📜 EwA Week Highlights: A Flower, a Flower, and Another Flower

[Mike McGlathery]

EwA Highlights May 25, 2024 Hello everyone! Thanks for reading the May 25th edition of the EwA highlights. Our naturalists are observing a lot of beautiful flowers this time of year! I hope you're a fan of purple & pink. 📸 Four of EwA’s top six most-observed species this week were plants that are currently flowering around here. One of those was the marsh blue violet (Viola cucullata), photographed here by Laura. This plant can be distinguished from other related violets by the length of the flower stalk, which rises significantly above the plant’s leaves. EwA iNaturalist Record (© Laura J. Costello · Windsor, NH · May 22, 2024)  Another flower you’ll see in our local woods nowadays is the wild geranium (Geranium Maculatum). The genus name "geranium" takes its root from the Latin geranos, meaning “crane”, due to its long, beak-like seedpods. Kristian spotted this fine example of the flower on Monday. EwA iNaturalist Record (© kdemary · Weston, MA · May 20, 2024) I think some EwA members may share my affection for the pink lady slipper (Cypripedium acaule), as it was our most-observed species this week. Of course, that’s probably also because suitable patches of forest are filled with them this time of year. These beautiful flowers are sometimes poached from the wild in a misguided (and frankly selfish) attempt to bring their beauty into a home garden. The heists are usually futile, as the plant requires quite acidic soil and will rot in most soils. Even tap water, with the potential to buffer the pH of the plant’s soil if it is hard enough, can cause it to rot and die. I’m preaching to the choir here, but if you or someone you know is having a possessive impulse about this beautiful flower, be smart, don’t be selfish. Leave it where it is, in a habitat where it can thrive. EwA iNaturalist Record (© Bill MacIndewar · Medford, MA · May 19, 2024) 📊 Thanks to everyone for your great biodiversity records this past week, totaling 857 observations of 473 distinct species. If you’re curious about the records from this week that have been validated by the iNat community so far, you can find them » here. 🏆 Running tally: To date, we have recorded 191,072 observations of 10,969 distinct species! Check out our EwA umbrella project, see the details per site/observer, and more » here. 📅 EwA Upcoming Public Events Ewa Field Events » Check the EwA Summer [ Event details and registration » ] Don’t miss some great opportunities to follow the rhythm of the season in our local habitats and in the local wildlife! Space is limited for all our field events. Wildlife ethics is important to us and we seek to avoid putting the pressure on natural habitats which large gatherings unavoidably do. We are asking our audience to register-and-commit (or cancel when you know you can’t come) to avoid no-shows. EwA Fieldwork (and Resources) It’s a great time to join our monitoring programs. Check EwA’s Volunteer Program Calendar 📅  to know when things happen. And if a session is of interest to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to get the rendezvous location. 📅 EwA Sites Map | 🌱 Site Protocols and Guides · Field Rosters · Field Notes » All here! | ℹ️ More about EwA’s Citizen Science Program » Here ❓ Do you have any questions? Don’t be shy. Just email me or reply to this thread.  That’s all for this week—hope you have a good one! -Mike