An Exotic Hike!

Whenever I get a chance, I hike around the 35 acres that make up the North Words Forest and Nature Trail on Evansville's North Side.

In the early 1950's, Mrs John L Igleheart donated to the city 52 acres that is now Igleheart Park, which also includes baseball fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, and Lloyd Pool.

Prior to the donation, the land served as a reclusive site for the Igleheart family's summer home. The rural retreat situated on a cool hilltop setting, an important attribute in the days before air conditioning and in the days when higher elevations were thought to protect residents from Malaria.

First avenue was still a gravel road when the family spent summers in the log house. It boasted a stone fireplace and was surrounded by several out buildings., The family kept cattle, sheep, and chickens. Here the Igleheart grandchildren played and learned a bit of country life.

It’s nice little hike with a plenty of trees and plants.

One plant that you can’t miss is what’s commonly called the multiflora rose.

Though pretty, it’s actually an exotic plant (not exotic in a good way).  Multiflora roses were introduced from Japan in 1886 as a rootstock to cultivate roses.  In the 1930s, the United States Soil Conservation Service touted the plant to curb soil erosion, to provide thriving fence rows, and to create barriers along highways and in medians to curb headlight glare from on-coming traffic.  All that seemed like a good idea at the time.

There was just one growing problem.  As with other exotic plants, multiflora is very invasive.  It has escaped cultivation, spreading into private and public lands to the point that it has been classified as a noxious weed in many states.



A plague at the park quotes John F. Kennedy:  “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it is attached to the rest of the world.”

My first hike in woods in this new year:  A time to reflect on the beauty I have in my life and a poignant reminder to take the time to notice and eradicate the exotic plants I've cultivated in my garden! 

Carpe Diem Life,
David Kuhn


CarpeDiem-Life.com