Sycamores, sweetgums, hornbeams, mulberries, maples, and willows on the Explore the Wild/Catch the Wind Loop are all well on their way to being fully leafed. Bald Cypress, the only southern conifer that loses its leaves in winter, is showing fresh new growth. The ashes are lagging behind and are just now starting to spring forth with new leaves. The Museum’s Flowering Dogwoods came into their own the first week of this month, bursting open with all of their brilliant whiteness.Read more
Posts tagged: #Wax Myrtle
Looking Back: Flora
With the closing of the year it’s perhaps time to look back and see what we’ve observed on the Explore the Wild/Catch the Wind Loop. With plenty of rain and no deep freezes during spring, it was a fairly good year for the berry, seed, and nut crop. Many people in the Triangle area are reporting lower than usual numbers of certain birds at their feeders, particularly northern seed-eating species. This is anecdotal, but it would seem that the birdsRead more
Fall Fruit, Nuts, and Flowers
Many plants and trees are beginning to show the signs of seasonal change. In the Wetlands the hues have shifted from the deep greens of summer to the much lighter hues of early fall. Willows and Sycamores have committed to the change. The Dogwoods are close behind; their fruit will soon be bright red. Poke Weed’s deep purple berries are greedily being gobbled up by Gray Catbirds. The waxy berries, or nuts, of Wax Myrtle should be ripe in timeRead more