Wolf Run Road June 26, 2011
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in hiking, wild edibles, wildflowers.12 comments
There was a time when you could drive Wolf Run Road to the place where the Finger Lakes Trail crosses it. Not any more. You can drive to the bridge which is now closed. So we did. And then we walked.
This is a beautiful trail with lots of great views. And in June, there are lots of wildflowers.
Deptford Pinks
Canada Thistle
Day Lily
Common Milkweed (with Pollinator)
Rough-fruited Cinquefoil
Knapweed
Bird’s Foot Trefoil
Oxeye Daisy
Red Clover
Small Sundrops (this native flower is the size of my pinkie fingernail)
Cow Vetch
Yellow Clover
(another) Oxeye Daisy
Heal-all
There were also several delicious nibbles along the way. We ate Allegany Service Berries, mint leaves, Day Lily buds, and blueberries!
I ate the blue one…
Here’s where we parked:
View Larger Map
An Escape… October 9, 2010
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in autumn, fruits and berries, fungi, hiking, trees, wild edibles.8 comments
Fire Tower Trail, Allegany State Park
Sometimes when the world is weighing down heavily on your shoulders, the only thing that helps is a little escape… a chance to walk, explore, breathe crisp Autumn air. A chance to surround yourself with the familiar, yet be open to the novel.
The Art Roscoe Ski area at Allegany State Park is a wonderful place for cross-country skiing in winter. Turns out, it is also a wonderful place for hiking when there is no snow.
Fire Tower at the Art Roscoe Ski Area, Allegany State Park
A side trail runs parallel to the main trail and takes you to a Fire Tower. I pushed my fear deep down into my boots and climbed the stairs, hoping for a glorious vista from the top. There were hand rails and the stairs were sturdy. Still, my heart pounded hard and my breath came in short, shallow fits.
It was indeed worth it! The view from the top was spectacular and very much justified the climb.
The Allegany “Mountains” are really a big old ocean bed that was carved out over time by melting glacier water and various other forms of erosion. When you climb up for a view from the top, you can see that all the “peaks” are the same height.
View from the Top
It was helpful to have my hiking buddy in front of me on the descent… much easier looking at his backpack than at the steep stairs that went on and on. Back on the ground, it took a while before the adrenaline left my muscles and I could relax again… and turn my attention from big sweeping views to the forest’s minutiae.
A tiny moth kept trying to hide from me under the leaves...
Most of the Sweetwater trail is wide and in winter two trails for skiing are groomed making for fast, easy skiing. Along the way we found a narrower trail that crossed Sweetwater. Always favoring the road less travelled, we took a right hand turn.
Loose and peeling bark is back-lit by the Autumn rays.
It was late afternoon and the long, slanting rays of the sun were golden, creating vibrant, colorful mini-landscapes.
The log we chose to rest on was decorated with a familiar "Icicle Fungus"
A bit further down the trail, there was an opening and the combination of “plant” life was simply delightful… Some I recognized and knew the names of… Others I recognized, but have no names for… And one brand new! (I put the word plant in quotes… because back when I studied biology the first time, there were only two kingdoms: Plants and Animals. And under that scheme… all these things would have been classified as plants…)
Lichens and Mosses
The first thing I noticed was a thick carpet of lichens – some 6 or 8 inches tall, punctuated with mosses competing for space. Tucked in here and there were mushrooms… so bitty it would have been easy to miss them altogether…
A tiny mushroom manages to pop up through the thick mat of moss and lichen.
A little trail nibble was provided by a patch of Wintergreen that was sharing the soil with the others.
Wintergreen... not the juiciest of berries... but a very pleasant flavor.
Very near the bushy-shrubby type lichens were stalks that resembled small cups on stems, decorated with a bit of red. I’m not sure if they are a structure of the the shrubby type, or a whole separate species…
This seems to match other photos I have found labeled "Lesser Sulpher Cup Lichen."
And then there were the Lycopodium…
These little "club mosses" or "ground pines" are considered "exploitatively vulnerable" in New York State. They have been over-harvested for wreath-making.
If I have seen the next one before, it was never in such abundance and so easy to investigate… It warrants several pictures…
Running Club Moss
Oh dear… this post is getting very long and there is still so much more to tell… I guess I’ll click “publish” and tell you more later…
So Many Species! April 18, 2010
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in wild edibles, wild medicinals, wildflowers.6 comments
Zigzag Goldenrod
The year I got my Canon Rebel XT, I also got several days of vacation in September. I decided I would teach myself to identify all the goldenrods and asters that grow in our region. Ha ha ha… It was a ridiculous goal. In my Newcomb’s guide alone there are 34 species of goldenrod and 43 of aster… I never even got close.
New York Aster
According to botanist Thomas Elpel, there are over 100 species of goldenrod worldwide, over 90 of which can be found in North America. For asters, the numbers are 500 and 150.
Numbers like these speak to the success of the reproductive and adaptive strategies of these genera… producing huge numbers of seeds, and also regenerating year after year from continuously spreading root stock. Clever little plants…
Violets have 5 petals.
For a Ridiculous Springtime Challenge check out the violets – another long list of species under a single genus. Violaceae – The Violet Family – boasts sixteen genera and 850 species worldwide. In my Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide (northeastern and north-central North America), 31 species are listed and there are 39 in my Peterson guide for the same region.
Generally speaking, violets have 5 petals that are not all shaped the same. Think of them as a top pair, a side (lateral) pair, and the larger, single bottom petal. Leaves are most often basal, but on some species they alternate.
While most species are some shade of the color of their namesake, you will find other colors. It seems the earliest ones I find in spring are yellow:
Round-leaved Violet
Shortly after the snow melts, the little, yellow dots of Round-leaved Violet (Viola rotundifolia) push their way up through the leaf litter along with tiny leaves. Together, the blooms and leaves expand in size until by summer the leaves might be 2-4 inches long.
Northern White Violet
The Northern White Violet (Viola pallens) has streaks of purple on its lower petal.
There is another lovely white violet that won’t bloom until later in May. The plants get quite a bit taller and the flower petals are a little more “regularly” shaped.
Canada Violet
Back of Canada Violet Flower
The Canada Violet (Viola canadensis) flower is interesting because it is white on the front, but violet on the back. It is also distinctive because whereas many of the violet species have flowers each on a stalk that comes up from the ground, this plant is more bush-like – with flowers on branching stalks from a main stem.
When a flower has a unique feature, and is named for that unique feature, it is easy to remember the name. Such is the case with the Long-spurred Violet (Viola rostrata). I first found these along a creek in a very moist, rich woods and found them to be just delightful, both for their shape and for their delicate light-purple color.
Long-spurred Violet
When it comes to the purple ones, i fear I have not been attentive enough to identify to the species level… I have not paid attention to the shape of the leaves and whether they are smooth or fuzzy… I have not paid attention to whether the veined markings are on all petals, or just the lower, or lower and lateral… I have not paid attention to which of the petals are bearded and which are not… So much to notice.
One of the purple ones...
As you know, there is always something new to learn… This year, I learned that violets form a 3-valved exploding capsule of seeds! When I did an image search for such a thing, I found that one of my Flickr friends had one:
Seed pod of Viola sororia - by Fleur-Ange Lamothe
I think I’ll keep my eyes open for such a thing this year!
All violets are edible. You can throw the blooms right on your salad or dry them to make tea. They are reported to be high in vitamins C and A, and as a medicinal tea to work well as a laxative or expectorant.
The domesticated plants “Johnny Jump Up” and pansies are in the same family as the wild violets.
Mindless Monday… March 9, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in spring, wild edibles.5 comments
(It was too early for Wordless Wednesday…)
Teeth You Can Eat September 30, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in fungi, wild edibles.7 comments
I just love it when the experts say that something is widespread and common, yet I have just encountered it for the first time in my half-century-plus lifetime. Such is the case with a couple of fungi I encountered over the weekend.
According to Michael Kuo, “Hericium americanum is North America’s only Hericium species with long spines and a branched fruiting body.”
As I surfed around looking for more information about this one I discovered that it has many common names including Bear’s Head Tooth Fungus, Monkey Head, Lion’s Mane, Pom pon Blanc, and Icicle Mushroom. I also discovered that the scientific name has changed recently and you might find it listed as Hericium coralloides, a name that has now officially been given to a different species – a coral fungus that used to be called Hericium ramosum. Yikes, I think I’m glad I’m NOT a mycologist! (Click here for an interestng article about how and why names change. It’s not related to this fungus, but the story is illustrative!)
There are several Hericium species in the northeast woods. Kuo says that H. americanum is sometimes confused with H. erinaceus. So I began to wonder about this one:
H. americanum is branched, H. erinaceus derives from a single clump. I dunno. What do you think? Is the one above a single clump or branched? The spines (or teeth) are shorter, but I think it is younger, too.
Both are “toothed” fungi, meaning that spores are produced from elongated spines or teeth, rather than from gills or pores as in some other fungi.
All of the Hericium species in North America are edible, so They say, and several species in this genus are cultivated for consumption. Indeed, the Hericium species are reported to be quite easy to cultivate.
Have any of you sunk your teeth into these teeth before? How are they?
Learn more:
- http://www.mushroomexpert.com/hericium_americanum.html
- http://www.mushroomexpert.com/hericium_erinaceus.html
- http://www.messiah.edu/Oakes/fungi_on_wood/teeth%20and%20spine/species%20pages/Hericium%20americanum.htm
- http://americanmushrooms.com/edibles2.htm
- http://www.fungi.com/
P.S. Seabrooke blogged about fungi, too: http://themarvelousinnature.wordpress.com/2008/09/29/fungal-growths/
Pawpaws September 26, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in trees, wild edibles.3 comments
Earlier this summer, Sarah got very excited when she noticed that the Pawpaw tree had fruits. She has been waiting for months for them to ripen. In the 10 years I have worked at Audubon, I don’t recall it ever having fruits. In fact, I don’t recall paying much attention to the tree at all… What a mistake, for it is a lovely tree.
Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is a native tree of Eastern North America, though it tends to like inland, humid climes, more than the cooler seasides. The USDA range map for North America is misleading, since entire states are colored even if only a single county holds a specimen. Look at New York and Florida, for example:
Also, the USDA only shows places where plants are native or naturalized. Apparently it is grown in several states for the delicious fruit, which I tasted for the first time yesterday.
We headed out to the Arboretum and Sarah began searching for fruits that were just beginning to show a bit of brown on the otherwise green skin.
The Peterson Guide to Edible Plants says you should pick them when they are green, bring them inside and wait until they are brown to eat them. We didn’t read the book before going out, so we did it our own way:
Sarah selected one that was nice and soft and began to peel it:
She handed it to me so I could take a bite:
The fruit is soft, like a cross between a banana and a mango:
That was my first taste of Pawpaw and you can bet it won’t be my last! (I wonder if any more of them will be ripe tomorrow?)
The seeds are large and disk-shaped:
Native Americans are credited with spreading the Pawpaw across “the eastern U.S. to eastern Kansas and Texas, and from the Great Lakes almost to the Gulf.” (source)
Pawpaws also produce root suckers a few feet from the tree. If these are allowed to grow, you will have a Pawpaw patch like the one in the folksong! Pawpaws are understory trees and don’t reestablish well after a clearcut.
Learn more:
Common Arrowhead September 11, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in wild edibles, wildflowers.Tags: Common Arrowhead, Sagittaria latifolia
4 comments
Common Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia) is doing very well this year around the ponds at Audubon as well as in other wet places I drive by.
It’s a pretty, white, 3-petaled flower with arrow-shaped leaves that grows on the pond’s edge – or even right IN the water. Newcomb’s description says: “The leaves vary from broadly to very narrowly arrow-shaped.” That was very evident during a walk at Audubon this week. Take a look at the variation we observed:
Broadly arrow-shaped:
Medium:
Narrow:
There are lots of different kinds of Arrowheads. The USDA Plant Database lists 28 species.
Peterson’s Guide to Edible Wild Plants calls the Arrowheads “Duck Potatoes” and describes how the tubers can be freed from the mud of the pond with a hoe or rake, then collected when they float to the surface. The passage goes on, “Although slightly unpleasant when eaten raw, the tubers are delicious when cooked; prepare them as you would potatoes.” Collection time: Fall through early spring.
I keep telling myself I’m going to try some of these Wild Foods… but I never do… Hmm….
Please Pass the Mustard May 28, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in wild edibles, wildflowers.10 comments
“What do you call the stuff you put on your hotdog that is THAT color?” I ask the kids while walking about at Audubon, pointing at a stand of bright yellow flowers atop a straggly collection of stems with all kinds of leaves.
“Mustard!”
“That’s right… and guess what the name of that plant is?”
“Mustard?”
“Yup.”
“They make mustard out of that?”
Well, probably not this mustard plant… There are lots of different kinds of mustard plants, over 3,000 worldwide. This one is called Field Mustard (Brassica rapa) and it is very common – found throughout North America, though originally from Europe. According to one source, all mustards are edible, though some taste better than others. Want to try some? The article states:
For the purposes of the Mustard family, all you need to remember is “4 petals with 6 stamens–4 tall and 2 short”.
