Top Photo: Ripe thorny olive drupes. In January, on this blog, I mentioned the fruit of thorny olive. It was not quite ripe at the time. The fruit is now ripe and can be eaten. It’s a bit on the tart side (be forewarned before picking and eating). Some people prefer a sweet fruit, some like it tart. This is tart. Thorny olive (Elaeangus pungens) is not native, is considered invasive and has two relatives in the area that shareRead more
Posts tagged: #autumn olive
October
Top Photo: Thorny olive flowers. If you happen to be strolling past the Farmyard and sense something powerfully fragrant invading your nose, it’s probably thorny olive (Elaeagnus pungens). It’s related to autumn olive and Russian olive, two invasive shrub species from Asia. We have much autumn olive on our campus, no Russian olive that I’m aware of and just a few locations overgrown with thorny olive which tends to ascend trees and nearby structures when it can. Thorny olive, unlikeRead more
Invasive
Top Photo: Autumn olive berries. Autumn olive is considered an extremely invasive shrub. It can overwhelm the forest understory, fields and openings where it grows, crowding out native species. Here at the museum it flowers in March-April. The tart, red fruit is ripe by July-August. It spreads across the landscape largely through the action of birds. Birds eat the fruit, fly off and deposit the undigested seeds in their droppings. The seeds germinate where they fall. The fruit is tasty,Read more
Dogwood and Other Flowering Plants
Top Photo: Flowering dogwood. Last month it was redbud. Now it’s dogwood’s turn, among other flowering shrubs, trees, and herbaceous plants, to show off its color. We have a variety of flowering plants here at the museum, some native some not, but they all brighten up the landscape when they come into flower. Flowering dogwood is the state flower of North Carolina. It typically follows the blooming of the redbud’s magenta flowers, although sometimes they’re in bloom together. Currently, redbudRead more
July, gone but not forgotten
On its way to the ocean via the Eno River, Falls Lake and Neuse River, Ellerbe Creek runs through our 84 acre campus. Before it reaches us, it flows under an interstate highway (twice), through a golf course, through quiet neighborhoods and under and through a mall, mostly unseen by the local human population. There are a handful of preserves along its 20 mile meander through Durham but for the most part, I’d wager, most folks don’t know it exists.Read more
Steamrolling Along
Spring just keeps on rollin’ along, and the pace is quickening. Many insects are emerging, flowers blooming, and birds migrating, whether returning to the local habitats or just passing through on their way further north. Here’s some of what’s been happening over the last week or so here at the Museum, in no particular order. An early season dragonfly. The blue corporal is named for the mature male’s blue color and the two stripes on the insect’s “shoulders,” one onRead more
What’s That Smell?
If you’ve been parking in the lot just west of the Museum (Edison Johnson) you may have noticed a strong smell wafting through the air upon exiting your vehicle. The fragrance, or odor, is coming from a plant growing along the east edge of the parking lot, a sprawling shrub known as thorny olive (Elaeagnus pungens). As the Latin name suggests, it’s a powerful smell, a bit too much for my liking, but most folks think it pleasant. If theRead more