Queen Anne's Lace

Queen Anne's Lace flower in full bloom. Note purple, almost black flower, in center of umbel

When I first learned to identify wild carrot, or Daucus carota, I was eagerly followed its name like a blinking road sign down to the earth. I dug up its root, letting its earthy mint scent wash over my nose. I gently patted the sand from the white carrot pinched delicately between my fingers, nipped off the leaves, and popped the little treat in my mouth. Yum. Domestic carrots often lack the richness of flavor of their wild ancestor, though make up for it, I suppose, in size.

Side view, showing umbel-ness of inflorescence. All flowers originate from single point

I harvested a bunch of the little carrots that summer, but somehow spent surprisingly little time with the plant. It wasn't until the following summer, when I got bees, that I really paid much attention to the above ground part of the plant. I noticed my bees particular zeal for the flat splay of delicate white flowers. Each umbel (a clumb of short-stalked flowers all emerging from a central point) is marked centrally with a deep purple whose purpose, I read, is to guide bees and other pollinators in. More than guide the insect to the inflorescence as a whole, it guides the insect towards the center of the umbel, ensuring that it will come in contact with as many florets as possible before visiting the next plant. 

The mythology of the plant's other name, Queen Anne's Lace, refers to one of several different Queen Annes, who pricked herself while making her lace. A lone drop of blood fell forth from her fingers, tarnishing the otherwise perfect lace. One odd thing about the sanguine flower is that it is sterile, a sacrificial flower to draw in pollinators! Felix, a kiddo in our Whittler's Wharf camp at Crow's Path brought me the above specimen. As we were looking at the flowers I noticed that one of the clusters actually had a second sterile purple flower at the margin of the umbel in addition to the one located at the center (this is visible as a dark, upside down heart on the top left of the above image).

This Queen Anne's Lace, oddly enough, doesn't have the sterile central flower

And just a bonus shot showing a developing inflorescence 

(Dichotomous key interlude) Time lapse of cherry blossom

About 3 weeks ago I pruned some of the fruit trees in my backyard. I took branches from peach, cherry, and plum inside to force. The first cherry blossoms opened as soon as I got to DC! I set out a camera to try and catch a time lapse of the second set of flower buds opening. The branch had three sets of flower buds on it and they opened in sequence from outer most (distal) to the buds closest to the trunk (proximal).

Here's what I learned from my first attempt at capturing a time lapse of a flower opening:

• Get your framing right! I should have left space on either side of the flower and then used a batch edit to crop all the photos. Instead the bottom flower opened and exited the frame!
• Use an artificial light source and block outside light as much as possible. The street lights kept going on and off and altering the lighting on the flower. Also, as the sun came up it threw off the lighting even more. 
• Use the manual aperture and shutter speed settings on the camera to get the exposure constant. The flickering in the video was from minor adjustments because the light meter kept vacillating at f11 between 1/20 and1/25.
• Time intervals. I set the camera to take images at 5 minute intervals and that seemed to work just fine. I used Microsoft Movie Maker to piece them together and set the image timing at 1/10 second. 
• Use a tripod. I didn't bring mine with me so I wound up having to jerryrig one out of an old olive oil container. It shifted slightly and had I needed to replace the batteries it would have thrown the framing off. 

Dew this morning

What: Ryan and I went on a Centennial Woods wander early this morning right as the sun was coming over the Greens. The grass soaked our feet, and everything under the powerlines was covered with dew; a steamy mist was rising up from the ground and the forest had a beautiful glow.

Ecological notes: We had really warm weather yesterday (in the 80s, and an afternoon rainshower) and it was relatively warm at night, cooling significantly by about 4am. Dew forms when heat radiates off an object and moisture in the air condenses out as it cools (like when droplets form on a cool glass of lemonade). The rate of condensation has to be quicker than rate of evaporation. So you wouldn't expect to get dew when:

• it's windy (increased rate of evaporation), 
• dry (not enough moisture to condense out), 
• there's little difference in temperature between the surface of an object and the air
• when it's super sunny or when it's cloudy

This is why dew tends to form in the morning or evening under a cloudless sky without wind. Dew is a common late summer phenomenon when days are warm and nights cool. But because the ground is so warm in the late summer, things directly touching the ground don't have dew on them. On the other hand,leaves, my windshield, and other exposed surfaces do get dew.

