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.
And
the answer is....
It is amazing that this little bud, about an inch or two
long, contains the beginnings of an entire strand of wisteria blossoms.
They
can be stunningly beautiful, but unfortunately they are problematic as well.
Wisteria is a highly invasive vine, and it if becomes established in a forested
area, over time it will twine itself tightly over all the trees and choke out
the native forest. Because there are so many flowers in each blossom, it makes
many seeds and spreads quickly.
Please don’t plant wisteria, and this is a rare
case where cutting or picking wildflowers – all of them, if you like! – will
actually be helpful to the environment by slowing the spread of the wisteria
vine. Feel free to enjoy the beauty of wisteria when you see it (a section of
Lutherlyn’s Cherry Trail is stunning in late April when the wisteria blooms),
but try not to add to the amount of it growing where it doesn’t belong.
To learn more about the complex and beautiful natural world
all around us with LEEP, check out http://lutherlyn.com/ee,
And to learn more about invasive plants and how to control them, visit
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!
No comments:
Post a Comment