During the next century the land recovered nicely with the help of Louisiana’s ideal “hothouse” climate. The ancient Longleaf Pine forest that once stood on this land and the clays underneath were extracted at the turn of the last century by Fritz Salmen who left rail beds, clay pits and a generous gift to the Boy Scouts. The Salmen Lodge, originally an old trading post and early brickworks, are relics of the settlers and Native Americans in the early 1800s. The banks of Bayou Liberty and the main “Camp Ridge” part of the park were laid by pre-historic floods. With the Holidays upon us and lovely, cool weather, it’s a prime time to take a hike, get some exercise and enjoy the wonder of it all.Īs you walk the one-mile length of the park you can see signs of how the land developed over time. Besides having amenities like picnic pavilions, historic structures, meeting places and scenic Bayou Liberty, the park has four miles of footpaths, bike trails and boardwalks for close-up observation of nature. Not to worry though, its root system stays safe underground and ready to spring back to allow the plant to re-grow and participate in another round of competition in the recovering forest.Ĭamp Salmen Nature Park is one of a string of beautiful natural areas on the nature-blessed North Shore. In case of wildfire it goes up in flames like the Hindenburg. They then poop out the seeds all over the forest and help spread the plant around.Īnother unusual characteristic of the plant is that its many aromatic compounds adds to its flammablity. Animals eat them as food and depend on their digestive juices to strip away the wax to get at their yummy natural, nutritious goodness. Other parts of the plant have been used for medicine for an amazing variety of ailments - fevers, dysentery, convulsions, colic, diarrhea, palsy, bleeding gums, seizures and as a topical antibiotic. Seuss-like shapes in the woods.īesides its supreme ecological adaptability, another specialty of the plant is its wax, an aromatic coating on its berries, once harvested for candle making.
![can can](https://beyondyourbackdoor.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/stabilimentum-garden_spider.jpg)
![can can](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5noI8p9z0Fs/maxresdefault.jpg)
Sometimes the tree can add to the beauty of Bayou Liberty by reaching over the water in a pleasing fashion. They can be found leaning way over toward an opening, or branching off in several directions to catch the sun here and there with clusters of leaves bushing out from the ends of their branches. They will do whatever it takes to reach the sunlight, even attaining grotesque shapes to work around the other plants in the forest.
#Can't find the cob web empire of the undergrowth plus#
Plus they grow in most any other environment in the Southeastern U.S.Īnother undiscriminating trait is how it grows - any old way it can.
![can can](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDQ3dPEXMAYOl9b.png)
They can be found in both salt marshes and Cypress swamps all they need is a piece of slightly elevated, drained ground like a canal or bayou bank. It’s an evergreen that ranges in size from a large shrub to a small tree. The utility plant of south Louisiana’s wetlands, and a major player in Camp Salmen’s woods, is the Southern Wax Myrtle or Bayberry ( Myrica cerifera).