What is it Wednesday: March 25, 2020

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

March 25, 2020. 

And the answer is....

This is a newly emerging coltsfoot flower. 

Coltsfoot is one of the earliest flowers of spring, and one of the few flowers that emerges before the leaves of the plant develop. (It is sometimes called son-before-father because of the this.) In this photo, the flower hasn’t opened yet. Just two days after this photo, with some warmer and sunnier weather, the bright yellow dandelion-like flowers were fully open all over the place. 

One feature of the coltsfoot flower that is very distinctive, and helps distinguish it from dandelions, is the shape of the stem. The stems of the coltsfoot flowers have alternating “scales” reaching up the stem - these are very visible in the initial picture. Dandelion stems are smooth green, hollow, and when they break a milky sap oozes out. Coltsfoot stems are not hollow and do not have milky sap.

Coltsfoot are among the wildflowers known as spring ephemerals - plants that flower briefly early in the spring. Most spring ephemerals take advantage of the opportunity to flower on the forest floor in early spring because there are no (or very small) leaves on the trees, which allows far more sunlight to reach the forest floor than later in the summer. Coltsfoot flower in the same time frame, and briefly, but are usually found on the edges of forests in open spaces and on recently disturbed ground, rather than in full forest. 

Coltsfoot is a sure sign of spring – we hope you are finding ways to enjoy the natural world, and hope to see you sometime soon at Lutherlyn. Check out www.Lutherlyn.com for more on all our programs. 

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!

What is it Wednesday: March 18, 2020

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

March 18, 2020.

And the answer is....

This is the opening blossom of a red maple tree. 

Red maples are one of the first trees to blossom in the early spring in our area. (Silver maples are often a few weeks earlier, sugar maples a little later.)

The opening of maples blossoms also signals the end of maple sugaring season. 

Once the blossoms begin to open, the trees release additional chemicals into the sap which makes the flavor of syrup made from that sap bitter. (It is sometimes referred to as “buddy” syrup.) So to avoid this bitter syrup, maple producers pull their taps when they see that the buds have opened on their maple trees. Exactly when this happens varies from year to year and location to location. Here at Lutherlyn, we tap red maple trees, so when the red maples blossom, our season season is over. 

Of course, other things can end maple season too – running out of firewood; running out of time for hauling, boiling, filtering, and cleaning up; sap stops flowing because it stayed warm; etc. 

On Monday we noticed the buds opening on some of the maple trees in our sugarbush (the area of forest where the trees are tapped) – so maple season 2020 is over at Lutherlyn! We are now into maple cleanup – finishing boiling the last of the sap into syrup, pulling the taps and buckets from the trees, sanitizing all the buckets, lids, spiles, hoses, and other equipment, cleaning the evaporator, and storing it all away for next year.

Holly with sap buckets, lids, and containers, sanitized and drying in the dining hall kitchen

Maybe next time you are at Lutherlyn you will get to taste some of our syrup – check out www.Lutherlyn.com for info about summer camp, retreats, overnight field trips, and other events that could include a pancake breakfast!

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!

What is it Wednesday: March 4, 2020

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

March 4, 2020. 

And the answer is....

This shiny item is the new evaporator flue pan! 

Thanks to a generous donor, we recently installed new evaporator pans in our Sugar Shack, which will allow us to boil maple sap into maple syrup without leaks and constant repairs. While we were moving the new pans into the sugar shack, we noticed that the new pans were so shiny that they looked almost camouflaged with the background from a certain angle. Here it is, not so camouflaged: 

The drop flues extending out of the bottom of the flue pan are very visible in this second picture – these sections protrude from the bottom of the pan right into the area where the heat from the fire passes into the flue on its way to the  chimney. Having long narrow sections reach down into this highly heated area provides more surface area, which makes it possible for the sap to heat up and boil more quickly.

After passing through the flue pans (in the back) the sap flows into the channels of the syrup pans (in the front) directly over the fire. Here the sap boils into syrup.

We have had our first maple sugaring groups of the season, and you can see the new evaporator pans in action too at our Maple Sugaring Saturday Safari – always the first Saturday in March! In addition to visiting the Sugar Shack and seeing the evaporator making the sap into syrup, everyone gets to choose and tap a maple tree and collect sap from trees already tapped – and of course, taste syrup! Check out www.Lutherlyn.com/safari for more info and to register!

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!

What is it Wednesday archive: February 14, 2018

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

February 14, 2018. 

And the answer is....

This is a type of oak apple gall that we find often at Lutherlyn, known as a “large empty” oak apple, to distinguish it from the smaller and denser “spongy” oak apple gall. 

Galls develop on a plant when something irritates the plant, causing it to grow extra tissue around that irritation to protect the plant. 

This gall develops on the leaves of oak trees when a gall wasp  (A. quercusinanis ) lays an egg in the tissue of the leaf. The larva hatches and develops in a small space in the center of the gall. The fiber in the gall surrounds the larva and protects it as it grows. Like this one and the cherry pouch galls featured on a previous What Is It Wednesday, most galls that develop on leaves cause no damage to the tree. 

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!