Sightings – Plants
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 7/7/18
Observation Time: 12:50 p.m.
Observation Location: Moose Hill Farm (TTOR)
Common Name: Wild Onion or Crow Garlic
Scientific Name: Allium vineale
Comments: Instead of flowers, they have bulbils, which are miniature sprouts not unlike garlic cloves.
More Information: Wikipedia or GoBotany
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 10/2/13
Observation Time: 12:15 p.m.
Observation Location: woods near Beaver Brook
Common Name: Wild Sarsaparilla
Scientific Name: Aralia nudicaulis
Comments: You might know Sarsaparilla as a sweet soft drink that was first introduced in the 19th century. Wild sarsaparilla is a common plant found in the northern and eastern parts of North America and grows on creeping underground stems. This plant was used as food when hunting or during wars because it was so sustaining. Wild sarsaparilla had a much wider use among native people because of its many medicinal purposes that treated everything from sores to toothaches.
While going through old photos on my computer, I came across this photo of yellow leaves. I opened an app on my cell phone called Seek by iNaturalist and pointed the phone at my computer monitor. The app immediately identified the leaves as wild sarsaparilla.
More Information: Stories from the Wigwam
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 4/27/23
Observation Time: 3:30 p.m.
Observation Location: Moose Hill Farm (TTOR) along dirt road under high tension wires
Common Name: Wild strawberry
Scientific Name: Fragaria virginiana
Comments: Found in patches in fields and dry openings, this plant produces tasty strawberries.
More Information: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 5/31/20
Observation Time: 3:00 p.m.
Observation Location: Moose Hill Farm (TTOR)
Common Name: Wild Violet
Scientific Name: Viola odorata
Comments: V. odorata is native to Europe and Asia, but has also been introduced to North America and Australia. It is a hardy herbaceous flowering perennial.
More Information: Wikipedia
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 5/7/19
Observation Time: 8:00 a.m.
Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary
Common Name: Wild Violet
Scientific Name: Viola odorata
Comments: V. odorata is native to Europe and Asia, but has also been introduced to North America and Australia. It is a hardy herbaceous flowering perennial.
More Information: Wikipedia
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 5/27/14
Observation Time: 6:50 p.m.
Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary
Common Name: Wisteria
Scientific Name: Wisteria spp.
Comments: Wisteria is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), that includes ten species of woody climbing vines that are native to China, Korea, and Japan and as an introduced species to the Eastern United States.
More Information: Wikipedia
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 6/23/19
Observation Time: 11:30 a.m.
Observation Location: Botanical Trail
Common Name: Witch’s Butter Fungus
Scientific Name: Tremella mesenterica
Comments: Although the species appears to be growing on wood, it is actually a parasite on the (usually hidden) mycelium of a crust fungus.
More Information: MushoomExpert.com
Observer: Kathy Farrell
Observation Date: 10/31/18
Observation Location: Mountain Street area
Common Name: Witchhazel
Scientific Name: Hamamelis virginiana
Comments: Small tree, very common in some areas off Mountain Street. Known for reducing skin inflammations such as acne. Used by Native Americans for dousing sticks to find water. Small yellow blossoms in October. Leaves turn yellow in autumn.
More Information: https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/hamamelis_virginiana.shtml
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 5/19/19
Observation Time: 3:25 p.m.
Observation Location: Billings Loop Botanical Trail
Common Name: American Witchhazel
Scientific Name: Hamamelis virginiana
Comments: This specimen was observed in a shady, wooded area near the Sharon Friends of Conservation botanical trail.
More Information: Carolina Nature
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 4/27/23
Observation Time: 3:20 p.m.
Observation Location: Moose Hill Farm (TTOR) along dirt road under high tension wires
Common Name: Wood Anemone
Scientific Name: Anemone quinquefolia
Comments: Also called wood windflower, wood anemone is one of the earliest blooming flowers in the rich, moist forests of New England. Look for showy white flowers poking above the dissected leaves, only 3 inches (7 cm) tall. These offer food to pollinators searching for nectar early in the season. Like other anemones, wood anemone doesn’t have true petals, but petal-like sepals. Wood anemone may have four to nine sepals, most commonly five.
