7-31 Lopseed, Blue Lettuce

7-31 The paired lavender or purplish flowers of Lopseed will eventually form the plant's namesake drooping seed pods.

The flowers of Blue Lettuce may go unnoticed as the plant can reach a height of 15 feet! John

7-30 Great Chickweed, Pale Touch-me-not

7-30 Great Chickweed is a plant of woods and rocky slopes.

Moist shady places and limestone substrates are perfect for Pale Touch-me-not. John

7-29 Wild Balsam Apple, Field Sow Thistle

7-29 Roadsides and waste places are home to Field Sow Thistle.

Wild Balsam Apple, AKA Wild Cucumber, a member of the gourd family, frequents moist ground, thickets and agricultutal fields. John

7-28 Groundnut, Cup Plant. Twice-stabbed Stink Bug

7-28 The brownish-purple flowers of Groundnut, AKA Wild Bean, drape moist thickets. Its root is an edible tuber.

Paired leaves that unite at the base forming a cup give Cup Plant its name.

A pair of red spots give Twice-stabbed Stink Bugs their rather overdramatic common name. John

7-27 Nodding Pogonia, Spikenard, Great Black Digger Wasp

7-27 Rich woods are home to Nodding Pogonia, AKA Three Bird, a rare woodland orchid family member.

Spikenard, best known for ts aromatic root, is opening long, branching clusters of greenish white flowers.

Great Black Digger wasps were nectaring on Swamp Milkweed seemingly indifferent to my presence. John

7-26 Sunflower Tortoise Beetle, Coralroot

7-26 Sunflower Tortoise Beetles are skeletonizing sunflower leaves. The beetle begins life dingy white, turns black and white for about 3 weeks and at maturity is a brilliant metallic green!

The woodland orchid called Large Coralroot, once thought to be a saprophyte and now known to be mycoheterotropic, is in flower. They are connected to and take nutrients from a fungal network. John

7-25 Tansy, Fall Dandelion, Robber Fly

7-25 Tansy has gone from being a well-loved garden flower to being a common roadside weed.

Fields and lawns are home to Fall Dandelion which has slender forking stems and smaller flowers than common dandelions.

There are nearly 1000 species of Robber Fly in North America. These predators catch other insects on the wing, liquefy their innards and suck them dry. This one was eating dinner. John

7-24 Spotted Spurge, Cardinal Flower

7-24 The red-spotted leaves and tiny white flowers of Hairy Spurge hug dry sandy or gravely soils.

Damp shores, meadows and swamps are home to Cardinal Flower, a species that depends on hummingbirds for pollination. John

7-23 Monarch caterpillars growing, Second brood of Phoebes

7-23 Monarch caterpillars are getting noticably large!

The second brood of Phoebes under my barn is nearly ready to fledge. John

7-22 Whorled Aster, Water Plantain, Saw-wing Moth, Dogday Harvestfly husk

7-22 Sharp-leaved, AKA Mountain or Whorled, Aster is a woodland species and one of 43 Asters in my field guide.

Muddy shores are home to Water Plantain.

A moth called the Saw-wing is airborne. Its host plants are blueberry, apple and maple.

A Dogday Harvestfly, our local cicada, left its nymphal husk hanging on a maple tree in my yard. John

7-21 Dodder, False Pimpernel, Mergansers

7-21 Common Dodder is a parasitic plant found in low areas and on river banks.

Wet places are home to False Pimpernel, an easily overlooked plant with pale purple or white flowers.

A female Merganser, followed by eighteen ducklings paddled the West River rapids this morning. John

7-20 Turtlehead, Lesser Centaury, Three-lobed Bedstraw

7-20 Swamps and streams are home to Turtlehead, so called because of the shape of its flowers.

Lesser Centaury, a tiny member of the Gentain clan favors damp sandy soils.

The shores of marshes and streams are home to three-lobed Bedstraw. John

7-19 Pinesaps, Checkered Rattlesnake Plantain

7-19 Either Pine or Oak woods are home to Pinesap, AKA Fake Beechdrops

Checkered Rattlesnake Plantain has raised loosely spiraled spikes of small white flowers over uniquely marked rosettes of leaves. John

7-18 Woodland Sunflower, Green Wood Orchid

7-18 Dry woods are home to the aptly named Woodland Sunflower, one of eleven listed in my field guide.

Wet woods are home to the Green Wood Orchid. It's green flowers are often twisted to one side making it readily identifiable. John

7-17 Common Arrowhead, Partridge Pea

7-17 The three petaled white flowers of Common Arrowhead lift above shallow water and marshes.

Partridge Pea, a close relative of Wild Senna and Wild Sensitive Plant, is flowering in sandy fields. John

7-16 Wild Sensitive Plant, Nodding Smartweed

7-16 Wild Sensitive Plant - so called because its leaves are sensitive to touch - is opening tiny, yellow, pea-like flowers.

Nodding Smartweed - one of about 35 related species found in the northeast - is opening dense, nodding spikes of pale flowers. John

7-15 American Germander, Water Pennywort

7-15 American Germander, AKA Wood Sage, favors shores and damp thickets.

Water Pennywort, a low creeping plant of moist or wet places, has opened tiny white flowers in its leaf axils. Pennywort is a member of the Parsley family. John

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7-14 Virgin's Bower, Joe Pye Weed, Monarch egg and caterpillar

7-14 Virgin's Bower, AKA wild Clematis, is draping damp thickets. The fruits of this vine are referred to Old Man's Beard.

Damp meadows and thickets are home to Joe Pye Weed.

Freshly hatched Monarch caterpillars have started consuming Milkweed leaves that they were born on. An egg is just waiting to hatch. John

7-13 Burdock, Boneset

7-13 Burdock is considered a coarse weed of waste places but its somewhat thistle-like flowers are very attractive.

Multiple small flowerheads forming broad flat clusters make Boneset, AKA Thoroughwort, easy to identify. John

7-12 Creeping Spearwort, Primrose Moth, Golden Hedge Hyssop

7-12 Creeping Spearwort is a plant of wet shores. Its cupped yellow flowers mark it as a member of the Buttercup family.

A Primrose Moth posed nicely ona Spirea leaf.

Golden Hedge Hyssop, AKA Pert, brightens wet, sandy shores. John