Happy first day of summer! Our local weather forecast calls for temperatures in the md 90s with high humidity, so I’ll be staying in the shadier parts of the forest. What follows are a few things that can be found there. This eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) looked as if something had been taking bites out of its trailing wing edges. It was resting in the shade on a false Solomon’s seal plant and didn’t bat a wing while I was taking pictures. Do birds chase butterflies and take bites out of their wings?
I thought these common split gill (Schizophyllum commune) mushrooms were bracket fungi because, even though they are one of the most common mushrooms, I hadn’t ever seen them. They are found on every continent except Antarctica and don’t grow there only because there is no wood for them to live on. Though they look like a bracket fungus they are mushrooms with torn and serrated gill-like folds that are split lengthwise. These mushrooms dry out and re-hydrate many times throughout the season and this splits the gill-like folds, giving them their common name. These ones looked like fuzzy scallop shells.
I did see bracket fungi though. These turkey tails (Trametes versicolor) were surrounded by moss. I had to wonder if the moss was winning the battle.
This eastern painted turtle (Chrysemys picta picta) was in the middle of the path I was on, quite far from water. He (she?) looked like he couldn’t decide whether to go into or come out of his shell. After a few pictures I left him just the way I found him, thinking he would reach a decision quicker if I wasn’t there watching him. He was about the size of a soccer ball.
I saw plenty of little brown mushrooms. Even mushroom experts have trouble identifying these mushrooms and recommend that mushroom hunters stay away from any that are small to medium size and are brown, grayish brown or brownish yellow. The deadly skullcap (Galerina autumnalis) is a little brown mushroom, and it wouldn’t be a good day if it were accidentally eaten.
Many cherry trees have nipple or pouch gall on their leaves this year. These are small finger like nubs on the leaf surface caused by tiny eriophyid mites laying eggs on the leaf. The mites secrete a chemical substance that causes the leaf to expand over their eggs. When the eggs hatch the baby mites feed inside the finger shaped gall. The galls caused by these mites don’t hurt the trees and are seen as a natural curiosity. Over time the galls turn from green to red and when the leaves drop in the fall the galls drop with them.
Thorns on a native black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) tree. These are nowhere near as dangerous looking as the thorns on a honey locust tree, but I still wouldn’t want to accidentally run into them. Farmers have used black locust for fence posts for hundreds of years because it is dense, hard, and rot resistant. It is said to last over 100 years in the soil. Black locust is in the pea family and is considered toxic. This tree was growing at the edge of the forest. Several together would make an impenetrable thicket.
Native Deer Tongue Grass (Panicum clandestinum or Dichanthelium clandestinum) seems to be thriving this year. I like the way the leaves look as if they have been pierced by the stem. When they do this it is called clasping the stem. Many plants-the common fleabane for example-do this. This grass prefers moist soil and plenty of sun.
Deer Tongue Grass is just starting to flower.
Native Porcupine sedge (Carex hystericina ) is another plant that likes moist soil and full sun and I usually find it growing near ponds and streams. It is also called bottlebrush sedge. The green prickly looking flowers are called spikelets. Both male and female flowers are on each plant. Waterfowl, game birds and songbirds feed on sedges seeds. The Sedge Wren builds its nest and hunts for insects in wetlands that are dominated by sedges.
The color of these new maple leaves was beautiful enough to deserve a photo, I thought. It is amazing how many plants have new leaves that start out red or maroon before turning green. Since chlorophyll is what makes leave green, this tells me that the emerging foliage doesn’t have much of it.
The pussytoes (Antennaria) in my yard have all gone to seed.
The yellow hawkweed (Hieracium caespitosum) is also going to seed. Each plant can produce as many as 500 seeds in a single flower head. This plant is native to Europe and is considered a noxious weed.
Way down at the bottom of the spathe, or pulpit, at the base of the spadix called Jack, the fruits of Jack in the pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum ) have been forming. Soon these immature green berries will begin to swell and will turn bright red. The seeds in the berries are more often than not infertile. Those in the photo are at a stage that most people never see because the wilted spadix is usually covering the immature fruit. I peeled parts of it away to get this picture. Doing so won’t harm the plant.
These tiny green flowers of the wild grape (Vitis species) don’t look like much but they are very fragrant. I smelled these long before I saw them and followed their fragrance to the vine. The flowers are so small that I can’t imagine what insect pollinates them.
In the woods we return to reason and faith~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
I hope you enjoyed seeing what the woods here in New Hampshire have to offer. Thanks for stopping in.
all over the world, there are people think same like you, and get connected instantly! thanks for this beautiful rendering!!
You’re welcome Sanjay, I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
What a wonderful showcase of forest finds! I have been hoping to get more shots of tiger swallowtails. Even though I have seen plenty of them, very few have been settling anywhere long enough to get a picture.
Glad you liked them! I know what you mean-butterflies don’t usually sit still for very long but for some reason, this one did.
Thanks for posting these pictures and info on Deer Tongue Grass. The clasping leaf is quite distinctive and I see it thriving in places where I spread a native seed mix last year.
You’re welcome Scott-glad I could help. deer tongue grass is tough once it becomes established.
I’m kind of hoping it’s tough. I spread this mix on a bare slope at the woodland edge where it’s been a challenge to grow stuff — trying for variety & erosion control. Hope it’s not a case of “be careful what you wish for”!
I usually see it at the edge of woods-often near a pond or stream. I don’t think it’s too hard to control, but I’ve never tried either. I would think if you kept it from flowering its spreading would be quite slow.
I thoroughly enjoyed your guided tour through the forest! That turtle looks as though he was just washed and waxed! Prime!
I hadn’t thought about it but that turtle was pretty clean. I wish he could have told me where he came from because it was a really odd place to find a turtle. Glad you enjoyed the post.
Beautiful…again. Thank you, Allen.
My pleasure Scott.
Enjoyable post as always. On the bird butterfly line. I read that one purpose of the butterfly antennae is to balance itself out flying with chunks of wing missing. On the thorn line. I cut off the lower branches of what I call a mock orange tree which had nasty thorns on the branches closer to the ground. I did not want to mow around the tree and come up looking like I had been through a slicer.
Thanks Grampy! That’s interesting about the butterfly antenna-I’ve never heard that-it makes sense. Your mock orange must not be the same as ours, which has no thorns, but I know what you mean about being put through a slicer-some plants are down right dangerous and can really tear up your skin. Hawthorn is another one that comes to mind-and they’re expert at hiding in the woods.
Another great post! To answer your question about birds and butterflies, yes, birds do chase butterflies, there’s a photo of a robin catching a small white butterfly in one of my recent posts. The robin missed the first few times that it pounced on the butterfly, which may have left “bite” marks in the butterfly’s wings. I seldom see a butterfly that doesn’t have some damage to its wings. However, I don’t think that missed attacks by birds are responsible for most of the damage. Butterfly wings are so fragile that I think that they damage their wings by getting blown into things by the wind most of the time.
Thanks! Now that you mention it, I remember your post with the robin and butterfly-that was something I had never witnessed. I can’t remember ever seeing a butterfly with beat up wings like this one, but I know they are very fragile. I’ll have to look a little closer-when I can catch up to them.