Pileated Woodpecker

The Pileated Woodpecker -- © Dave Spier

It’s our largest woodpecker and almost as long as a crow. A white patch on top of each black wing and white underwing linings make it a flashy flier. The body and tail are also black. If you can see the red crest, you know it’s a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus, which translates to "crested tree-cleaver"). Closer inspection of this shy species, usually requiring binoculars, will reveal a white stripe extending from the top beak almost to the back of the head and then down the neck to the shoulder. The throat is white and there is a small white line over the eye. Adult males have a red forehead and red streak between the cheek and throat. On females the red is confined to the main part of the crest at the back of the crown.

Pileateds, nicknamed "log-cocks" and "cocks-of-the-woods," live mainly in mature forests, but are sometimes seen in suburbs, parks and even villages. They are year-round residents but may shift territory depending on food supplies. Their preferred diet is carpenter ants and the birds will excavate long, rectangular holes to extract them from trees. Pileated Woodpeckers locate their prey by listening for the insect’s chewing sounds. The woodpeckers also eat other insects, larvae, berries, and nuts in the wild. I’ve seen photos of these birds at suet feeders, but my feeders are too close to the house and almost never attract a wary pileatus. Other local woodpeckers (Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied, sapsucker and flicker) are regulars to semi-regulars.

Besides eating wood-damaging insects, pileateds contribute to their woodland ecosystem by chiseling a new nest cavity every spring. The previous year’s nest then becomes available for other residents such as flying squirrels and screech owls.

The range of the Pileated covers the eastern half of the United States, portions of the Pacific Northwest and most of southern Canada. By density, though, it is most numerous in the old conifer and deciduous forests of the southern states.

The population of Pileated Woodpeckers declined sharply in the 1800’s as forests were converted to farmland and the remaining birds were shot for target practice. Conservation laws and the reversion of fields to second-growth woodlots has allowed the number of woodpeckers to rebound, but it is not what anyone would consider numerous.

For more information, photos and sounds, visit the All About Birds website. An interactive range map (zoomable to your location) can be found in the eBird Explore Data section.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There's also a community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature and geology topics can be found on the parallel blogs Adirondack Naturalist and Heading Out.

"Old Man's Beard"

Canon XTi with EF 100mm macro lens + macro-twin-flash;
exp. 1/125 sec., f/16, at ISO 100

Virgin's Bower

© Dave Spier

In the world of plants, there's a vine commonly known as "Old Man's Beard." (Well, that would apply to me, too, but I'm otherwise not green.) It's also called Virgin's Bower and botanists know it as Clematis virginiana, a member of the Anemoneae tribe in the Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae). The descriptive name refers to the fruit clusters that have seeds ending in long filaments. Other folk names include Devil's Darning Needles and Devil's Hair. The genus name, Clematis, is Ancient Greek for "climbing plant."

The vine is somewhat herbaceous (at least in the north), meaning it dies back to the ground in late fall. It's opposite leaves have three leaflets reminiscent of Poison Ivy, but that is a woody vine. In the spring, Virgin's Bower has to start from scratch. In summer it puts out numerous clusters of small, fragrant flowers, each with four white "petals" (actually sepals). Compared to their colorful and showy garden relatives, they're more inconspicuous.

Virgin's Bower is native to eastern North America. Ours grow in a young woods that's mostly shaded. There they blend in with the other plants. Perhaps in full sun, the vines and flowers would be more noticeable. The vine is capable of climbing trees to a height of 20 feet, but ours just sprawl in a tangled mess across the top of the ground cover and low shrubs. Clematis virginiana tolerates Black Walnuts, which produce chemicals that interfere with some plant's growth. That's a good thing because the squirrels are advancing the walnut forest in that direction.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There's also a community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature and geology topics can be found on the parallel blogs Adirondack Naturalist and Heading Out.

Giant Swallowtail

© Dave Spier

With a wingspan of roughly five inches (give or take an inch), the Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes, syn. Heraclides cresphontes) is one of the largest butterflies in eastern and southern North America. Females are larger than males.

