Author Archives: Brenda Clements Jones

About 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.

Hydrophobic

Hydrophobic, meaning water-repellent. Many plants have hydrophobic leaves and they can be found looking for them while it’s raining, or soon after it stops. This one is Virginia Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana).

Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis) is also hydrophobic. The reasons that leaves might be hydrophobic are many. One reason is to protect the plant from fungal and bacterial infections which can happen more often on wet leaves.

Here is a Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum) leaf repelling rain water. Another reason plants might repel rain water is to clean dirt from the surface of its leaves.

This is a Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum), another plant with hydrophobic leaves. Some plants might use this trick to protect themselves from snails.

Whatever the reason, for me it creates an interesting thing to look for. These pictures are just four of many that I’ve found. I’ll keep looking. Surely there are many more.

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Dot-Lined White Moth

With the look of a tiny stuffed animal wrapped in a white fluffy fur coat, this is a Dot-lined White Moth (Artace cribrarius). Wingspan of one to nearly two and a half inches, males are smaller than females.

These moths are generally found in the eastern United States. Their larval host plants are species of Oak (Quercus), Cherry (Prunus), and Rose (Rosa). As adults they don’t eat anything.

Like most moths, the Dot-lined White Moth is nocturnal.

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Surprise, Surprise!

What a delightful surprise this morning. Well, actually not really a surprise, but after almost a whole week of fog, drizzle, rain, and no sunshine – there it was, the sun was out creating lovely shadows all over the mountain!

I grabbed my dear camera and the two of us roamed with thoughts of capturing evidence of the brilliant sun and its shadows.

I got many pictures, and this is one, with another surprise. I had no idea Virginia Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana) bloomed in the autumn, but sure enough there it was, one bloom for this morning and several buds waiting for their turn. And if you look carefully, on the right side of the bloom, a tiny insect, a Flower Fly (Syrphidae) having breakfast of nectar and pollen.

Hooray for sunshine!

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A Queen

Roaming with my camera a couple days ago as the drizzle came down, I came upon an Eastern Yellow Jacket (Vespula maculifrons). This one though was larger than I’m used to seeing. Turns out it is a queen Yellow Jacket.

The size difference? The worker Yellow Jacket is about 1/2 inch long and the queen Yellow Jacket is about 3/4 inch long. Quite the difference when you’re used to seeing the smaller workers.

After getting several pictures, I quickly moved on. I was stung just once several weeks ago by a worker and didn’t want the opportunity of comparing that sting with the sting of a queen.

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Dogwood

Another day of thick fog, drizzle and rain. Another day of wet leaves that brighten the colors of the leaves and color the beginning of autumn.

There are well more than thirty — to nearly sixty — species of plants in the genus Cornus. Twelve of them are native to the United States and Canada.

This picture of course is the Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida), the Dogwood that so many of us are familiar with. This one beginning to turn crimson while others might turn fiery orange or rich shades of purple or brilliant yellow. And those drupes, what a striking color.

Color means so much to me.

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Drizzle On Winged Sumac

Today more drizzle, fog, and rain. And the moisture only makes the color of the Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum) *pop* even more.

This deciduous shrub or tree is a fun to find. When its flowers are blooming, mid-summer, the whole tree buzzes loudly with all the bees that are collecting nectar and pollen. And now, in early autumn, as you can see from my picture (which I promise I haven’t tweaked the color at all), random leaves will decide to turn from rich emerald green to intense scarlet. Opposite colors on the color wheel creating remarkable contrast.

One leaf turns intense red and with time drops to the ground, then another until finally there are no leaves left, as winter arrives.

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In The Rain

Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana) is native to a good portion of North America from Quebec to Manitoba south to Florida and New Mexico. Blooming now in early autumn providing both nectar and pollen late in the growing season for bees, buttterflies, and hummingbirds migrating to their winter homes.

Here it’s enjoying all the soft drizzle that is slowly bringing moisture back to the thirsty plants.

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A Hungry Caterpillar

Looking to me like a Yorkshire Terrier dressed for Halloween, this is actually a Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar (Euchaetes egle), out and about in late summer and now, early autumn. These larvae principally choose Milkweed (Asclepias) or Dogbane (Apocynum) as their host plants.

Not to be of concern though. These caterpillars generally go for older plants which are more tough, for their meals. Monarch caterpillars will choose more tender, younger plants to sustain themselves.

The Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillars might leave the Milkweed plants looking a bit bedraggled but those plants will survive to sprout up again next year, for another year of supporting Monarchs and these Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillars.

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Beware The Hitchhiker

Naked-flowered Tick Trefoil (Desmodium nudiflorum) native to eastern North America. It’s going to seed now, just waiting for you to hike past. Its flat seedpods, called loments or more casually, hitchhikers, are covered with short hooked hairs — think miniature velcro. They’re out there and when you come home covered with them it will take forever to remove them all. Really.

Before the loments, tiny, pretty pink flowers that don’t last long at all. I went out this morning to get pictures of them. You can see the one on the left is accompanied by flowers in decline. Not much left. But perhaps you get the idea, blink and they’re gone. And then those loments that come home with you.

Be warned. Notice them. And avoid them. Unless you have time to spare.

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Native But Aggressive

Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) a quick growing vine, native to eastern and central North America. It has palmately compound leaves usually with 5 leaflets. And can be confused with Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) so double check the number of leaflets that you’re seeing. Maybe what you see is not Poison Ivy, but just Virginia Creeper. Also, a bit of caution if you are actually getting into the Virginia Creeper, this vine will not give you a painful rash like you might get from Poison Ivy, but there are some people who will get skin irritation or a slight rash from the sap of Virginia Creeper.

It’s an aggressive grower, adding about 20 feet a year. Considered by many to be a weed. I have to discourage it in my gardens but in the woods it’s beautiful. In the autumn it turns a gorgeous crimson. Sometimes it turns from green to red just one leaflet at a time.

Right now, up here in the mountains there are trees that are still mostly green but there are also places where Virginia Creeper is growing, draping its crimson throughout the woods. Lovely.

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