9-20 Witch Hazel

 9-20

Witch Hazel is a native shrub of dry or wet thickets and open areas. It flowers in autumn and new seeds form in the spring although the previous season's seed capsules are still present when it flowers.

John

9-16 Heath Asters

 9-16

Heath Asters, AKA Michaelmas Daisy, is a late season flower of fields and roadsides.

John

9-10 Wild Marjoram, Pink Turtlehead

 9-10

Wild Marjoram, an alien of dry edges is in flower.

Pink turtlehead, an escape to swamps and wet ditches is also in flower.

John

9-9 Beech Drops, Nodding Ladies Tresses

 9-9

Beech Drops are parasitic on the roots of Beech Trees.

Nodding Ladies Tresses, which favor moist meadows and swamps, are blooming on their usual schedule. 

Both are native.

John

9-3 Nodding Bur Marigold

 9-3

Nodding Bur Marigold is a native species found in wet places. It is also known as Nodding Beggar's Tick.

John

9-2 Cardinal Flower

 9-2

Cardinal Flower, a native species of stream banks and wet meadows, is a bit passed its prime - but still an adequate perch for a spider.

John

9-1 Sand Jointweed

 9-1

Sand Jointweed, a native, nearly leafless species found in sandy soils, flowers in late summer and fall.

John

8-26 False Solomon's Seal berries, Large Cranberry berry, Jerusalem Artichoke

 8-26

The ripening berries of False Solomon's Seal show a unique mottled pattern. Wooded banks and roadsides are home to this native species.

Another native, Large Cranberry, a plant of bogs and occasionally river cobble is also ripening fruit.

In thickets and along roadsides Jerusalem Artichoke, a sunflower, shines brightly. It is also native.

John  (due to other duties blog posts will be sporadic in future.)

8-25 Common Ragweed, Grass-leaved Arrowhead

 8-25

Common Ragweed is a native species found in weedy places.

Another native, Grass-leaved Arrowhead, grows in shallow water and marshes.

John

8-24 Japanese Knotweed

 8-24

The frothy white flower spikes of the alien invasive Japanese Knotweed color roadsides and waste places.

John

8-23 Great Lobelia

 8-23

Great Lobelia is both a native wildflower and a common garden escape making the origins of any particular plant hard to determine. Its favored habitats are moist thickets and swamps.

John

8-22 Purple-stemmed Beggar's Tick

 8-22

Purple-stemmed Beggar's Tick, AKA Swamp Beggar's Tick, is a native species of wet areas. Their rayless flowers are surrounded by green bracts.

John

8-21 Sweet Autumn Clematis, Ambush bug, Northern Walking Stick

 8-21

Sweet Autumn Clematis (Japanese) is flowering in my dooryard. This species occasionally escapes to roadside thickets.

Ambush Bugs are frequently seen on Golden Rods.

Northern Walking Sticks are large enough to notice - I usually see them only on even numbered years.

John

8-20 Rattlesnake Root, Intermediate cucillia caterpillar

 8-20

Tall Rattlesnake Root, AKA Gall-of-the-earth, is a native species of woods and thickets.

The Intermediate cucillia caterpillar with its row of orange spots would have sported only a white lateral stripe in its previous instar. It will eventually become an unremarkable gray Ducky Hooded Owlet moth. Wild lettuce is the caterpillar's host plant.

John

8-19 Slender Gerardia

 8-19

Slender Gerardia is a native species found in woods and fields, often in thinly vegetated damp areas.

John

8-18 Whorled Aster, Marsh St. Johnswort

 8-18

Whorled Aster, AKA Mountain and Sharp-leaved aster, is a native woodland species.

Marsh St. Johnswort, also native, favors bogs and swamps. It is the only St. Johnswort that is not yellow.

John

8-17 Liverwort

 8-17

Liverworts are non-vascular and produce no flowers. Reproduction, which starts out plant-like with a fertilized egg, becomes spore producing and fern-like.

Suffice it to say that the umbrella-like structures lifting above this specimen prove it to be male. Palm-tree-like female parts will be produced on separate plants.

John

8-16 Prostrate Pigweed

 8-16

There are 10 Amaranthus (Pigweed) species listed in the lora of Vermont. The notch tipped leaves and sprawling form of this variety indicate that it's one known as Prostrate Pigwee.

John

8-15 Cotton Grass, Closed Gentian, Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar

 8-15

Cotton Grass, actually a sedge, colors bogs and the margins of swamps.

A few Closed, AKA Bottle, Gentians are showing their blue-violet colors.

Both are native.

An occasional Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillar can be seen.

John

8-14 Spotted St. Johnswort, Twice-stabbed Stinkbug

 8-14

Spotted St. Johnswort is a native species of damp places so named because the backs of its petals and leaves are black dotted.

Twice-stabbed Stinkbugs so named because of the two red dots on their backs posed nicely on White Hemp Nettle.

John

8-13 One-seeded Bur Cucumber, Common Clotbur

 8-13

One-seeded Bur cucumber is a native member of the gourd family found in moist thickets and on riverbanks.

The burs of Common Clotbur, AKA Cocklebur, also native can be seen along riverbanks and other such wet areas.

John

8-12 Pearly Everlasting

 8-12

Pearly Everlasting is a native species found in dry open habitats.

John

8-11 Branched Bur-reed

 8-11

Branched Bur-reed is a native species found on muddy shores and in shallow water.

John

8-10 Calico Aster, Dwarf St. Johnswort, Eastern Black Swallowtail

 8-10

Calico, AKA Starved Aster, is a native species of fields and borders.

Another native, Dwarf St. Johnswort favors moist or wet open locations.

And an Eastern Black Swallowtail nectared on a Tiger Lily this morning.

John

8-9 Hairy Willow Herb, Spikenard

 8-9

Hairy Willow Herb is a showy alien found in damp thickets and swamps.

The native Spikenard favors rich woods. The beetles in the specimen are probably Soldier Beetles (cantharidae).

John

8-8 New England Asters

 8-8

New England Aster is a native species of fields, damp meadows and shores.

John

8-7 Bulb-bearing Water Hemlock, Common Arrowhead

 8-7

Bulb-bearing Water Hemlock is a native (and very poisonous) plant found in swampy areas.

Common Arrowhead found in marshes, ditches and along muddy shores is also native.

John

8-6 Buttonbush, Golden Hedge Hyssop

 8-6

 Buttonbush is a native shrub of wet places.

Golden Hedge Hyssop, AKA Pert, also native, favors wet sandy shores.

John

8-5 Hairy Bush Clover, Wild Cucumber,Shining Sumac larvae and fecal shield

 8-5

Hairy Bush Clover is a rare native species found in dry open places and along roadsides.

Wild Cucumber, also native, favors streambanks and moist thickets.

 On Dwarf, AKA Shining, Sumac larvae of beetles scientifically known as Blepharida rhois construct rather messy, but effective, fecal shields. 

John