Crow's Nest: New blooms

There are lots of new things blooming at the preserve this week. The black cherry trees (even those hard hit by tent caterpillars) are flowering, as are the tuliptrees—though you mainly see those flowers when they drop to the ground.

But here's a flower I never took much notice of before. It's on greenbriar (Smilax rotundifolia), a thorny native vine that grows in the hedgerows here and there at the preserve. It's a mess to try to walk through and is not that showy, but we leave it for its wildlife value.

And here's another overlooked flower: deerberry (Vaccinium stamineum). It's a member of the blueberry genus but has sour and thick-skinned fruit (wildlife doesn't seem to mind). From the botanic name you might guess that the stamens are prominent; they stick out well beyond the corolla.