Orchids, Trumpets, Passion Fruit, Sawflies, and Oakworms

Thanks to Richard Stickney (Butterfly House Conservatory) I was able to get a look at, and a few photos of, an orchid growing here at the Museum. Richard spotted the leaves of the orchid last winter and had been waiting for the flowers to appear. It’s now in bloom. The orchid is a crane-fly orchid (Tipularia discolor). These orchids show leaves on the forest floor in fall and winter. The leaves disappear as the flowers emerge the following summer. It’s not aRead more

Early June Color

Rudbeckia, or Black-eyed Susan, with its showy multi-rayed yellow-orange flowers, is currently the most abundant flower in Catch the Wind. Mixed in with the Rudbeckia, look for the flowers of Butterfly Weed (Asclepia tuberosa), a favorite of many butterflies and other insects. Elsewhere around the Explore the Wild/Catch the Wind loop Daisy Fleabane, Queen Anne’s Lace, Showy Tick-trefoil, and down in the Wetlands, Swamp Rose (Rosa palustris) are blooming. I spotted one small patch of Bergamot in bloom near theRead more

Creeper Pods

Seed pods of Trumpet Creeper can be seen hanging from the now brown, leafless vines throughout the Explore the Wild/Catch the Wind Loop, most noticeably on either side of the path next to the Wetlands Overlook and behind the Sailboat Pond. These 4”-8” long pods (image at left) contain small winged seeds. I’m not sure if many bird species include these seeds in their diet, but I saw an American Goldfinch pecking at one of the half-open pods.Read more