Morning of August 6, 2010 (continued)

In the thicket on the south side of the W&OD bike path where it crosses the pipeline easement one can now find this bushy plant with sessile opposite leaves at its branching points and what appear to be five-petalled flowers in bloom.  This is flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata, see this Missouri description and this Illinois article).  This plant is related to the poinsettia, and as with that species, the brightly colored structures are not petals, but rather modified leaves.

The shining or winged sumac (Rhus copallinum) is just about finished blooming, and the small seeds are beginning to set.  For how this plant will look in about six weeks, when the seeds have ripened, see this post from last September.

Another plant commonly found along the W&OD bike path that is now in the final stages of flowering:  the devil's walking stick (Aralia spinosa).  These plants have grown massively from the gnarled solitary sticks that first opened their buds in April, as seen in this post and this post.

As can be seen in this closer-up shot, the flower petals have now generally fallen away, and only the fertilized ovaries now remain that are beginning to set as fruit.

Devil's walking sticks lining both sides of the W&OD bike path, looking west from a point just west of the intersection of the bike path with Wiehle Avenue.  For how this scene will look in a couple of months, when the berries have turned black and the stalks bearing them are purple, see this post from last October;  the first picture there was taken from a point maybe 20 feet east of the photo here.

And a final shot showing sumac and devil's walking stick together in a thicket between the W&OD bike path and the W&OD gravel path just west of Wiehle Avenue.

Yet another striking plant that is now spectacularly in bloom is hollow Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium fistulosum, formerly Eupatorium fistulosum;  see this Missouri description, this Connecticut gallery, and this Wikipedia article).  This cluster is on the south side of the W&OD bike path, just east of its intersection with Isaac Newton Square and a couple hundred feet west of the devil's walking sticks shown just above.

This closer-up image shows the sagging flower heads composed of numerous tiny pink flowers that are very similar to the white-flowering thoroughworts seen in this post from last September.

The Joe Pye weeds are extremely popular with butterflies, such as the yellow swallowtail seen in this picture.  Two months ago these same butterflies were noshing on the flowers of common milkweed, as seen in this post;  remarkably, the milkweed flowers are the exact same shade of pink as the Joe Pye weed flowers.

The outcome of that earlier butterfly-noshing:  mature seedpods of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), taken from the same spot in the median between the W&OD bike path and the W&OD gravel path south of their intersection with Sunset Hills Road as the June flower shot referred to just above.

Hidden in the undergrowth along the south side of the W&OD bike path between Isaac Newton Square and Wiehle Avenue one can find this dainty flower with two bright blue lobes and prominent yellow false anthers.  This is Asiatic dayflower (Commelina communis, see this Missouri description);  the specific identification is enabled by the fact that it has only two rather than three blue lobes on the flower.

Finally, on the west side of the W&OD bike path just south of the Dulles Toll Road one can find this purple-flowering plant with protruding yellow anthers.  This is bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara, see this Missouri description and this Wikipedia article), which is an invasive relative of the Carolina horsenettle (featured here) and the tomato.  Note the small green fruit (quite poisonous) in the upper left corner of the image.

Evening of April 12, 2010 - odds and ends

These ghostly white structures (slightly bleached in the flash) are found on the north-facing slope south of the W&OD bike path between Wiehle Ave and Isaac Newton Square - a very shaded, damp, cool spot.  They are so-called "fiddleheads", rolled up new fronds of a fern.  See this Wikipedia entry.

Nearby some of the fronds have begun to unroll.  Based upon its appearance, as well as some fully unrolled specimens nearby, I think this might be cinnamon fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum, formerly Osmunda connamomea, see this Wikipedia entry and this Illinois description).  If this identification is correct, then I should be seeing the distinctive cinnamon-colored fertile leaves within the next couple of months.

Meanwhile, the sassafras trees (Sassafras albidum) are nearly finished blooming, and leaves are now emerging from the same bud centers that had borne the flowers.  This particular image is from the same tree on the W&OD bike path just west of Michael Faraday Drive that was also featured in this post from 10 days previously.

In a few cases, as on this specimen halfway between Michael Faraday Drive and Sunset Hills Road, one can already see the characteristic trident-shaped leaves emerging in the sassafras.

Near the sassafras in the previous image is this old vine with the new year's growth of three-part leaves beginning to emerge.  As the old saying goes, "leaves of three, let it be" - this is poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans, see the Virginia Tech data sheet).

The devil's walking sticks (Aralia spinosa) that were just beginning to sprout from the winter's remnant stick ten days ago (see this post) have now put on a sizable growth, and the doubly pinnate shape of their large leaves is becoming apparent, as on this specimen on the north side of the W&OD bike path between Wiehle Avenue and Isaac Newton Square.

Further along the bike path, just west of Isaac Newton Square, is a large grove of young ailanthus or Tree of Heaven trees (Ailanthus altissima).  Like the devil's walking sticks, the young ailanthus die back to a bare stem in the winter, with new growth sprouting forth from the top in the spring, as shown here.  But this species has smooth stems rather than those ferocious spikes and thorns seen on the Aralia!

