Articles Archive
-
Common juniper, Juniperus communis
If you are following a compass course through the woods, one sight that can sink your spirits in a hurry is an expanse of common juniper directly ahead. Juniper patches are not as painful to navigate as robust stands of blackberries, but the contorted horizontal branches, as much as 3 feet high and often 8 feet long, and interwoven with… (more)
-
Alternate-leaved Dogwood, Cornus alternifolia
Alternate-leaved dogwood can withstand considerable shade and is common in the forest understory, especially where soils remain moist. But in dim light, beneath a forest canopy, it rarely puts on the good flower show that occurs where sunlight is more plentiful. In forest openings, in hedgerows, along the road, or in the yard, this small tree often flowers and fruits… (more)
-
Pussy Willow, Salix discolor
Last fall, I went to a nearby wetland with a pair of clippers and cut twigs from one willow shrub after another. It wasn’t hard to tell the willows from the non-willows because willows are the only woody plants in this area whose buds are covered by a single bud scale. These cute, pointy caps are very different from the… (more)
-
Gray birch, Betula populifolia
When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.
(Robert Frost, “Birches”)Thanks to Robert Frost, when you see a birch bent to the ground, it’s almost impossible not to imagine a boy climbing it, hand over hand, until the… (more)
-
Hobblebush, Viburnum lantanoides
Forests would be a lot less interesting and not nearly as beautiful without ferns, wildflowers, shrubs, understory trees, and other small plants. But as the canopy closes in a forest, the amount of light that filters through to the ground diminishes greatly, slowly starving all but the most shade-adapted residents of the lower layers.
Hobblebush, a sprawling shrub that has… (more)
-
Mountain Maple, Acer spicatum
Sometime in June, just after its bright, light green leaves have fully expanded, mountain maple’s delicate, yellow-green flowers begin to bloom. The very un-maple-like, tiny flowers are on long, upright stems, well above the leaves, and they are attractive to insects as well as to people. Striped maple, the other shrub-size maple species in the Northeast, has flowers in drooping… (more)
-
Speckled Alder, Alnus incana
One way to find speckled alder in the spring is to listen for the plaintive fee-beo of the alder flycatcher. Whenever I’ve followed this little bird’s song to its source, it’s been in or near a patch of speckled alder. You don’t really need a flycatcher as your guide because alders are quite easy to find in any season, since… (more)
-
Eastern Redcedar, Juniperus virginiana
This “cedar,” like most of the many other trees given that name, is not a cedar at all. It’s a juniper. And despite having round, blue fruits that look just like berries and not at all like cones, eastern red cedar is a conifer. The skin of the berry consists of soft scales that have coalesced, so in theory it… (more)