This butterfly species ranges from Arizona to the East Coast and from southeastern Canada to Texas and Florida with a population extension into California. In the south the caterpillars are sometimes considered pests in citrus orchards. In the north the larvae eat Prickly-ash (a shrub unrelated to ash trees, although the compound leaves have a similar appearance). Common or Northern Prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum americanum) is in the citrus family (Rutaceae) and sometimes called "toothache tree" because the bark was chewed to relieve tooth-ache. Although I've found prickly-ash locally, its core range is the upper Mid-west.

Giant Swallowtails are dark brown to black with rows of pale yellow spots near the outer edges of all the wings and another row straight across the fore wings. The rear wing "tails" have yellow centers. Small orange and blue spots on the inner wing edges flank the abdomen tip.

Look for these butterflies in open areas and scattered woodlands, a perfect description of our yard where the butterflies check our garden flowers for nectar. The photo, however, was taken beside the Manchester Gateway Trail along Canandaigua Outlet Creek in the Village of Manchester, NY. It was visiting flowers in the open area under the high-voltage power lines. The rest of the trail is mostly wooded floodplain with deciduous trees.

There are several broods per year in the north, but the timing is variable from May to August or September.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There's also a community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature and geology topics can be found on the parallel blogs Adirondack Naturalist and Heading Out.

European Frogbit

Frogbit

© Dave Spier

Among its many incursions into southeastern Wayne County, New York, European Frogbit (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae) can be found edging Black Creek as it leaves the Montezuma Marshes west of Savannah, just before passing under Route 31 and flowing on its way to Crusoe Creek. This Eurasian species was introduced into Ottawa, Canada in the 1930's and has since spread around the lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway watersheds. Its spread northeastward has been limited only by water salinity. There is no limit to the south and west, so it has reached Vermont, New York and Michigan. Frogbit can form dense colonies on the surface and threatens biodiversity by crowding out native species and shading underwater plant growth needed by fish. Its rapid growth also can clog waterways and hinder recreational activities such as boating, canoeing and fishing.

 

Frogbit resembles a miniature waterlily, but its small, pistilate (female) flowers have only 3 petals around a yellow center, unlike the showy native waterlilies with their numerous petals in concentric rows. The frogbit flower resembles those of arrowhead plants, which is not too surprising because both are monocots in the Order Alismatales (although they are in different families). The plant could survive very well without flowers, because its seeds contribute very little to its spread. Instead, the plant can hitch-hike on boats, while its winter buds (called turions) sink to the bottom and lie dormant until spring, when they rise and travel with water currents. The buds grow into complete plants which then enlarge by sending out runners (called stolons) which sprout additional plants in an expanding network that can interlock with adjacent colonies.
 

Frogbit's round, floating leaves (generally two inches or less in diameter), are often notched like water-lilies and grow in rosettes (i.e., radiating from a center point). Dangling roots (to 12 inches long) seldom anchor in the bottom mud, allowing mobility on surface currents, even blowing upstream.

European Frogbit can be distinguished from its native counterpart (Limnobium spongia) by checking the leaf stems. American Frogbit has a midline groove.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There's also a community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature and geology topics can be found on the parallel blogs Adirondack Naturalist and Heading Out.

Canada Thistle

Beware of tall, attractive wildflowers with prickly leaves growing in fields. Most have beautiful magenta or lavender-colored heads, but the leaves, and sometimes the stems, are edged with numerous, sharp spines to defend against herbivores looking for an easy meal. These are the thistles. They are composites, related to daisies and goldenrods in spite of the obvious differences. Most are biennials, starting as a ground-hugging rosette of prickly leaves the first year, then growing tall and flowering the second.
 

The Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense), a misnamed alien invasive from Europe, is one of the less-obvious species here [in the northern Finger Lakes region of NY] because its light-purple heads are less than an inch high. The whole plant grows four to five-plus feet high and often forms dense colonies after spreading by underground stems. In Europe and northern Asia, it is known as Creeping Thistle. One plant's roots can spread to a three-foot diameter (or more) in one year and continue growing at this rate for many years, making it a difficult plant to eradicate. A single thistle plant can be considered biennial, but the root system is perennial and continues to put its energy into new clonal [cloned] shoots.
 

