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!).

The Lady and the Plant

Yes, we know it’s a woman. The plant. What’s the plant she’s holding?

Answer

Spikenard, of course. Straight off page 19 of our summer issue. What! You don’t subscribe to the magazine!? Sign up today and we’ll get the summer issue out to you in the mail. You’ll learn, among other things, that the plant is mistakenly used by herbalists to treat headache, arthritis, bronchitis, “female problems,” and syphilis. Botanically-inept marketers are confusing A. racemosa with unrelated Asian plants of the genus Nardostachys.

Thanks to our friend Alan Pistorius, the author of said spikenard piece, for sharing this image.

This week’s contest winner was Colin Holme of Waterford, ME.