Ohio officials hope to save ash trees, rare flowers

URBANA, Ohio — There is a section of Cedar Bog Nature Preserve where most of the trees are ash. ÿ White, green, pumpkin and black.
 
And it’s in this hardwood swamp forest, where the ash canopy allows just the right amount of mottled sunlight to reach the floor, that two species of rare orchids grow. Too little or too much sunlight would doom the fragile flora.
 
For years, caretakers have made sure the conditions in this Champaign County preserve remain optimal for the small purple fringed and ragged fringed orchids as well as other rare and endangered plants and flowers. Over the years, that has meant cutting back trees in the sedge meadows, building a boardwalk so curious visitors don’t trample plants and hunting deer that make meals out of rare flowers.
 
But there is a new threat to Cedar Bog that is as scary as they come — the emerald ash borer.
 
To fight it, experts are employing a tiny parasitic wasp. If it works, maybe most of the trees can be saved. If it doesn’t, some of the state’s rarest plants will be lost.  
 
This small, voracious bug doesn’t care about orchids. It’s the ash trees it seeks.

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