Where: Centennial Woods

Other notes: The jewelweed is in full bloom right now, providing some wonderful late season nourishment for bees and hummingbirds.

Dandelion

What: Dandelion is one of my favorite flowers and edibles. It's one of the first to pop up and last herbaceous plants to send it's energy back to its roots for the winter. More often than not in any given area you can find the plant in all four stages of its reproductive life during the whole growing season (with flower buds, flowers, pollinated flowers, and seeds - or achenes - sticking out from the "receptacle").

In the photo on the top left, the early and abundant flowers are providing some of the first food for a pair of house flies (Musca domestica). Dandelions are in the Aster family and have what's called composite flowers meaning that the big round yellow guy sticking up (called a calathidium) is actually closer to a 100 mini flowers (called florets) than one flower (similar to how coral or the Portugese man o' war are not individual organisms but a collection of organisms that resemble and function as a single organism).

I didn't find a good source on the anatomy of a dandelion flower, so I thought I'd offer one here. In the bottom left photo of the dandelion in cross-section you can see the bracts - the little greenish purple guys beneath the flowers, the receptacle - the u-shaped structure that holds the seeds and has sap oozing out of it, and ray flowers - which are bisexual flowers that are attached to the receptacle and give the flower head - or ligulate head - its appearance. If you look at the underside of the flower head, the outer most florets have a beautiful maroon coloration to them and look like the bracts. If you look closely, each "petal" is actually 5 fused petals (notice the teeth at their tips) and corresponds to an individual flower.

The white fluff are the pappus and will form the all to familiar white parasols that float the seeds up to 5 miles away. Just above this, the split curly structures are the pistils (female) and fused to this in a ring at the base of the pistils are the stamen. I got this all straightened out after conferring with Liz Thompson and Matt Kolan. The fat short stubs in the middle of the flower head are florets that have yet to open (and might not open at all). And that's it! If you're going to learn flowers, dandelions probably aren't the best place to start.

Ecological notes: Dandelion thrives in places with little nutrient availability. As such, it has deep taproots that can access scant minerals deeper down. It's leaves spread out generously (called a basal rosette) and lay flat both to block other plants from sprouting near it (which would siphon away nutrients) and to take full advantage of the sunlight. The biggest one I've seen was more than 2' across! They're perennial so they can sprout up early in the spring and get their basal rosette out before other things can germinate.

Where: Everywhere (but the photos were taken in my backyard and an access road adjacent to Centennial Woods).

Other notes: Because of how common this plant is, it has lots and lots of names. Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale - translates in to "Tooth of the lion" because of the large teeth on the leaves. The French call it pissenlit, or "piss in bed" because of its diuretic qualities (often used to purify the liver). The species epithet, officinale, is mideval-Latin and indicates that it was used medicinally (as with the specific epithet for jasmine, lavender, rosemary, comfrey, ginger, fennel, rhubarb, and speedwell).

Woodchucks, red shouldered hawks, and some insects

What: What a grand spring day. I'd never been to Woodside Park in Essex and on a whim while driving home from a great day teaching at Founders Elementary I stopped by to check it out. Turns out it's an incredible patch of floodplain forest and some floodplain controlled cattail marshes/ponds with heaps of wildlife. Below are some of the photographic highlights (including a couple blurry ones, mostly because the subject matter was so good).

Ecological notes: This is more of a photo essay, but I was impressed with the number of flying insects out and about. Just as I arrived, Patty, who works at the detention center, tipped me off to a red-shouldered hawk nest. The hawk wasn't on the nest so I walked the loop first. The spring ephemerals were out in abundance - trout lily, marsh marigold, stinking benjamin, large-flowered trillium, bloodroot, wood anemone, and a few others. So were the insects. I noticed that a duskywing (skipper family based on the curved knob at the tip of the antennae, but couldn't ID to species) was "mobbing a morning cloak" which was interesting. Each time the mourning cloak got near the skipper chased it off. Birds do it, why not butterflies (probably because other butterflies aren't predators on caterpillars)?

