Sunday, September 16, 2007

Goosefoot


Earlier this summer in June, we had some excavation done on our property. This activity disturbed areas which have been untouched for many decades. In particular this was around an old collapsed horse barn. Subsequently weeds appeared which were entirely unfamiliar to me. One is what I believe is Maple Leafed Goosefoot [Chenopodium gigantospermum] as pictured here. I am not entirely certain of its identification although I can not find any literature that provides me with a better I.D. to prove the contrary. Could it be that the seeds remained dormant for so many years? The infestation as the pictures will attest was intense, and very unusual. I can not think of any other way that the seeds were introduced here. It was limited to one particular area so was not likely brought in on the equipment.

Chicken in the Woods


About two weeks ago I was returning to the habit of doing regular patrols of the forest. The leaves are starting to dry up so you can see quite a bit more through the underbrush. Also all bird nests will be abandoned by now so one is less likely to disturb them. During that first walk I came across this very showy fungus growing on the base of a butternut tree. Unfortunately a fungus on a tree is a bad sign for the tree, likely meaning that the inside core of the tree is rotting. This fungus resembled most closely the “Chicken in the woods” [Laetiporous sulphureus] and is supposedly quite common according to Mushrooms of Ontario and Eastern Canada, ISBN 1-55105-199-0. I found it to be an interesting sight none-the-less.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Adding some photos

I have updated some old posts by adding pictures that have been waiting to be released. Last week after enduring 7 years of slow speed dial up internet connection out here in the rhubarb, we are connected to a radio based high speed connection.
The service is transmitted from a several hundred metre high antenna located about 4 kilometres south of Kemptville Ontario. It will be so much easier now to update blog postings.