Field Notes

Bittersweet (Nightshade)
Bittersweet (Nightshade)
This little guy supports itself by tangling into nearby plants. It's a vine, and a relative of potato, tomato, eggplant, and tobacco. The name comes from the taste of the... Read more...
Sweetgum
Sweetgum
American Sweetgum is a deciduous tree native to the eastern United States. It is best known for its fruit (pictured in the attached sketch) which is both a delightfully shaped... Read more...
They've got chemistry!
They've got chemistry!
Hydrangeas are living pH indicators. The color of the blooms are determined by the composition of the soil that they sit within. You've probably seen them in blue, or white,... Read more...
Thermonasty: Great Rhododendron
Thermonasty: Great Rhododendron
Rhododendron leaves are thermonastic, which means that they curl and droop in direct response to temperature. Above 40 degrees (F), they are flat and horizontal, but once the temperature dips... Read more...
How Beetles See
How Beetles See
In my most recent series, Blossoms as seen by a Beetle, I speculate on how beetles experience the world, showing a blooming tree as seen through their eyes. Magnolia trees are... Read more...
Sunflowers
Sunflowers
Sunflowers track the sun over the course of the day (heliotropism). They turn to face it as it moves across the sky. While this happens too slowly for you to... Read more...
Daffodils
Daffodils
It had been warm last week and the daffodils bloomed. I was so excited to see this very cheerful sign of spring, and then so devastated when a couple of... Read more...
Wood Ears
Wood Ears
Wood ear mushrooms are soft gelatinous looking black fungi that grow, as many mushrooms do, on wood. They are named 'wood ear', which is apt because they look like little... Read more...
Sleeping bees
Sleeping bees
My friend Sarah told me that sometimes, after bees have had a good snack on some pollen, they take a little nap inside flowers. Their little butts stick out and... Read more...
Some thoughts about lichens
Some thoughts about lichens
I learned recently that lichens are a symbiotic relationship formed between algae and fungus. This means that the many varieties that exist of lichen are actually each distinct collaborations between... Read more...