Category Archives: White

Bloodroot

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Bloodroot

A “spring ephemeral.” Has only basal leaves which wrap around the flower stalk as it begins to bloom. Then the leaves open fully as the flower withers. The flowers bloom only one or two days each, with a fragrant scent. The foliage contains a red juice (which was used by native people to make dye). It’s toxic and usually avoided by herbivores. Native to eastern North America. (This sample is in my yard, an import from the Whitesides garden in Charleston, Illinois.) Poppy family

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

Great Blue Heron

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This morning we took a paddle on the Charles River. This bit borders Cutler Park and is about 20 miles upstream from Boston Harbor. I was trying to take a picture of an egret farther away when I realized we were really close to this well-camouflaged heron hiding in the pickerel weed!

GreatBlueHeronThe closest I’ve ever been to one — thrilling surprise! So tall — I feel like it was head-level with me in the canoe. Later we saw another one which had caught a fish…

HeronwithFishIt flew off and I was not ready with right camera settings… so here’s a terrible blur of a great sight:

HeroninFlightGreat Blue Herons are about 4 feet tall. They eat mainly fish, but also crabs, insects, frogs, small rodents, snakes, dragonflies… Their favorite breeding areas are beaver swamps, and their favorite nesting areas are in the branches of dead trees down in the water. They mostly migrate, and come back to use the same rookery every year.

Bonus picture of the whole scene. An usually wide place in the river. Felt lucky to have a canoe, a beautiful day, this amazing place, and a friend to go with! and a camera!

CharlesRiverPaddle

Destroying Angel

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Destroying Angel

I’m new to identifying mushrooms, but apparently this is a poisonous mushroom that causes death by liver failure from eating just one. Identifying features: has a smooth white cap (sometimes with a tan tint in the center, like this one), gills, and a drapy skirt-like ring near the cap. The first stage of poisoning is called the incubation stage: 6-12 hours with no symptoms while it takes over without you noticing. Don’t eat white mushrooms!

Eastern North American Destroying Angel, Deadly Amanita, White Death Cap, Angel of Death (Amanita bisporigera)

Water Hemlock

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One of North America’s most poisonous plants, and it’s growing right on the corner by our house. You don’t even have to ingest it; it’s poisonous to taste. Many recorded deaths of people, and apparently it kills a lot of grazing livestock. Can grow to 8 feet tall. Parsley  family. Native.

Water Hemlock, Cowbane, Poison Parsnip (Cicuta maculata)

Stinging Nettle

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Stinging Nettle

This is not a pretty picture, but at least you can get the idea of what Stinging Nettle looks like — the greenish flowers are on long droopy spikes (racemes) coming out of the axils (where the leaves are attached). Leaves are opposite and coarsely toothed. The stem and the undersides of the leaves have bristly hairs which cause painful stings if they touch your skin. It feels similar to a bee sting and is caused by an acid that covers the hairs. Stinging Nettle has also been used medicinally for thousands of years — stems, leaves, and root. Native, but also common around the world. (Photo taken June 25, 2013)

Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)

False Solomon’s Seal

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DSC_0147The young shoots are edible… but when young, there is a highly toxic plant that looks very much like it. So maybe let’s not eat it. Produces little fruits that turn red in late summer. And just to remember — It’s evidently called False because the leaf is similar to Smooth Solomon’s Seal, but true Solomon’s Seal has pendular blossoms. Ruscus family. Native. (Photo taken June 4, 2013)

False Solomon’s Seal, Treacleberry, Solomon’s plume, False Spikenard (Maianthemum racemosum)

Tower Mustard

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Tower Mustard

This is a plant with creamy white flowers, and later each flower is replaced by a leafless vertical seed pod that hugs the stem. They can grow to be 4 to 5 feet tall. Native. (Photo taken May 29, 2013)

Tower Rockcress, Tower Mustard (Arabis glabra)

Bonus picture: this turtle was also using the path. I think it’s a musk turtle. They only get to be about 5 inches long, and are primarily aquatic, living in the shallows. This one was still wet from the river. They rarely leave the water, but they usually nest in June, so maybe this one was on a nesting mission.

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Maple-leaf Viburnum

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A shade-tolerant deciduous shrub common in New England. Will have blue-black berries that ripen to red in late summer. Native.

Maple-leaf Viburnum (Viburnum acericolium Linnaeus)

Common Stitchwort

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Related to Chickweed — the same deeply divided petals (this is five petals divided to look like ten). So many plants are called worts… wort is from Old English “wyrt” meaning root or herb. It often was used to name plants that had medicinal uses, and the first part of the word was the problem it could cure, like for instance, spiderwort to treat spider bites. Was this good for curing stitches? I can only find that some varieties are edible…

Common Stitchwort (Stellaria graminea)

Dewberry

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Dewberry

Another one that resembles Blackberry, but it’s a prickly creeping vine instead of a bramble of arching canes. It has a black fruit, large and sweet! Rose family.

Dewberry (Rubus flagellaris)