Shagbark Hickory and a Poison Ivy Orchard: Oct. 29, 2022

Shagbark Hickory is not a common tree in our area. With age, the dark gray bark separates into long plates, free at their lower ends or at both ends. giving the trunk a shaggy look. The rich moist soil in the forest at Marie Curtis Park is perfect for it.

Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)
Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)
Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)

Marie Curtis Park has an area (which I call an orchard) of waist-high, fruit-laden Poison Ivy plants.

Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron rydbergii)
Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron rydbergii)
Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron rydbergii)

Songbirds eat these white berries and deer graze on the leaves. Humans only the only creatures affected negatively by this plant.

Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron rydbergii)
Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron rydbergii)

Other botany:

Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
Fly on Riverbank Grape
Amur Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii)
Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Red Maple (Acer rubra)
Red Maple (Acer rubra)
Amur Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii)
Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)
Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)
American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
Blackberry (Rubus)

Some birds:

Canada Geese
Mallards
Mallard (female)
Herring Gull
Green-winged Teal
Ring-billed Gulls
Green-winged Teal
Canada Geese
Green-winged Teal
Ring-billed Gull
European Starlings
Ring-billed Gull

Park views:

8am group:

11:30am group:

NATURE POETRY

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree. – Joyce Kilmer

Miles Hearn

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