At the end of my walk, I spent about an hour and a half watching the nest of a red-shouldered hawk (pictured above). The hawk made lots of angry calls as I approached (lasted about 5 minutes before stopping). While on the nest it only moved its head and rarely that. It seemed to look more energetically when the crows flew by, even though the crows didn't pay much attention. Met Tom Jiamachello as I was leaving and he said the pair had nested her the previous three years.

I spotted a little woodchuck denning up next to the tracks. The soils are all deltaic sands, perfect for digging in and there were several other holes in the area. The woodchuck left noisely over the dry leaves, stopping to nibble what looked like celandine, but I couldn't tell for sure. It was gone for about 20 minutes and returned a bit noisier carrying a huge bundle of oak leaves in its mouth. It dropped them off in a hurry then came out and stood watch for another few minutes before disappearing back down its tunnel.

Where: Woodside Park.

Other notes: While looking up information on the butterflies I noticed that the Red Admiral, Eastern Comma, and Mourning Cloak all overwinter as adults, which I thought was interesting, and so not surprisign that they're among the first butterflies to see in large numbers in the spring.

Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

What: I have been seeing these flowers a lot during my recent wanders in the woods and never knew what they were called! Their droopy shape managed to catch my eye a couple of times along with their beautiful red hue. I found this group growing at a pretty high elevation towards the summit of Mt. Philo, in between the cracks of a boulder. ( I found out later that Red Columbine is also sometimes referred to as Rock Bells! Its pretty amazing to see where some plants grow!

Ecological notes: The Red Columbine is a member of the buttercup family and likes to grow in shady, rocky areas. The plants grow up to three feet tall and is native to North America. It is pollinated by hummingbirds and contains a very sweet nectar! This plants blooms from March to July and sets fruit mid summer.

Where: These pictures were taken hiking Mt. Philo but I have also seen these beauties in Centennial Woods and the Burlington area.

Other notes: This plant is also referred to as honeysuckle which is the name I knew it by. As I peeled back the petals I sucked out the sweet nectar and was immediately brought back to those summer days eating honey suckle in my backyard as a child. Red Columbine is a popular garden perennial because it lives up to 3-5 years and can regenerate itself by seed.

 I am still wondering why these flowers face downward and what purpose this serves the plant?

Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)

By: Frankie

I have been stumbling upon many patches of Trout Lily this spring and this past Monday I have finally found some that have sprouted their beautiful yellow flowers! Trout Lilly can also have white flowers as well but they are a little less common. The name, Trout Lily, comes from its leaves that resemble the patterns of a Brook Trout and also emerges during trout fishing season. Its beautiful spotted mint green leaves is what first caught my attention during the early months of spring. The two top pictures were taken at the end of March and the flowering pictures were taken yesterday. The leaves have a very fresh, sweet taste almost like a crisp cucumber!

Ecological notes: These particular pictures were taken at Niquette Bay about 20 minutes north on I-89. The weather has been very warm these past coupe of weeks, with some days reaching into the 80's! The soil in which these Trout Lily's were found in was pretty dry in a semi-shaded area. This is an ideal habitat for Trout Lily. The leaves have a very smooth texture to them and the flowers are bright yellow with a darker, beige colors on the outside.

Medicinal Uses: Trout Lily can supposedly reduce swollen glands and fever by drinking a tea made from its root and leaves. It is also said that the plant had been used to dress wounds from its crushed leaves and is believed to be mildly emetic and antibiotic. Trout Lily was also used by the Cherokee and Iroquois as a contraceptive, to reduce swelling and as a diuretic. The plant also includes alph-methylene-butyrolactone, which is produces "antimutagenic activity". The chemical prevents cell mutation and could be a viable weapon in fighting cancers.

I also found some folklore on Trout Lily that said the Cherokee used to chew the plant's root and spit the juice back into the water in hopes of getting fish to bite!

