8-26 Sweet Everlasting, Sand Jointweed

8-26 Sweet Everlasting favors dry fields.

Dry acid sands are the preferred habitat of Sand Jointweed, which is just starting its flowering. John

8-25 Purslane

8-25 Purslane, AKA Pusley, is a weed of gardens and waste places. Its tiny yellow flowers open for only a few hours in the morning sun. John

8-24 Black Nightshade, Nodding Ladies Tresses

8-24 Woods and waste places are home to Black Nightshade. Its fruits will be a black berry.

Nodding Ladies Tresses - a late summer and fall bloomer - is common in moist meadows, swamps and woods. John

8-23 Fall Dandelion, Pennyroyal

8-23 Clumps of Fall Dandelions dot fields and lawns. This is one of four species of dandelion in our area.

And the very small blue flowers of American Pennyroyal might escape our notice but the scent of oil of pennyroyal is unmistakable. Look for it in fields and dry woods. John

8-22 /common Arrowhead, Bottle Gentian

8-22 Common Arrowhead grows in shallow water and marshy soil.

Closed, AKA Bottle, Gentians favor moist woods and meadows. Although the flowers of the gentian never open bumble bees enter and pollinate them. John

8-21 Water Smartweed, Northern Willow Herb

8-21 Water Smartweed is a plant of ponds and wet soils. It can be either aquatic or terrestrial. Another of its names is Amphibious Bistort.

Northern Willow Herb - a Primrose relative - favors swamps and moist thickets. John

8-20 Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillar, Meadow Cranesbill

8-20 Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillars are in fact generalists feeding on hickory, pecan, walnut, hornbeam, ash, elm, oak and willow. Just about any woody species is acceptable. Exposure to the hairs of this caterpillar causes rash and itching in sensitive individuals.

And in grassy places the alien Meadow Cranesbill leans on nearby grasses and weeds. John

8-19 Hairy Bush Clover

8-19 Hairy Bush Clover - rare in Vermont - is visited by a bumble bee. This is a plant of dry open places and is said to reach a height of 2 - 3 feet. This one was well over 4 feet tall! John

8-18 Whorled Aster

8-18 Whorled Aster, AKA Sharp-leaved Aster or Mountain Aster, can be seen in either moist or dry woods. Newcomb's Wildflower Guide lists 43 species of aster. John

8-17 One-seeded Bur Cucumber, Giant Swallowtail

8-17 One-seeded Bur Cucumber - a member of the gourd family - drapes thickets, riverbanks and corn fields.

And the Giant Swallowtail butterfly, AKA Orange Dog, is a pest to citrus growers. Larval hosts are citrus trees, toothache trees, hoptrees and rue. Examples are seen sporadically here in Vermont. This one was nectaring in our kitchen garden. John

8-16 Tall Rattlesnake Root, Locust Tree Borer

8-16 Tall Rattlesnake Root, AKA Gall-of-the-earth, is common in woods and thickets and along roadsides.

And adult Locust Tree Borers are subsisting on goldenrod nectar and pollen. The eggs of this borer are deposited in the bark of a Black Locust twig. Larvae bore through the sapwood of the tree. The bee-like color patterns of this borer are thought to confer some protective advantages. John

8-15 Canada Goldenrod, Twice-stabbed Stink bugs

8-15 Dry open places are home to Canada goldenrod, one of 34 goldenrods listed in my field guides.

A pair of Twice-stabbed Stink bugs (Cosmopepla lintneriana) fed on White Hemp Nettle. Although feeding on a variety of plants, they are often found on Mullein. If handled stink bugs may indeed stink. John

8-14 Purple-stemmed Asters, Common Ragweed

8-14 Purple-stemmed Asters are common in swamps and low thickets.

Common Ragweed crowds cultivated ground and roadsides. Newcomb's Wildflowers calls ragweeds, "unattractive weeds whose pollen is a principal cause of hay fever." John

8-13 Great Blue Lobelia, Fox and turkeys

8-13 Great Blue Lobelia is common in gardens and relatively rare in the wild. There are some who question if specimens found in the wild are native or if they are garden escapes.

And a Red Fox and a flock or Wild Turkeys fed within a few feet of each other this morning. Not exactly lions laying down with lambs … but … a bit of a peaceable moment … nonetheless. John

8-12 Ditch Stonecrop, Bee Mimic Robber Fly

8-12 Ditch Stonecrop - a member of the Saxifrage family - grows in wet ditches and swamps.

A Bee Mimic Robber Fly - genus Laphria - was busily consuming a Japanese beetle when I took its photo. There are 63 known species of Laphria and close to 1000 species of robber fly in North America. John

8-11 Water Plantain, Water Horehound, Pearly Everlasting

8-11 Small Water Plantain is a plant of muddy shores.

Both moist and wet environments are home to Water Horehound.

And dry open places host Pearly Everlasting. John

8-10 Hog-peanut, Dodder

8-10 Hog-peanut, a member of the pea family, climbs other nearby plants in moist thickets.

Dodder is a Morning Glory relative that starts life as a rooted plant but then severs ties with the earth and becomes completely parasitic on any plant it has twined around. John

8-9 White Baneberry, Silverrod

8-9 The fruits of White Baneberry, AKA Doll's Eyes, stare from wooded roadsides and similar places. Oddly enough baneberry is a buttercup relative.

Silverrod, sometimes called White Goldenrod, is common in weedy fields and along roadsides. This is the only goldenrod that isn't yellow. John

8-8 Wild Balsam Apple, White Snakeroot, Green Heron

8-8 Wild Balsam Apple, AKA Wild Cucumber, is a climbing vine of moist ground and thickets. Its fruit is a 2 inch long spiny green bladder.

White snakeroot is a plant of rich woods and, often, roadsides.

A Green Heron was hunting a backwater of the Connecticut River this morning. John

8-7 Wild Mint, Blue Lettuce, New York Aster

8-7 The pale lilac or occasionally white flowers of Wild Mint favor moist or wet open places but are occasionally found in dry soils.

Tall Blue Lettuce- a roadside weed which may reach a height of 15 feet - has pale blue flowers although in my pictures they always appear white.

And the violet rays of New York Aster brighten damp thickets and swamps. John

8-6 Groundnut, Beaked Hazel, Double-banded Scoliid Wasp

8-6 Groundnut, AKA Wild Bean, drapes its brownish red flowers through moist thickets. Its heavy scent often betrays its presence.

The tasty nuts of Beaked Hazel are ripening - and much appreciated by chipmunks.

And Double-banded Scoliid Wasps are visiting flowers. These wasps are described as large, conspicuous, easily recognized and stinging. Their larvae are parasites on beetle grubs. John

8-5 Blue Curl, Panicled Hawkweed

8-5 Blue curls, a mint family relative, thrives in the dry soil along the railroad tracks and the verges of paved roads.

Panicled Hawkweed favors dry woods. My field guide lists 8 yellow hawkweeds.

John

8-4 Bears

8-4 Two black bears wandered through my yard and were recorded by my neighbor Rick Mills while in the house I was oblivious to their presence. John

8-4 Three-bird Orchid, Monarch caterpillars

8-4 Three-bird Orchids - a state listed rare species - is starting its flowering. It's favored habitat is beech woods.

A couple of Monarch caterpillars fattened on milkweed in our yard. One is on common milkweed and onw is on cultivated white milkweed. John