Use the Index or the Find Box. Click on Links or Image if available.
Information about the plants, animals, and geographical features described here comes from the sources which are listed below under BOOKS, PLANTS, BIRDS, and ONLINE RESOURCES and from observation. In general, only plants and animals which we have seen locally are included. Most are found throughout Cape Cod, but we see them in Eastham. The photos are mine unless otherwise attributed: fws = Fish and Wildlife Service; wiki = Wikipedia; etc.
This database is for fun. It will grow, and more entries, links, and original photos will be added. Please Comment if you have suggestions, corrections, or complaints.
"In wildness is the preservation of the world." Thoreau. "Reverence for life..." Schweitzer. "A holy curiosity..." Einstein. "We have met the enemy, and he is us." Pogo.
"Do no dishonour to the earth, lest you dishonour the spirit of man. Hold your hands out over the earth as over a flame. To all who love her, who open to her the doors of their veins, she gives of her strength, sustaining them with her own measureless tremor of dark life. Touch the earth, love the earth, honour the earth, her plains, her valleys, her hills, and her seas; rest your spirit in her solitary places. For the gifts of life are the earth's, and they are given to all, and they are the songs of birds at daybreak, Orion and the Bear, and dawn seen over ocean from the beach." Henry Beston, The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod.
See: Eastham: Working the Land, by Joan D. Nugent. Town of Eastham, Eastham's 350th Anniversary Committee, 2001. 30p. Native American Indians (the Nausets) had grown flint corn for thousands of years. It was called "maize" or "Zea mays" by the Indians and "Indian corn" or "Turkey wheat" by the settlers. They also grew beans, pumpkins, tobacco, and gourds. They gathered wild berries, nuts, and the roots of various plants and hunted deer, bear, beaver, turkey and other fowl, and took fish, shellfish and an occasional whale.
The colonists grew corn, rye, oats, wheat, barley, and raised domestic animals. Salt hay provided fodder,although the cows didn't care much for it. English hay was planted. Trees were cut to clear land and for fuel. The sandy soil gradually became arid. The Fort Hill area is one of the last places that remained fertile.
Corn and wheat were still important crops in the 19th century, but much of the arable land on the bay side became a sandy waste. Cranberry farming, poultry and dairy were important in the 19th century. Asparagas and turnip farming lasted into the 1940's.
There is quite a lot of what appears to be Northern Arrowwood (Viburnum recognitum) growing along the National Seashore trails in Eastham. It produces many long, straight branches that were used for arrow shafts by the Nausets. The leaves are egg-shaped to oval or round, with a heart-shaped base, hairless, and 4-22 pairs of coarse teeth. Palmate leaf veins. Can grow to 10-15 feet. Flowers in 3 inch wide long stalked white cymes (a flat-topped flower cluster)which bloom in late spring, May-July. Bluish-black fruit, July-September. Light-gray flaking bark. Or, it could also be Southern Arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum)! [Whatley 18] - Image
Small White Aster (Aster vimineus) Smooth purple stems and small crowded white flowers. Leaves slender, lower ones toothed, with smaller leaflets in axils. Grows 2-5 ft. in fields and meadows. Blooms Aug to Oct. [Peterson 96]
Saline Aster (Aster tenuifolius) White to pale purple flowers, 6 to 12 inches, long narrow pointed pale green leaves.
Stiff-leafed Aster (Aster linariifolius)has wiry downey stems bearing very narrow, stiff leaves without teeth. Blue flower heads bloom singly at the end of many branches. Grows 4-12 inches (other books say 24), blooms late August and September. See along roads, paths. [Hinds 76] - Image
The 1000 acre Massachusetts Audubon Society's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary borders Eastham on the north across Hatches Creek. 260 species of birds and many varieties of plants and animals are seen here. (But not all at once!) Five miles of attractive trails lead through forest, field, heath, pond, marsh, tidal flats, and beach habitats. Events such as guided walks, workshops, and programs for children are offered for a fee. Admission is by membership or entrance fee. Call (508) 349-2615. Note: the Try Island and Boardwalk trails and part of the Goose Pond trail trail may be under water at high tide.
LINKS:
Northern Bayberry (Myrica pennsylvanica), also called Wax Myrtle, has stiff gray branches and glossy oval leaves, slightly toothed near the end. The female plants carry the wax-coated gray fruit from which bayberry candles are made. It takes many berries to make one candle! We understand that the leaves are sometimes added to soups and stews. Many songbirds eat the fruits. [Sterling 146; Whatley 28] - Image
LINKS:
Bayberry, Assateague Island
Beaches are accululations of loose sand and gravel that come from the erosion of sea cliffs or are carried to the sea by rivers. They are shaped by wind and water. Eastham's ocean beach is backed by an eroding cliff.
Sand is particles of rock from 1/16 to 2 millimeters in diameter. Smaller particles form silt, clay, or mud. Larger particles are gravel, pebbles, or cobble. The composition of sand varies. Our sand is largely quartz (silica or silicon dioxide) and feldspar (formed from the weathering of granite). Most beach sand also contains fragments of shells. The bright white sand of tropical beaches is made up of calcite (calcium carbonate) from coral and the shells of foraminifera. The slope of a beach depends on the size of beach sand, the coarser the sand the greater the slope. Igneous (volcanic) rocks like granite produce sperical or egg-shaped pebbles such as are found on our beaches. The part of the beach which slopes toward the ocean is called the foreshore or beach face.
Sand ripples, usually visible on the bay beaches, are caused by wave and current action. The process is complex and not fully understood.- Sand ripples
The tidal flats on the bay side of Eastham are less rich in life than they were some decades ago, but they host: algae, phytoplankton, bacteria, fungi, worms, mussels oysters, black beach snails (mud snails), clams, and shrimp, sand dollars, crabs, sea urchins, horseshoe crabs, whelks, fish, and shorebirds. [Fox] - Bay beach
American Beachgrass (Ammophila breviligulata) grows naturally on the dunes that border the ocean beaches and stands up well under the salt spray and the summer heat. This is the grass (also called "compass grass") whose long blades trace circles in the sand. It is often planted by National Park Service volunteers to help stabilize the dunes. [Whatley 6] - Image
LINKS:
Beach Grass, Assateague Island
Attractive patches of Beach Pea (Lathyrus maritimus, Lathyrus japonicus) grow in the field at Fort Hill and elsewhere in Eastham. Pink-lavender pea-like flowers in long stalked clusters bloom through the summer. Compound leaves, 4-10 opposite leaflets grow on a trailing vine. It is a nitrogen enriching legume. Also called Maritime Beach Pea. - Image
Beach plum (Prunus maritima) grows in the sandy soil of dunes, in yards, and along roadsides. It produces rich clusters of lovely white flowers. If you're on the Cape in late May to early June, you can't miss it.
The local indians used the light-blue to black beach plums as an ingrediant in pemmican, their trail mix. Beach plum jelly has a mild flavor and is quite good on toast. The plants seem to produce more fruits in some years than in others. [Whatley 25, Sterling 146]. - Image
LINKS:
Univ. of Conn. Plants Database
Bear oak or Scrub oak (Quercus ilicifolia) is a member of the black oak family. This shrubby tree can survive in the wind blown, salt spray environment and poor sandy soils of Cape Cod. It's seen everywhere, particularly near the ocean beaches. Grows to 20 feet. Eventually replaced by larger varieties. Particularly bitter acorns, supposedly eaten only by bears. [Whatley 13]
Bearberry is very common on the outer cape, particularly in sunny patches of sand, in the dunes, along roads, and planted as ground cover in yards.
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, of the Heath Family, is a trailing shrub with papery reddish bark and small, paddle-shaped evergreen leaves which are protected from salt, wind, and sun by a waxy cuticle and remain green through the winter. It grows no more than six inches tall, in sand or rocks, and may cover large stretches of dune, where it is planted for erosion control. The small pink, white, or red flowers bloom April to July. Bright red berries appear in the fall and are eaten by grouse, deer, (and bears) but are mealy and tasteless.
Bearberry has been used as a medicine, tobacco substitute, and astringent tea. It's also called Hog Cranberry. You see it everywhere, but there is a montainous field of it on Bearberry Hill, off N. Pamet Rd. in Truro. [DiGrigorio 58, Whatley 12, Sterling 150] Image
The Cape Cod Rail Trail follows an old railroad right of way the length of Eastham, starting near the Route 6 traffic circle. Some parking is available there. There is also a bike trail from the Salt Pond Visitor Center to Coast Guard Beach. You're supposed to get off your bike and walk across roads. Cars should stop for you when you're walking in the crosswalk, but don't count on it.
LINKS:
Cape Cod Rail Trail Cape Cod Trails Conference
Cape Cod Rail Trail Mass. Dept. of Conservation
The Cape Cod National Seashore and the Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary offer some of the best birding spots in the Northeast. Fort Hill in Eastham is particularly popular. The Beech Forest in Provincetown is home to many warblers in May.
Bird watching is an industry on the Cape. The Birdwatchers' General Store on Route 6 in Orleans provides any birding equipment and information you could imagine. The gift shop at the Salt Pond Visitor Center sells field guides as well.
