Sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana) -- aptly named, it has a pleasing fragrance.
Persimmon (Diospyrus virginiana) -- produces a sweet and nutritious fruit in the fall. Better be sure it's ripe before you taste it, though. If it is the slightest bit "green" it has a dreadful desiccative effect on the inside of your mouth.
Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) -- If you look closely, you can see two spiders lying in wait for a hapless insect to pass by. These flowers are not exactly fragrant by human standards, but myriad little insects find them quite attractive. (On closer inspection, I believe the "spider" in the lower right may actually be a harvestman [Opiliones], commonly called a daddy-longlegs.)
Some people make wine from the berries produced by this shrub -- I've never tasted any, but I'm willing to give it a try.
Climbing hydrangea (Decumaria barbara) -- a common flowering vine here.
Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium) -- an herb that grows along roadsides and field edges.
9 comments:
To me the Sweetbay photo is the perfect example of why we need our Swamply.
Thanks Mr. B. You say the sweetest things :)
You captured Decumaria, one of my favorites, and what a handsome flower it makes. Very good, Swampy! None of ours along the creek banks or otherwise within reach ever seem to flower - I've assumed they're all up in the trees.
Speaking of which, older Decumaria vines climbing trees are hairy just like poison ivy, and the leaves stand out from the trees in exactly the same way - the difference is the hairy PI vines look evil.
Nuttin' but the truth your Honor.
Nice! I don't think I've ever noticed the persimmon blooms before. Ours are all so tall already.
There are lots of TINY bugs on the elderflower too. I used to pick some from our yard to use in soapmaking. I dried them first, but I was always amazed at the amount of bugs on the live stuff.
We cottage in a rural area with dialup times like that. I don't love that part of it.
Elderflower presse and elderflower cordial are very popular soft drinks here in the UK. I have some in the kitchen right now. The flavour is very distinctive and hard to describe because it's not really like anything else. It's a very refreshing summer drink. I'm too lazy to make it myself but there's a recipe here if anyone wants to try: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3795690
SGJ, I shall have to check out that recipe. Thanks for the URL.
Whatever...
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