Mad-dog Skullcap

Order: Lamiales

Family: Lamiaceae

Genus: Scutellaria

Species: S. lateriflora

Identifying characteristics:

-1–2½' tall, branching occasionally

-stems: are light green to pale reddish-green, 4-angled, and hairless or sparsely canescent; they have a tendency to sprawl

- Leaves: The blades of the opposite leaves are up to 3" long and 2" across; they are cordate-ovate to broadly lanceolate, hairless,and coarsely serrated along the margins. On the upper surface of each leaf blade, there is a conspicuous network of veins. The petioles of the leaves are light green to pale reddish green, slender, and up to 1" long.

- Flowers: Both terminal and axillary racemes of flowers are produced by the upper stems. Each slender raceme is up to 6" long, consisting of about 6-7 pairs of flowers; the axillary racemes spread outward from their stems. Underneath each flower, there is a short leafy bract. Each flower is up to 1/3" in length, consisting of a tubular corolla and a tubular calyx. The corolla is pale blue, lavender, or white; it has short upper and lower lips. The lower is lip is often white, while the upper lip is often a slightly darker color.

Special Adaptations:

- The preference is light shade to full sun, wet to moist conditions, and soil with abundant organic matter. Shallow rocky or gravelly soil is tolerated if it retains moisture during dry spells

- Habitats include moist sedge meadows, openings in floodplain woodlands, soggy thickets, swamps, bogs, seeps and springs, edges of vernal pools and ponds, moist depressions in limestone glades, and shaded areas of cliffs. In wooded areas, this plant benefits from any disturbance that reduces the density of woody vegetation; it is typically found in partially shaded wetland areas.

- Mammalian herbivores and geese won't eat the foliage of this plant because of its bitter taste and mildly toxic properties.

Bittersweet Nightshade

Order: Solanales

Family: Solanaceae

Genus: Solanum

Species: S. dulcamara

Identifying Characteristics:

- is a species of vine in the potato genusSolanum, family Solanaceae

- Bittersweet is a semi-woodyherbaceous perennial vine, which scrambles over other plants, capable of reaching a height of 4 m where suitable support is available, but more often 1–2 meters high.

- leaves: are 4–12 cm long, roughly arrowhead-shaped, and often lobed at the base

- Flowers: are in loose clusters of 3–20, 1–1.5 cm across, star-shaped, with five purple petals and yellow stamens and style pointing forward.

- fruit: is an ovoid red berry about 1 cm long, soft and juicy, but edible for birds, which disperse the seeds widely

Special Adaptations:

- It is native to Europe and Asia, and widely naturalised elsewhere, including North America, where it is aninvasive problem weed. It occurs in a very wide range of habitats, from woodlands to scrubland, hedges andmarshes. It is an invasive species in the Great Lakes

- Bittersweet is used in naturopathy and herbalism. Its main usage is for conditions that have an impact on the skin, mucous membraneand the membrane (synovial membrane) around the joints. Bittersweet is considered by some to be a herbal remedy for treating herpes and allergies.

- Spreads to new locations by birds eating the ripe berries and by fragments of stem and root moving in soil or water

- Moves out from a parent plant by way of suckering roots, prostrate stems rooting at nodes, and by growing up and over vegetation or structures like fences and buildings

Red Osier Dogwood

Order: Cornales

Family: Cornaceae

Genus: Cornus

Species: C. sericea

Identifying Characteristics:

- height: 1.5–4 m tall and 3–5 m wide, spreading readily by underground stolons to form dense thickets

-The branches and twigs are dark red, although wild plants may lack this coloration in shaded areas

- leaves :are opposite, 5–12 cm long and 2.5–6 cm broad, with an ovate to oblong shape and an entire margin; they are dark green above and glaucous below; fall color is commonly bright red to purple

- flowers: are small (5–10 mm diameter), dull white, in clusters 3–6 cm diameter

- fruit: is a globose white berry 5–9 mm diameter

Special Adaptations:

- A characteristic species of swamps, low meadows, and riparian zones; also found in forest openings, open forest understories, and along forest margins

- Prefers rich, moist soils with pH range of 5.5 to 7.0. High levels of mineral nutrients needed for vigorous growth.

- Tolerates flooding and, consequently, is found on floodplains and wetlands and is often one of the first shrubs to invade wet meadows.

- Seeds germinate above water level, but after several years growth, the plants can live with the roots submerged in water for most of the growing season. Plants on such wet sites are found in mineral rich swamps or fens and not in nutrient poor sphagnum bogs.

- Needs moderate to full sunlight. Its natural occurrence in full sunlight may be facilitated by its growth in wet situations where it encounters no water stress.