More Information: Go Botany
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 4/27/23
Observation Time: 4:30 p.m.
Observation Location: Moose Hill Farm (TTOR)
Common Name: Wood Anemone
Scientific Name: Anemone quinquefolia
Comments: Also called wood windflower, wood anemone is one of the earliest blooming flowers in the rich, moist forests of New England. Look for showy white flowers poking above the dissected leaves, only 3 inches (7 cm) tall. These offer food to pollinators searching for nectar early in the season. Like other anemones, wood anemone doesn’t have true petals, but petal-like sepals. Wood anemone may have four to nine sepals, most commonly five.
Please do not dig up and transplant wildflowers. They are adapted to the spot where they are growing and typically do not survive transplantation.
More Information: Go Botany
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 5/6/20
Observation Time: 9:40 a.m.
Observation Location: Moose Hill Farm (TTOR)
Common Name: Wood Anemone
Scientific Name: Anemone quinquefolia
Comments: Also called wood windflower, wood anemone is one of the earliest blooming flowers in the rich, moist forests of New England. Look for showy white flowers poking above the dissected leaves, only 3 inches (7 cm) tall. These offer food to pollinators searching for nectar early in the season. Like other anemones, wood anemone doesn’t have true petals, but petal-like sepals. Wood anemone may have four to nine sepals, most commonly five.
More Information: Go Botany
Wood anemones flowers usually have five sepals, but not always.
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 5/20/20
Observation Time: 10:20 a.m.
Observation Location: near Gavins Pond
Common Name: Yellow Birch Tree
Scientific Name: Betula alleghaniensis
Comments: A large and important lumber species of birch native to North-eastern North America. It has shaggy bark.
More Information: Wikipedia
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 5/27/19
Observation Time: 2:15 p.m.
Observation Location: Conservation land near Morse & Lakeview
Common Name: Yellow Birch Tree
Scientific Name: Betula alleghaniensis
Comments: A large and important lumber species of birch native to North-eastern North America. It has shaggy bark.
More Information: Wikipedia
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 6/26/15
Observation Time: 1:40 p.m.
Observation Location: meadow near Morse and Lakeview Streets
Common Name: Yellow Hawkweed
Scientific Name: Hieracium caespitosum
Comments: Yellow hawkweed is native to Europe and was introduced as an ornamental into New York in 1879. It is now a destructive weed of pastureland. It can colonize a wide range of habitats with sandy or gravelly soils.
More Information: Go Botany
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 7/13/19
Observation Time: 11:30 a.m.
Observation Location: near footbridge over Beaver Brook
Common Name: Yellow Patches Mushroom
Scientific Name: Amanita flavoconia
Comments: Amanita flavoconia, commonly known as yellow patches, yellow wart, orange Amanita, or yellow-dust Amanita, is a species of mushroom in the family Amanitaceae. It has an orangish-yellow cap with yellowish-orange patches or warts, a yellowish-orange annulus, and a white to orange stem. Common and widespread throughout eastern North America, Amanita flavoconia grows on the ground in broad-leaved and mixed forests, especially in mycorrhizal association with hemlock.
Mushrooms of the genus Amanita account for most mushroom-related deaths.
More information: iNaturalist
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 5/17/23
Observation Time: 7:10 a.m.
Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary
Common Name: Yellow Star Grass
Scientific Name: Hypoxis hirsuta
Comments: Yellow star-grass is the only native wildflower with a six-petaled yellow blossom.
More Information: U.S. Wildflowers
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 5/29/14
Observation Time: 12:20 p.m.
Observation Location: Borderland State Park
Common Name: Yellow Star Grass
Scientific Name: Hypoxis hirsuta
Comments: Yellow star-grass is the only native wildflower with a six-petaled yellow blossom.
More Information: U.S. Wildflowers
Observer: Paul Lauenstein
Observation Date: 10/3/10
Observation Time: 9:10 a.m.
Observation Location: Gavins Pond Road
Common Name: Yellow Toadflax (a.k.a. Common Toadflax)
Scientific Name: Linaria vulgaris
Comments: Also known as butter and eggs plant or wild snapdragon, this invasive perennial weed from Eurasia thrives in poor soil where there is little competition from larger plants.
More Information: Wikipedia
