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Soon To Be Pink Clouds
March 23, 2025 Redbuds (Cercis canadensis) are budding out, soon to become charming clouds of pink scattered throughout the trails here in the mountains. Those buds don’t just occur on twigs. Redbud trees send out buds directly on the tree’s trunk and large branches as well. This behavior is called cauliflory and is found not…
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Blueberries In The Works
March 22, 2025 On the bushes right now. Buds form for the following June in late summer and early autumn. Seems much preparation is in order for blueberries to happen. All winter long the buds sit. Waiting. And now spring is upon us and the bushes are taking signals — length of day and temperature.…
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Sure Looks Like Asparagus
March 17, 2025 This the emerging tip of of a flower stalk on a Yucca Filamentosa (Yucca filamentosa), taken in May 2023. Sure looks like an asparagus spear to me, and with good reason. Yucca plants and asparagus belong to the same plant family, which is Asparagaceae. Don’t try eating that asparagus looking Yucca tip…
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Slickrock Paintbrush
March 16, 2025 A plant to be admired for its determination and ability to sprout where its seeds are scattered. In cracks in rocks high up on steep walls at Zion National Park, where I managed to capture a picture. This plant has an appropriate common name, Slickrock Paintbrush (Castilleja scabrida). That brilliant red, by…
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First Butterfly Of Late Winter/Early Spring
March 15, 2025 Mourning Cloak Butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa), native to North America and Eurasia. These butterflies have a remarkable lifespan, living as adults for 10 to 12 months, much longer than the normal life span of 2 to 4 weeks. As adults they feed on sap, ripe and fallen fruits, and honeydew from aphids. These…
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And Now Toad Eggs
March 14, 2025 Yesterday I wrote about Frog and Salamander Eggs. In the picture above are some eggs that are different. They’re the eggs of an American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus). I found them in a small stream running alongside the road further up the mountain. Frog eggs are always in eggmasses. Salamander eggs are sometimes…