Carolina Horsenettle (Solanum carolinense). Native to the southeastern United States. All parts of the plant are poisonous including the berries which look like yellow cherry tomatoes.
The stems, as well as leaves are hairy, and those stems, leaf midribs and petioles have many needlelike thorns.
Carolina Horsenettle is in bloom right now. Watch out for it.
As I was leaving the yoga studio yesterday morning a Horned Passalus Beetle (Odontotaenius disjunctus) greeted me on the sidewalk. One BIG beetle. They can grow to be 1.6 inches long and this one was certainly at least that long. Weighing in at 1 to 2 grams they’re able to haul 50 times their weight. A beetle that lives most of its life (about a year) inside a decaying log or stump, it only is out wandering when it is looking to mate. So very glad I was there to see it as it roamed.
I was struck at how this beetle looks very much like the patent leather shoes that I loved to get as my Sunday shoes when I was little. Actually one of its common names is Patent Leather Beetle. But Horned Passalus is the approved Entomological Society of America common name for this creature.
As its name would indicate, the Horned Passalus Beetle has a horn that is on top of its head, between its eyes, facing forward.
Threatening looking mandibles are part of their makeup as well. Eating dead wood is their way of life, clearing up debris in the forest.
Everlasting Pea (Lathyrus latifolius) native to Europe. An herbaceous perennial vine that has 3 to 6 foot long winged stems. It’s occasionally found along woodland edges, at the sites of old homesteads or in this case at the site of an abandoned church along a dirt road in the mountains. The seeds of Everlasting Pea are poisonous, so though “pea” is in the name, don’t eat them.
Well, that’s quite a name. And take a look at this beetle. It’s quite the insect too. It grows to a size of 1.25 inches. The Larger Flat-headed Pine Borer (Chalcophora virginiensis) can be found throughout the US, anywhere conifers grow, where they breed on dead trees and stumps but they will also breed on live trees which will eventually kill the tree.
Under its dark-copper/black elytra (wing coverings) is a vibrant metallic blue-green abdomen that is revealed as the beetle flies.
As I was checking out my photographs of this insect, I was struck by its similarity to the Emerald Ash Borer, including the metallic coloring of the EAB’s entire body. Turns out this is in the same family of metallic wood boring beetles, the Buprestidae family, as the Emerald Ash Borer, which is aggressively devastating the woods up here as I type this. Not a nice wood borer.
A native of eastern and central North America, Narrow Leaf Sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa).
The bright red-orange buds lead to blooming in the late spring and early summer, for a period of about a month. Bees, skippers and butterflies are the pollinators of these flowers.
As summer turns to autumn, the leaves of the Narrow Leaf Sundrops join with other leaves, turning to bright scarlet. A perennial, and a great source of color for three of the four seasons.
In late April or early May, the Wild Geraniums (Geranium maculatum) up here on the mountain are beginning to show off their sweet, rich, pink. The blooming lasts for about a beautiful month.
Though the plant continues the show without the dramatic color, still the show goes on. This the beak-like fruit of the flower is just the beginning of the finale.
And this, what I consider to be the grand finale. One flowering season of the Wild Geranium, a herbaceous perennial at the edge of trails here in the woods, coming to an end. Slender carpels of this fruit quickly curl up and back in order to fling their seeds. Here, like a gleeful child as if saying, “Ta DAA!” each of the seed cups now is empty. Their impressive mission complete.
Scarlet Beebalm (Monarda didyma) native to eastern North America. A delight for hummingbirds in the area, bees, and some sphinx moths. A cool and crazy looking flower that makes me wonder if Dr Seuss used it as inspiration for some of his drawings. Perhaps?
While admiring Common Milkweed which produces an amazing fragrance across long distances, I discover several unusual looking insects. They look like a capital T or an old-fashioned airplane, with a wingspan of perhaps 5/8 inch. Feathery wings and spiny, delicate looking legs.
These are Plume Moths (Pterophoridae). There are more than 1,000 species of Plume Moths in the world. The latest figures I can find for the number of described species in North America, north of the Mexican border is 166.
Of these 166 species that have been described, it is said that it is quite difficult to tell one species from the other without the aid of a microscope. I’ll skip that and just say these interesting looking moths are Plume Moths. A fun moth to find, with such an out of the ordinary look.
I planted these bushes for their beauty. The rubies please me beyond words. Red Currant (Ribes rubrum). Each year when they mature into their richness, childhood memories of family reunions in Sellersville, Pennsylvania, return. The Red Currant bushes growing tall next to the quoit pits.
I’ve just stumbled upon something that makes me feel so good. Quoits is a game something like horseshoes, but with a disk rather than a horseshoe. But until this evening I could only find information on the pronunciation of the word like it is spelled, “quoits”. Back at those reunions though it was pronounced “kwaits”. But I’ve just come upon a post about The United States Quoiting Association which says, “Formally pronounced koits or kwoits but commonly pronounced kwaits here in Pennsylvania.” Ah, that makes me feel better. My memories from long ago are correct.
And those ruby red currants are delicious too. I may get a few to add to the custard that I’ll be making again soon.
Just a couple days after the grass was cut. Two tiny bunnies were found hiding in that short grass. Warming themselves in the sun and hiding from predators. How they were found, I don’t know. Perhaps the magic of the Woodland Fairy. They were quite invisible to ordinary searching eyes such as mine. But Granddaughter found the bunnies and she came to let me know of her happy discovery.
She proudly but very quietly showed me where they were. Though I didn’t want to disturb either one, I wanted to get a better view, moving blades of grass. The teeny critters took the stance of, “You can’t see me, because I’m perfectly still!” When I started taking pictures she put her hand down and said, “My hand for scale!” An excellent assistant.
Baby Eastern Cottontail Rabbits will leave their nest to be totally independent when they are between 3 and 5 weeks of age. The size, like this one, not much bigger than a Chipmunk. The smallest rabbits I’ve ever seen. Absolutely precious.
