horseshoecrab's Identifications

I visited the Morning View Heritage Area for the first time today, and before I even got to a trail, this pretty hackberry butterfly had landed on a fencepost along the parking area. There were patches of woods all around the area and I saw a couple of hackberry seedlings, so it was good habitat.

This young red mulberry shoot was along a wooded portion of the Kreissl Trail at the Morning View Heritage Area. This species is uncommon around here. The invasive white mulberry is the one I typically see.

Both our local mulberries have distinctive young leaves with a variety of lobed shapes. Red mulberry leaves are generally larger than white mulberry leaves. They have a fuzzy surface, so feel rougher and are less glossy than white mulberry leaves, and they have much longer, attenuate lobe-tips than white mulberry leaves do.

Very small, single specimen, maybe 5 cm tall. Only leaves seen are pictured. Found at Morning View Heritage Area, on Dickerson trail before the Kreissl split when coming up from the wetlands. Found just before a turn in the trail with the young beech trees (pictured).

Singular plant found on shady Dickerson Trail in Morning View Heritage Area.

Leaves paired and vibrant, spring-green (on both top and bottom) with a soft, plastic texture. Flowering stalk present, though looked to already be spent.