What is it Wednesday archive: August 1, 2019

Can you identify what's in this photo?

 

 

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

 

 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

 

 

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

August 1, 2019. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

This is a half-eaten mayapple. 

Some critter, likely a chipmunk, decided to bite into it and may have decided it wasn’t tasty enough yet.

 The small fruit that hangs under the umbrella of mayapple leaves are edible, for people too, but only when ripe - when it gets soft and yellow, usually toward the end of summer. It is often difficult to get to eat a mayapple, because it seems like animals are willing to eat them just a little bit earlier than humans – while we wait for them to ripen, the animals eat them up! Remember to only eat wild plants when you know for certain what they are, what part to eat, and when they can be eaten!

Edible hikes are one of our most popular nature activities during summer camp, but we sometimes teach about what can be safely eaten in nature during school field trips, retreats, and special events too! Check out www.Lutherlyn.com to learn all about how you can learn from LEEP about edible wild plants and lots of other amazing things too! And like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!