Canada Thistles form colonies from a spreading underground
 root system. Less energy goes into producing flowers.

Less energy goes into producing flowers which are usually dioecious (either male or female). Male flowers may be slightly smaller, but otherwise similar. Both are very fragrant, which is energy spent to attract pollinators and NOT humans. Female flowers produce 40 to 80 seeds per head, but the fuzzy pappus is loosely attached and often ineffective in seed dispersal.

Canada Thistle's main stems are smooth, but the deeply-lobed leaves are designed to keep you at a distance. In the spring, wear heavy gloves and protective clothing so you can return to the location and collect the young leaves, young stems and roots for food. One of the plant's nicknames is "lettuce from hell" (and it actually is related to lettuce). After removing the spines, add young leaves to salads or eat them cooked. The pithy, young stems are easier to deal with; just peel and eat raw or cooked. The roots of first year plants, before the tall stems begin, are a survival food, but they also can cause flatulence.


A crab spider is camouflaged against a Canada Thistle flower bud.

Canada Thistle is also food for wildlife, especially goldfinches and other finches that eat the seeds. Some butterfly and moth larvae eat the leaves. Look for Red Admirals, Viceroys and Painted Ladies on this thistle. The larvae of the Orellia ruficauda fruit fly parasitize the fertile seed heads, making them a somewhat-effective biological control.

In the past, a tea made from the leaves was used as a general tonic (stimulant) and diuretic to increase the loss of water from the body. Externally, it was used for skin sores and poison-ivy rash. Native Americans used a root tea as a digestive tract stimulant and dewormer. (I wonder what they used before Europeans introduced this wildflower.) At the other extreme, it was said to cause inflammation and irritation (Jacobs and Burlage). Go figure.
 

Cirsium comes from the Greek word, kirsion, from kirsos, a "swollen vein" remedied by one of the species in that genus. The species name, arvense, is Latin for "in the field." Among its other common names are "field thistle," "perennial thistle" and "cursed thistle." It was originally native to the Mediterranean and southeast Europe and likely arrived in North America during the 1600's.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There's also a community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature and geology topics can be found on the parallel blogs Adirondack Naturalist and Heading Out.

Ash-tree Bolete

Ground-level view of an Ash-tree Bolete cluster on a grassy trail

Mushroom species are seasonal in nature, much like wildflower species, but unlike plants, they do not require sunlight. For most of the year, they are underground or growing inside dead wood or otherwise out of sight. Rain is good for mushrooms and this year holds promise of an abundance in the Northeast, both in number of species and a surplus of each type. When mushrooms "suddenly" appear, what we see are just the fruiting bodies with the sole function of releasing spores (think evolutionary predecessors to seeds). They will drift on the wind and those that find suitable landing pads will develop into new, hidden networks underground or inside rotting logs, and these may last for years.
 

Top and bottom of Ash-tree Bolete caps.

While the familiar mushrooms have radiating gills that produce the spores on the undersurface of the caps, Boletes are a family of mushrooms (Boletaceae) that have a spongy layer of pores or tubes on the underside to do the same job. Boletes are soft, fleshy and stalked and often grow in the woods. Many of the 200 North American species are edible, but only a few are worth the effort of collecting, and several are poisonous, so beware.
 

Angular pores radiating away from the stalk at the edge of a cap.

Where do you think Ash-tree Bolete (Boletinellus merulioides) grows? (one guess) Well, true to its name, in our yard it grows on the grassy and moss-covered trails under the ash trees. Numerous brown caps, averaging three to four inches across, are growing either singly or in tight clusters. The older ones are wavy-edged and distorted. On the yellow underside of each cap, a network of irregular ridges and cross-ribs creates a fine pattern of angular, shallow pores giving this mushroom the nickname, "shallow-pore." The thin folds can appear almost gill-like as they radiate away from the off-center stalk. (Sometimes the stalk is lateral, or attached at the edge of the cap.) If bruised, the pores turn blue-green, then reddish-brown. Beware, some of the toxic Boletes are blue-staining.
 

