Nature preserve with rare daisy expands in Marblehead

MARBLEHEAD — A small yellow flower helped bring Ohio's governor and other officials to the small town of Marblehead Tuesday.Gov. Mike DeWine was the featured speaker at the Tuesday afternoon event celebrating the acquisition of 118 acres to expand the Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve, at 309 Alexander Pike in Marblehead.The just-completed purchase of the additional land will expand the nature preserve to 137 acres.The total cost of the project is about $1.17 million, with 75 percent, or $800,000, coming from a federal grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with much of the rest of the money coming from a checkoff in the state income tax form, said Jeff Johnson, chief of the Division of Natural Areas and Preserves for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.The land was acquired after negotiations with the Lafarge Quarry, an active quarry that operates only a short distance from the preserve.The nature preserve is the home of the Lakeside Daisy. It's the only place in the United States where the flower grows naturally, said Allison Cusick, a retired chief state botanist for Ohio who attended the ceremony.The location is "famous among botanists," he said.The first 19 acres for the preserve were acquired in 1988.Volunteers have worked for years to gather seeds and plants, re-establishing it at the nature preserve and also establishing a large number of the flowers on Kelleys Island.The plant likes to grow in rocky, open meadows where limestone is present and is named for Lakeside. It is considered a threatened species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.DeWine told the crowd of approximately 75 that he has pushed for a budget hike for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and that he had named Mary Mertz, a longtime trusted aide, to serve as director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and take the department to a new level. Mertz also spoke briefly at the ceremony.DeWine told the crowd the DeWine family and the Lakeside Daisy go way back. He said his son John, a botanist, told him and his wife, Fran, about the Lakeside Daisy many years ago.Fran DeWine also attended the ceremony, and when it was over, she walked a short distance down the path to snap pictures of the daisy and get a better look at a bald eagle nest.John DeWine is now an organic farmer in Yellow Springs, Mrs. DeWine said.Recalling when he had worked the daisy, she said, "He had told us they were nearly extinct and they found a big bunch on Lake Erie." Mrs. DeWine said the governor's mansion has a heritage garden representing various natural areas of Ohio and said the garden includes a small colony of Lakeside Daisies."There's a little patch of them there," she said.Lakeside Daisies sway in the wind at Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve in Marblehead on Tuesday, May 7, 2019.Gov. Mike DeWine speaks during an event celebrating the acquisition of 118 acres to expand the Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve in Marblehead on Tuesday, May 7, 2019.Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve is the only place in the United States where the flower grows naturally, said Allison Cusick, a retired chief state botanist.After a special event at Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve, attendees explore the preserve and study the flowers growing at the preserve on Tuesday, May 7, 2019.People gather for an event celebrating the acquisition of 118 acres to expand Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve in Marblehead on Tuesday, May 7, 2019.