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Month: July 2017

Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora)

Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora)

Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora), also known as ghost plant or corpse plant due to its uniquely white color, is a herbaceous perennial plant native to temperate North America. These single-stalked plants often grow in clusters and can extend up to 12 inches high. Each waxy stem is covered in small scale-like leaves and has one white five-parted flower at the end. Flowering occurs between June and October, and indian pipes are a common sight throughout oak and pine forests on…

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Massachusetts Appalachian Trail Section Hike

Massachusetts Appalachian Trail Section Hike

I’ve always toyed with the idea of someday hiking the entire 2,185-mile Appalachian Trail (A.T.) as a thru-hike, but life, a job and various other responsibilities have accumulated such that taking off for the required ~6 months to complete the trek no longer seemed feasible. However, it occurred to me this year that I could still hike the A.T. – I just needed to do it in pieces, referred to as section-hiking. Given that I live on Cape Cod, the…

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Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis)

Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis)

We are now entering my favorite time of year: berry season. While exploring the Mineral Hills Conservation Area in Northampton, MA this weekend, I noticed ripe black raspberries (Rubus occidentalis) for the first time this year.  While I enjoy red raspberries and blackberries as well, black raspberries are undoubtedly my favorite.  So this was quite the treat for me. Wild raspberries are generally smaller and sweeter than the cultivated varieties.  Mature, ripe raspberries will readily separate from their white-coned hulls,…

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Wildflower Wednesday: Pickerelweed

Wildflower Wednesday: Pickerelweed

While kayaking yesterday in Coonamessett Pond in Falmouth, I encountered a number of patches of flowering pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata).  Pickerelweed is a common emergent plant in freshwater marshes, and along the edges of ponds, lakes and streams.  It has 4-10 inch long heart-shaped basal leaves extending above the water’s surface on long stalks, and spikes of small purple flowers. Each individual flower, approximately a 1/2 inch wide when fully open, has a three-lobed upper petal with two yellow spots in…

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Wild edible: Common Milkweed

Wild edible: Common Milkweed

Despite the white, latex-like sap, from which their name derives, common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is a delicious wild edible. Found in fields, along roadsides and other open areas, common milkweed is native to almost all of New England.  It typically grows 3 to 4 feet tall, on stout straight stems, with thick, broad, opposite leaves and is topped with round, slightly drooping clusters of pinkish-purple flowers. Before the flower buds bloom, they somewhat resemble pinkish-green heads of broccoli. In bloom,…

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