A familiar weed of lawns, fields, roadsides, and gardens, this plant and its close relatives are the only species eaten by beautiful monarch butterflies.
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 brightly colored, chunky bird is not found in America but frequents gardens and backyards in the UK and throughout much of Europe.
This hairy little plant with 5 pointy petals is native to the Mediterranean region and is both edible and medicinal
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 is the species that is used as THE cultivated walnut tree. It has pinnately compound leaves with about 7 alternate leaflets, larger towards the tip or terminal end.