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.
Maple-leaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium) is blooming right now in my yard, and along trails up here in the mountains. It’s a shrub that reaches a height of 3′ to 6′ and a width of 3′ to 4′.
The fuzzy textured leaves grow opposite each other, and are 2″ to 4″ long and wide, with 3 to five lobes. Those lobes have a serrated edge.
The flowers are arranged in flat-topped clusters, or cymes, which provide nectar and pollen to bees, flies, beetles, wasps, butterflies and skippers.
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Here’s my Dad stretched out on his driveway having a heart to heart chat with a Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). This was a good number of years ago in Florida where Mom and Dad lived. Their house was on a circle and just across the street, the circle, and the tree shaded home of the Tortoise. I don’t recall that they had a name for this guy, but they got to see it frequently.
Gopher Tortoises are native to a small area, from southern South Carolina west through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and south through the peninsula of Florida, including the islands along the Gulf coast of Florida. They have a life expectancy of 40 to 60 years. Gopher Tortoises are solitary creatures with the exception of breeding season.
GopherTortoise entering one of its burrows
During their long life they will dig and use a number of burrows. These can be quite sizable at 15 feet long and 7 feet deep, or as large as 40 feet long and 10 feet deep. These burrows provide refuge from extreme temperatures, predators, and other harsh conditions for the Tortoises themselves and for many other species.
These Tortoises provide great help in their ecosystem, digging their burrows and sharing them with a multitude of other species. This sheltering and providing protection from predators for themselves and at least 300 other species entitles them to consideration as a keystone species. A species whose presence is critical for the survival of many others.
The conservation status of the Gopher Tortoise is threatened to endangered.
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Ebony Spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron), native to eastern North America, as well as southern Africa. It is a small evergreen fern that grows to between 6 and 10 inches tall.
A fern that I have the pleasure of seeing occasionally as I hike the trails up here in these beautiful mountains. It not only grows in a wide variety of soil types, but it also can grow on nearly bare rocks.
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I see one perhaps once a year. A Luna Moth (Actias luna) with a wingspan of 3 to 4.5 inches, a beautiful pale green color, and a simple pattern on a sophisticated shape. This one is in mighty good shape. Some years, the one that I happen to see looks a bit battleworn.
As adults Luna moths live about 7 to 10 days. During that time they don’t eat, relying on stored fat from their caterpillar days. Their aim at this stage in life is to focus on reproduction.
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I’ve got an Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) that seems to be always hanging around the yard, flying from its perch to catch an insect mid-flight and then coming back to that same perch. They’re solitary birds, not sociable.
If there was any uncertainty of what this species of bird this is, I could always watch for the often flicking of its tail. And that tail, though not forked, certainly is notched.
Glad it’s here on duty hunting those insects. During winter it will eat small fruits and berries, including Poison Ivy berries.
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Putty Root (Aplectrum hyemale), an Orchid native to eastern North America. A raceme comes up out of the soil mid-spring with no leaves. It blooms with multiple flowers, each perhaps a bit less than 1/2 inch across.
The flowers last perhaps 2 or 3 weeks slowly fading away. In autumn a single leaf is produced, green with white pinstripes. The leaf stays green through the winter fading away in March.
So many wonders to find in the woods!
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A deciduous shrub, native to eastern United States, Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus), showing off its dark red blooms right now. This, a young flower.
And this a more mature flower. The fragrant blooms will last for nearly a month. The leaves and stems are also scented if rubbed or scratched. The aroma will vary from shrub to shrub.
The Carolina Allspice is host plant for Double-banded Zale Moth, Oblique-banded Leafroller Moth, and the Saddleback Caterpillar Moth. Pollinators that are attracted to the flowers are Sap Beetles, Bees, Butterflies, and Hummingbirds.
Pure pleasure to have them around.
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Seen out on the lane today. A Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arethemis) sitting in the gravel, in the ventral, or wings up position. And in the image below it’s in the dorsal, or wings open position.
Native to eastern United States, in the southeastern states in particular. Host plants are a wide variety of trees and bushes such as Willow, Poplar, Cherry, Birch, Hawthorn, Birch, and Hop Hornbeam.
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Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) in bloom just a few days ago. Trees that I’ve learned a great many things about since I’ve lived up here on my mountain. First off, I was amazed to learn that they grow into very large trees.
Growing up with woods just behind my house I was familiar with small Sasssafras saplings with their wonderful fragrance. I’ve been surprised to find out that Sassafras trees grow to be quite large trees, growing to 60 feet tall and sometimes even taller. And a trunk up to 24 inches in diameter.
Many surprises as I became quite familiar with this tree which seemed to be so different from the saplings I knew as a child. Another, the fruit, dark blue-black drupes measuring in at about 1/3 inch in length. I sure didn’t know about these!
So much to learn about nature. I’ll be busy learning for years and years. And if I were a tree surely it would be a Sassafras.
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These photos are Spiderwort (Tradescantia), blooming in my gardens right now. Tradescantia are native to the Americas from southern Canada to the West Indies to northern Argentina, with somewhere between 70 and 86 species. In the United States there are about 17 native species, many of these are close relatives to Tradescantia virginia and will often interbreed.
Hummingbirds love these flowers and they’re a great sourse of nectar for the hummers as well as the butterflies and bees that are attracted by the colors.
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