6-30 Queen Anne's Lace

6-30
Queen Anne's Lace is up in old fields, along road edges and in other waste places.
A dragonfly called the Widow Skimmer posed for a picture.
Black Alder, AKA Winterberry and Christmas Berry, has opened its little stem hugging flowers. Brilliant red berries will form and persist deep into winter. Bluebirds are among the species that feed on them
John

Queen Anne's Lace

Widow Skimmer

Black Alder, AKA Winterberry, Christmas Berry

6-29 Double flowered Chokeberry

6-29

Double-flowered Chokeberry

A normal Chokeberry flower has one whorl of 5 petals. These have two complete whorls of petals, 10 in total. Such mutations can be a first step in speciation. If the extra petals confer an advantage, or at least no disadvantage, they may persist and double-flowered chokeberries might become a scientifically recognized species. If they are a disadvantage the plant will be a dead end, a failed experiment.

John

6-28 Horse Nettle

6-28
Horse Nettle, Moth Mullein and Butter-and-Eggs are all in flower. The Butter-and-Eggs is entangled by a Black Swallowwort vine.
John

Horse Nettle

Moth Mullein

Butter-and-Eggs

6-27 Heart-leaved Umbrellawort

6-27
Heart-leaved Umbrellawort, AKA Wild Four-o'clock, Mullein and New Jersey Tea are flowering. And for the last few days I've been seeing Monarch butterflies. Today one posed for a picture.
John

Heart-leaved Umbrellawort

Mullein

New Jersey Tea

Monarch butterfly

6-26 Crown Vetch

6-26
Crown Vetch and Carpenter's Square, AKA Maryland Figwort, are flowering and hatchling turtles were leaving tracks in the sand.
John

Crown Vetch

Carpenter's Square

Turtle hatchling tracks

6-25 Rabbit-foot clover

6-25
Rabbit-foot Clover is flowering along sandy roadsides and other inhospitable areas.
Lesser Toadflax favors railroad ballast, an even less hospitable habitat.
Chicory is starting to brighten road shoulders.
John

Chicory

Rabbit-foot Clover

Lesser Toadflax

6-24 Tubercled Orchid

6-24
Tubercled Orchids are flowering in wet meadows and along river banks.
Bristly Sarsaparilla can be seen in dry ledgy areas and along road sides.
Everlasting Pea is often introduced when construction areas are mulched and seeded.
John

Tubercled 

Bristly Sarsaparilla

Everlasting Pea

6-23 Black-eyed Susan

6-23
Black-eyed Susans, Common St. Johnswort and Cow wheat are in flower. Cow Wheat is a parasitic species.
John

Black-eyed Susan

Common St. John'swort

Cow Wheat

6-22 Thyme-leaved Sandwort

6-22
Thyme-leaved Sandwort, White Avens and Moneywort are among the day's flowerings. Moneywort is one of several yellow loosestrifes.
John

Thyme-leaved Sandwort

White Avens

Moneywort

6-21 Knawel

6-21
Knawel, a low creeping tiny flowered plant of gravel parking lots and similar habitats is opening flowers.
Beardtongue's flowering explains the reason for its name.
Hedge Bindweed's large white trumpets light up thickets and fields.
John

Knawe

Tall Beardtongue

Hedge Bindweed

6-20 Purple-flowering Raspberry

6-20
Purple-flowering Raspberries are putting on a show, and a freshly hatched dragonfly hangs opposite the nymphal husk from which it emerged.
John

Purple-flowering Raspberry

Dragonfly with nymphal husk

6-19 Field Mustard

6-19
Field Mustard, Maple-leaved Viburnum and Witherod, AKA Wild Raisin, are all flowering.
John

Field Mustard

Witherod

Maple-leaved Viburnum

6-18 Motherwort

6-18
Motherwort and Indian Hemp are both starting to flower.
Wild Radish is at its peak.
John

Motherwort

Indian Hemp

Wild Radish

6-17 Dogbane

6-17
Spreading Dogbane and Tall Meadow Rue are both in flower.
John

Spreading Dogbane

Tall Meadow Rue

6-16 Fringed Bindweed

6-16
Fringed Bindweed, Sheep Laurel and Whorled Loosestrife are in flower. The foliage of sheep laurel is poisonous to livestock.
John

Fringed Bindwees

Sheep Laurel

Whorled Loosestrife

6-15 Harebells

6-15
Harebells can be found in ledgy areas, parasitic Oak Drops are coming up under the oak trees they parasitize. The one pictured are at or past peak flowering.
Atop a Helleborine orchid which is not yet flowering spiderlings linger in a nursery web.
John

Harebell

Oak Drops

Spiderlings in nursery web

6-14 Clammy Ground Cherry

6-14
Clammy Ground Cherry and Sweet White Clover are flowering.
John

Clammy Ground Cherry

Sweet White Clover

6-13 Wild Rose

6-13
One of the Wild Roses and Bristly Hawksbeard are in flower.
There was an insect hatch along the West River which was a boon to spiders. I have never before seen so many insects in a web, with the exception of webs near artificial lights !
John

Wild Rose

Bristly Hawksbeard

Web full of insect hatch