Jul 16 2016

Fuller’s Teasel or Common Teasel

Fuller’s Teasel or Common Teasel [Dipsacus fullonum] photos were taken at Fletcher Park on 11 July 2013 and on 16 July 2016. It’s the member of the Teasel (Dipsacaceae) family. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, pages 160-161, states it blooms in summer and fall and can be found in fields and on roadsides. The guide also lists its scientific name as Dipsacus sylvestris.

USDA Plants Listing: Dipsacus sylvestris

Fuller's Teasel at Fletcher Park - 11 July 2013

Fuller’s Teasel at Fletcher Park – 11 July 2013

Fuller's Teasel (with flowers) - 11 July 2013

Fuller’s Teasel (with flowers) – 11 July 2013

Teasel - 16 July 2016

Teasel – 16 July 2016

Jul 10 2016

Great Laurel or Rosebay Rhododendron

Great Laurel or Rosebay [Rhododendron maximum] on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in South Asheville, North Carolina on 10 July 2016. It’s a member of the Heath (Ericaceae) family. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, pages 292-293, says it blooms in early summer in damp woods and swamps.

USDA Plants Listing: Rhododendron maximum

Great Laurel - 10 July 2016 - Mountains-to-Sea Trail

Great Laurel – 10 July 2016 – Mountains-to-Sea Trail

Jul 02 2016

Tall Blazing Star or Rough Blazing Star

Tall Blazing Star or Rough Blazing Star [Liatris aspera] found off Brevard Road, Asheville, North Carolina on 2 July 2016. It’s a member of the Aster/Composite (Asteraceae) family. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, pages 412-413, states it blooms in summer and fall in dry open places.

USDA Plants Listing: Liatris aspera

Tall Blazing Star with Honey bee - 2 July 2016

Tall Blazing Star with Honey bee – 2 July 2016

Tall Blazing Star with bee - 2 July 2016

Tall Blazing Star with bee – 2 July 2016

Tall Blazing (wide shot) - 2 July 2016

Tall Blazing (wide shot) – 2 July 2016

Jun 18 2016

Milkweed Borer

Milkweed Borer [Tetraopes femoratus] found near Fletcher Park, off Mills Gap on 18 June 2016.  It’s a Longhorn Beetle, in the family Cerambycidae.  There was a milkweed plant nearby, but the plant it’s on is unidentified, as the leaves are not the right shape to be milkweed. The NWF Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America, page 208, says this beetle “feeds on the leaves of several species of milkweeds in open habitats during late spring and summer.”

Milkweed Borer near Fletcher Park - 18 June 2016

Milkweed Borer near Fletcher Park – 18 June 2016

Milkweed Borer (wide shot) - 18 June 2016

Milkweed Borer (wide shot) – 18 June 2016

Jun 18 2016

Butterfly Milkweed or Butterfly Weed

Butterfly Milkweed or Butterfly Weed [Asclepias tuberosa] found near Fletcher Park on 28 August 2013 and 18 June 2016. It’s a member of the Milkweed (Asclepiadaceae) family. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, pages 188-189, states it blooms in summer in dry fields and on banks, and it also lists another common name as Pleurisy Root.

USDA Plants Listing: Asclepias tuberosa

Butterfly Weed & honey bee - 18 June 2016

Butterfly Weed & honey bee – 18 June 2016

Butterfly Weed with bee - 18 June 2016

Butterfly Weed with bee – 18 June 2016

Butterfly Milkweed near Fletcher Park - 28 August 2013

Butterfly Milkweed near Fletcher Park – 28 August 2013

Butterfly Milkweed (zoom out) - 28 August 2013

Butterfly Milkweed (zoom out) – 28 August 2013

Jun 18 2016

Chicory

Chicory [Cichorium intybus] found near the Silver Leaf Diner, off US Route 11 in DeKalb Junction, New York on 21 June 2013 and near Fletcher Park on 18 June 2016. It’s a member of the Aster (Asteraceae) family. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, pages 382-383, says that it blooms in summer and fall, and found on roadsides, in fields and waste places.

