great things from small packages

I'm fascinated by beech buds, particularly the terminal ones - the ones at the ends of the branch - because just the one bud really packs a punch. This one has at least five leaves coming out of it, in their special accordionated formation.

Once again, for I am a fool, I headed out with only the phone, so... well, it wasn't sunny, that's my excuse. This here is a RED BANEBERRY which as you can see, I'm excited about.

This one roadside is positively littered, littered I tell you, with both solomon's seal and false solomon's seal. Here's the former.

Those little dangly flowers slay me.

Not til I got this next one up on the computer did I see ALL THE SPORES.

Those little dots. They're spores. Or something like that. I have to study up on fern reproduction, it's complicated.

Here's a false solomon's seal flower whose privacy I invaded.

New life, new life everywhere. Makes me happy.

superheroes in pink capes, purple grass, etc.

I will be out of town next week – hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with an old friend – and I’m working like a crazed bunny to get everything I can wrapped up at work before I go. This afternoon, I staggered away from my desk, my head and body seemingly disconnected from one another, my spirit nowhere to be found. The perfect remedy: break out the hiking boots (gotta remind my feet about the hiking boots!), grab the point-and-shoot, and go for a four mile jaunt down dirt roads.
I found plenty of entertainment. It is just amazing how many more species there are to admire, just a half mile to two miles from the house. But I started with the locals. Remember those sleepy pink moths? They’re still around.

“Don’t worry, little lady.”

“I’ll save you.”
‘The aptly named primrose moth,’ I am informed. (Schinia Florida)
By the pole barn, where we store firewood, grass that has yet to encounter the lawn mower is in bloom.


Timothy grass, as yet not quite in bloom, with a visitor.

Later on, a mile away, the timothy grass was in full bloom. 

quack grass.
OK, now we’re venturing out away from my typical haunts of late.

Bittersweet nightshade, many of them already in full-on berry mode. These berries will turn yellow, then orange, then red. A veritable rainbow – as if the flower itself weren’t gorgeous ENOUGH.

Herb robert (yes, that’s its name) – I thought the sparkly velvet flowers were done for the season, but I’m pleased to see I was wrong.


Some kind of mutant, gargantuan dandelion-style flower. Sadly, they had ALL already closed up shop, so I don’t know what color the petals (well, rays, technically) are – still, though, I ought to be able to ID it. So far, no luck.

These seed clusters were the size of my fist.


Here’s a new one for me: bladder campion (Silene cucubalus). Later on this summer, I’ll show its cousin, white campion. It grows right next to our mailbox.


Common st. johnswort – which also tends to grow near our mailbox, but I haven’t seen it yet this year.


barberpole sedge. Bonus: see the spider? I didn’t when I took the picture!

Partridgeberry – a ground cover, with red berries in the fall. I laughed when I saw how the insides are fuzzy. Kevin said maybe it’s naturally-occurring velcro.

trillium seed. joy!


red baneberry is possessed of a certain in-your-face charm, no?


this is common comfrey.


a whole hillside of day lilies.

brand-new to me: motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca).
The hiking boots feel good. That’s a relief.

words fail me

I went for a three hour walk with a friend in some nearby woods that are famed for their wildflowers.

The stream in this bed was sometimes above ground, and sometimes below ground. A mystery for another day.

That green haze on the forest floor is a veritable carpet of flowers. Without further ado:


Dutchman’s breeches.

Squirrel corn.

In the above shot alone, there is dutchman’s breeches (lacy leaves at far left, and all over), squirrel corn (flowers at lower right), blue cohosh (tall stem on the left), trillium (self-evident, right?), wild ramp (fat narrow leaves), spring beauty (one eensy flower, right).
There was so much blue cohosh, I didn’t even bother to try to do it justice. The ones here were much further along than those at home, and I’ve found trying to capture cohosh is hard – the lightest, slightest breeze sets them to dancing.

But here’s a nice shot at a cool stage – the structure of the plant is opened up, but the leaves have yet to fully unfold.


The trillium were simply epic. A ton of them. And huge. Oh, and there’s trout lily in the background, and blue cohosh. Sick.

Gaaaaggghhhhh!

Jack-in-the-pulpit – these are the only ones we saw, perched on a rock ledge.

Weep-inducing Columbine.

Heart-stopping wild bleeding heart.

Crowfoot, a miniature early variety. As you can see, this is going to seed at a decent clip.

Trout lily up the wazoo. And a token spring beauty.

False ginseng.

Early saxifrage.

Miterwort.

Wild ginger’s freaky flower – I’ve always pegged this for a carnivore.

Red baneberry.

Multiple flavors of violet. You know you’re on system overload when you can’t even manage to take down enough detail to key out your violet species.
I was wearing chaco sandals, and after having done my 13 mile run yesterday, I’m not sure who got tired first: the soles of my feet, or my wonder-intake-capacity valve. I may need to eat an entire garlic pizza and soak up five episodes of “Eureka” just to recalibrate back to something approaching normal.

baby snapper and a handful of new wildflowers

Why did the baby snapping turtle cross the road? Apparently not to get to the other side, because he kept changing his mind. Last I saw him, he was resolutely headed toward the big bay doors – closed – of the fire substation at the entrance to our private drive. What is it with turtles and garage doors? You can see how tiny he (she?) is, as those are half-inch long spruce needles on its back.
I ventured slightly farther afield today, in search of new species. Oh yeah, baby, lots of new stuff to show you. First up: I’ve been tracking a plant along the shared driveway that I thought might be red baneberry. I also thought at one point it might be ginseng, but to hedge my bets, I’ve tagged it in my files with a question mark. Well, today I am happy to report it is NOT red baneberry.
This is red baneberry:

Not all of them are ripe.

I found what looked like a dogbane – opposite leaves, flowers at the ends in a loose cluster – but I haven’t been able to identify it in Newcomb’s. Anyone out there have an idea of what this might be?

five petals, in a tube. sorry for blurriness. Flowers seem to be stalked.

There was so much false solomon’s seal, it made me contemplate weeping.


One lone brown-eyed susan. I know, I know, it’s black-eyed susan; I just like brown-eyed better. Reminds me of the Van Morrison song.
New Species!!
Probably Bird's Foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) [edited later after perusing another blog and rechecking my guide...]
Yellow false indigo (Baptisia tinctoria)


This stuff is growing wild all over the place at our county dump, for what it’s worth. But I didn’t get a chance to photograph it til today, just around the corner from here.

A cinquefoil (Potentilla recta). It has these awesome pot leaves.

See?
Another indigo – this time, white false indigo (Baptisia leucantha). This stuff is on stalks taller than I am, which isn’t saying much, but still. That’s tall, for a flower, innit?

But wait! There’s more! You also get the slicer dicer attachment at no extra charge!

Or, in this case, hop clover (Trifolium agrarium).
Next up, how’s about some Spotted Common St. Johnswort (Hypericum punctatum perforatum)? [Her Royal Highness the editor (me) realized the next day I was wrong.]


AND, last but not least, Herb Robert.

Really, that’s its name. Geranium robertianum