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.
The local Philippines call this woody vine “tayabak”. Related to the green beans we grow in our gardens, this species’ unique turquoise claw-shaped flowers are pollinated by bats.
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 bright, tropical-looking black and yellow bird from Southeast Asia is related to chickadees and titmice
This worldwide wetland grass can grow up to 20 feet (6 meters) tall and can cover a quarter of a square mile or more in one stand!
Known in some areas as a pest, the “rice bird” who feeds on rice and grains especially during migration, this New World Blackbird has unique coloration featuring a male with high-contrast white and cream on black.
This velvety rootbeer-colored, moist-looking, rubbery-textured, somewhat cup-shaped edible fungus grows on trees and downed logs
This relative of the European Robin nests across Eurasia, can sometimes be found in small numbers in North America, and overwinters in Africa.