Author: Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.

Black Huckleberry

Huckleberries blooming, SNP by The Lodge

It’s always fun to find a different native plant out in the woods. I never even knew that Huckleberries were actually a real thing until I found this bush. Black Huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata). Along with this one, there are 3 other species of Huckleberry in this genus, Gaylussacia, which are found in eastern North America.

Another Visit By Adult Skinks

Here at my cabin I see juvenile Skinks with their brilliant blue tails quite frequently. Those tails are “detachable,” and if attacked by a predator the skink can release its tail, which will continue to wiggle, distracting that predator while the Skink vanishes from the scene. A new tail will regrow, taking perhaps 6 months, and will not be as long or as perfectly shaped as the original tail.

It was a bit more than a year ago when I saw my first adult Broad-headed Skink (Plestiodon laticeps). Yesterday my granddaughter spotted a pair of these same creatures. They’ve outgrown the coloring of their bright blue tails, outgrown the obvious stripes and grown to be 12 or 13 inches long, the largest Skink in its native range of the southeastern United States.

Perhaps the reason I seldom see adult Skinks is that they spend most of their lives in the tops of trees, coming to the ground to mate and build nests for egg-laying. They are predators of insects, other invertebrates, and some vertebrates, including rodents and other lizards.

Brown Thrasher In The Garden

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum). A visitor during the breeding season. A visitor that I really look forward to seeing, though that doesn’t happen often. These birds love hiding in dense cover and briar tangles, coming out to search on the ground for insects and other arthropods. They’ll also search in trees for fruits, seeds, and nuts, but their favored place seems to be on the ground which is where I see them most often.

The Brown Thrasher reminds me of one of my favorite birds, the Road Runner, state bird of New Mexico. Perhaps it’s because of the very long tail each of these birds has. But the Brown Thrasher does not go, “Meep meep!” Instead, a mimic, the male is quite the vocalist, singing an impressive repertoire of musical snippets, each repeated twice as he goes on, and on, filling the air with beauty.

Multiflora Rose

Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora) native to east Asia. These roses bloom right along with Blackberry bushes up here in the mountains. Often people will see the roses and mistake them for blackberry blooms. They do look a bit similar but there is a very easy way to tell the difference between the two. By their pollen. Blackberry pollen has a pale gray color and Multiflora Rose pollen is bright screaming yellow.

Blackberry is a native plant that is considered by some to be invasive in our woods. But not so quick. There is no comparison to the aggressive/invasive nature of Multiflora Rose versus the more tame growth of Blackberry bushes. Multiflora Rose expands its territory through seed, root sprouting, and layering. Layering happens when a cane bends down and touches the soil, develops roots and takes off on its own with no need for the parent plant. And CLIMB. The Multiflora Rose climbs 10 feet to 15 feet UP into the branches of trees. All this extremely prolific growth of the Multiflora Rose allows it to form impenetrable thickets that exclude native plant species and even hampers the nesting of native birds. 

All this about the invasiveness of this noxious weed and I’ve gotten sidetracked! I wanted to point out to you that there are some blooms of this plant that are cotton candy pink. Not white. The pink is unusual to see, making me stop in my tracks, but it is indeed also Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora). Don’t be fooled by its beauty. It too is indeed an extremely aggressive invasive plant.

Itchy

Male Poison Ivy flowers

Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) is in bloom right now. The plants are dioecious, meaning that each plant is either male or female. All the plants get flowers, male or female flowers. Blooms that looks quite similar, a greenish-yellow color with a width of less than 1/2 inch. Male flowers have prominent stamens covered in brilliant yellow pollen.

Many buds with a few open Poison Ivy blooms

Female flowers, with a prominent pistil, and only small underdeveloped stamens without the striking yellow color. The female blooms develop white drupes which are an important and popular winter food for many birds.

Poison Ivy buds, yet to become flowers

I’ve been fortunate to have a lush patch of Poison Ivy growing in an ancient oak tree that brings in a wonderful assortment of woodpeckers, including Pileated Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers. Poison Ivy makes the birder in me totally happy.

Starry Campion

Starry Campion (Silene stellata) is a native plant found in the eastern and central United States. It is here on my mountain, greeting me as I roam the trails. Pollinators are mostly moths and an occasional bumblebee that slurp the nectar.

A herbaceous perennial plant, loosely branching, 12 to 30 inches tall. The flower has 5 snow white fringed petals which create a 3/4 inch bloom, held by a pale green bell-shaped calyx. Its leaves are lance-shaped, in whorls surrounding the stems. Blooming July through September.

Mountain trails without fail provide fascination.

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Oh So Good For You

Within a week or so my blueberries are going to be turning to their bloom covered midnight blue, signaling the start of a wonderful time of year – blueberry season. There are maybe a dozen mature blueberry bushes in front of my cabin, in front of the wood shop, and in front of the vegetable garden.

Blueberries contain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that provide abundant health benefits. 

These berries will ripen over the course of many weeks. I don’t get to all of them as they reach their best but birds in the area know of their existence and help with the harvest. I love to share with the feathered creatures.

And picking blueberries is quite the popular activity with all the family. All three generations of us.