This genus contains about a dozen species of shrubs and small trees, each with fruits that can be used to make a lathering soap.
This humble plant is easily overlooked, both in its quiet early blooming and later leaf unfurling. You can find it in wetlands and riverine forests in the NE quarter of the US, up into Canada.
A familiar weed of lawns, fields, roadsides, and gardens, this plant and its close relatives are the only species eaten by beautiful monarch butterflies.
One of the few species to walk face-first down tree trunks, this little bird also has a distinct black stripe through its eye.
This dark-colored cup fungus grows in small clumps on hardwood, starting out nearly closed and tender enough to be eaten, and maturing into a more opened cup, becoming too tough to be of much use
This black-white-and-grey bird points its slender bill downwards – or tilts it comically upwards – as it spirals face-first down tree trunks and round and round branches, searching for insects to devour
This species includes varieties called bok choy, napa cabbage, turnip, rapini, and totsoi
A low-growing “trefoil” weed of lawns and disturbed, nitrogen-poor soil, distinguished by its tiny hop-like yellow flower clusters, pointed tips on each leaflet, and the terminal leaflet on a longer stalk or petiole