Tag Archive | Nature Story
The Last Big Harvest
Fall is the time of year when goldenrods brighten the fields and roadsides with showy yellow blossoms. It is the time for the last major harvesting of nectar and pollen by bees, wasps, migrating butterflies and many other insects. Nectar gathered by bumblebees and honeybees will help these insects survive the winter. Pollen is also […]
The Desirable Wildflower
Black-eyed Susan is a native North American wildflower that thrives in sun lit prairies, fields and roadsides. It was originally thought to have spread from the Great Plains eastward, but recent research indicates it was native to colonial towns in Maryland. It was the colonists who named the plant black-eyed Susan featured in an English […]
Endangered in New York, Extirpated from Pennsylvania
Walking through a pine barren habitat where pitch pine, oak trees and heaths dominate the landscape, I came upon a disturbed area where the sandy soils were saturated with water and sedges, rushes and grasses dominated the opening. There were dozens of orange flowers on short stems along with sundews where the vegetation was less […]
The Plant with Many Names
It is called silverweed because when you dip its leaves into water the leaves show a silvery glow. It is called ladies ear drops because its flowers dangle like earrings from a girl’s ears. It is called jewelweed because the rain and early morning dew resemble jewels on its stems. It is called touch-me-not because […]
Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus
When I lived and worked in New York and visited beaches along the north shore of Long Island in the summer, the sheltered areas of the beachfront were dotted with the yellow blossoms of the prickly pear cactus. You normally associate cacti with deserts, but the sandy dry soils beyond the reach of high tides […]
