What in the Woods Is That?

Play our biweekly guessing game!

Whatever draws us into the forest—be it birdwatching or logging, hiking or hunting—all of us are unified by the sense of wonder we feel in the outdoors. The forests, fields, and streams of our region are full of mystery, and if you stop and look closely, you’ll see all sorts of oddities.

Below find a picture of one such woodlands curio. Guess what it is and you’ll be eligible to win a Northern Woodlands woodpecker magnet designed by artist Liz Wahid. A prize winner will be drawn at random from all the correct entries. The correct answer, and the winner’s name, will appear when the next column is posted and in our newsletter (sign up here!).

Puzzling Plant

While out pulling invasive garlic mustard, we found what looks like a weird purple carrot sprouting from the leaf litter. What is this?

Answer

We suspect that if we’d shown a photo from a few days later, most readers would have easily identified this as a Jack-in-the-pulpit (or a Jill), but it’s a bit trickier to ID as the plant is emerging. To learn more about these spring bloomers, check out this essay from our weekly ecology series, The Outside Story.

This week’s contest winner was Jasmine Smith & Rachel Dandeneau