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Rose mallow in winter

Rose mallow, Hibiscus moscheutos or Hibiscus laevis.

At the edge of Coot Slough in Celery Bog Park.  Far away at the other side of the ice-covered slough is the Purdue Golf Course.  A few years ago the golf course management destroyed a line of trees along the edge of the slough.  As consolation a few new trees were planted nearby, some of these small trees can be seen in the background of the picture. Pictures taken January 25, 2014.

Link to previous post on Hibiscus laevis:

Link to previous post on Hibiscus moscheutos:

Bittern

A bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) hides motionless in the vegetation. In the Celery Bog Park wetland just south of Cumberland Ave.  I noticed this bird while passing by but wasn't sure that it was a bird and not another piece of vegetation until I stopped to get a good look at it. 

 It didn't move a bit for a few seconds, here is a closer picture of it.

Then it moved into this position and froze motionless again. Pictures taken Oct. 28, 2012.

Link to American Bittern:

Leopard frog

Waiting to finish crossing the trail, a Northern Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens) at Celery Bog Park,  Photos taken October 14, 2012.

Link to Rana pipiens:


Link to Rana pipiens:

Sassafras fall colors - 2012

Sassafras trees are one of the first kinds of tree to turn color in the fall, The colorful trees in this picture are sassafras, notice the other trees in the scene still bear the green of summer.  This is along the trail just south of Lindberg Road and Celery Bog Park.  Pictures taken October 4, 2012.

Link to a previous post of this same spot in 2009:

Bottle gentian

Gentiana andrewsii (Bottle gentian) at Ross Hills County Park, along the trail that parallels the Wabash River.

Picture taken Sept. 29, 2012.

Link to Gentiana andrewsii:

Link to Gentiana andrewsii:

Link to video of a bumblebee pollinating a bottle gentian:

Coprinopsis picacea

Coprinopsis picacea mushrooms, under a hackberry tree at Ross Hills County Park.  Picture taken Sept. 29, 2012.

Link to Coprinopsis picacea

Link to Coprinopsis picacea:

Link to a previous post on another Coprinopsis mushroom:

Bur Oak on South River Road

This old bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) is on South River Road about a mile east of Granville Bridge.  Looks to be 4 to 6 feet thick.  I once found an old tourist map of Tippecanoe County at the library that mentioned this tree along with more well known places like Prophet's Rock and Fort Ouiatenon.  The map claimed the tree was a landmark back in the day River Road was an Indian trail.  Well maybe so, who really knows.

Pictures taken Sept. 29, 2012.

Link to previous post on Quercus macrocarpa:

Wabash River at Lafayette pedestrian bridge

 Wabash River, looking north from the pedestrian bridge at Lafayette, Sept. 22, 2012.

View on Sept. 29, 2012.

Link to Wabash River levels:

Smartweed Caterpillar

A smartweed caterpillar (Acronicta oblinata) crawls along a smartweed. 

Link to smartweed caterpillar:

Link to smartweed caterpillar:

At Celery Bog Park, Sept. 11, 2012.  There are plenty of these guys crawling around here.  The pond has refilled with water since the drought caused it to dry up during the summer.  The dense growth of herbaceous vegetation that was able to grow on the dry pond bed is still there above the standing water.  Most of it is Persicaria lapathifolia, Persicaria pennsylvanica, Persicaria punctata, Amaranthus tuberculatus and Cyperus esculentus.  All of these plants should be providing a huge amount of food for waterfowl in the coming months.

Link to pond earlier in the summer:

Dodder at White River State Park

An extensive growth of dodder (Cuscuta sp.) nearly covers an entire island at the base of one of the piers of the old Washington Street pedestrian bridge at White River State Park at Indianapolis.  The dodder is the yellow stuff you see on the island.

 Another view of the same dodder seen in the first picture, looking down from the Washington St. pedestrian bridge.  The host plant for the dodder is unknown. 

Two more patches of dodder, on the east bank of White River.  This view is also from the old Washington St. pedestrian bridge at White River State Park.  I will guess that it is the same kind of dodder as seen in the first two pictures. 

Pictures taken August 12, 2012.

Link to Cuscuta:

Link to how Cuscuta finds its host plant by smell:

Tree moss

This is tree moss, Climacium americanum, at Fall Creek Gorge nature preserve in Warren County..  Picture taken August 11, 2012.

Link to Climacium:

Link to Climacium:

Wabash River at lowest flow 2012

This is a view of the Wabash River at Mascouten Park, August 4, 2012.  The river is very low due to the drought this summer, measured at just under 1.0 ft. at the Lafayette gauging station.  The river started rising slightly soon after this picture was taken, and recent rains make it likely that this will be the lowest level of the river for 2012.  The big gravel bar in the picture is the delta formed by Happy Hollow creek entering the river.  Normally it is mostly under water. 

Link to Wabash River levels:

The picture below is a view of the boat ramp at Mascouten Park, same day, August 4.  The river is totally cut off from the boat ramp. 

Green milkweed

Asclepias hirtella, one of the green milkweeds, at Kankakee Sands prairie restoration in Newton County.

Picture taken July 21, 2012.

Link to Asclepias hirtella:

Link to Asclepias hirtella: 

 Link to Asclepias hirtella:

New Jersey tea

New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus), at Kankakee Sands prairie in Newton County.  Picture taken July 20, 2012.

Link to Ceanothus americanus:

Prickly pear cactus

Our native prickly pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa), at the Kankakee Sands prairie restoration in Newton County.  This sandy soil was once the lake bed of the shallow Beaver Lake.  Pictures taken July 20, 2012.
 
Link to previous post on Opuntia humifusa:

Ruellia humilis

Ruellia humilis, at the same roadside prairie remnant in Benton County as the leadplant in the previous post.  Picture taken July 20, 2012.

Link to Ruellia humilis:

Link to Ruellia humilis:

Leadplant

Leadplant (Amorpha canescens).  Only remnants remain of the vast prairie that stretched westward into Illinois.  This leadplant persists with other prairie vegetation along a narrow strip of land in Benton County between US Highway 52 and the railroad tracks parallel to it.  This spot is somewhere west of Otterbein. Picture taken July 20, 2012.

Link to Amorpha canescens:

Link to Amorpha canescens:

Link to Amorpha canescens:

Blue Vervain

Blue vervain (Verbena hastata) grows at the edge of the north wetland at Celery Bog Park.  The standing water has receded from the edge of the wetland due to the dry season but the soil here is still moist.

Pictures taken July 15, 2012.

Link to Verbena hastata:

Link to Verbena hastata:

Tulip tree response to drought

As the summer goes on with much less rain than normal, the tulip trees lose many of their leaves.  This tulip tree on the Purdue campus has lost most of its leaves, which lie dead and brown scattered on the ground under the tree.  The leaves that are left on the tree are new leaves at the ends of the twigs.

Picture taken July 10, 2012.

Link to another post on Liriodendron tulipifera: