Bloomwatch, March: Easing the Spring
Mar. 29th, 2012 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melannen posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
common_natureEvery week I spend one afternoon volunteering at my local library, and since the weather turned late this winter, I've been walking there and back (1.8 miles each way, according to Google Maps.)
I've also been trying to record every flowering plant I see along the route, every week (which is something I've played with doing in a far less organized way many springs before, but having a weekly time and route for it is really neat; I can see a plant come up one week, in bud the next, and then blooming later. And since it's the same route every week, if there's a plant I can't quite identify one week, I can come back with a better guess next week, which is helping my identifications a lot. This week I saw 42 flowering plants on the route, of which I already could identify 34 with a fair amount of certainty before coming back to where my guides are, and I found good IDs for 7 of the other 8 in the books (the 8th one I took crappy notes and will have to wait for next week, if it's still there.)
I thought it might be fun to share my lists of flowering plants on here, for anyone else who is interested! I live in the Baltimore/Washington Metropolitan area, and route I take includes two abandoned railroad right-of-ways; roadsides going through commercial, industrial, low-density residential, and suburban development; a cloverleaf interchange with a limited-access highway; short stretches along the edges of second-growth forest; and a wooded creek bottom; but nearly all the plants are widely-distributed weed species that turn up in pastures, yards, and roadsides nearly everywhere people clear pastures, yards, and roadsides.
So here's the lists for one week in February and three in March (one week in March was canceled due to rain.)
2/23/12:
Shepherd's purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris: This was everywhere but it took me weeks to ID it, until it got to the point where the little purse-shaped seed capsules were appearing!
Bittercress, Cardamine hirsuta : this grows nearly year-round here with a mild winter, as is always the first yard flower to really get going in spring.
Mouse-ear chickweed, Cerastium vulgatum : I think. TBH there are a bunch of different tiny white chickweedy flowers, but this is probably the one.
Red deadnettle, Lamium purpureum : The one I call "grapeflower" in my private common names.
Groundsel, Senecio vulgaris : This one gets descriptively called "spiny dandelion" in my notes, because I can't for the life of me remember that it's "groundsel".
Skunk cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus : smells horrible, looks like Audrey II decided to breed! All over the creek bottom, one of the first signs of life down there as it pokes through the winter's sediment like aliens emerging from pupation.
Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale : There is never not dandelions.
Corn speedwell, Veronica arvensis : again, definitely a speedwell, probably this one? The flowers are so tiny that they just look like a blue haze.
3/15/12
Still blooming from last time are Shepherd's Purse, Bittercress, Mouse-Ear Chickweed, Common Speedwell, Dandelion, Groundsel.
Skunk cabbage is done blooming already.
New blooms this week:
Ornamental maple, Acer palmatum: Several varieties of these around, most of them in bloom
Red maple, Acer rubrum: The easiest way to tell a red maple is in early spring, because it's the first tree to go red all over before it greens (at least around here!)
Silver/sugar maple, Acer sp. : these are maples with flowers that aren't red, I didn't get close enough to tell them apart.
Scarlet pimpernel, Anagallis arvensis: I didn't know this was a flower that actually grows wild on roadsides instead of just vigilantes' lapels! It is tiny and adorable.
Windflower, Anemone sp.: These are escaped bulbs, and Mom swears they were called Windflower, so they are probably some kind of anemone, but I haven't found anything that looks quite like them in a guide.
Swamp marigold, Caltha palustris: These entirely take over the creek bottom for several weeks every spring; you can't walk without getting yellow pollen all over your shoes.
Redbud, Cercis canadensis: we're not going to talk about how long I spent going 'what *is* that tree with the red buds all over it?' before I thought of redbud, lala.
Forsythia, Forsythia x intermedia : Forsythia seems to be one of those plants where the "species" concept doesn't work very well; the ones around here bloom at different times, so there may be several different varieties/crosses/etc.
Cutleaf geranium, Geranium dissectum: Known in my notes as "that pink flower with geranium-like leaves" until I finally looked up wild geraniums and went 'oh'. I never saw this around until a few years ago, but suddenly it's everywhere; I don't know if it's a climate change thing, or just the recency illusion.
Ground ivy, Glechoma hederacea: little purple trumpets, gorgeous when it's taken over an area
Henbit deadnettle, Lamium amplexicaule: the other local deadnettle, I actually like this one much better than the L. purpureum.
Grape hyacinth, Muscari armeniacum: a perennial bulb that escapes from cultivation everywhere around here
Daffodil, Narcissus pseudonarcissus: There may be more than one species or cross of these around, Daffodil is another highly cultivated plant which often escapes cultivation.
Callery pear, Pyrus calleryana : Don't get me started on Bradford pear trees...
Common chickweed, Stellaria sp.: Another little chickweedy thing which I don't really care enough about to be completely sure of. :P
Hop clover, Trifolium dubium : Looks a lot like both Black Medick and Pineappleweed, is infinitely less cool than either.
Coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara : these look like dandelions that are just slightly wrong, and it was only this week that I realized it was actually the Tussilago used in all the traditional cough syrups.
Birdseye speedwell, Veronica persica : the larger of the two Little Blue Flowers
Purple vetch, Vicia americana : I like vetch solely because of the character Estarriol from Earthsea.
Vinca, Vinca major : I told mom not to plant this! I told her it would take over everything! But did she listen? No.
Common violet, Viola odorata : These come in both dark purple-blue and white with blue markings, and are abundant and beautiful.
Heartsease, Viola tricolor : I called these "tiny pansies" until I finally identified them and realized that they were, in fact, wild pansies. Now I call them Heartsease because it's more poetic-sounding.
3/22/12
Everything from last week is still blooming!
New blooms this week:
Cinquefoil, Potentilla norvegica : I think I have the right species, but this is growing in a mowed area, which disrupts a lot of the markers that would make species ID more obvious. Definitely a cinquefoil, though.
Ornamental cherry, Prunus serrulata : Only two weeks early for the cherry blossom festival!
Buttercup, Ranunculus acris : It seems early for buttercups, but there is one sad little clump of this growing on a sunny slope.
White clover, Trifolium repens : Everywhere, all of a sudden.
3/29/12
Everything from last week is still blooming, except the maples - which are now in seed - and the daffodils, which are pretty much done except in cultivated gardens. I also didn't see the scarlet pimpernel, but there were very few of them, in an area that gets mowed, so they may be gone for reasons other than the season. However, quite a few blooms that were abundant last week are looking tired and may be gone by next time.
New blooms this week:
White snakeroot, Ageratina altissima : I think this is right? The plant that killed Mrs. Lincoln!
Strawberry tree, Arbutus unedo : goodness knows what an arbutus is doing on the old railroad right-of-way, but that's definitely the right flowers.
Yellow rocket, Barbarea vulgaris : ...I thought this was goldenrod in my notes. Now I know better!
Sweet gum, Liquidambar styraciflua : Best scientific name of any tree.
Crabapple (?), Malus sp. : I think this is a wild apple, but really all the pomes look a lot alike this early, so I guess I'll have to wait a few months to know for sure.
Sourgrass, Oxalis stricta : Also known as "wood sorrel", but I go by the name my family uses.
Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis : Weird bubble-like flowers that fall to the ground in grape-like green clumps.
Indian strawberry, Potentilla indica : just barely started. When it really gets going, yellow flowers and red fruit mixed with purple ground ivy, it's like a rainbow all over the backyard.
Chinkapin oak, Quercus muehlenbergii
Pin oak, Quercus palustris
Willow oak, Quercus phellos : So basically all the oaks are in flower - oak flowers look like little fuzzy caterpillars on the ground and hang in shaggy clumps from the trees - these are the ones where I knew the species already, but there were probably more.
Kidneyleaf buttercup, Ranunculus abortivus : this was a totally new plant for me, but it's coming up among the last of the swamp marigold flowers.
Lilac, Syringa vulgaris : growing up and through a callery pear and just starting to bloom.
You'll notice ALL THE TREES in this week's update. It's possible some of them were out earlier and I just didn't notice; trees only go on the list if I already know them, or if they're right in my face. Also, a lot of grasses are in bloom already, but I really, really don't know my grasses, so they're not going on the official list this year (I'm working on it!)
In non-flowering-plants news, there are fiddlehead ferns opening among last year's fronds on the washed-out railroad bridge, some of the evergreens have baby male and female cones in clusters, and the moss is in spore.
I've also been trying to record every flowering plant I see along the route, every week (which is something I've played with doing in a far less organized way many springs before, but having a weekly time and route for it is really neat; I can see a plant come up one week, in bud the next, and then blooming later. And since it's the same route every week, if there's a plant I can't quite identify one week, I can come back with a better guess next week, which is helping my identifications a lot. This week I saw 42 flowering plants on the route, of which I already could identify 34 with a fair amount of certainty before coming back to where my guides are, and I found good IDs for 7 of the other 8 in the books (the 8th one I took crappy notes and will have to wait for next week, if it's still there.)
I thought it might be fun to share my lists of flowering plants on here, for anyone else who is interested! I live in the Baltimore/Washington Metropolitan area, and route I take includes two abandoned railroad right-of-ways; roadsides going through commercial, industrial, low-density residential, and suburban development; a cloverleaf interchange with a limited-access highway; short stretches along the edges of second-growth forest; and a wooded creek bottom; but nearly all the plants are widely-distributed weed species that turn up in pastures, yards, and roadsides nearly everywhere people clear pastures, yards, and roadsides.
So here's the lists for one week in February and three in March (one week in March was canceled due to rain.)
2/23/12:
Shepherd's purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris: This was everywhere but it took me weeks to ID it, until it got to the point where the little purse-shaped seed capsules were appearing!
Bittercress, Cardamine hirsuta : this grows nearly year-round here with a mild winter, as is always the first yard flower to really get going in spring.
Mouse-ear chickweed, Cerastium vulgatum : I think. TBH there are a bunch of different tiny white chickweedy flowers, but this is probably the one.
Red deadnettle, Lamium purpureum : The one I call "grapeflower" in my private common names.
Groundsel, Senecio vulgaris : This one gets descriptively called "spiny dandelion" in my notes, because I can't for the life of me remember that it's "groundsel".
Skunk cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus : smells horrible, looks like Audrey II decided to breed! All over the creek bottom, one of the first signs of life down there as it pokes through the winter's sediment like aliens emerging from pupation.
Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale : There is never not dandelions.
Corn speedwell, Veronica arvensis : again, definitely a speedwell, probably this one? The flowers are so tiny that they just look like a blue haze.
3/15/12
Still blooming from last time are Shepherd's Purse, Bittercress, Mouse-Ear Chickweed, Common Speedwell, Dandelion, Groundsel.
Skunk cabbage is done blooming already.
New blooms this week:
Ornamental maple, Acer palmatum: Several varieties of these around, most of them in bloom
Red maple, Acer rubrum: The easiest way to tell a red maple is in early spring, because it's the first tree to go red all over before it greens (at least around here!)
Silver/sugar maple, Acer sp. : these are maples with flowers that aren't red, I didn't get close enough to tell them apart.
Scarlet pimpernel, Anagallis arvensis: I didn't know this was a flower that actually grows wild on roadsides instead of just vigilantes' lapels! It is tiny and adorable.
Windflower, Anemone sp.: These are escaped bulbs, and Mom swears they were called Windflower, so they are probably some kind of anemone, but I haven't found anything that looks quite like them in a guide.
Swamp marigold, Caltha palustris: These entirely take over the creek bottom for several weeks every spring; you can't walk without getting yellow pollen all over your shoes.
Redbud, Cercis canadensis: we're not going to talk about how long I spent going 'what *is* that tree with the red buds all over it?' before I thought of redbud, lala.
Forsythia, Forsythia x intermedia : Forsythia seems to be one of those plants where the "species" concept doesn't work very well; the ones around here bloom at different times, so there may be several different varieties/crosses/etc.
Cutleaf geranium, Geranium dissectum: Known in my notes as "that pink flower with geranium-like leaves" until I finally looked up wild geraniums and went 'oh'. I never saw this around until a few years ago, but suddenly it's everywhere; I don't know if it's a climate change thing, or just the recency illusion.
Ground ivy, Glechoma hederacea: little purple trumpets, gorgeous when it's taken over an area
Henbit deadnettle, Lamium amplexicaule: the other local deadnettle, I actually like this one much better than the L. purpureum.
