While the majority of flowers have their peak bloom time in the summer months, the fall is the asters’ turn to shine. Although a quick look outside will leave no doubt that fall is here, with autumn colors and crunchy leaves falling to the ground, and insect numbers are definitely down, a number of important pollinator species, such as bees and moths are still active… and still need a source of food. Cold hardy late-blooming perennials, like asters, are a…
On a recent walk along the Cape Cod National Seashore’s Beech Forest Trail, I noticed some rather unique knobby fungus protruding from a fallen oak. iNaturalist helped me quickly identify it as poor man’s licorice (Bulgaria inquinans), also known as black bulgar or black jelly drops, as they somewhat resemble licorice or black gumdrops. Despite its resemblance to these edible sweets, poor man’s licorice is not considered to be edible. It is also not closely related at all to the…