W&OD Trail, evening of April 2, 2010

Besides the showy ornamentals, such as cherries, pears, and magnolias, there are also many more subtle wonders of nature right now.  For example, all up and down the W&OD trail the sassafras trees (Sassafras albidum, see the Virginia Tech fact sheet) are blooming, as in this spectacular example just west of the intersection of the W&OD trail with Michael Faraday Drive.

I did not get a good direct shot of the blossoms, but in this image one gets a sense that the sassafras bloom consists of many tiny six-rayed flowers clumped together in yellowish-green balls.

Meanwhile, in the weedy undergrowth on both sides of the W&OD trail, the devil's walking stick (Aralia spinosa, see the Virginia Tech fact sheet) is busily sprouting.  As this post from last fall shows, this plant turns into a quite large shrub.  But over the winter most of the year's growth breaks off and decays, leaving a single stick-like stem with the scars from previous years ringed in fierce thorns.  In late winter these form forbidding thickets of spiky stems, but over the past couple of weeks green buds have formed on the top of each stick, and these have now opened to reveal this year's growth starting to unfold.

In the southeastern corner of the intersection of the W&OD bike trail with Isaac Newton Square is this beautiful weeping or Higan cherry (Prunus subhirtella, see the Virginia Tech fact sheet) draped over some bike lockers.

This close-up of the blossoms shows the five-fold symmetry, yellow stigma, and reddish calyx as well as the pronounced horizontal lenticels on the stems that clearly identify this as a cherry.

Also quite noticeable now along the W&OD trail and throughout Reston is that the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is beginning to leaf out.  Four weeks ago, as shown in this posting, branches were bare, graced only with the dried husks of the fruit structures.  Those structures are still present, as can be seen in today's picture, but surrounding them now are new young leaves with their characteristic four lobes.

Finally, on the W&OD trail adjoining the Fannie Mae gardens just east of Old Reston Avenue is this magnolia, which I had earlier shown in its bud stage in this posting.  The white-blooming tree in the left background is a feral Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana), while the dull gray-green bush in the right background is the equally invasive autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), which dominates the undergrowth along large stretches of the W&OD trail.

In my earlier posting I had supposed, based purely on the bud, that this might be a Japanese or saucer magnolia.  But it clearly is a star magnolia (Magnolia stellata, see the Virginia Tech fact sheet) instead.  For a much larger star magnolia, see  this posting from a week ago.

October 1, 2009

On looking at the vegetation lining the W&OD bike path (as here, just west of Wiehle Avenue), one can't help but notice large blotches of deep red spread among the green.

On closer inspection, these blotches turn out to be large clusters of blackish berries born on purple stalks.  Despite their similar color, these are not pokeweed (which are low-crouching shrubs rather than small trees, as these), but rather the fruit of Devil's walking stick (Aralia spinosa).  See the Virginia Tech fact sheet.

The reason for its name is evident from this image - don't try touching this trunk!

Another very prickly plant is the Mile-a-minute vine (Persicaria perfoliata), already described in this post.  Here it can be seen aggressively covering shrubs and even trees on the north side of the W&OD bike path west of Wiehle Avenue.

As compared to two weeks ago, most of this vine's fruit have now ripened to their characteristic blue color.

Not all the plants along the W&OD bike path are so forbidding.  There are, for example, also some nice clumps of goldenrods (Solidago spp.), as here on the south side of the path just east of Old Reston Avenue.  According to the Digital Atlas of Virginia Flora, there are 17 species of goldenrods growing in the wild in Fairfax County, and I have not even begun to study the distinctions among the specimens found here in Reston.

This might possibly be rough-stemmed goldenrod (S. rugosa) - see this Connecticut Botanical Society page - or early goldenrod (S. juncea) - see this page from same site.  Obviously I need to spend more time paying close attention to these plants.

Another plant displaying some color now is the honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.), which is now bearing juicy red fruit about the same size as the autumn olive.  This particular specimen is located near the clump of goldenrods shown in the previous two pictures.  The honeysuckle has opposite leaves, while the autumn olive has alternating leaves;  moreover, the honeysuckle's red fruit lacks the silvery speckles found on the fruit of the autumn olive.

This is either Amur honeysuckle (L. maackii) - see Virginia Tech data sheet - or Morrow's honeysuckle (L. morrowii) - see Virginia Tech data sheet.  Both of these bush honeysuckles are highly invasive imports from Asia and are now on Reston's list of "8 forbidden species" that may not be planted.

Further east along the W&OD bike path, on the south side just east of Wiehle Avenue, is another clump of plants now conspicuously in fruit.  The fruit consists of pairs of very long, very thin pods or follicles.

This is dogbane (Apocynum spp.);  see this comparable image.  There are two species growing in the wild in Fairfax County, spreading dogbane (A. androsaemfolium) and Indian hemp (A. cannabinum);  however, I don't believe I will be able to distinguish them until they flower next summer, as the first blooms pink and the second blooms white.