American Hop

They're everywhere along the Chippewa River State Trail - the cone-like green flowers (known as umbels) of Humulus lupulus, American Hop (also known as common hops).

I first noticed it a few years ago, when I started walking the trail.  You can't miss the big three-lobed leaves.  This native perennial vine seems to grow everywhere the sun shines, blanketing the trees and shrubs along the trail.  The scientific name lupulus is Latin for "small wolf," a reference to this species' tendency to overtake and smother whatever it grows on - living or dead, trees, shrubs and fences.

Just about everyone in Wisconsin has heard of the word "hops."  It's a flavoring used by beer meisters.   I did not know that its American cousin can be found growing in the woods in the Upper Midwest.  However, the hops used in brewing beer are varieties cultivated for their unique flavors - not these wild flowers.

A member of the cannabis (wild hemp) family, American Hop (leaves, flowers and pollen) can be irritating to touch.  I learned this by experience when I grabbed an umbel and broke it open to show Tom the dry seeds inside.  A few minutes after I tossed the umbel, I experienced a very unpleasant burning sensation (similar to poison ivy) that lasted until I could get to a faucet and wash my hands.

Check out the underside of the leaves and stems for caterpillars (and chrysalids).  Hop is the larval food for

Eastern Comma butterfly,

Red Admiral butterfly 

and Hop Vine Moth.

Horsemint - Monarda Punctata

I see something new every time I drive by the dry, sandy prairies along Rustic Road 107.

Today it was clumps of pale yellowish-green plants among the islands of purple Wild Monarda (fistulosa), the recent growth spurt of bluestem grasses and the bright yellow petals of the Black-eyed Susan.

Despite the rain, I couldn't resist getting out of the Prius for a closer look.

The square stem is a clue to its identity: it's a mint.

Dotted pale yellow flowers with greenish-purple bracts sat on the stem like shishkabobs.

The flowers are similar in shape to its lavender cousin - wild bergamot.   One of 16 species endemic to North America, I'd never noticed it before:  dotted horsemint (spotted beebalm), monarda punctata.  It's found throughout the eastern and central states.

Native Americans used the dried leaves to flavor meats and as a tea.  Thymol, an oil found in this plant, is one of the ingredients in mouthwashes that acts as an antiseptic.  It's also the primary ingredient in toe nail fungus treatments.

Mid-July Butterflies and Blooms

Despite the threatening weather (when a warm front meets a cold front in west-central Wisconsin), we headed down Rustic Road 107 this afternoon.

The mosquitoes were unbearable.  Deer flies clung to the front of the Prius (perhaps attracted to the engine heat).

Fledgling Chipping Sparrows seem to have figured out that insects are easy picking along the edge of the road.  They're all along the road, darting in and out of the vegetation.   I don't know how many times I stopped to look, thinking they had to be Vesper or Lark Sparrows. 

There were only few butterflies on the road - most of them Red Admirals.  I wonder which species will soon hatch out and take over as "most abundant."  First the Emperors, then Red Admirals... who's next?

It wasn't until we got up the hill on County Road "O" east of Meridean that we spotted the swallowtails - both the black and yellow Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and a Giant Tiger Swallowtail.

A little further down the road, we spotted a male Monarch on a Culvers Root.

We spotted several Monarchs, including this one, flying with his proboscis unwound...

We also spotted lead plant, bellflower and a surprise - lesser purple fringed orchis - in bloom

When the skies turned black, we headed home, but not soon enough.  We got caught in that big storm.  Fortunately we did not get hit by the hail and flying tree debris.

Stinging Nettles

I was walking along the Lower Chippewa River Bike Trail before the rains this afternoon when I noticed several bumblebees hanging on to the lilac-colored flowers of this Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), an alien plant in the mint family.

I edged closer with my new point and shoot Sony Cybershot Wx1.  I was cautious, concerned that this bee might take offense and sting me.   It was alive, but wasn't moving.

Then I got stung.

Not by the bee.   My hand brushed a nearby plant:  the common nettle.

It's also known as Stinging Nettles.

I've only been stung by this plant once before, but it was so long ago that I'd forgotten the feeling.
It was disconcerting - and it stayed with me all day.

How does it this plant produce a sting?  

The leaves and stems are covered with brittle, hollow, silky hairs that when touched, inject chemicals into the skin:   a histamine (irritates the skin), seratonin (causes pain), acetylcholine (creates the burning sensation) and, according to some sources, formic acid (responsible for the sting).

The resulting rash is similar to poison ivy.

What can you do?

Spit on it.  Seriously, saliva can help alleviate the stinging.  Then, when you get home, take two aspirin and apply hydrocortisone cream.

If you're more adventurous, take a look at this reference to the culinary attributes of stinging nettles.

Spring Wildflowers and Neotropical Migrants

The thermometer hit 78º this afternoon.

Wildflowers are blooming.  Trees are leafing out.  Spring is bursting out all over the Lower Chippewa valley. 

T. flexipes Declining Trillium

Smilacina stellata  Starry False Solomon's Seal

 Trilliums and False Solomon Seal are in bloom.

Cliff Swallows have returned to the Durand riverfront Sunday.  They got right to it with rebuilding their mud nests.   Bank Swallows arrived yesterday.  Tree Swallows continue to battle with starlings and House Sparrows over nesting holes. 

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers arrived today - and along with them, the Yellow and Yellow-rumped Warblers. 

Chipping Sparrow

House Wren

The ubiquitous Chipping Sparrows and House Wrens are making noise and flashing their feathers - setting up their territory and building nests. 

Spring Wildflowers!

The roads through the coulees of west central Wisconsin are irresistible in early spring when the wildflowers are starting to bloom.  Here's what we've been seeing:

birds foot violet

wild lupine

wild geranium

round lobed hepatica

smooth yellow violet

hoary puccoon

 columbine

 wild plum

Wildflowers in Bloom Today

 

Bloodroot

 

Dutchman's Breeches

 

Early Buttercup

 

Spring Beauty