And the site has this incredible diagram:
I’m always intrigued by the seeds. Mustards have dehiscent (notice how I use that word so easily… as if I’ve known it all my life… when actually, I just learned it yesterday…) seedpods called siliques. 
(Pronounce it as if “sleek” had two syllables: suh-leek.) A silique has two outside parts that will fall away when the seed is mature to reveal a clear membrane in which the seeds are held. The picture at left by Dave Bonta shows the skeleton of the Dame’s Rocket siliques. (Yes, Dame’s Rocket is a mustard, too!)
To make the mustard we use as a condiment, the seeds are ground and mixed with other ingredients, such as water and/or vinegar. Black Mustard (B. nigra) seeds are most commonly used, but not exclusively. Learn more by watching this five minute documentary on the making of mustard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NBi3KHJ7Mc
Mustards have been cultivated and bred for thousands of years. On Monday, I planted three members of the mustard family that were all bred from B. oleracea: cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, and broccoli. Three others that might be in your garden from this same heritage are kale, kohlrabi, and cauliflower. Radishes and turnips are also in the mustard family! And toothwort, and horseradish, and garlic mustard, and…
We owe a lot to mustards. That’s probably why there is a Mustard Museum (http://www.mustardweb.com/index.htm) and a National Mustard Day (the first Saturday in August).
Learn more:
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Gorgeous photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/i_am_jacques_strappe/7416192/
Mayapple May 26, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in photography, wild edibles, wildflowers.Tags: American Mandrake, Mandrake, Mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum
9 comments
Ever since I was little and found huge patches of these flowers at Girl Scout Camp, I have been captivated by them. I imagined myself the size of a fairy living underneath them, where they would form a huge palm tree forest above my head. I don’t think I ever noticed the flowers in May or the fruit in August when I was a kid. I walked above them and never saw what was happening beneath the giant umbrella-leaves.
Over the last few years, I’ve become very fond of the flower that is produced by a mature plant. Mature plants will sprout two of these enormous leaves and the flower will dangle from a separate stem between them. A fruit may set and ripen by August or so.
On Saturday, I picked up a copy of Nature Photographer Magazine. It contained an article by Brien Szabo called “My Summer Project” which can also be seen at his website here. The article inspired me to take advantage of Saturday’s “magic hour” of light and take way too many pictures of Mayapple Blossoms. I’ve numbered them, so you can vote for your favorite:
1
2
3
4
5
Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) is also known as American Mandrake. The ripe fruit is edible and can be eaten raw or made into jelly BUT THE GREEN FRUIT, LEAVES, ROOTS AND SEEDS ARE TOXIC, so be careful!
Coltsfoot April 8, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in spring, wild edibles, wildflowers.Tags: Coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara, wild edibles, wild medicinals, wildflowers
8 comments
One of the earliest colorful spring flowers in our area is often mistaken for Dandelion. Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) is an alien wildflower that sends up blossoms long before it sends up leaves. Because they are in the same family – composites – and because they are yellow, folks often point and say, “Dandelion.”
Don’t let it fool you. Dandelions bloom from the center of a bunch of leaves. Also, check the stems… Dandelion has a hollow smooth (or sometimes slightly fuzzy) stem. Coltsfoot has an interesting scaly stem.
Both Dandelions and Coltsfoot make good Wishing Flowers when they go to seed. Just pick one, close your eyes and make a wish, then blow the seeds. Your wish will be carried by the wind into the universe and surely it will come true.
The latin name Tussilago means cough dispeller and this plant is often used to create cough syrup and cough drops. The fresh leaves collected in May or June 
are boiled in water, then strained. The liquid is sweetened with sugar and cooked until the right consistency. Dried leaves can be made into tea. They can also be smoked to alleviate a dry cough and open the lungs… Hmm… So “they” say. Has anyone tried it?
If you’re thinking of trying it, be aware that I found one warning against mistaking Butterbur (Petasites hybridus) leaves for Coltsfoot. The source didn’t say why… In fact, another source claims that Butterbur may help prevent migraines, but that’s a story for another day. Butterbur leaves are similar to Coltsfoot, but the flowers have no rays, come in clusters and may be any color from cream to pink with white anthers.
And one more use for Coltfoot… if the leaves are burned to a black ash and sprinkled on food, they can fool your tongue into thinking you’ve sprinkled salt.
Learn more:
