Mystery Plants
These are plants I've seen or own, but have forgotten or never known what their names are. If you recognize any of them I'd appreciate a note at the email drop.
These next became a surprise mystery. I had "known" for years that there was saw palmetto growing in the river swamp; then I read in an article by Andy Cabe at the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden that the saw palmetto's range did not extend this far north and inland. A few emails ensued, and some poking around the net looking for the right species and variety finally convinced me that he's right, it's dwarf palmetto. I'll keep some mid-October pictures here.
A large mature:
The exposed part of the trunk, none found over six inches high:
A fresh sprout from an old trunk:
And some almost done for the year fruit:
The palmetto exchange brought an additional benefit: Busting Hearts
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Late April, 2011.
I rode up Beaver Pond Road to check on the rodents' latest depredations when this one caught my eye. It's a thin, woody vine with simple white four-petal flowers. There's only the one blooming along that road, and I've not seen any others otherwhere. It seems they'd be hard to miss.
Some Solved Mysteries: