September 25, 2008 at 9:50 pm09 (Uncategorized)
Join us in exploring and discovering the natural world as we encounter it in the lawn, garden, fields, streams, woods, abandoned orchards, and other wild places near our home. Your observations and commentary are welcome. If you can add relevant factual details, all the better for other readers.
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July 15, 2009 at 5:40 am07 (Uncategorized)
Meadowsweet grows in wet meadows
Meadowsweet (Spirea alba) grows to about two to six feet high in moist fields and other wet places. The oval, pointed leaves are alternate on the stem and have coarsely toothed margins. The white or pale pink flowers are arranged in a pyramid-like cluster that is taller than it is wide. Meadowsweet has no odor, despite its name. The stem is smooth and reddish to purple-brown. It may easily be overlooked on a walk as more attractive plants get your attention.
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July 14, 2009 at 5:45 am07 (Uncategorized)
A potted Fragrant Water Lily is ideal for a water garden
This particular variety of water lily, the Fragrant Water Lily (Nymphaea odorata), is native to Eastern North America and has been introduced in many other parts of the world. It is a good choice for cultivation in shallow containers set deep in hand-dug or artificial ponds. It thrives in mucky or sandy bottoms. In the wild, beaver, moose, muskrat and deer eat water lily leaves and roots. Ducks and other waterfowl eat the seeds. Largemouth bass, sunfish, and frogs use the large round leaves for cover.
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July 13, 2009 at 6:12 am07 (Uncategorized)
Nodding flowerheads of the Milkweed in July
Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) grows along roadsides and dry fields. It can reach three to six feet in height. The Milkweed’s broad, oval leaves are covered with a grayish fuzz on the underside. The flowers form spherical clusters at the top of the plant and near the uppermost leaves on the stem. The flowers can be rose, lavender, pink or purple colored. Most people recognize Milkweed by its gray-green, pointed seed pods, which can be four inches long.
The Milkweed is an ecologically important plant, serving as a host plant for many butterfly species, including the Monarch, both Tiger Swallowtail and Black Swallowtail, Painted Lady, American Lady, Red Admiral, Great Spangled Fritillary, and Hairstreak. The Milkweed is both source of nectar and site for egg-laying. Milkweed also attracts Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and Hummingbird Clearwing Moths. This seemingly ordinary plant plays an important role in the lives of many species of living things.
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July 12, 2009 at 5:51 am07 (Uncategorized)
A familiar plant along roadsides in July
The Yellow Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris), perhaps better known as Butter and Eggs, is another wildflower of dry fields, waste places, gravelly areas, and roadsides. It can grow from one to three feet tall. The narrow-leaved plant has snapdragon-like flowers in two shades of yellow. These flowers grow in long spikes. Because the flower is largely closed by the fused petals forming its underlip, the Toadflax needs strong insects to push insde to pollinate it. Bees and Bumblebees typically do the job. This is one wildflower that can be successfully cut and placed in a vase with water.
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July 11, 2009 at 5:29 am07 (Uncategorized)
Swamp Candles brighten shady moist thickets
Swamp Candles (Lysimachia terrestris) grow in marshes, swampy spots, and moist, brushy thickets. The leaves are opposite each other on the stem. The tiny yellow flowers grow in a tall slender column at the top of the stem, like the flame on a candle. I encounter this plant as I move down through the woods through a low spot on my way to my favorite wild black raspberry picking site. Swamp Candles grow from eight to twenty inches in height.
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July 10, 2009 at 6:01 am07 (Uncategorized)
The New England Blazing Star along a roadside
This colorful plant has several common names – New England Blazing Star and Gay Feather are two of them. The scientific name is Liatris scariosa var. novae-anglicae. Look for it at this time of year in open woods and clearings. Roadsides and the edges of parking lots in mall areas are two typical locations. The flowers are in plump heads that have long stalks. There are many tiny rose-purple flowers in each head, giving the plant a feathery appearance. Gay Feather grows one to three feet tall.
