COLUMBUS, OH - See one of the world's rarest wildflowers blooming in an unlikely area on the Marblehead Peninsula in Ottawa County. The annual open house at Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve is scheduled for10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 8, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
The Lakeside daisy is known to grow naturally in only three other places worldwide. The bright yellow blooming perennial flourishes where few other plants can - on nearly barren limestone bedrock in full sunlight. Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve is home to one of only two remaining natural populations of this colorful wildflower in the United States. The 19-acre preserve, a former limestone quarry, was purchased by the ODNR Division of Natural Areas & Preserves in 1988 with $50,000 in tax check-off funds. An additional $5,100 in check-off money was used to make improvements at the preserve and build an educational display for visitors.
While the Lakeside daisy is the nature preserve's "star" resident, additional communities of unusual wildflowers also flourish there. The most significant are Great Plains ladies' tresses, a rare wild orchid; butterflyweed, a prairie species that blooms in mid-summer; spiked blazing-star, a dramatic wildflower that displays big, purple blooms in the summer, and balsam squaw-weed.
The preserve is open to the public during the month of May when the daisies are in full bloom. Visitors must obtain an access permit to visit the preserve any other time of year.
Visitors to the open house are urged to wear sturdy shoes, suitable for walking along the gravel terrain of the preserve. Staff from the Division of Natural Areas & Preserves will be onsite to answer questions about this rare Ohio wildflower.
Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve is located south of Marblehead on the east side of Alexander Pike (Township Road 142), half-mile south of Route 163.