It was a cool morning when nine of us wandered south on the Ontario Pathways
from the water tower on Waddell
Road. Our scheduled guide was unable to join us
which made for some confusion as none us felt quite confident enough to be a
leader. Thankfully, we were armed with a few wildflower guides, a
tree/shrub guide, and enough knowledge between us to enjoy a grand mystery tour
along the old railroad bed. Tim Wilbur of the Ontario Pathways made sure
to let us know about the 15th Annual Great Pumpkin Walk to be held on Saturday,
October 19th. I'll be back in early October to share more information
about this creative fundraiser.
Following are nearly 70 pictures. I think we did a decent job of
identifying most of what we saw. The photos of unidentified species
are at the end. PLEASE don't hesitate to let me know if we've made any
errors in our identifications, and of course, please let us know if you can
identify any of the species that had us stumped. You may leave a comment
following this post or send an email to canandaiguabotanical@gmail.com.
THANK YOU!
.jpg) |
| aster - possibly New York aster |
 |
| aster - lilac like in show |
 |
| The above three photos show the "huge old tree" which was later identified as a basswood |
 |
| Joan took delight in opening seed pods - this one looked like a bird - but no chirping |
The next six photos show Black-Swallow Wort. It is a BAD invasive (http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/cylo1.htm)
 |
| looks harmless enough ... |
 |
| but look how it's over taken everything along the trail's edge - and beyond |
 |
| interesting seeding |
|
 |
| seed pods dispersing seeds |
 |
| taking a closer look |
 |
| we were right to put it in the same family as milkweed |
This next species was a great mystery - seen frequently enough to keep Peggy persistent on it's identification: BLADDER NUT
 |
| at first glance many of us were reminded of tomatillos |
 |
| but these fruits/seed pods were more balloon like |
 |
| taking a look at the seed |
 |
| Lindsey shows the bladder nut - and wonders about the silver sheen of the leaves |
 |
| looking at the silver sheen of the bladder nut |
 |
realizing it's actually translucent. HM?
So, checking in with Lindsey's Mom, Jennifer, the reason for the translucent leaves: There
are insects commonly called “miners” that burrow between the outer cells of
the leaf tissue. THANKS JEN!
http://turfdiagnostics.net/ |
 |
| Dames Rocket was right at the beginning of our walk. It's familiarity gave us confidence to proceed! |
 |
| FALSE Solomon's Seal with berries on the end. Solomon-seal has blooms/berries hanging on the underside of the stem |
 |
| can you find the little frog? (much easier to spot when it moves - which it won't here since these are just photos of our walk) |
 |
| very interesting fungus on distressed tree |
 |
| goldenrod - NOT RAGWEED | | | |
 |
| ragweed - the culprit of allergy symptoms |
 |
| my best guess on this is heals-all |
 |
| invasive buckthorn (I was pleasantly surprised we did not see more of this) |
 |
| Meadow-rue |
 |
| Milk weeds |
 |
| milk weed pod |
 |
| moss on trail |
|
 |
| mullein - past bloom; this was one of Maya's favorite weeds |
 |
| pokeweed | |
 |
| rosehips |
Tim Wilbur of the Ontario Pathways tells about the collision of railroad trains just south of the 5.5/17.5 mile marker
 |
| checking out view of the ravine |
|
 |
| inspecting seed pods |
 |
| making comparisons |
 |
| staghorn sumac |
 |
| enjoying the trail |
 |
| Many thought this reminded them of their clematis plants. They were accurate! It is virgin's bower (clematis virginiana) |
 |
| virgin's bower up close - Perhaps Dr. Suess derived inspiration from these? |
 |
| Gray dogwood with white berries |
 |
| which we thought resembled white baneberry -also called doll's eyes |
 |
Thanks to Leona's knowledge shared at the Burroughs Audubon Nature Sancuary this was very familiar and gave me the opportunity to research the difference between this White Snakeroot and boneset:
|
 |
| this is white snakeroot - which causes milk-sickness (resulted in the death of Abraham Lincoln's mother) | | | |
More information on milk-sickness:
 |
| We all guessed correctly when we thought this to be wild cucumber |
 |
| and we really liked the spiral vines |
 |
| Barb stretches out the wild cucumber |
 |
| wild grapes? |
 |
| woodbine/redvine growing up a tree |
 |
| goldenrod |
|
 |
| hops hornbeam (thanks to Marty Dodge for helping with this identification) |
 |
| This looked familiar - but still remains a mystery |
 |
| unknown over common woodsorrel |
 |
| unknown ground cover on trail |
 |
| orange current berries - anyone have more detail? |
 |
| current berries in red |
 |
| privit? |
 |
| something gone to seed - perhaps aster or goldenrod? |
 |
| horse-balm? |
 |
| or Richweed? |
 |
| I couldn't get a decent photo of the seeds - but they lined the stems on this panicle species like tiny peas in an open pod |
|
Joan likely knew the source of this seed pod...but I did not make a note of it...another mystery!
Okay, now it's your turn. Please leave comments or send an Email if you can identify any of the mystery species...or if you notice any errors. - Laura
PS: Looking back to our last visit to the Ontario Pathways in September of 2011 I was able to correctly identify some of our errors.*
http://canandaiguabotanicalsociety.blogspot.com/2011/09/wood-and-field-walk-minutes.html *
.jpg)