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July 9, 2009 at 5:47 am07 (Uncategorized)
Photo courtesy of Annie Buzzell Edgerly, July 7, 2009
This is the time of year when male deer carry a velvety covering on their new seasonal antlers. Antler development begins in March or April, Deer have pedicels, or knobby, skin-covered nubs that protrude from the skull and support the developing deer antlers. Velvet is the name given to the living tissue, rich in blood vessels, and extremely sensitive, which produce the bone-like material in antlers. Deer antlers are fully grown by August or September. Deer antlers are solid, not hollow like cow horns.
During the first year, just the nubs appear. During the second year, straight spikes usually develop. In the third year, the first branching begins, and so on. The number of branches on the rack generally increases with age but the size of the rack is more dependent on the health and nutrition of the animal. Because of hunting, most deer do not live past three years. At seven years, a well-fed buck would carry a sizeable rack.
In the growth phase, generally lasting two to four months, the antlers are covered with velvet. The velvet is filled with blood vessels that build up the bone growth. In time, a ring forms at the base of the antlers. The antlers harden and the velvet dries up. Some falls off naturally and some is rubbed off on tree bark by the deer. In the early fall, look for deer rubs on low tree branches and young saplings.
The antlers of deer are used for defense, to battle another male for dominance, to find food in the snow, and to attract females. Deer will shed their antlers as early as December, but more commonly between January and March. It is hard to spot fallen deer antlers in the snow, but looking for them can be an off-season past-time of its own.
Deer antlers contain the fastest growing cell tissue in the mammal world. Deer antlers can grow as much as one-half an inch per day during peak development. In most cases, the antlers grow backward away from the head, then curve around forward.
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July 8, 2009 at 5:33 am07 (Uncategorized)
A female Widow Skimmer Dragonfly perches on a dried weed stalk
A female Widow Skimmer dragonfly (lacks white wing patches) perches on a plant stalk in a weedy stand of growth in a drainage ditch. Although it is common in most of Massachusetts, the Widow Skimmer is rare to absent on Cape Cod and the offshore islands. Look for Window Skimmers foraging in fields far from ponds, lakes, marshes, and soggy areas, although they must have access to water for breeding sites. Females deposit eggs in flight, dipping the tips of their abdomens in water to release eggs. I see them most often when I mow the meadow. The Widow Skimmers seem to follow my tractor. Are they attracted to the tractor or to the insects that I might be stirring up?
In addition to white patches on both forewing and hindwing, the male Widow Skimmer has bluish bands on the back of the lower abdomen. The females and immature male have a pale mid-dorsal stripe and a yellow abdomen with a black stripe down the back.
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July 7, 2009 at 9:19 am07 (Uncategorized)
The Ghost Plant
Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora) is a plant but is not green. Since it contains no chlorophyll, it does not carry on photosynthesis but instead is a parasitic species drawing nutrients from fungi in the soil. Look for it in dense moist woodland with lots of leaf litter or pine needles on the forest floor. Indian Pipe is a waxy white color when it first appears, but turns black as the fruit ripens. The leaves grow as white scales along the stem. A single flower hangs with its tip toward the ground. In the photo above, bark mulch serves the function of moistute-holding leaf litter. Two other common names for Indian Pipe are “Ghost Plant” and “Corpse Plant.”
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July 6, 2009 at 7:16 am07 (Uncategorized)
The Basswood Tree
The Basswood (Tilia americana) or Linden tree is easily identified by its unequally sided, heart-shaped leaves and by the way its flower clusters and fruit hang down from the centers of a leaf-like structures called bracts. At this time of year, the Linden is usually covered with bees and other pollinator insects. The flower clusters are fragrant, cream-colored ,and yield a flavorful honey. The basswood is often nicknamed “the bee tree.” The wood of basswood is easily carved. The Basswood is often planted as a shade tree on lawns and streets.
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