Woodland Finds
Nearly the eye of Sauron.
Uncategorized
Oak Gall in Missouri
Willy Wonka gumball? World’s smallest dinosaur egg? Previously: Fifty Common Plant Galls of the Chicago Area ETA: Thanks to the lovely website iNaturalist.org, I’ve been informed that the gall may belong to the species Atrusca quercuscentricola, a gall wasp that forms galls on the leaves of post oaks, one of the most common trees in …
Hinged Companions
For the next few weeks, I will be conducting tree surveys in Missouri – tramping about through the woods and sleeping in what will probably end up being a combination of rustic cabins and motels. I’m currently drafting this blog post while sitting near my very warm wood-burning stove in a small cabin a good …
Fall Prairie at Jay Woods
One of the brightest prairie flowers blooming right now is New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae), here with the ellipsoid (egg-shaped) seed heads of grey-headed coneflower (Ratibida pinnata), whose seeds, by the way, smell pleasant enough to rid your hands of snake musk if you ever happen to be looking to remove that particular odor from …
Prescribed Fire from Above
While working on a grant for restoration activity at Wolf Road Prairie earlier this year [Eliminate Phragmites Campaign!], I noticed a burn from this past spring was visible on Google Earth! Here is what the prairie normally looks like from above: and here is the photo from March 12th of this year. The sidewalks built …
Illinois Public Land Survey Field Notes
I spent a few hours at the UIC Daley Library last week looking at maps and trying to decipher the handwritten field notes of land surveyors from their treks throughout Illinois in the early to mid 1800s. The field notes were used to create maps depicting areas generalized with broad descriptions like “timber,” “slough,” “prairie,” …
Knowing America
The following is a quote by botanist Gerould Wilhelm, in the book A Natural History of the Chicago Region by Joel Greenberg. He is recounting an early experience from his time with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, assessing whether different areas were suitable (low-quality enough) to dump dredge materials. We visited thirteen sites that …
Glaucous Boxelder
Above demonstrates the glaucous/waxy bloom on a boxelder sapling (Acer negundo). This epicuticular wax functions as a hydrophobic barrier, preventing excess water loss in the new green growth of many plants. The slippery surface of a waxy bloom can both defend against and attract tiny herbivores (e.g. insects). In some cases there is a mutualistic …
Canada Germander
Teucrium canadense, or Canada germander, at South Shore Nature Sanctuary
Storeria dekayi (De Kay’s brown snake)
De Kay’s brown snake, or brown snake, Storeria dekayi. We found him (or her) basking on a paved bike path at Kankakee River State Park. Although he looks ferocious and intimidating and snapped at me, he was real small, about a foot long, and is not venomous. What a precious little smiling face. He looks …