This week's bloomlist for Wildflower Island is at the end of the post, and Bonnie's pictures
can be found HERE. Peterson names are used for consistency wherever possible, and comments
and clarifications are welcome in the comments section.
There were no Red Maple flowers on the path, though the trees themselves glistened red in the sun. That color came from the samaras (seedpods), which Bonnie got a good shot of (on the right).Unless we’re mistaken, the Cucumber Magnolia survived the beavers. Not flowering yet, but large buds very visible across the marsh.
Another of Bonnie's great close-ups is the Blue Cohosh (below).
On the Island and in the Woods are new Pignut Hickories, whose unfurling leaves look very much like flowers (below).
Backyard Nature says:Each leaf bears five or seven leaflets. A pretty thing that hickories do when spring's leaf-bearing stems emerge from a twig's terminal buds like this is that the former buds' inner scales enlarge tremendously, becoming fleshy and colored. You can see such pink, inner scales in the picture curling back at the base of the vertical new stem. There's a special botanical word describing things that enlarge after flowering or after something has emerged from its bud, and that's "accrescent." A hickory's inner bud scales are beautifully accrescent . . . .Below is their picture of a female Pignut flower, hard to see pale yellow tufts.
Not surprisingly, we spent some time on violets today and I would venture to say that all the yellow ones we saw were Downy Yellows (Viola pubescens). Note the fine hairs on stem and leaves, but also the serrated stipule, which are just about visible in Bonnie’s pictures (one of them below).(The Smooth Yellows, which I don't think we saw today, have no hairs, 1–5 basal leaves, and smooth-edged stipules.)
As for whether we have Common Blue or Marsh Violets, am still not sure. GoBotany says the Common Blues have hairy foliage, with petal hairs tapering or rounded at the tips, whereas the Marsh’s foliage doesn’t have hairs and the petal hairs are knob-shaped at the tips (which Illinois says you might need a lens to see). I only had Peterson with me on the walk, so made a stab at Common Blue and Marsh using his descriptions, which included a shortened middle petal and darkening of the petal towards the middle. Enlargening Bonnie’s pictures show no hairiness on the leaves or stems, and the petal hairs do not look knobbed. They hybridize.
Did the Larch die, or was I looking at something else in that area today that did not look to be living?
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