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Something Cold For A Hot Day
Something to cool you off on a hot summer day. Snow and ice on a seedhead of Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis).
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Sleepy Orange Butterfly
Another orange (or is it actually yellow?) butterfly. Sleepy Orange Butterfly (Eurema nicippe). It is not enough to know that the butterfly you’ve seen is yellow/orange. You must pay attention to the details. In this case there is a diagonal dark smudge on the lower ventral wing which can be consistently seen. And if you…
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Orange Sulphur Butterfly
Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme). A butterfly that flitters about with a wingspan of 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It has a large range, found from southern Canada to central Mexico. Being a generalist, its host plant is often vetch, clover, alfalfa, and other pea family plants. Eggs are laid on the host plant and hatch 4 to…
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Shaggy Mane Mushroom
Shaggy Mane Mushroom (Coprinus comatus) commonly seen in North America and Europe, though in my years of looking for fungi, I’ve only seen these which I’ve captured in pixels, down the dirt road, on my mountain. They grow in man-made habitats such as lawns, along dirt roads, beside hiking trails, in neglected areas, or even…
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Stalked Scarlet Cup
Another of the saprobic fungi. Stalked Scarlet Cup (Sarcoscypha occidentalis) lives as a network of root-like mycelium within dead branches, stems and other pieces of dead wood, on the moist forest floor. The mycelium, working within the dead wood gets nourishment by digesting the wood. They’re important decomposers in the forest. Stalked Scarlet Cup favors Oak,…
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Beefsteak Plant
Beefsteak Plant (Perilla frutescens) Native to eastern Asia. Here in North America it is a exotic invasive. On the road coming up my mountain it is a common sight. Like other members of the Lamiaceae or mint family it has a square stem. The plants that grow in full sun have leaves that are dark…
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Slugs
Something I never thought about writing about before. I encountered many of these critters this morning, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. They’re Leopard Slugs (Limax maximus). Its scientific name means, “biggest slug.” Though actually only the second largest in the genus Limax. The one in the image above stretched out to six or…
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Bloom Where You’re Planted
A glimpse of a very determined plant this morning, outside the Stanardsville, Va., Post Office brought back memories from long long ago. Back then my husband and I would go to our absolute favorite restaurant at least once a week, and often twice a week. The restaurant, run by Kip Laramie, The Sante Fe Cafe,…
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Big Meal For Little Spider
This afternoon I discovered a little White-banded Crab Spider (Misumenoides formosipes) enjoying a late lunch consisting of very large meal, a Tachinid Fly (Tachinidae). The White-banded Crab Spider uses its two front pairs of legs to capture its prey and then bite it, injecting venom to disable its meal. Its strong legs and use of…
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What Color?
Viscid Violet Cortinarius (Cortinarius indes). Purple. Or as the common name suggests, Violet. Rich enough around the edge that I don’t think I could call it lavender. No matter the label, I can feel safe in calling it beautiful. Who would have thought a mushroom could be such a lovely color. Part of the world…