Yucca Gloriosa

September 21, 2025

A thunderstorm overnight, with the tiniest bit of much needed rain. Here a few of those raindrops still on blooms of Yucca Gloriosa (Yucca gloriosa). This is a species of Yucca that is native to the southeastern United States which blooms in late summer, early autumn for me.

Yuccas have a special place in my heart since I adore the state of New Mexico, and the state flower of New Mexico is actually not a single species but instead is the genus Yucca. This flower is also honored as the national flower of the central American country of El Salvador, the birthplace of a dear friend. In that case the specific species of Yucca gigantea is honored.

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Texture Against The Sky

September 20, 2025

The end of summer and the leaflets of Black Walnut trees (Juglans nigra) are one by one turning yellow and dropping to the ground. Also dropping to the ground are the “nuts” which are not true nuts but are actually drupes. What a surprise to discover that.

Something that I really enjoy about these trees is the beautiful texture, the gorgeous patterns, that they create against the sky. It’s particularly lovely at this time of year before many of those yellow leaves have dropped to the ground.

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Spicebush Berries

September 19, 2025

Drupes (berries) on Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) turning to their lovely crimson coloring, as autumn approaches.

As autumn further advances, these drupes will all turn their bright red, and the leaves will become a rich yellow. Those leaves, when crushed emit a luscious spicy aroma. Thanks to that spicy aroma, deer tend to avoid munching on these bushes, unless of course they are very hungry.

Spicebush is a deciduous shrub in the laurel family (Lauraceae) which is native to the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and the Midwest. It is dioecious, meaning it has separate male and female plants. In the autumn female plants will have those red drupes, and male plants will not produce any fruit.

A lovely plant to spot in the woods.

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White Flowers In The Genus Solidago

September 18, 2025

There are only two species of plants in the genus, Solidago (Goldenrod), that produce flowers that are white, all the others, as you might guess have rich, bright yellow flowers. This is one of those plants with white colored flowers, Silverrod (Solidago bicolor) which grows up here on my mountain, and is in bloom right now.

It’s native to most of eastern North America, found from Manitoba to Nova Scotia in Canada, and in every state east of the Mississippi River with the exception of Florida.

The other white flowering, Goldenrod (Solidago), is White Flat-top Goldenrod (Solidago ptarmicoides). It is native to central and eastern Canada, and portions of the US, including the Great Lakes area, the Northeast, the Ozarks, and the northern Great Plains, with solitary populations in Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma, and other scattered spots in the Southeast.

Who would have guessed that there are any white goldenrods?

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Common Rockcap Fern

September 17, 2025

A surprising fern that grows on large boulders and smaller rocks, ledges, decaying logs and tree roots, sometimes in a location that has no soil at all. Its roots aid in breaking down rocks to create soil.

This evergreen fern is Common Rockcap Fern (Polypodium virginianum), native to the eastern United States and Canada. Its fronds are 10 to 12 inches long. Along with its ability to live where there is no soil, it also can lose most of its water content during a dry spell by going dormant. Once the dried out plant gets rained upon, it will unfurl, and turn green again.

Quite the plant!

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Broad-banded Hoverfly

September 16, 2025

A Broad-banded Hoverfly (Epistrophe grossulariae) feeding on the nectar and pollen of Blue Wood Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium). These Hoverflies have a widespread native range including Europe, Asia, North Africa, and North America.

They closely resemble a bee, but they don’t sting, though they do enjoy landing on a sweaty arm to lap up our salts. So be patient, they are gentle creatures. Their size ranges between .4 and .5 inches in length. Broad-banded Hoverfly larvae eat aphids and other small soft bodied insects.

A good one to have around.

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Butterfly In The Leaves

September 15, 2025

A Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis) showing off its colors in the sunlight. Red? Orange? My vote is for orange spots. And purple? I’d vote for blue on this one. But perhaps I see colors in a different way than other people do. I think that’s quite likely.

As adults these butterflies live only 6 to 14 days, feeding on sap from trees, overripe fruits, and animal scat. They’ll also get moisture and nutrients drinking at mud puddles. They’re not very dependent on nectar from flowers but on rare occasions you might see one checking out the nectar.

It’s not the adult butterflies, but their caterpillars that survive through the winter in the rolled up leaf of one of their host plants. A few of the host plants of Red-spotted Purples include Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina), Willows (Salix), Poplars and Aspen (Populus), Birches (Betula), Oaks (Quercus), Hawthorn (Crataegus), and Serviceberry (Amelanchier).

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Brilliant Leaves One By One

September 14, 2025

A tree with leaves that have an independent streak, not changing all at once, but just here and there, one at a time. A medium sized tree native to eastern North America from the coast of Northeastern United States and southern Ontario to central Florida and eastern Texas on to Mexico. Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica).

The here and there change starts in late summer and culminates as the autumn leaves of many trees reach their peak, in late October.

During all this time of change, this is a tree that I count on to have spectacular autumn color. Knock your socks off scarlet!

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Changing Colors

September 13, 2025

What a marvelous jigsaw puzzle this would make. Light shining through the changing leaves of a Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida).

Every year I notice as summer is just beginning, in late June, that the Dogwoods are just starting little by little to lose the green of their leaves. Ever so slowly getting a hint of red.

That slow change, green to red, happens as the chlorophyll which is used to convert sunlight to energy during photosynthesis, begins to break down. The loss of chlorophyll reveals the yellow and orange pigments that were already in the leaves.

Most of the year, these leaves are green because of the chlorophyll they use to absorb energy from sunlight during photosynthesis. The leaves convert the energy into sugars to feed the tree. Deep, rich red colors that are seen in Dogwoods and Oaks happen due to the sugars that can become trapped in the leaves. Those trapped sugars cause a chemical change which creates new pigments, anthocyanins, which produce red, purple, and blue colors.

Ah, nature. So complicated and so amazing.

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What Are Drupes?

September 12, 2025

A drupe is defined as, “in botany, simple fleshy fruit that usually contains a single seed, such as the cherry, peach, and olive.” Thanks to Britannica.com. 

These drupes are on the deciduous shrub/small tree, Blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium). They are red right now, and they’ll soon be turning to a blue-black color. There is a very long list of birds that find these fruits a valuable food source.

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