plants
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Thorn Apple
At Tsankawi, our guide pointed out the distant Datura, flowering with large, gaudy, trumpet-shaped flowers. These were the largest blooms for miles around in the arid region. Jimsonweed is another name for it, and we have it here in Brooklyn. Some snuck into the Back 40. This is its ripening seedpod. Beware: the plant is…
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Jamaica Bay Update
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) and Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.Through the blind at Big John’s Pond: Black-Crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax, a juvenile), Glosy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), and Green Heron (Butorides virescens). Three Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) were in there as well, but not visible here.…
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Furman St. Cattails in Summer
Back in March I noticed some improbable cattails growing from the roof of an old garage on Furman Street, underneath the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. I recently walked by again, both underneath and above.I think there might be some pragmites up there as well.
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Bristly midrib
Prickly lettuce, Lactuca scariola, a non-native growing cheek by jowl to the Gowanus on First St.
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The Monarchs Are Here
A male monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, in the Battery Bosque yesterdy. You can see some examples of monarch caterpillars in my post from last August. (And you can tell this is a male, even this blurry, because of the small spots in the hindwing veins.) The Bosque, named after the trees that tower over it,…
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Natural Object: Water Chestnut
This is the fruit of the European water chestnut, Trapa natans. Also known commonly as devil pods, they float and can be found up and down the Hudson and less frequently on area beaches. The plant is a fast spreading invasive. They have been used for food and medicinal purpose in Europe for 5000 years…
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Look Down
One of the speedwells. I think it’s Persian speedwell, Veronica persica. One of the chickweeds. As with the speedwells, there are numerous species. Found both of these in Green-Wood last week.
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Cattails on high
I was walking down Furman Street, which parallels the new Brooklyn Bridge Park and is half shadowed by the howl of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Passing one of the few buildings left from the days of dockland glory, I looked up. (The building is a garage on the 1929 map, between the old Ward Line and…
Backyard and Beyond 