Uploads from Flint-Hill (away), tagged handheld

Bittersweet Nightshade

nobody@flickr.com (Flint-Hill (away)) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 06:36:02 -0700

It's somewhere between toxic and extremely toxic depending on which source you read. The fruit is said to have an intensely sweet, saccharine-like initial taste, followed by a bitter aftertaste. In low doses it causes nausea and a reversible delirium. In higher doses it depolarizes your mitochondria and kills you.

The fruits are about a centimeter in length. They look like tiny plum tomatoes, and in fact both plants are in the same genus (Solanum). Though it's a lovely plant, it has to be banished given that it's growing where the dogs can get to it.

Bittersweet Nightshade was introduced from Europe as a medicinal herb, but it's now broadly naturalized. We found this one growing on a fence in a tangle of Multiflora Rose, Bladder Campion and Ground Ivy, all of which are introduced plants.

Our farm is the Museum of Invasive Species.

Solanum dulcamara.

Coot's Forsythia ...

nobody@flickr.com (Flint-Hill (away)) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:02:26 -0800

Flint-Hill (away) posted a photo:

Bloomed out of season this week, a week short of two years after she crossed over. She was a dear girl.

It's just a warm snap in late November, perfectly explicable, but we accept miracles where we find them.

Black-and-Yellow Argiope

nobody@flickr.com (Flint-Hill (away)) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 05:30:22 -0700

Flint-Hill (away) posted a photo:

Rhymes with calliope. For years I pronounced it to rhyme with envelope. :)

This big girl had just about finished her web before hurricane Irene passed through. She's started again.

She's a member of our largest local species, Argiope aurantia, measuring about 5 cm (2 in) from front to back legs. She'll bite if you annoy her sufficiently, but Argiope venom is not very toxic, You'd have only a local reaction.

She eats a lot of bugs, and she's a good friend to have around the garden.

We lost electrical power for a day and got a flooded basement, but otherwise had no trouble. Lots of water but not as much wind as expected. No casualties. Everything's back to normal except our hot water heater.

Purple Clover

nobody@flickr.com (Flint-Hill (away)) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 16:27:44 -0700

Flint-Hill (away) posted a photo:

Horizontal field of view ~3 cm.

A significant amount of luck was involved in making this photo.