Plants Are People Too Series

Fall Offerings from Coventry, Connecticut

Fall Reflection

Fall Fire

Fall on Water

equinox

I just missed stepping on this one - mushrooms have been relatively scarce this year.

Is this why so many leaves are chewed off?

Mikania, climbing hempvine

Parasitic pinhead-size Cuscuta climbs the pathweeds.

The seldom seen Lygodium palmatum (Hartford fern) is our only native climbing fern, similar to the introduced Lygodium japonica which is invasive in the deep deep south.

Sporty beetle on Schizachyrium stalk

This is the time for Bidens, most of them with no ray flowers.

This is the showiest Bidens, abundant on the banks of Hop River.

The organic apples taste fine if you can find a good spot to bite into.

Asparagus berries are poisonous!

other signs of late september

This chestnut is on Wangumbaug Road, the lady of the house said it's the blight-resistant Asian type her father planted many moons past. I sure would like to find a fruiting American chestnut.






















The Prenanthes along the roadside are very inconspicuous and always nodding.

Fallen acorns in the muck of the marsh perhaps from a white oak, though I couldn't seem to spot its mother along the margin.

red maple (Acer rubrum)

signs of late september

This is my invisible companion of the day.
























Three fruits: Ilex (winterberry), Celastrus (bittersweet), and Vitis (grape).

The Clematis (virgin's bower) is going to seed

but here's one still blooming!

As I was coming out onto the road, this mama was speeding across the pavement with all her babies in tow.

The Backpath at Fox Trail

The tall, bushy grass-leaf goldenrod (Solidago graminifolia) is going by but the flies seem to love it. Here is yellow one but I also saw a bright blue fly. and a black one with bright red eyes.This is a different goldenrod, the tall Solidago altissima (2-7')

The sweet-smelling Apios americana is also known as groundnut or wild bean. If you follow the root underground, you may find a string of little tubers which are edible. This one is climbing up the stem of a tall goldenrod.

Look at this little critter probing the spearmint. I love the smell of those leaves!
Can you see what's happening here? A white crab spider has a rusty moth in it's clutches. Gruesome.

Lake Wangumbaug August 2, 2010

I've been looking at the center of Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) trying to photograph the tiny maroon floret - I'll try again somewhere away from the windy lake.
















This is a Cyperus, one of our prettiest waterside sedges. There are 217 sedge species on my Connecticut "list," 13 of the genus Cyperus.

This tiny creature, the size of a fleck of dirt (maybe 1.5mm), somehow caught my attention as I was examining a Eupatorium (boneset). Nick says it's a dung caterpillar - I will try to find out.

This mama mallard is keeping a close eye on her chicks.

Willimantic River, Coventry - 7/29/10

The River

Bumblebee on Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium)

Lobelia cardinalis

Hiding in the leaf litter

Ironweed (Vernonia)

fine print collection - close portraits

Aquilegia canadensis

Trillium erectum

Commelina communis

Sanguinaria canadensis

Trillium undulatum

fine print collection - shakers