Top Photo: Lemur relishes redbud flowers. As you all know, or should know, redbud flowers are edible. To me, they have a sweet, crispy taste. They make a nice topping on a salad. Lemurs eat redbud flowers too. They seem to enjoy the colorful flowers with uncommon delight, as recently displayed by our resident ring-tailed lemurs. The flowers were placed in their enclosure by the Animal Care Team (ACT) and were quickly pounced upon by the primates. Here’s a fewRead more
Posts tagged: #Redbud
Magenta Trees and Green Lizards
Top Photo: Redbud in bloom. Redbud is in full bloom here at the Museum of Life and Science. Don’t miss it! While looking around the campus at the trees, I noticed a noise in the leaf liter below. Two adult male green anoles were squaring off against one another. A brief, violent, territorial struggle ensued before they broke off, one scurrying into the brush, settling the dispute. As quickly as it started, it was over. Stay tuned for more.Read more
Toad Time
Top Photo: American toad calling from wetlands. American toads have begun their annual breeding frenzy. The large toads’ loud trill can be heard across the wetlands as they vie for mates. Once coupled, the toads move along in the water trailing behind strings of thousands of eggs, fertilized by the male as they emerge from the female. The eggs should hatch in about a week, the tadpoles becoming miniature toads in about two months, that is, if the pond inRead more
Spring Happenings
Top Photo: Increasing in number on the piedmont, green anoles are expanding their range. When I first started work here at the museum some 14 years ago, it was unheard of to see a green anole in the outdoor areas of the museum. It’s now a common sight. Even on warm, sunny, winter days you may run into one of these, largely arboreal lizards. So far this spring I’ve seen question mark, comma, mourning cloak, falcate orangetip, eastern tiger swallowtail,Read more
Oddly Red
Top Photo: Redbud beginning to bloom in the last week of October. Redbud (Cercis canadensis) is a March bloomer in Durham County and surrounding areas. It was odd, but not totally surprising, to see buds about to open up on a redbud tree on the Dinosaur Trail this past week. Not surprising because, after all, we’ve been experiencing very mild weather with not a hint of frost. Even so, many of the leaves on this particular tree had turned toRead more
A Trip Outdoors
Top Photo: Rudbeckia as part of the new “Prairie” in Catch the Wind. Life goes on along the outdoor loop through Catch the Wind, Explore the Wild, and the Dinosaur Trail. Here’s some of what’s happening out there. The tiny fruit of autumn olive is ripening. Though a non-native plant, the fruit is edible and has a sweet-tart taste. You should hold off on picking and eating until it ripens. When the fruit turns red with whitish speckles, that’s theRead more
Bloomers
Top photo: redbud blossoms There’s no doubt that a flowering redbud is a beautiful tree. It’s at its peek in March here in central North Carolina. It’s not the earliest of bloomers but it’s one of the most obvious. Most people think redbud a southeastern tree, and essentially it is. But it grows as far north as Canada, hence the scientific name Cercis canadensis. And, it’s the state tree of Oklahoma. Redbud’s small, magenta, pea-like flowers are edible. They canRead more
Falling Into Winter
We’re on the back side of fall and sliding into winter. There’s still much going on out-of-doors with lots to see if you keep an eye open to it. Here’s some of what I’ve been seeing. Asters are late summer and fall blooming flowers. They’re still blooming in the garden in front of our Butterfly House. Red buckeye fruit have already burst open spilling their large brown seeds (buckeyes) to the ground. Several common snapping turtle hatchlings were spotted bothRead more
Just a Few Tree Thoughts
While this post is mostly pictures of trees along our paths here at the museum, there is some news to impart and to perhaps think about. Most of our elms and red cedars are only recently past blooming, but other trees still have their seeds attached from last year’s growing season and are far from flowering anew. Try to catch the trees backlit against a severe clear blue sky. Just a week ago male red cedar flowers were sending off theirRead more