Morning of March 7, 2010

After a long winter, Nature in Reston is finally reawakening.

A red maple (Acer rubrum) with buds ready to flower, highlighted against an evergreen holly (Ilex spp.).  This maple is located in Charter Oak Court.

Close-up of some of the buds.

Ghostly remnants of the structures holding the samaras, or fruit, of a tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Charter Oak Court.  For what this structure looked like last fall, see this post.

Fresh buds and old dried-out fruit on an American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) on the east side of Old Reston Ave. just north of its intersection with American Dream Way.  For a view from last fall, see this post.

New buds can also be seen on this winged burningbush (Euonymus alatus) on the northern side of the W&OD bike path just east of its intersection with Old Reston Avenue (also featured in this post).  With the leaves gone, one can also clearly see the protruding stripes of cork that give this species its name "winged".

Dried husks that once held fruit persisting on a crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) on the north side of the W&OD bike path east of Old Reston Ave.  For what these structures looked like last fall, when they still contained fruit, see this post.

Afternoon of September 25, 2009

An overall view of the pignut hickory (Carya glabra) on Charter Oak Court described in more detail in this post.

Flowers and fruit on a crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) on the northwest extension of Charter Oak Court.  According to the Digital Atlas of Virginia Flora, crape myrtles do not grow in the wild in Virginia, but they are extensively cultivated, and with their bright pink, red, purple, and white flowers dominate the summer suburban landscape. See this page for a suggestion of the humongous variety of crape myrtle cultivars offered in the horticultural trade - there is no hope for me determining what particular cultivar is planted here at Charter Oak Court.

A closer view of the flower of this crape myrtle.

A close-up view of the crape myrtle fruit.  We are toward the end of the long (2-3 months) flowering season for local crape myrtles, so most specimens now have more fruit than flowers on them.

One way crape myrtles can be instantly recognized even in the absence of flowers or fruit is by the presence of multiple stems with very smooth and shiny bark that exfoliates to produce this mottled appearance.  This particular specimen is on Jonathan Way just west of its intersection with North Shore Drive.

Yet another example of fall-time chlorophyll degradation in the distal areas of a leaf producing a green vein pattern.  These leaves, with their rounded lobes, clearly belong to a member of the white oak group (Quercus spp.), but not having seen an acorn, I cannot tell definitively whether this is a white oak (Quercus alba - see Virginia Tech fact sheet), an English oak (Quercus robur - see Virginia Tech fact sheet), or possibly another member of the group.  This specimen is growing wild in the hedgerow that separates Hidden Creek Country Club from North Shore Drive just south of its intersection with Jonathan Way.

A Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) vine climbing a young tree trunk in the same hedgerow.  See the Virginia Tech fact sheet.  This vine is very common in the Charter Oak Court area, although along the section of the W&OD trail that I frequent the dominant vine is wild grape rather than Virginia creeper.  Both Virginia creeper and wild grape are native to the area, unlike kudzu, which I have not yet noticed here.

Close-up of a Virginia creeper leaf, showing it to be a palmately compound leaf composed of five serrated leaflets (hence the specific name quinquefolia, which is Latin for "five-leaved").  This readily distinguishes the Virginia creeper from wild grape, which has simple cordate (heart-shaped) leaves.