A row of Ash-tree Boletes on a grassy trail under a grove of ash trees.

Ash-tree Bolete (also called Boletinus porosus and Gyrodon merulioides in some field guides) grows from Michigan to Eastern Canada and south to Texas and Florida. This species is edible, but not recommended, partly because of the chance of confusion with several toxic boletes. That risk aside, the quality and flavor are said to be poor, at least in comparison to better mushrooms.

It's likely a snail scraped part of the right cap to make a meal.
The left cap is turned over to show the underside pores.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There's also a community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature and geology topics can be found on the parallel blogs Adirondack Naturalist and Heading Out.

Black Raspberries

Yummy

I have mixed feelings about early July. On the down side are the humidity and the mosquitos (which seem to have reached a new peak). On the positive side, the wild Black Raspberries are ripe. For years, I've been encouraging these bushes to grow around the perimeter of our property. Even though they're thorny and often hook me on the arm or in the hair, the rewards seem to be worth it.

Black Raspberries are native to eastern North America.

The common species is Rubus occidentalis, but similar varieties are numerous. They belong to the rose family, making them direct relatives of blackberries, strawberries, rose hips, cherries, plums, apples and pears. They are nicknamed "black caps" or "thimbleberries," referring to the way the ripe fruit separates easily from the pedicel leaving a round button called a carpel or receptacle (which seems misleading). True blackberries, a distinctly-different species, do not separate from the receptacle. Individual raspberry fruits are composite clusters of small beads called drupelets, each containing a tiny seed. The dark-purple color is produced by anthocyanin pigments which makes them useful as natural dyes -- witness the color of your fingers after picking a few. Raspberries are also healthy. The anthocyanins are powerful antioxidants and are being tested for their effect on cancer.

 

Raspberry canes have a whitish, powdery bloom, best seen at upper left

It takes raspberry canes a year and a half to mature and bear fruit. The first year, the canes (green with a whitish, powdery coating) bear compound leaves usually with three leaflets but sometimes five arranged palmately (like fingers or spokes from a single point). The undersides of the toothed leaflets are silvery white, much like Silver Maple leaves. The second year, the canes turn dark purple or reddish, but the remaining powder makes them look bluish. They send out short branches that produce alternate, compound leaves with only three leaflets (unfortunately resembling poison ivy). Flowers with five white petals appear in May and these develop into red fruits which turn dark as they ripen around July 4th, give or take, here in the Finger Lakes region of New York. After the fruit is gone, you can still use the leaves to make tea.

The undersides of Black Raspberry leaves [turned over at right] are nearly white.

The arching canes may root at the tip if they touch the ground. In this way, one shrub can form broad colonies that provide protective cover for small mammals. During the winter, the canes of all brambles (including dewberries, black and red raspberries and true blackberries) become food for cottontail rabbits. Canes die at the end of their second year, but the roots continue to send up new shoots every spring.

Black Raspberries are native from Wyoming to Ontario and Quebec and south to Georgia and Mississippi. If you live in this area and want to collect raspberries, you need to get to them before the songbirds, game birds and wild mammals of all sizes. If you want to grow your own, they tolerate a wide variety of conditions from open sunlight to shade and soils that are moist or dry. They will grow in open woods, thickets, stream banks, wet meadows and old fields as well as the edge of your lawn. If you leave a spot around some trees unmowed, the birds will probably drop some seeds and help you get started. In two years you'll be on your way to healthy eating.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There's also a community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature and geology topics can be found on the parallel blogs Adirondack Naturalist and Heading Out.

Black Elderberry

Elder usually has seven sharply-toothed leaflets,
but the number can vary from five to 11.

© Dave Spier

Common Elder, a.k.a. Black Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis, syn. Sambucus nigra, ssp. canadensis) is a native member of the Honeysuckle family. Beyond the opposite, pinnately-compound leaves, there's little resemblence to indicate the relationship. 

