Stoneseed at the Guild Inn and Some Interesting Photos From My Mailbox: Oct. 12

It is one of the miracles of nature that a small flower:

Stoneseed (Lithospermum officinale)
Stoneseed (Lithospermum officinale)

can turn into a small stone-like seed by fall:

Stoneseed (Lithospermum officinale)

Stoneseed is widely distributed throughout Europa and Asia and has found its way into North America. The seeds have been used for ornamental purposes. Well-preserved, intact fruits were found glued onto two wooden tubs found in the Yanghai Tombs of Xinjiang, China, from about 2,500 years ago. (Journal of Archeological Science 2007)

There are several patches of Stoneseed near the Guild Inn.

Stoneseed (Lithospermum officinale)
Stoneseed (Lithospermum officinale)
Stoneseed (Lithospermum officinale)
Stoneseed (Lithospermum officinale)

Other botany:

Dog-strangling Vine (Vincetoxicum rossicum)
Zigzag Goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis)
Spindletree (Euonymus europaea) also called Burning Bush
Red-osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea)
Monarch on Heart-leaved Aster
Shaggy Mane
Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus inserta)
Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus)
Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana)
New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
Norway Maple (Acer platanoides)
Multiflora Rose Hips (Rosa multiflora)
Red Ash (Fraxinus pensylvanica)
Amur Maple (Acer ginnala)
Basswood (Tilia americana)
White Oak (Quercus alba)
hybrid Red Maple
Red-osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea)
Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
Hawthorn (Crataegus)
Hedge Parsley (Torilis japonica)
Butter-and-eggs (Linaria vulgaris)
Heart-leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)
Heart-leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)
Heart-leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)

Today’s group:

MAILBOX

Hi Miles,

I saw this Leucistic White-throated Sparrow today at Col. Sam.  If you are going there soon, you will find it on the path just to the north of the south parking lot.

photo: Heather Pantry

Hello Miles,

I thought I’d show you the picture I got of the deer mouse at Thomson Memorial…

Hi Miles,

I saw a GBH in Milne Dam yesterday that standing with its wings spreading out like a cormorant.  It looked strange to me. See attached photo.

Is it normal? Is it trying to dry its wings? Miles: most likely normal.

NATURE POETRY

Give me the splendid silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling,
Give me juicy autumnal fruit ripe and red from the orchard,
Give me a field where the unmowed grass grows,
Give me an arbor, give me the trellised grape.          – Walt Whitman (1819–92)

Miles Hearn

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