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Category: Summer

  • Puffball

    Giant puffball

    Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea) is found in meadows, fields, and deciduous forests in late summer and autumn. The rapidly growing puffball is edible, but within weeks it starts to decompose and is toxic. The giant puffball is found throughout the world in temperate climates.

  • Brown-toothed Crust Fungus

    Brown-toothed Crust Fungus

    Brown-toothed Crust Fungus (Hydnoporia olivacea) is an olive-brown to reddish-brown leathery crust directly on wood surfaces, featuring a jagged, toothlike surface. It secrets chemicals to digest hardwood logs and branches.

  • Violet-toothed Polypore

    Violet-toothed Polypore fungus

    Violet-toothed Polypore (Trichaptum biforme) is an inedible common bracket fungus that is also known as violet-pored bracket fungus. It secrets chemicals to digest hardwood logs and stumps. Violet tooth is found in North America and other temperate climates.

  • Oak Bracket

    Oak Bracket fungi

    Oak Bracket (Pseudoinonotus dryadeus) is an inedible species of fungus often found growing at the base of oak trees. It is a parasite and primarily a root decay fungus, rotting the below-ground parts of roots. The blotches near the edges are secreted orange-brown liquid which weeps from tubes in its upper surface. Oak bracket is…

  • White Snakeroot

    White Snakeroot

    White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) is a native plant to eastern North America. Snakeroot can grow to almost 5 feet tall. It produces a single or multi-stemmed clumps in mid to late summer and fall. At the end of the upper branches, an umbrella collection of white flowers, measuring 2 to 6 inches across. Snakeroot can spread…

  • Snake

    Snake in the branches along the loop walk

    I was walking the loop walk in the summer of 2022 and miraculously saw this snake in the branches. As one can see the snake was well camouflaged. It is either a DeKay’s Brownsnake or a Brownsnake. I had tried to find these pictures a long time ago when Judy posted her story about the…

  • Fireflies

    Firefly photo by Bruce Marlin taken from Wikipedia

    One of the amazing things of summer is seeing fireflies. Fireflies light up the night with their bioluminescence. Fireflies (lampyridae) are also called lightning bugs or glowworms. They are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,400 species. The firefly uses a chemical process to produce bioluminescence in a specialized organ called a lantern.…

  • Impromptu Clearing Downed Tree from Loop Trail

    Collage of cleaning downed oak tree

    On Thursday, July 18, 2024, we discovered that the main loop trail in the woods had been blocked by the fallen crown of an oak tree. Later that evening, we discussed the tree at our monthly Friends of Scarlett Mitchell Woods meeting. We decided to tackle the problem the next morning at 10:00 am. Thanks…

  • Common Bees of Michigan

    Bee collecting pollen

    “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” a quote sometimes attributed to Albert Einstein. Needless to say, bees are an important pollinator. See a PDF of 16 common bees…

  • Syrphid fly, by Kelly Rourke

    Sphaerophoria philanthus male on a yellow flower

    This is not a bee, but a fly. Read this article to learn how to differentiate between a bee and a fly and other important information about pollinator Syrphid fly (Sphaerophoria philanthus) by Kelly Rourke from U. S. Forest Service