Numerous, small, white flowers are crowded into flat-topped terminal disks that are conspicuous in late June and early July in New York. The flower clusters can be dipped in batter and deep-fried like fritters, or wait for the dark-purple, juicy berries to ripen and make a pie. The dark fruits give the shrub it's alternate name, American Black Elderberry. Aside from the mentioned edibility, take note that the leaves, twigs, roots and unripe fruit are toxic due to cyanogenic glycoside and alkaloid.

The woody stems contain white pith that can be removed in order to make a flute or whistle. This musical quality is the basis of the genus name; in ancient Greece, sambuce was a musical instrument. Given the toxicity of the stems, though, I'd rethink this use for the plant.

Common Elder's range spans all of the southern states from California to Florida, north across most of the Lower 48 (except the Great Basin and Pacific Northwest) and continues north into eastern Canada. There's a range map on the USDA Plants Database. Many of the states have more detailed maps down to the county level. For example, the opening photo was taken at Newtown Battlefield State Park, near Elmira, NY, but the shrub occurs in other scattered locations across New York State.

This elderberry seems to require more sunlight than it's woodland cousin the Red-berried Elder, so look for the purple-fruited species on the edge of woods, usually in lowland spots where there is extra soil moisture, although I would not describe it as a true wetland species because of its low anaerobic tolerance. We live on top of a drumlin ridge and a Common Elder has "volunteered" to grow behind the garage where it is somewhat sunny, at least part of the day. We can assume the original seed was dropped by a bird. A number of species including robins, catbirds and waxwings are berry eaters. I'd be interested in knowing whether elderberry grows near you.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There's also a community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature and geology topics can be found on the parallel blogs Adirondack Naturalist and Heading Out.

Yellow Warblers

Many warblers have at least some yellow, but I imagine if there's one that deserves the name of the color, it's the Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia).

The spring migration has come and gone, and now we have to be content with the summer residents that remain. Robins seem to be everywhere, and unfortunately so are the starlings and grackles. High in the tree tops, you might hear an oriole; they seem to prefer big cottonwoods here. If you have orioles near you, what trees do they prefer?  Orioles can be relatively common, but seldom do we get a good look at the male's flashy orange and black.
 

male Yellow Warbler at the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage (southwestern New York,
always the first weekend after Memorial Day) during a bird-banding demonstration

Another colorful songster, though relatively common, is likely to be overlooked unless you’re in the habit of scanning shrubby wetlands and thickets while listening for its "sweet, sweet, sweeter than sweet" song. Check the tops of shrubs and dwarf willows for a bright but tiny spot of yellow. With binoculars, look for rusty-red streaking on the breast. This is the male Yellow Warbler, one of 51 North American species of wood warblers – many of which are now uncommon or quickly pass through on their way north. The Yellow Warbler on the other hand is relatively common and a widespread nester from coast to coast across the northern 2/3rds of the U.S., Alaska and most of Canada with breeding populations extending down through coastal California and central Mexico. (If you're submitting an eBird report, you can use the "Add Details" button, and then the "Breeding Code" button to record any breeding behavior you observe or hear.)
 

female Yellow Warbler at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, NY

Warblers are small birds, generally four to five inches long, with slender, straight-pointed bills used like tweezers to collect insects. Warblers are very active and it’s hard to get a good look at any of them. Most prefer woodlands in various stages of growth from scrub to mature forest and for this reason they are referred to as wood warblers. Within these habitats, some warblers stay in the treetops (giving birders "warbler neck"), some hide on the ground and the majority travel in-between. Yellow Warblers are somewhat unusual in preferring more open settings. Willow thickets and isolated shrubs in cattail marshes seem more to their liking, but any thicket will do in a pinch.

male Yellow Warbler checking its reflection for a rival in our camper window

The Yellow Warbler is a common summer resident that begins returning at the end of April. The remainder trickles in throughout May. Aptly named, they are yellow on the head and underneath, olive-yellow on the back, and a mix of olive and yellow on the wings. Males are brighter with reddish streaks on the breast. The more aggressive and dominant males have darker streaks. Females are duller with faint rusty streaks on the sides. If you get a close view, look for yellow tail spots that are usually missed.

