plants
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It’s Coming
Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) creeping into a subway station, an elevated subway station: Bedford Park 4 train in the Bronx. The little reddish rootlets help the aerial vine form of this crafty plant grab hold of a foundation, like a tree, or a sluggish commuter.
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Sassafras
Sassafras albidum drupe on its pedicel. Such sassy colors! This should be eaten by a bird, the single seed within spread elsewhere, hopefully to germinate into one of these lovely three-leaf-type trees. This wonderfully aromatic plant–from the roots to the leaves–was long used by Native Americans for medicinal purposes. It was also one of the…
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Pokemon Go This
If I understand it correctly, the children (of all ages, horrifyingly enough) playing this game are “capturing” virtual cartoons in “real life.” I can’t say I see the appeal. There is entirely too much life to explore in this life, on this world, in this neighborhood. You can’t see the detail in the picture here,…
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Solstice
The sun will rise to its highest point in the sky today here in the northern hemisphere, meaning you will cast your shortest shadow of the year. Look at those miniature suns at the edge of the path… Closer: Opuntia humifusa, Prickly Pear Cactus, now blooming. This is the only native cactus in our part of the…
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In The Rain
Aster-family something. Spiderwort (Tradescantia). Juneberries (Amelanchier)
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Fleabane
Erigeron philadelphicus, if I’m not mistaken, which has more common names than you can shake a stem at, including Common, Philadelphia, and Daisy Fleabane, although the latter is generally E. annuus.
Backyard and Beyond 