Category: Seasons
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Full Moon Serenade (Hunter’s Moon) – October 25, 2026 @ 7:00 PM
WHO: Everybody is welcome WHAT: Singing at the benches by the pond. WHERE: Meet at the main entrance to Scarlett Mitchell Woods (the kiosk west of Scarlett Middle School and south of the bus turnaround loop). WHEN: 7:00 PM Sunday October 25, 2026 WHY: Get a different view of the woods in the dark. See…
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Chokecherry
Chokecherry (Prunus Virginiana – Wikipedia) is a species of bird cherry native to North America. Chokecherries’ is a shrub, native from mid-Ohio to mid-Canada. Chokecherry leaf is oval 1 to 4 inches long and 1/2 to 2 inches wide. The leaf is dark green above with a paler underside. Chokecherry flowers are small, white, 5-petaled blossoms…
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Yellowing Curtain Crust
Yellowing Curtain Crust (Stereum subtomentosum – Wikipedia) is a tough, leathery bracket fungus that grows on dead hardwood, identified by its velvety, zoned, often greenish-brown cap and a distinct yellow staining reaction on its smooth underside when bruised or cut. Found year-round, it commonly causes white rot on dead beech and oak wood.
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Crowded Parchment
Crowded Parchment (Stereum Complicatum – MushroomExpert) is a widespread, inedible saprobic fungus found on dead hardwood, particularly oak, in North America. It is characterized by small, orange-brown to cinnamon, velvety fan-shaped caps that grow in dense, overlapping, wavy clusters. These fungi cause white rot in wood and are known for being leathery when moist and brittle…
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Wild Cherry
Wild cherry (Prunus Avium – Wikipedia) is native to western Eurasia and naturalized elsewhere. The bark is smooth reddish-brown with prominent horizontal grey-brown horizontal lines on young trees, becoming thick dark blackish-brown and fissured on old trees. The leaves are alternate single egg shaped (simple ovoid-acute), 2-3/4 to 5-1/2 inches long and 1-1/2 to 2-3/4 inch wide, slightly shiny green on top and finely…
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Hackberries
Hackberries (Genus Celtis – Wikipedia) is native from Tennessee to mid-lower peninsula Michigan and from Ohio to Kansas. Hackberry trees are very hearty, but prefer direct sun, so in Scarlett Mitchell Woods will grow slowly. Hackberry bark is described as forming characteristic corky ridges and warts on trunk and branches. The hackberry leaves are alternate, simple, with…
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Birds and Blooms Nature Walk – May 16
Birds and Blooms Nature Walk – Saturday May 16, 2026 @ 10:30 am. The migrating birds have been returning to their nesting grounds or moving north for some time already, but May is the peak of the warbler migration. We’ll pay attention to the many native plants that are blooming and the insects that pollinate them.…
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Cub Scout Litter Pick up in Scarlett Mitchell Woods
From: Judy S. Attached is a collage I put together this morning of photos I took on Monday of the Cub Scouts of Troop # 3123 on an utterly gorgeous spring evening. I got out there at 5:30, thanks to your info, before most of the kids and their families arrived and met Sasha, the…
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Burn, Bark and Buds Nature Walk – April 25
Burn, Bark and Buds Nature Walk – Saturday April 25, 2026 @ 10:30 am. We’ll tour the areas that were subject to a prescribed burn by PlantWise on March 29 and explain the reasoning behind it. On our walk, we’ll also take a look at identifying trees by their bark. We’ll keep our eyes open…
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Spring 2026 Activities
Join us for one or a series of Spring Activities for April to June 2026. Meet by the bench at the main entrance to the woods: West of Scarlett Middle School; south of the bus turnaround loop. Bring your sense of curiosity and wonder. Expect surprises. Please wear sturdy shoes and long pants – bring…