Brown-headed Cowbird egg in Yellow Warbler nest (Bradford County, PA)

The Yellow Warbler is one of the species most frequently parasitized by cowbirds, but they have developed a defensive strategy against the blackbirds. After a cowbird egg is deposited, the Yellow Warbler builds a new nest on top of the old and lays a new batch of their own eggs. If the cowbird returns, the warbler repeats the process. The record is a six-story nest (although there is an unconfirmed report of a 10-story nest near Cayuga Lake, NY, in 1923).

As a species, the Yellow Warbler is perhaps the most widespread of the warblers, but there are three distinct groups with four subspecies. Together they span the continent and range from the Arctic down through Mexico and the Caribbean to the northern reaches of South America. You can find an interactive range map on eBird.
 

pair of Yellow Warblers at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, NY

On their territories, Yellow Warblers sing two types of songs with a number of individual variations. One song type is used to attract a mate, while the other is used to defend territories against other males. With wetlands being a limited resource, there is intense competition for prime nesting space. After mating, recognition of individuals becomes important, so minor variations in songs become important. You can find more information along with a static range map and recordings of Yellow Warbler songs on All About Birds.
 
Yellow Warblers have only one brood per year and as soon as the young are independent, the species begins its southward migration. They are one of the earliest summer nesters to leave. Some are gone by the end of July and (almost) all have left by the time goldenrod is in full bloom.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There's also a community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature and geology topics can be found on the parallel blogs Adirondack Naturalist and Heading Out.

Dame's Rocket

Dame’s Rocket (Hesperis matronalis) is another invasive alien, albeit an attractive one, in the mustard family. It is now widespread along roadsides, woods edges and damp thickets, but it started as a garden escape after it was introduced from Eurasia. (There's a range map on the USDA Plants Database.) Many years ago, we tried growing it on our dry hilltop, but it never took hold (probably a good thing in retro-spect), so look for it in lower areas with partial shade. It seems to prefer moist soil but avoids true wetlands.  As an example, at the Montezuma Audubon Center, it grows throughout the walnut grove and around the edges, but it’s generally absent from the open fields.

Also known as Purple Rocket, this biennial or short-lived perennial herb comes in a range of colors from pale lavender to hot pink and purple. All of the blossoms on an individual plant are usually the same color, but adjacent plants may vary widely. Light and dark colors are often mixed together in the same vicinity and sometimes you’ll find flowers with white streaks on purple petals. Rarely, several colors are mixed on the same flower. The four petals make an “X” or cross, which is characteristic of the mustards (the Brassicaceae, formerly Cruciferae). At first glance it resembles Phlox, but Phlox has five petals (the same as the number of letters in its name).

Dame's Rocket in front of Yellow Rocket (Common Winter Cress, Barbarea vulgaris)

The purple variety of Dame’s Rocket generally produces more seeds per plant and seems to be the dominant color. The stalked seed pods are thin and erect and split open when ripe. The plant usually grows several feet tall. The lance-shaped leaves are long-pointed, toothed along the margins and they alternate (i.e., are not opposite) along the hairy main stem below the flower and seed clusters.

more of the complete Dame's Rocket plant showing some of the leaves

The best time to enjoy this plant may be when it’s backlit by the afternoon sun. In the evening it gives off a lovely fragrance, probably timed to specific pollinators that rest during the day. This is reflected in another common name for the plant, the night-scented gilliflower. The scientific genus name, Hesperis, is Greek for evening.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There's also a community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature and geology topics can be found on the parallel blogs Adirondack Naturalist and Heading Out.

Celandine

© Dave Spier

Celandine, Chelidonium majus, is a somewhat invasive alien with attractive yellow flowers arranged in an umbel (think inside-out umbrella), although the blossoms tend to open one at a time. Each showy flower has four petals. Black seeds growing in long capsules continue the superficial resemblance to mustards, but Celandine is actually in the Poppy family, although it's different than Celandine Poppy, a more Western native species. Celandine's somewhat grayish-green, compound leaves are irregularly lobed and scallop-edged.

