Betelgeuse, my GrandKitty, the Grand Pumpkin Inspector.
Pumpkin Inspector
Purple-flowering Raspberry In Autumn
Purple-flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus) still in its summer finery. Not quite in the mood for autumn yet. Lots of time left though for the leaves to turn their golden hue.
A native bush that is growing in a good part of eastern North America, to a height of 6 feet and a width of about the same. Early summer flowers of a medium shade of magenta that result in fruit that wildlife enjoys, but I’ve read that they are not particularly delicious for us humans. Insipid I think was the word used.
That’s fine they are insipid, they’re for the wildlife after all!
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American Chestnut Bur!
Those of you that know me, know that I’m extremely interested in the American Chestnut (Castanea dentata), the blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) that came close to totally wiping out the species, and the work being done by The American Chestnut Foundation.
So you can imagine how surprised I was yesterday afternoon while I was out with my camera, when I spotted an American Chestnut bur!
Though not often seen, American Chestnut trees are still around.
Keep your eyes open. There are all sorts of surprises out there.
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Incredible Round Mushroom
Went out this afternoon to get a picture of this Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea). I put a pair of scissors next to it for scale, but I realize now that those scissors were a poor choice since they are small but in the photo they look large. They’re just 5 inches in length. But with that measurement you can get a good idea of the mushroom’s size. Generally they range in size from golf-ball to beach-ball.
These mushrooms are native to temperate regions world wide. And are usually found directly on the ground or on rotting wood.
A bit of comedy here as I’m reading about this mushroom. I see that they usually appear a few days after a heavy rain. Hmmm. Really.
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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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