Grape hyacinth, Muscari armeniacum: a perennial bulb that escapes from cultivation everywhere around here
Daffodil, Narcissus pseudonarcissus: There may be more than one species or cross of these around, Daffodil is another highly cultivated plant which often escapes cultivation.
Callery pear, Pyrus calleryana : Don't get me started on Bradford pear trees...
Common chickweed, Stellaria sp.: Another little chickweedy thing which I don't really care enough about to be completely sure of. :P
Hop clover, Trifolium dubium : Looks a lot like both Black Medick and Pineappleweed, is infinitely less cool than either.
Coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara : these look like dandelions that are just slightly wrong, and it was only this week that I realized it was actually the Tussilago used in all the traditional cough syrups.
Birdseye speedwell, Veronica persica : the larger of the two Little Blue Flowers
Purple vetch, Vicia americana : I like vetch solely because of the character Estarriol from Earthsea.
Vinca, Vinca major : I told mom not to plant this! I told her it would take over everything! But did she listen? No.
Common violet, Viola odorata : These come in both dark purple-blue and white with blue markings, and are abundant and beautiful.
Heartsease, Viola tricolor : I called these "tiny pansies" until I finally identified them and realized that they were, in fact, wild pansies. Now I call them Heartsease because it's more poetic-sounding.
3/22/12
Everything from last week is still blooming!
New blooms this week:
Cinquefoil, Potentilla norvegica : I think I have the right species, but this is growing in a mowed area, which disrupts a lot of the markers that would make species ID more obvious. Definitely a cinquefoil, though.
Ornamental cherry, Prunus serrulata : Only two weeks early for the cherry blossom festival!
Buttercup, Ranunculus acris : It seems early for buttercups, but there is one sad little clump of this growing on a sunny slope.
White clover, Trifolium repens : Everywhere, all of a sudden.
3/29/12
Everything from last week is still blooming, except the maples - which are now in seed - and the daffodils, which are pretty much done except in cultivated gardens. I also didn't see the scarlet pimpernel, but there were very few of them, in an area that gets mowed, so they may be gone for reasons other than the season. However, quite a few blooms that were abundant last week are looking tired and may be gone by next time.
New blooms this week:
White snakeroot, Ageratina altissima : I think this is right? The plant that killed Mrs. Lincoln!
Strawberry tree, Arbutus unedo : goodness knows what an arbutus is doing on the old railroad right-of-way, but that's definitely the right flowers.
Yellow rocket, Barbarea vulgaris : ...I thought this was goldenrod in my notes. Now I know better!
Sweet gum, Liquidambar styraciflua : Best scientific name of any tree.
Crabapple (?), Malus sp. : I think this is a wild apple, but really all the pomes look a lot alike this early, so I guess I'll have to wait a few months to know for sure.
Sourgrass, Oxalis stricta : Also known as "wood sorrel", but I go by the name my family uses.
Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis : Weird bubble-like flowers that fall to the ground in grape-like green clumps.
Indian strawberry, Potentilla indica : just barely started. When it really gets going, yellow flowers and red fruit mixed with purple ground ivy, it's like a rainbow all over the backyard.
Chinkapin oak, Quercus muehlenbergii
Pin oak, Quercus palustris
Willow oak, Quercus phellos : So basically all the oaks are in flower - oak flowers look like little fuzzy caterpillars on the ground and hang in shaggy clumps from the trees - these are the ones where I knew the species already, but there were probably more.
Kidneyleaf buttercup, Ranunculus abortivus : this was a totally new plant for me, but it's coming up among the last of the swamp marigold flowers.
Lilac, Syringa vulgaris : growing up and through a callery pear and just starting to bloom.
You'll notice ALL THE TREES in this week's update. It's possible some of them were out earlier and I just didn't notice; trees only go on the list if I already know them, or if they're right in my face. Also, a lot of grasses are in bloom already, but I really, really don't know my grasses, so they're not going on the official list this year (I'm working on it!)
In non-flowering-plants news, there are fiddlehead ferns opening among last year's fronds on the washed-out railroad bridge, some of the evergreens have baby male and female cones in clusters, and the moss is in spore.
