What’s That? December 15, 2024

What’s that? Are they tomatoes? These tiny green fruits are growing on a stem with prickles. They are the fruits of Carolina horse-nettle (Solanum carolinense). You may remember seeing the star-shaped flower this summer. This plant is part of the nightshade family, which includes tomatoes and eggplants. But horse-nettle is very toxic! Don’t eat it!

What’s That? January 26, 2025

Today, I noticed these seed pods wrapped around a tree branch. What plant are they from? They are the fruit from wild yam (Dioscorea villosa). Here is a closer look. I’ll go back in the spring to see if I can get a picture of the leaves and flowers. Have you seen wild yam?

What’s That? May 28, 2024

What’s going on with this hairy cat’s-ear? The stem is really thick and bent. The flower head is flattened and it looks like there’s more than one flower. I’ve never seen anything like that before, so I decided to look it up. This is called plant fasciation. It is a rare condition of abnormal growth… Continue reading What’s That? May 28, 2024