Spring ephemerals - Skunk cabbage (part I)

What: It feels so good to break out Newcomb's Wildflower Guide once again! The spring ephemerals have already emerged and are starting to blossom. Their vibrant greens have given me pause, and I've been thinking about what exactly it means to be a spring ephemeral - what adaptations I'd need to survive. If I were an ephemeral I'd want nutrient rich soil to fuel quick growth, some gnarly chemicals to prevent browsers from gobbling up the first green thing they'd seen in 6 months, a bulb, rhizome, or root that could store copious amounts of energy to emerge quickly in the first warm weather of spring, to be small so growth didn't require excessive energy or time, to reproduce vegetatively in case it was a cold spring and insect pollinators weren't out, and a way of attracting pollinators. So there are definitely some adaptive patterns between our different ephemerals that all allow them to take advantage of that brief moment in a year when the ground is warm and the maple leaves still share the branches with the flowers.

Oh, and a spring ephemeral refers to herbaceous perennial plants (above ground parts die back each year) that have a lifespan shorter than the growing season, usually less than two months in April and May. They have to emerge, leaf out, flower, and go to seed before the canopy closes in and blocks out the shade. I'll be posting updates on spring ephemerals over the next couple of weeks as they continue to emerge in the Burlington area.

The one pictured above is a skunk cabbage (Symplcarpus foetidus). Naturalists love to note this plant's ability to generate its own heat to warms itself up on the cold late winter/early spring days to jump start its growth. I was fascinated by the rotting smell of its flower and swarm of blue bottle flies (Calliphora vomitoria) circling around (pictured above). The ravine I was in grades from ash/maple/oak to hemlock/yellow birch. There's considerably less skunk cabbage 'neath the hemlocks, and the few that were there were considerably further behind in terms of development.

Where: I was finding the skunk cabbage on small flood banks of a brook at Red Rocks. Soils were very silty sands, enriched from calcium rich bedrock upslope. Also seemed higher density in alluvial areas where movement downslope (not just downstream) was enriching the soil.

Shrubs bursting

What: Leaves on Red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa), Tartarian honeysuckle (Lonicera tartarica), and Black cherry (Prunus serotina), respectively, bursting.

Ecological notes: Trees in the understory are often the first to leaf out. They risk hard frosts (like that 19 degree night we had the other day) in order to photosynthesize before the canopy trees leaf out. As a generalization, larger trees can store more energy relative to body size so they have a little more of a buffer on how long they can overwinter, plus they're in prime real estate during the summer to make for lost time photosynthesizing.

Where: All over Burlington the green is starting to return. First in the grasses and celandine poppies, then in the shrubs. By now the ostrich fern is starting to pop up as are the wild leeks.

Other notes: Already I've seen blossoms on red elderberries (at Red Rocks in South Burlington). My ornamental elderberries (Sambucus canadensis) haven't put out flowers yet and the emerging leaves do not have the same reddish tinge to them as the wild ones do. The red is caused by the same pigments that make the leaves red in the fall (non-photosynthetic vacuolar pigments called anthocyanins). It's possible that these require little energy investment chlorophyll takes lots of energy to produce) and the plant can produce the structural part of leaves initially and then chlorophyll once the fear of frost is reduced.

Coltsfoot blossoms

What: First coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) blossoms of the year. Along with all the other harbingers of spring, this always signals the regreening of the ground (maybe the end of sugaring, too?). The flowers come up first and look similar to dandelion flowers. Note, however, the leaflets ringing the stalk and lack of leaves.

Ecological notes: Like dandelions, they have perennial roots, which allows them to sprout earlier in the year. They also spread vegetatively (by roots) so I find them in dense clusters. The leaves will come up in a few weeks. Not sure if these jumped the gun with all that warm weather. It's 19 degrees as I write this.

Where: Look for coltsfoot growing in gravely ditches, sandy streambanks and other "waste places." I found this beautiful specimen growing alongside Pond Rd in Shelburne while looking for amphibian sign.

Other notes: The subtle flowers were easily overlooked while searching for amphibians. We heard a few spring peepers peeping in the 80 degree heat (record high). Plus we saw lots of Eastern Newts swimming in the shallows and heard muskrats making their whining mating noises.