Aquatics at Sandogardy Pond

Beth and I took Penny to Sandogardy Pond today. I wanted to look for the late summer aquatics, and though we were able to find quite a few, I didn’t find all the ones I was looking for.

Before we got to the pond we found some Indian tobacco.

Indian Tobacco (Lobelia inflata)

This is also called “puke weed” and I think that’s what I’m going to call it from now on. I suspect that “Indian tobacco” is a racial slur, as many plants with “Indian” in the name are. As in, “tobacco only good enough for Indians.”

Not far from the puke weed, we came across some hazel cuttings.

Beaked Hazels

These are the shells from beaked hazels (Corylus cornuta) which were growing nearby. I have a lot of them on my property too, but have never really been able to harvest any. The squirrels and chipmunks tend to harvest them before they ripen. You have to be careful when gathering them too, because those husks are full of fine spines which have a tendency to stick in your skin and break off. Just imagine shelling one with your lips and teeth!

We got to the pond, and the first blooming plant I noticed was this spotted water hemlock.

Spotted Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata)

It is important to be aware of this plant if you plan to eat wild carrots, because they are superficially similar, and spotted water hemlock is the most toxic plant in North America. One taste can kill.

Just offshore from the water hemlock, I could see the floating heart in bloom. I took off my shoes and waded out to it.

Floating Heart (Nymphoides cordata)

You have to be careful when photographing these, because the tiniest waves you make tend to wet the flowers, and when that happens, they turn from white to transparent. I have dozens of photos of transparent floating heart blossoms. I managed to avoid that this time.

Down the beach a little ways I found some Marsh St Johnswort.

Marsh St Johnswort (Triadenum virginicum)

I always have a hard time remembering the name of this one, because I keep wanting to put the “Virginia” part of the binominal name into the common name. Virginia St Johnswort? Nope. Virginia Swamp St Johnswort? Nope. Someday I might be able to remember without the aid of the Internet.

I had already put my shoes back on when I found some seven-angled pipewort. I didn’t want to take them off again, so I leaned way out and snapped this shot.

Pipewort (Eriocaulon aquaticum)

Leaning out doesn’t make the greatest photos, and we can see that here. I looked for these earlier this summer but could find no sign of them. But today, here they are.

A little farther down I found some square-stemmed monkey flower.

Square-temmed Monkey Flower (Mimulus ringens)

This plant got me into a little trouble once. A friend of mine breeds poodles and typically names them after flowers. Knowing that I was a plant-guy, she asked me to suggest a name for her next “keeper” dog. She was not pleased when I proposed square-stemmed monkey flower. I guess it just doesn’t roll off the tongue.

“Here, Square-stemmed Monkey Flower! Here girl!”

Nope.

 

Passport, Part 2

Today at lunch time I ferried Jonathan to the Post Office so he could work on getting his passport renewed (after we had a bite to eat of course). I hung around only long enough to figure out who the check should be written to. As it turns out, it is “Department of State”. I was worried that the bureaucrats might reject it if it had been written out to “State Department” or something similarly close. Once I had written most of the check out (I left him to fill in the amount), I hopped in the car and went back to work.

Jonathan called a few minutes later. The USPS wanted their cut, which is $25. One check would not be enough. I asked Jonathan if that’s all that was left – to give them a check, and he said it was. So I drove back over there, ready to whip out the credit card. We got in line (again), but before we got to the front, the postal clerk told us that we should get in the other line in front of the passports office. That office was closed before, and there was a sign directing us to the window instead.

Unfortunately, there was a man in a wheelchair and an elderly couple in that line ahead of us. Well, I didn’t think I needed to be there, so I went to the PO’s ATM and got some cash out, which I gave to Jonathan. Once again, I drove back to the office.

About an hour later I got a call from Jonathan. No passport. Because he was under 16 when he got his previous one, they wanted to see his birth certificate again. Also, they didn’t like the photo I took, because the whiteboard we used as a background was reflecting. He thought they would probably accept that, but since he needs to get this thing back post haste, it seemed imprudent to risk it. So he forked over 15 of my hard-earned dollars and let them take his portrait. 😦 I think he did the right thing. It does seem crazy to risk it when he’s cutting it so close.

Anyhow, he was on his way back to my office by then (on foot – it’s not that far).

He still has a long list of things to do, including getting an ATM card for his bank account, making his travel arrangements, and applying for more jobs.

We’re thinking he ought to get his driver’s license next week too. Can’t hurt (except for the part where we pay for his insurance).

In other news… the azaleas bloomed today. As did the Comptonia peregrina (which I think has the common name of sweet fern, even though it’s a shrub, not a fern). Ferns don’t flower since they don’t make seeds. One would think that sweet fern doesn’t flower either, unless one were to look closely. It has male flowers (catkins) and female flowers which are exceedingly inconspicuous. They look a lot like American Hazel flowers, but there aren’t! Compare:

Comptonia peregrina

Corylus cornuta (American Hazel), female flower

Corylus cornata (American Hazel) male flowers

In fact, I thought that I was looking at some American Hazel when I saw the C. peregrina today, except that it still had one of last year’s fernish leafs hanging there. Also, I remembered that the C. peregrina was pretty thick there last year. So I looked closer, and made the call.