Excited to put my new copy of Weeds and Wildflowers in Winter by Lauren Brown to good use, I spent the day hunting for unique seed heads and other dried flower parts. The seed capsules seen here were from swamp rose mallow (Hibiscus palustris) and were by far some of the most striking. Each dried swamp rose mallow seed head consists of woody five-parted capsules that appear to resemble a flower themselves. The insides of these capsules are lined with…
I love warm rainy nights in December. Not because I particularly like rain, but because I love how winter moths (Operophtera brumata) emerge seemingly out of nowhere, to take advantage of the warmer weather. In fact, they’re one of very few Lepidopterans in the temperate region that are active in the late fall and early winter. On nights like we had this weekend, with light rain and temperatures close to 50 degrees, they can be so numerous that they remind…
Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is a large, gnarled evergreen shrub, sometimes growing to the size of a small tree. Described by the Sierra Club’s Naturalist’s Guide to Southern New England as “the most beautiful native shrub,” adorned with explosions of intricate white and pink flowers, mountain laurel it is certainly much showier when it is flowering in May and June. However, given its large flat, leathery, evergreen leaves, somewhat resembling those of rhododendrons, even without its flowers it makes a…