This species is often called Greater Celandine to distinguish it from Lesser Celandine, Ranunculus ficaria, a quite different plant in the Buttercup family.

You can find a range map on the USDA plants database website. Celandine is widespread in the Midwest, Northeast, Eastern Canada plus outlier states like GA, NE, UT, MT, WA and adjacent BC. Clicking on some of the states will give you more refined maps down to the county level. For example, clicking NY will show Celandine's distribution across the Finger Lakes. It appears to be missing from Schuyler County, but I have photographed it in Wayne County, so that omission is an error.

When broken, Celandine's stems exude a somewhat-poisonous yellow latex that can cause dermatitis or eye irritation in sensitive individuals. A final note of warning -- Celandine is toxic due to a range of isoquinoline alkaloids so avoid ingesting the plant, and wear protection if you're pulling the plant to remove it.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There's also a community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. 

Rhododendron

Great Rhododendrons (Rhododendron maximum) grow wild in scattered colonies across New York and New England as far as southwestern Maine, but it's found primarily in the Appalachians from Pennsylvania to northern Georgia. Beyond that it has been widely planted as an ornamental. Wherever there is sufficient moisture, these evergreen members of the heath family can form dense thickets generally reaching a height of 13 feet, but old bushes are capable of growing to a height of 30 or even 40 feet and a crown diameter of 12 feet, essentially becoming small trees. The main requirement is acidic soil with a high organic content.

The concave leaves are long and leathery and curve down to smooth edges that may curl under during dry or cold weather. Most of the leaves are clustered in whorls around the end of twigs and surround the showy, rose-pink to purple, sometimes white, flower clusters that open between March and August, depending on the local climate. Our ornamental version opens in late May here in the northern Finger Lakes region.

In the wild, rhododendron is an understory plant and does well in the shade of taller trees. Combine that factor with the shrub's dense, evergreen foliage and you can understand why it's difficult for smaller plants and wildflowers to grow underneath rhododendrons.

This species has a number of alternate common names including Late or Summer Rhododendron, Great, Bigleaf or Deertongue Laurel and Rosebay. It's the state flower of West Virginia. The name Mountain Laurel is reserved for its smaller relative, Kalmia latifolia.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at

northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There's also a community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature and geology topics can be found on the parallel blogs Adirondack Naturalist and Heading Out.

Shagbark Hickory

emerging hickory leaves can sometimes resemble praying hands

 © Dave Spier

A week of warm weather has created a green paradise in the northern Finger Lakes region of New York. Among the many transformed deciduous trees, the Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) leaves have emerged. When the giant bud scales first peeled open, the "fingers" of miniature leaves resembled "praying hands." Once fully opened, the hickory's feather-compound leaves become distinctive. There are five (sometimes seven) leaflets with four opposite and one at the tip. The smallest are the inner, the middle pair are larger and the terminal leaflet is the largest. All are toothed and long-pointed. By the time it's done growing, a compound leaf can reach over a foot in length.

young hickory leaves unfolded and growing



hickory flowers are wind pollinated

Shagbarks, aptly named for the long, peeling shreds of bark, can easily grow to a height of 60 to 90 feet. The record is 120 feet. The wood is strong and elastic and was once prized for tool handles, gunstocks, skis and chair backs. When burned, it gives off a lot of heat and makes high-grade charcoal.

Shagbark Hickory bark

In late summer and early fall, the thick-walled nut husks split into four sections and release the four-ridged nuts which are good to eat. (Squirrels, possums, Wild Turkeys and Wood Ducks would agree.) The nuts also can be ground in a meal-like flour or crushed and boiled to separate the oil. Rabbits and deer browse the twigs. In late winter, the trunks can be tapped in the manner of collecting maple sap.

child holding hickory nuts, some with the husk on (Bayberry Environmental Education Center, Junius, NY, when I was a naturalist there)

Hickories are related to walnuts and butternuts (Juglans spp.) which have numerous leaflets, all roughly the same size. All these trees are in the same family (Juglandaceae) along with pecans.

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