Interrupted clubmoss (Spinulum annotinum)

February 24, 2020 Elise

While hiking through the East Over Reservation in Marion on Saturday, I noticed a large patch of a type of clubmoss that I don’t usually see. These were interrupted clubmoss (Spinulum annotinum). Although interrupted clubmoss is native and found throughout New England, it is not generally found along the coastal plain counties like Barnstable, Dukes, and Bristol, and is therefore not generally found on Cape Cod. It always amazes me how different the plant communities can be just over the…

Sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia)

February 17, 2020 Elise

Sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia) is a small shrub with leathery, evergreen, narrowly-oval, whorled, light-green leaves. The leaves often turn reddish-green in the winter. A low growing shrub, sheep laurel rarely grows more than 2 or 3 feet high. Sometimes called Lambskill or Sheepskill, this shrub is poisonous to livestock, due to a glycoside it contains. All parts of the plant are also highly toxic to humans. Small, saucer-like, magenta flowers are arranged in clusters and bloom in early June. The…

American Mink (Neovison vison)

February 9, 2020 Elise

When you take a walk along the Cape Cod Canal in February, there are certain things you expect to see: ring-billed gulls, hundreds (if not thousands) of common eiders, and common marine intertidal organisms, such as knotted wrack, common periwinkles, and barncles. But there’s another Canal resident that you may not be aware of: the American mink. Mink never live far from water, and although they are typically found along freshwater rivers, streams, and lakes, American mink (Neovison vison) will…

Seashore to Forest Floor

A naturalist's journey across Cape Cod and beyond

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Month: February 2020