocabulary words. Botanists have so many terms to describe different parts of plants and the environments they grow in.
I came across a new word this week that really struck my attention. It perfectly describes most of my experience so far: ruderal. A ruderal species is a species that is first to grow on disturbed lands. They thrive in poor soil and are often considered weedy.
That type of land certainly describes a large portion of the land in Morrisville, NC with the tremendous amount of construction here in the last 25 years. The land is cleared for new housing developments and roads, paving the way for the ruderal species to grow.
I can’t list all of the species considered ruderal here. Things like tall goldenrod, frost asters, field pansies, small’s ragwort, ragweed, running five-fingers, black-eyed susans, bulbous buttercup, winged sumac, sweetgum and loblolly pine trees are all considered ruderal.