It’s early for Field Mustard and it usually blooms by the side of the road but sometimes it’s found in very special places.
Dianne Machesney photographed this one blooming alone at Braddock Trail Park last weekend.
It was blooming so early that it caused some confusion. Was it really Field Mustard?
Yes. Spring is just too early this year.
(photo by Dianne Machesney)
There was an article in our local newspaper about garlic mustard. They said that it is a non-native species and the roots give off a chemical that kills the native wild flowers. They are trying to hand pull a lot of it along the sides of the road to help the native plants.
Dear Kate, Love your nature info on flowers animals and birds in addition to the falcon stuff. A Fan, Carlana
My apologies to Dore a.k.a. Brunhilda. I just saw her pick up a chick to put it behind a couple of eggs so she could sit on it.
I see a chick at the Gulf Tower! right now I think it is Louie sitting on the eggs and chick. Did it arrive for Mothers’ Day? I didn’t watch yesterday.
Kate, I just saw 1 chick at The Gulf Tower. Apx. 3:50pm.
I do believe that at least one chick at the Gulf Tower has arrived.
Kate,
Nice photo, but actually it isn’t tower mustard (Turritis [Arabis] glabra). The flowers of tower mustard are much smaller and creamy white, and the fruits go straight up and hug the stem. The CT Botanical Society photo shows this well. Here’s another link to photos that show the narrow inflorescence: http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php. I’d say that it is in fact field mustard.
Hmmm. I did not see it myself and am no flower expert. I will ask again. (I might have used the wrong photo. Ack!)
Tanya, you are right! My flower experts have examined this photo and say “Field Mustard.” I’ve changed the title & text of the blog to reflect the correction.