Yellow-blooming species of the Coreopsis genus are not native to New England, though several have come from elsewhere in the country to naturalize here. The most widespread visitor is Coreopsis lanceolata, a tough […]
VERY POPULAR
The Tallest Tulips Are From Tennessee
Getting to inspect the blooms of a tulip poplar while out for a walk is a treat, since they’re often visible only to those equipped with wings. The tallest native […]
IRIS ESCAPADES
I’m So Over This Rainbow
The iris shares its name with the Greek goddess of the rainbow, ostensibly for the multitude of colors found across its hundreds of species worldwide. In this neck of the […]
A SLIPPERY SLOPE
Where Orchids Grow
To the visiting bee, the flower of Cypripedium acaule, the pink lady’s slipper, looks like a friendly spot for an easy meal of nectar or pollen. Once entered, the slipper is […]
PEEP SHOW
A Glimpse of Blue Toadflax
Squatting among the beach grass, plums, and roses that decorate the coastal bank bordering Wellfleet’s Mayo Beach is a colony of blue toadflax, a diminutive native wildflower whose beauty isn’t […]
CHEERS
Say It With Sassafras
The native Sassafras albidum is a tree full of wonders — scents of cinnamon and citrus from root to bark to tip; whimsical leaves shaped like mittens and tridents and footballs; resplendent […]
DIG IT
The Shuffle Bushes Are in Bloom Again
The spring-blooming shrubs and trees of the widespread, mostly North American genus Amelanchier have a long list of common names, many referring to their timing. Some people call them Juneberries because their […]
KINNIKINNICK
Give a Bear a Grape
There’s a path off North Pamet Road in Truro that slowly climbs around a bearberry-covered dune up to a soaring overlook of the Atlantic at the top, but there’s another […]
FAKE FRUIT
Rogues Callery
If the endangered plants and animals of the Shank Painter Pond Wildlife Sanctuary are the rubies and diamonds of Provincetown’s ecological crown jewel, as the sanctuary is often described, then […]
SWAMP THINGS
The Red Maple Helicopters In
On the Outer Cape, the swamp maple (Acer rubrum) can often be found with its feet wet, growing vigorously in low spots like the Atlantic white cedar swamp in Wellfleet. […]
DO NOT DISTURB
Mayflower Compact
At first glance, the native evergreen Epigaea repens looks a bit haggard. Its rough, leathery leaves, which have bite marks and brown spots left by the visiting insects it hosts, […]
A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
The Call of the Catkins
How pussy willows and hazelnuts beckon trysts in the breeze
A walk along the Head of the Meadow bike trail in the first days of spring can be a master class in cold-weather copulation — of the horticultural kind. In […]
ITCHIN’ FOR IT
Pick Your Poison
Poison ivy, whose wood can trigger an allergic rash on contact just like its foliage can, might actually be easier to identify in the off-season when its “leaves of three” […]
WHEN HONEYSUCKLES SUCK
On the Morrow, an Invasion
The deciduous flora of the Cape has just barely begun to awaken and flower — most native trees and shrubs are still hitting snooze — and leaves aren’t on the […]
BITTER ABOUT IT
Salad, Sort Of
While the wild plant community is still slowly waking up from winter dormancy, there’s one urbanite who’s wide awake, in full flower, and ready to be flung on your dinner […]