Jewelweed

Order: Geraniales

Family: Balsaminaceae

Genus: Impatiens

Species: I. capensis

Identifying Characteristics:

- Jewelweed is a smooth annual; 3-5 ft. Leaves oval, round- toothed; lower ones opposite, upper ones alternate. A bit trumpet shaped, the flowers hang from the plant much as a jewel from a necklace, Pale Jewelweed has yellow flowers, Spotted Touch-Me-Nots have orange flowers with dark red dots. The seeds will 'pop' when touched , that is where the name Touch-Me-Nots came from.

Special Adaptations:

-The Spotted Jewelweed variety is most commonly used for treating poison ivy rashes

- Jewelweed blooms May through October in the eastern part of North America from Southern Canada to the northern part of Florida.

- It is found most often in moist woods, usually near poison ivy or stinging nettle. It is commonly said that wherever you find poison ivy, you will find Jewelweed - however this is not true as Jewelweed will not grow in dry places for long, and does not thrive in direct sunlight. Poison Ivy will grow in sun or shade. Jewelweed often grows on the edge of creek beds.

-When you are out in the field and find you have been exposed to poison ivy, oak, or stinging nettle you can reach for the jewelweed plant and slice the stem, then rub its juicy inside on exposed parts. This will promptly ease irritation and usually prevents breakout for most people.

Red Elm

Order: Rosales

Family: Ulmaceae

Genus: Ulmus

Species: U. rubra

Identifying Characteristics:

- is a deciduous tree which can grow to 20 m in height

- The tree has a different branching pattern than American Elm, and its heartwood is reddish-brown, giving the tree its alternative common name 'Red Elm'.

- The leaves are 10–18 cm long and have a rough texture, coarsely double-serrate margin and an oblique base.

- The perfect wind-pollinatedapetalous flowers are produced before the leaves in early spring, usually in clusters of 10–20.

- The fruit is an oval winged samara 20 mm long and containing a single, central seed.

- The Red Elm may be distinguished fromAmerican Elm by the hairiness of the buds and twigs (both smooth on the American Elm) and by its very short-stalked flowers.

Special Adaptations:

-The tree is reputedly less susceptible toDutch elm disease than other American elms, but is severely damaged by the Elm Leaf Beetle

-grows well in moisture-rich uplands, but it will also grow in dry, intermediate soils

- The bark also contains a mucilage that is used as a remedy for sore throats

Black Willow

Order: Malpighiales

Family: Salicaceae

Genus: Salix

Species: S. nigra

Identifying Characteristics:

- Height: medium-sized deciduous tree, the largest North American species of willow, growing to 10-30 m tall, exceptionally up to 45 m, with a trunk 50–80 cm diameter

- Bark: is dark brown to blackish, becoming fissured in older trees frequently forking near the base

- Shoots: shoots are slender, variable in color from green to brown, yellow or purplish

- Buds: are small, 2–4 mm long, with a single pointed reddish-brown bud scale

- Leaves: are alternate, long, thin, 5-15 cm long and 0.5-2 cm broad, usually somewhatfalcate, dark, shiny green on both sides or with a lighter green underside, with a finely serrated margin, a short petioleand a pair of small stipules

- Flower: small, greenish yellow to yellow flowers borne on catkins 2.5-7.5 cm long in early spring at the same time as the new leaves appear.

- Fruit: is a 5 mm capsule which splits open when mature to release the numerous minute, down-covered seeds.

Special Adaptations:

- Black Willow roots are very bitter, and have been used as a substitute for quininein the past.

- The bark of the tree can also be used to make a bitter tea with similar chemical compounds to aspirin.

- native to eastern North America, from New Brunswick and southern Ontario west to Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and Texas

- Light and flexible willow wood is used for wicker-work furniture and basket. It does not split when nailes. Before the discovery of plastics, toys were made from willow. Artificial limbs, packing cases and some furniture parts are also willow products. Its warm brown tones and attractive grain make it a beautiful paneling wood.

- Willow grows on almost any soil, but its extensive, shallow roots need an abundant and continuous supply of moisture during the growing season.

- the species is most common on river margins and batture land, where it occupies (and usually dominates) the lower, wetter, and often less sandy sites. It is also common in swamps, sloughs, and swales, and on the banks of bayous, gullies, and drainage ditches, growing anywhere light and moisture conditions are favorable. It flourishes at, or slightly below, water level and is not appreciably damaged by flooding and silting

Physa (snail)

Class: Gastropoda

Superfamily: Planorboidea

Family: Physidae

Genus: Physa

Identifying Characteristics:

- Left-handed or sinistral, air-breathing freshwater snail

- Possess a complex of muscles that is unique amongst gastropods.

• This complex was given the name “physid musculature”. The physid musculature has two main components, the physid muscle sensu stricto and the fan muscle. The physid musculature is responsible for a unique ability of physids to rapidly flick their shells from side to side — a reaction that frequently enables them to escape predation.

-The shells of Physa species have a long and large aperture, a pointed spire, and no operculum. The shells are thin and corneous, and rather transparent.

Special Adaptations:

- Freshwater snails

- Eat algae, diatoms, and detritus