Weeds of Canada, Clarence Frankton, Publication 948, 1956 Edition, page 172 states:

Roots of this plant when dried, roasted, and ground, supply the chicory of commerce used as a substitute for coffee, or as an adulterant. A small percentage of chicory in coffee is preferred by many and there is evidence that chicory helps retain the aromatic constituents of coffee.

USDA Plants Listing: https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=CIIN

Chicory near the Silver Leaf Diner - 21 June 2013

Chicory near the Silver Leaf Diner – 21 June 2013

Chicory (multiple) - 21 June 2013

Chicory (multiple) – 21 June 2013

Chicory near Fletcher Park- 18 Jun 2016

Chicory near Fletcher Park- 18 Jun 2016

May 28 2016

Shameplant

Shameplant [Mimosa pudica] seen on the Swamp Rabbit Trail in Travelers Rest, South Carolina on 28 May 2016. It’s a member of the Pea family (Fabaceae ⁄ Leguminosae) and is not native. The website plants.usda.gov shows it as being introduced in the states of Virginia & Florida.  The leaves are sensitive to touch and will fold up as a defense mechanism.
USDA Plants Listing: Mimosa pudica

Shameplant - 28 May 2016

Shameplant in Travelers Rest, South Carolina – 28 May 2016

May 28 2016

Striped Prince’s Pine or Spotted Wintergreen

Striped Prince’s Pine or Spotted Wintergreen [Chimaphila maculata] found near mile marker 437 on the Blue Ridge Parkway on 25 July 2013 and in Travelers Rest, SC on 28 May 2016. It’s a member of the Shinleaf (Pyrolaceae) family. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, pages 284-285, says it blooms in summer in dry woods.

Timothy P. Spira’s Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains & Piedmont, page 349, has the plant listed as Pipsissewa or Striped Wintergreen. It also says:

Of the 2 species of Chimaphila in our region, pipsissewa (C. maculata) is more common; its leaves have whitish green stripes along the major veins, whereas prince’s pine (C. umbellata) has solid green leaves throughout.

USDA Plants Listing: Chimaphila maculata

Striped Prince's Pine on Blue Ridge Parkway - 25 July 2013

Striped Prince’s Pine on Blue Ridge Parkway – 25 July 2013

Look carefully at the dark-green, striped leaves at the base of the plant’s reddish stem.

Striped Prince's Pine - 25 July 2013

Striped Prince’s Pine – 25 July 2013

Striped Prince's Pine - 27 July 2013

Striped Prince’s Pine – 27 July 2013

Striped Prince's Pine (held) - 16 June 2014

Striped Prince’s Pine (held) – 16 June 2014

Striped Wintergreen on the Swamp Rabbit Trail in Travelers Rest, SC - 28 May 2016

Striped Wintergreen on the Swamp Rabbit Trail in Travelers Rest, SC – 28 May 2016

May 21 2016

Japanese Honeysuckle

Japanese Honeysuckle [Lonicera japonica] found at Fletcher Park on 21 April 2016. It’s a member of the Honeysuckle (Caprifoliaceae) family and Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, pages 108-109 states that it’s a vine that blooms in late spring to fall on road-sides and in thickets and it is “an introduced weed, smothering out other plants by its rank growth.”
USDA Plants Listing: Lonicera japonica

Japanese Honeysuckle near Fletcher Park - 21 May 2016

Japanese Honeysuckle near Fletcher Park – 21 May 2016

Japanese Honeysuckle (above) - 21 May 2016

Japanese Honeysuckle (above) – 21 May 2016

Japanese Honeysuckle (with guest) - 21 May 2016

Japanese Honeysuckle (with guest) – 21 May 2016

Japanese Honeysuckle (reds) - 21 May 2016

Japanese Honeysuckle (reds) – 21 May 2016

May 20 2016

House Centipede

This photo of a House Centipede [Scutigera coleoptrata] taken in Asheville, North Carolina on 20 May 2016.  It doesn’t have 100 legs, but 30 (15-pair).  According to multiple sources, it originates from the Mediterranean region, but is now found worldwide, and it feeds on other insects.  However beneficial it may be, it is still considered to be a household pest.

Wikipedia: Scutigera coleoptrata

House Centipede - 20 May 2016

House Centipede – 20 May 2016