On September 9, SONSI member Trish Murphy led a hike in the Dickson Wilderness Area to look for fruiting plants and anything else interesting.
It was fabulous weather and there was a lot to see.
Berry-wise, we saw American highbush cranberry, common buckthorn, grey dogwood, silky dogwood, running euonymus, wild coffee, highbush blueberries, jack-in-the-pulpit, Solomon’s seal, false Solomon’s seal, starry false Solomon’s seal, poison ivy, bittersweet nightshade, red baneberry, autumn olive, carrion flower, and more.
We also saw the fruits of skunk cabbage, two different species of tussock moth caterpillar, walnut caterpillars, a garter snake, a locust borer beetle, a praying mantis, lots of ambush bugs, monarchs, and some friendly chickadees. The goldenrod and asters were in their full beauty, attracting lots of pollinators.
A huge thanks go out to Trish for sharing her expertise on our native (and invasive) plant species.
-Emily