What to See This Week

This summer has had plenty of rainy weather, leading to plenty of mushrooms throughout the season so far! Pictured here are scaly ink caps that are just starting to grow. Scaly ink caps, like other ink caps, only last a couple days. After they mature, they quickly melt into a black inky substance containing the mushroom’s spores. This leads to flies and other small insects landing on the black goo and spreading the spores wherever they go. This photo also shows guttation, when mushrooms exude droplets of liquid. This happens most often when mushrooms grow quickly, especially in warm and very humid conditions.

On this log is what appears to be fairly nondescript shelf fungus. Unfortunately The Arboretum is closed before this fungus can really shine! This is luminescent panellus, a fungus most famous for its bioluminescence. This mushroom emits a green glow in dark conditions, especially the gills and mycelium. The glow it emits is also called foxfire!

We are still in the peak season for fawns. They are often seen around The Arboretum, usually hidden away somewhere safe. These two were wandering around near the Log Cabin. For mature does, two is the most common litter size. 

Along the Dogwood Trail you can see a really special tree, and it is nearly impossible to miss! Pictured here is a bigleaf magnolia. While the trees don’t get extremely tall, they produce the largest flowers and largest simple leaf of any woody plant in North America. The leaves really are incredible, growing to over 2 feet long! Photos don’t capture the amazing size so it is recommended to go check out these amazing trees.

Wild senna is a beautiful native plant that can be seen blooming now in gardens and natural areas alike. The unique, yellow flowers lack nectar but these plants are still hugely beneficial for native insects. Not only is the pollen a draw, but wild senna also has extrafloral nectaries, glands on the leaf stem that secrete nectar. It also serves as a host plant for the beautiful cloudless sulphur butterfly.

Every year wild bergamot, or bee balm, blooms perfectly in time with the fourth of July! It is fitting as their flowers are reminiscent of fireworks. They are loved by all sorts of pollinators; especially bees and hummingbirds. Wild bergamot is a member of the mint family and releases a wonderful fragrance when you crush up the leaves. 

Culver’s root is a wonderful native plant with spikes of white flowers that are always covered in pollinators. The spikes bloom from the bottom up and the plant can reach over 5 feet tall. 

The Learning Garden is home to plenty of insects. Some of these insects may be pests to the vegetables and others are welcome guests! Pictured here is a row of lacewing eggs attached to a dill plant. Lacewings are a great insect to see in the garden. The larvae are voracious predators of many garden pests like aphids. As seen in this photo, lacewing eggs are placed at the end of a long, skinny filament. This helps protect the eggs from predators that may come across them while crawling on the plant as well as prevent the larvae themselves from feeding on unhatched eggs!