Check out the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, of the Mass. Audobon Society, off Route 6. (508) 349-2615
We aren't serious bird watchers, but in addition to the daily cardinals, goldfinches, robins, chickadees, purple finches, and titmice at our feeder in Eastham, we've seen mocking birds, catbirds, blue and green herons, glossy ibis, scarlet tanager, great crested flycatcher, brown thrasher, rufous-sided tohee, marsh hawk, wrens, turkey vulture, red tailed hawk, blue grosbeak, flickers, cattle egrets, cormorants, herring gull, black backed gull, piping plover, terns, buffleheads, mergansers, black ducks, mallards, and swans. We'd love to see a puffin shaped like a muffin.
Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), also known as Round-leaved or Asiatic bittersweet, is a deciduous, woody, perennial vine. Glossy, rounded, finely toothed leaves are arranged alternately along the stem. The leaves turn bright yellow in the fall. Globular yellow fruits split open to reveal bright red-orange pods that contain the seeds and are visible through December. This vine can climb to 60 feet and overwhelm and kill trees. Introduced as an ornamental, it is considered an invasive or weedy species. Poisonous. Thoreau calls it "Waxwork." - Image
LINKS:
National Park Service
Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) trees are found in wooded areas throughout Eastham. White flowers in long clusters bloom in the spring. They can grow to 50 feet or more. The narrow leaf is 2 to 6 inches long and 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide. The black 1/2" diameter fruit is an important food source for many animals. Large trees were prized for furniture. [Whatley 11] Image
The Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) was introduced to the Cape early in the 20th century. It's a legume and can help restore nitrogen to exhausted soil. It grows into a tall (80 ft.) thin tree producing light shade and encouraging heavy vegetation or soft grass below. 6 to 12 ich comppund leaves of 6-20 egg-shaped leaflets. Deeply ridged, cross-hatched bark. The white flowers bloom in late spring and smell like orange blossoms. Poisonous. [Whatley 33] - Image
Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) are omnivorous birds with heavy bills, common in oak and pine forests. Conspicuously crested. 10" long. - Image
The Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) prefers open fields. We saw three eating the berries from a wreath on Western Avenue. - Image
Many of the books and pamphlets listed below are for sale at the gift shop at the Cape Cod National Seashore's Salt Pond Visitor's Center. Call numbers are given for those that are available at the Eastham Public Library. See also: Plants.
Bouncing Bet or Soapwort grows 1 to 2 feet tall, has clusters of white flowers about 1 inch in diameter with 5 notched petals. When the leaves are rubbed in water a soapy lather forms. "Bouncing Bet" is an old nickname for a washerwoman. - Image
Broom Sedge (Andropogon virginicus) is neither a broom nor a sedge. It's a grass. Also called Beard Grass because of its bearded seeds. There's a lot of it in fields and beside roads in Eastham. It's easier to see in the fall, when it turns dull red. It was once used to make brooms. Summer: Image and fall: Image
The Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) is a small bay duck. The male is mostly white with a black back and a puffy head with a large bonnetlike white patch. It shows a large white wing patch in flight. You see flocks in Salt Pond in the fall and winter. Supposedly the head reminded early observers of a buffalo. - Image
Bullbriar (Smilax rotundifolia) or Common Greenbriar or Roundleaf Greenbriar is a vine found climbing thickly over other vegetation in shaded areas of woods and thickets, as for example in the Red Maple Swamp. It produces blueblack fruits. Catbriar generally grows in more exposed areas. [Whatley 27] - Image
The Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens) grows to 1 to 2 feet. Bright yellow 5-petaled flowers about 1 inch in diameter. Stem and leaves contain an acrid jice which can cause blisters. - Image
Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) is a woody shrub that grows in standing fresh water. White ball-shaped flower clusters appear in August. See the kettle pond on the Buttonbush Trail at the Salt Pond Visitor's Center. - Image
Approved in 1961 under President John F. Kennedy, includes 27,000 acres and 40 miles of beach from Chatham to Race point. One third of Eastham is in the National Seashore. The park was dedicated in 1966.
LINKS:
Cape Cod National Seashore
Cape Cod National Seashore: Animals & Plants Includes articles, reports on plants and animals, restoration and water resources and Illustrated Guides to saltmarsh plants and animals,
turtles, amphibians, etc.
Great Outdoor Recreational Pages (GORP)
Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis or Richmondena cardinalis) Have moved up from the south in recent years. Have a pointed crest and a black patch surrounding a conical orange beak. 7 3/4 - 9" long. The female is less colorful. Call: "cheer, cheer." - Image
Cat's-ear (Hypochoeris radicula) looks like at dandelion with a tall, smooth, woody stem. Yellow flowers bloom June-July. Common in yards and fields. - Image
Common Cat-tail (Typha angustifolia) grows to 3 to 6 feet, with long narrow leaves and a stout stem with a cylindrical reddish brown flower spike. Grows in brackish marshes. See on the Audubon Goose Pond Trail. - Image
Black Capped Chickadees (Parus atricapillus) are at our bird feeders in all seasons. They nest in holes in a tree and in bird houses. They'll let us come to within a few feet but become very annoyed when we try to refill the feeder. Believe it or not, they have a pecking order, just like chickens. Alpha chickadees! They're a very popular bird, with dozens of web sites. Look up "chickadee" on Google.
from Chickadee Web: This small bird can be identified by its black cap and bib and white cheeks. The back is grey with white underparts; the wings are edged with white. Their characteristic call is "fee-bee", and a buzzy "chick-a-dee-dee-dee". The black-capped chickadee ranges throughout all of Canada and the U.S. They inhabit deciduous and mixed forests and open woodlands, often wintering in suburban areas. The chickadee feeds on insects, seeds and berries. They prepare their nest with grass, fur, plant down, feathers and moss in a hole in a rotten tree stump, a natural cavity, or a bird box. This bird is constantly active, either hopping, clinging or hanging from tree branches. - Image Source: British Columbia page.
LINKS:
Chickadee Web
Black Capped Chickadee Links
Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias striatus) are ground squirrels, although they can climb trees very well. They live in burrows up to 12 feet long. There are very many chipmunks in our yard. They like to hide in the aluminum downspouts, but they always make a noise and give themselves away. They hang around beneath the bird feeder, along with the doves and the squirrels.
from Encarta Encyclopedia: The chipmunk, a small, common rodent, uses its forepaws to manipulate and turn its food. While foraging for food, it stores seeds and nuts in its cheek pouches until it returns safely to its burrow. The chipmunk makes a shrill "chipping" sound and rapid trill.
Common name for any of 25 species of small rodent native to Europe, Asia, and North America. The various species all have reddish-brown fur, with white and black stripes on the back and furry tails. Their cheek pouches extend to the back of the head and, in some, even to the shoulders. They are distinguished from other ground squirrels by their striped faces. The chipmunk feeds on grain, nuts, birds' eggs, and insects. It lives in a burrow, where it stores food for winter. It remains in its nest until spring, but it comes out on warm days during winter. Mating takes place in March, and after a gestation of 31 days the female produces a litter of three to five. The offspring are mature by July and able to breed the following spring. Chipmunks belong to the family Sciuridae. - Image
LINKS:
Chipmunk Information Links
Soft shelled clams (Mya arenaria), the "steamers", live buried in mud or sand in bays. They extend their siphons up to the bottom of the bay to feed. They grow to 4-5 inches.
Atlantic Jacknife Clams (Ensis directus), also called Razor Clams, are narrow, slightly curved, and 6-10 inches long. Good in chowders.
The Northern Quahog or Hard-Shelled Clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), the chowder clam, grows to 3-5 inches and has a thick, heavy oval shell. - Image
LINKS:
Assateague Naturalist
Razor Clam
The Common Reed (Phragmites australis) is a tall (14 feet) perennial grass found on all continents except Antarctica. Its feathery and drooping clusters of tiny flowers are purplish when flowering and turn whitish, grayish or brownish in the fall. They wave like plumes in the breeze. Flowering occurs July-October. Colonies form along the margins of streams and in marshes and ditches and tend to drive out other plants. Large stands are found around the edges of Nauset Marsh and most other marshy areas in Eastham. They are considered invasive, and efforts have been made to reduce them in some places. - Image
LINKS:
Common Reed
Double Crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) are large black water birds frequently seen standing spread-eagle (to dry their wings) on the float at Salt Pond. They swim low in the water like loons but with bills tilted up. Catch fish under water. In too large numbers, they can foul a pond. - Image
Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum)or(Heracleum lanatum) Carrot family (Apiaceae) Grows 4-10 feet in meadows and thickets. Large leaves divided in 3 toothed parts. White flat flower clusters (cymes) to 8 inches across, June to August. Woolly, rank smelling, ridged hollow stem. Some at the Coast Guard end of the bike trail. - Image
Coyotes (Canis latrans) are everywhere, although on Cape Cod perhaps only fairly recently. They grow to 50 inches long, plus a 15 inch tail, and weigh 20 to 50 pounds. They look a bit like a small German Shepherd. They are monogamous and prolific. There is historical and genetic evidence that Cape coyotes may be closely related to red wolves. Many people see them in their back yards in Eastham. They eat rodents, rabbits, and even deer. They have never been known to attack people. Keep cats and small dogs indoors and out of mischief. - Image
Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) is a creeping shrub with small alternate oval leaves. Pink flowers. Juicy red berry. There used to be a major cranberry industry on the Cape. There is still a very modest one. There are several bogs in Eastham, including an active one that can be seen from Route 6 in north Eastham.
The Common Crow or American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) grows to 20 inches. They are intelligent birds with a well-developed social structure. Completely black. They always sound angry.
Cypress Spurge (Euphorbia cyparissias) grows in dense masses along roads and in fields. 6 to 12 inches tall with many needle-like pale green leaves. The tiny flowers have larger yellow bracts (petal-like leaves) beneath them, which may turn reddish with age. There is a lot of it in the field in front of the Salt Pond Visitors' Center and in the field at Fort Hill. Image source: USDA Plants Database. Image
The Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum) was introduced from Europe. Family: Aster (Asteraceae) Grows to 3 feet in meadows and waste places. Flowers 1 to 2 inches, white around a yellow disk, bloom June to August.- Image
White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) grow to 4 to 6 feet in length. Does normally have no antlers. Bucks develop new antlers each spring. They are generally seen at dawn and dusk and rest during the day. We've seen a doe and fawn at the edge of Nauset Marsh in the fall, four adults at the top of Fort Hill in the winter, and many tracks in the winter snow. We saw far more deer in the Philadelphia city parks and suburbs. Image
Doane Rock, also known as Enoch's Rock and Great Rock, is a large granite boulder, a glacial erratic dropped by the last glacier 18,000 years ago. Granite is a coarse-grained, light colored, hard, igneous (formed by volcanic heat) rock consisting mainly of quartz and mica. Doane Rock is 18 feet high and extends 12 feet into the ground. It is located off Doane Road, halfway to Coast Guard Beach. Follow the signs. There are few large glacial erratics in North Eastham, which is mostly sand. Others can be seen in the marsh near Fort Hill. - Image
The Bottle-nosed Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) grows to 12 feet. Dark gray back, lighter gray sides, pink to white belly. Dorsal fin near center of back. These two, seen near Goose Pond at the Audubon Sanctuary, were stranded on the Cape Cod Bay shore with a number of other dolphins in the spring of 2006. The strandings may be caused by a virus. - Image
The National Seashore nature trails are all marked as off-limits to all pets. The National Seashore makes the point that the presence of dogs can be disruptive for wildlife. Off season, dogs are allowed to run on the broad Cape Cod Bay flats.
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) "The Mourning Dove is approximately 12 in length. It has a long tapered tail, and is greyish-brown above and pinkish below. The wings have black spotting, and the outer tail feathers are white. The male has bright purple-pink patches on the neck sides; these are less obvious in the female..." They are ground feeders, eating seeds and insects. They swallow fine gravel to aid with digestion. Their coo is familar, as is the whistling of their wings when they take flight. They mate for life. [from Wikipedia]. - Image
There are several subfamilies of ducks: surface-feeding ducks, tree ducks, bay ducks, sea ducks, stifftails, and mergansers. Many frequent Nauset Marsh but we recognize only a few of them.
Marsh Ducks or Surface-feeding Ducks (Subfamily Anatinae) feed on creeks, ponds, and marshes. They eat mostly plants. These include: The American Black Duck (Anas rubripes), common on the Nauset Marsh. It is sooty brown with a paler head and white wing linings visible in flight. Quacks like a Mallard. Male Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) have an uncrested glossy green head, chestnut chest, and a white neck ring. Mallard
Bay Ducks (subfamily Aythinae) dive and swim underwater. They are heavy and run along the surface as they take off. They eat more animal food. The Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) is a small duck. The male is mostly white with a black back and a puffy greenish head with a large bonnet-like white patch. It shows a large white wing patch in flight. You see flocks in Salt Pond in the fall and winter. Supposedly the head reminded early observers of a buffalo. - Bufflehead
Mergansers are fish-eating diving ducks with a long thin bill, serrated on the sides. We see Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser) at Nauset Marsh. -
The American Egret (Casmerodius albus), also called Common Egret, and Great Egret, is a large, slender white heron with a yellow bill. We see them rarely on Nauset Marsh. Egret
Massachusetts Fern (Thelypteris simulata or Parathelypteris simulata) grows to 18 to 30 inches in wooded swamps. - Image Netted Chain Fern (Woodwardia areolata)lives grows to 18-24 inches in shaded swamps. - Image Both of these ferns are common in the Red Maple Swamp.
The Fiddler Crab or Sand Fiddler Crab 1 1/2" wide. Males: upper surface grayish-blue. Males have 1 large pincer bluish, lavender, or reddish-brown. Females: subdued colors, pincers small and equal. - Image The Horseshoe Crab (see below) is not a crab.
The Fort Hill trail crosses open fields and offers fine views of Nauset Marsh and Nauset Spit. It runs to Skiff Hill and connects with the Red Maple Swamp trail. A good bird watching spot. There was probably never a fort at Fort Hill.
"Fort Hill was the highest point adjacent to the meetinghouse erected by Pilgrim residents of Nauset (later called Eastham) shortly after they settled the area in 1644. Scholars still speculate on the naming of Fort Hill, but similar names were given to high points at other settlements along the eastern seaboard during that time period. A hill of this sort would serve as a natural point of defense (with or without a structure) from which defenders could shoot downward at attackers. The most probable threat to the Pilgrim residents during that time period was from fellow European settlers such as the Dutch in New Amsterdam (New York)."
"Some of the farmland in this area was undoubtedly the former property of Governor Thomas Prence (Prince) who governed the colony from Eastham for some years. The Reverend Samuel Treat was called to Eastham in 1672. He also owned about twenty acres of land at Fort Hill. The boundaries were marked by a stone inscribed with a "T", and the northwest marker still exists." -- National Park Service. (See Link below.)
LINKS:
Fort Hill
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) averages 42" long, 1/3 of it tail. They eat small mammals, birds, bird eggs, frogs, insects, and berries. They mate for life and raise a litter of five in the spring. We saw three red foxes near Nauset Marsh during the winter of 2000. In the winter of 2002 one regularly passed through our yard. They look ready to pose for an illustration in a children's book. A man we know saw a silver fox in Eastham a few years ago. - Image
LINKS:
WNC Nature Center
A fungus is a plant of the chlorophyll-lacking subkingdom Thallophyta. The fungus Apple-Cedar Rust (Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae) is a heteroecious rust, which means it needs two species of plants within 2 miles to complete its life cycle. It is parasitic on both the eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginianus) and apple trees (Malus sylvestris). The orange gelatinous matrix may be seen oozing from the fruiting structures during wet weather. Rust diseases generally do not cause serious damage to junipers. - Image
The Green Frog (Rana clamitans melanta) has large external eardrums and prominant ridges on its back. Green on upper lip. Eggs hatch in 3 to 7 days. It's voice is like the twang of a banjo string. Tadpoles take from 3 to 22 months to begin metamorphosis into full grown frogs. Some do this before the winter, but many tadpoles hibernate until the spring to transform. Frogs are not green because they have green pigment in their skin. Instead, they use a complex arrangement of cells.
Frogs croak to attract mates and defend their territory. They spend the winter in a dormant condition buried in the mud or under tree bark.
True frogs (Ranidae) include bullfrogs, green frogs, pickerel frogs, and wood frogs. Tree frogs (Hylidae) include spring peepers and grey treefrogs. Toads (Bufonidae) include American toads and Fowler's toads. They have warty skin and protect themselves with camoflage and a toxin. "Wood frog (Rana sylvatica:) These two to three inch true frogs gather in large groups to mate in vernal pools on early-spring nights. Their short raspy quacks sound like ducks." Audubon. "About two inches long, the adult wood frog occurs in a variety of color phases that roughly span the spectrum of cedar shingles as they weather: from light sandy red to pale silver gray. The frog has a distinctive white upper lip and a characteristic black mask that extends on each side of its head back from the snout through the lower half of the eye and over the frog's tympanum, or external eardrum." Robert Finch. "North American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) At 3 1/2 to 7 inches long, these are the largest frogs in New England. Their deep, resonant jug-u-rum can be heard day and night." "Spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) This tiny, one-inch treefrog is rarely seen by day, but hundreds peep together starting at dusk, letting us know that they, and spring, have arrived." [Information from Mass Audubon.] - Green frog
Garlic Mustard (Alliaria officinalis), has triangular or heart shaped leaves that smell of garlic. Clusters of tiny white 4-petaled flowers bloom in the Spring and are accompanied by long erect seed pods. Garlic mustard thrives in shady habitats and this non-native species can invade the forest understory in a short period of time. The self-pollinating plant is hard to control and out-competes native food sources for wildlife. Image
From: Geology Fieldnotes: CCNS -- "Most of Cape Cod was shaped by the last great glaciation in North America, the Wisconsin glacial stage of the Pleistocene, approximately 75,000 to 10,000 years ago. A vast ice sheet (the Laurentide ice sheet) advanced south from northern New England and Canada and transported eroded rock debris scoured from the underlying Paleozoic crystalline bedrock until it reached its southernmost limit at Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island. Late in this time period, the coalescing Buzzard's Bay, Cape Cod Bay, and South Channel glacial lobes of the Laurentide ice sheet deposited the glacial drift that now comprises much of Cape Cod (Oldale, 1980; 1992) (Figure 2.1). The glacial history of the Cape Cod area was rapid in geologic terms. The minimum radiocarbon age of material found in the glacial drift indicates that the ice had reached Cape Cod more than 21,000 years ago. " The ice had retreated by 18,000 years ago.
"The Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro and the Highland outwash plains are the dominant morphologic features of the lower Cape. This outwash material was built up by deposits from braided meltwater streams flowing west into Glacial Lake Cape Cod. Isolated blocks of ice buried in the outwash deposits of both the inner and the lower Cape melted slowly, long after the glacial lobes had retreated far to the north. As sediments collapsed around the melting ice blocks, kettle holes formed within the outwash plains (Figure 2.3) (Oldale 1980; 1992)".
"Outwash plain deposits comprise the major geologic features of the lower Cape. They are predominantly stratified fine to medium sand and medium to coarse sand and gravel with lenses of fine silt and scattered boulders. Although lithologic variations over short distances can be extreme, grain size generally decreases with depth and distance from the former ice margin (Masterson and Barlow, 1994). Outwash plain surfaces are commonly pocked and pitted by kettle holes (e.g., the Wellfleet pitted outwash plain). Kettle Ponds: When the kettles are deep enough to intersect the water table, a pond is formed. Thus pond level provides a close approximation of the water table."
Glasswort, Pickleweed, or Salicornia grows in areas that are inundated by high tides once per month. It is a succulent and contains a high percentage of water. It is edible, crispy and salty. [Whatley 36] Image
Grass is the common name for a large family (Poaceae, formerly Gramineae) of flowering plants that is economically and ecologically the most important in the world. The grass family contains about 635 genera and 9000 species. 1400 species are found in the U.S. They are characterized by narrow leaves, hollow jointed stems, and spikes or clusters of membranous flowers borne in small spiklets.
See also: Broom Sedge, American Beach Grass, Salt Meadow Grass, Salt Marsh Cord Grass, and Common Reed.
Great Blue Herons breed inland, but we see them often on Nauset Marsh in the fall and winter. We occasionally see them in the spring. A heron standing tall at the very top of a tree is a strange sight. They look rather ungainly when they fly and generally give a metallic croak when they take off, as if they were annoyed at being disturbed.
The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is long-legged and has a very sharp beak which helps it catch aquatic animals. It has a blue body, a reddish-brown neck, and sometimes white or blue splotches near its eyes. It also has a black stripe that starts at its forehead and leads back into what looks like a snake's tongue. Great blue herons live near, and in, lakes, ponds and marshes. They are up to 38 inches in length and 70 inches in wingspread. There are 13 species of heron in North America. The heron stands motionless in the water until its prey comes close enough to snatch with its beak. Its food supply consists of fish, frogs, snakes, mice, and birds. Its grey-blue body and streaked white neck blend with its surroundings. If it stands quietly at the edge of the shore it may be very hard to see. During the breeding season, the great blue heron is at its most elegant, with long feathers on its back and short feathers on its neck that ruffle in the breeze. (excerpted from: Cabot School web site)
The Green Heron has much shorter legs and neck. - Image source: Cabot School, Helen D.
There are as many as 125 varieties of Goldenrod in the United States. Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) is common along the edges of Nauset Marsh and through Eastham. It has long, narrow, thick leaves with parallel veins. Poisonous. - Image
The large patches of Goldenrod at Fort Hill are another variety, with smaller, serrated leaves, having feather-like veins.
The Groundsel Tree (Baccharis halimifolia) is a shrub which grows to 9 feet and has green angled twigs and wedge shaped lower leaves with large teeth. Very pretty dry, white, silky fruits appear from Sept.-Dec. Favors coastal salt marshes and adjacent areas. Seen all over Eastham. Poisonous. - Image
We are told that there is no such bird as a "seagull." Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) are the most common gulls seen on the Cape. They are white with light grey wings that have black tips. They are scavengers but also like clams, crabs, and the eggs and young of other birds. Black-backed Gulls (Larus marinus) are the world's largest (up to 18") and often steal food from other species. - Herring Gull - Black Backed Gull
Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) live in all U.S. coastal waters. They can grow up to 5 1/2 feet long. They sometimes rest on the beach at low tide and return to the water when the tide comes in. We saw one resting on the edge of Salt Pond. Several thousand live on South Monomoy Island of Chatham. The larger Gray Seals are sometimes seen swimming beyond the surf at Coast Guard Beach.
We often see Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) and Marsh Hawks or Harriers (Circus cyaneus) at Fort Hill. The red tail is hard to miss. The Harrier flies low, zigzagging over the marsh. The Harrier's white rump (broad white stripe across the tail) is noticeable. See image. There are several other varieties of hawk on the Cape. A small Cooper's Hawk often sits hopefully in a tree near our bird feeder. - Image
There are patches of honeysuckle throughout the woods along the National Seashsore trails in Eastham. There are many varieties, some of which are hard to distinguish. Bush Honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica) is a shrub that bears fragrant white or pink flowers through the spring and summer and red and yellow berries. - Bush Honeysuckle Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) is a vine that may engulf other vegetation. Its leaves are evergreen, and it produces black berries in the fall. - Japanese Honeysuckle in flower
The Atlantic Horseshoe Crab or King Crab (Limulus polyphemus) isn't a crab at all but is from an even older family and is related to spiders and scorpions. It grows up to 2 feet long.
Although they have been around for 350 million years, long before the dinosaurs, they are somewhat endangered now and have begun to be protected. Once harvested as animal feed and fertilizer. Horseshoe crab blood is used in biological research.
Pairs come ashore in the marshes in May to find a place to lay eggs. We have seen a number of large crabs swimming in the tidal creek behind Coast Guard Beach. - Image
LINKS:
Horseshoe Crab - Assateague Naturalist
Black Huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata), of the Heath family, is a 1 to 2 foot shrub which commonly grows in pine forests on the Lower Cape. It resembles Blueberry but has red stems and a more tapered leaf base. Flowers and fruit grow in one-sided clusters. White resin spots appear on undersides of leaves in spring. The plant is flamable while green! So they say. Image source: USDA Plants. - Image
The Pink Lady's Slipper or Moccasin Flower (Cypripedium acaule) is an orchid which has two oval leaves that grow from the base of the flower. Each plant has one stem and one flower. One pink petal is puffed out and looks like the toe of a slipper. These are fairly rare in New England although there is one in our yard. We saw many along the bike trail to Race Point in Provincetown and along the Birch Forest Trail. Don't pick them. Poisonous. - Image
The Eastham Public Library is an excellent library, providing books, magazines, audio books, large print books, videos, puzzles, and software. Computers with Internet access, photocopier, fax, and museum passes are available. There is a fine local genealogical collection. Activities for children are held year around. -- Many books on local history and natural history.
The online catalog, CLAMS, allows users to request books from other Cape and Islands libraries and pick them up and return them at the Eastham library.
The Eastham Public Library 190 Samoset Rd. Eastham, Massachusetts 02642 Phone: 508-240-5950 Fax: 508-240-0786 e-mail: elibrary@capecod.net
LINKS:
Eastham Public Library
Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis) of the Pea family grows in patches at Fort Hill. Leaves are in 7 to 10 narrow segments around a central point. Tall stalks of blue flowers appear in the spring. - Image
Dog ticks and the much smaller Deer ticks are common on Cape Cod. They are most prevalent in the spring and summer but may be found in all seasons. Lyme disease is a serious chronic disease that is transmitted to humans by the tiny Deer Tick. It is present throughout the Northeastern U.S., including Eastham. Take precautions. Avoid tick-infested areas, particularly thick woods and tall grass. Check children and dogs. Learn the symptoms. Caught early and properly treated it can be fully cured.
LINKS:
Lyme Disease - National Center for Infectious
Diseases
LINKS:
Long walks on Cape Cod
The Canada Mayflower, False Lily of the Valley, or Wild Lily of the Vally (Maianthrmum canadense) grows thickly along the Red Maple Swamp trail in the early spring. It has two leaves, with deeply cleft heart-shaped leaf bases and very small 4-pointed white flowers which bloom May-July. White berries with spots, turn light red. 3-6 inches tall. - Image
LINKS:
Connecticut Botannical Society
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syrica), a 2' to 5' perennial with soft leaves, also called silkweed, cottonweed, Virginia silk, and wild cotton, all names referring to the downy-winged seeds in long, pointed, gray-green warty seedpods. Broken stems and leaves exude a milky juice. Many dull pink flowers grow in a drooping cluster at the top of the stems. Individual plants and patches grow throughout Eastham. Poisonous, medicinal. There is a lot in the field at Fort Hill. - Image
Adult Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) have two pairs of brilliant orange-reddish wings, with black veins and a double row of white spots along the edges. (Viceroys have a single row.) Their wingspan is about four inches, and they weigh less than half an ounce. Each adult butterfly lives only about four to five weeks. As autumn approaches, a special generation of butterflies is born. Unlike their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents -- all of whom had lives measured in weeks -- these migratory butterflies survive seven or eight months. In human terms, this would be like having children who lived to be 525 years old! This generation performs the incredible feat of flying from Canada and the United States to the center of Mexico -- after which they begin the northward journey again. Once they reach the United States, a kind of relay race begins: their short-lived offspring, with only four or five weeks to live, continue making the trek northward over several generations. -- from: World Wildlife Fund. - Monarch butterfly
The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly can be identified its large size and bright yellow color with black tiger stripes. Male tiger swallowtails have a few orange and blue spots near the tail. Tiger Swallowtail butterfly
Mosses are small, green, non-flowering plants. There are 9000 species, 1200 in the U.S. Peat Moss or Spagnum Moss is, after the Red Maple itself, the dominant species in the Red Maple Swamp. It holds large quantities of water.
Common Mullein (Verbascum thapsus), also called Jacob's Staff, Flannel-leaf, Velvet lead, Velvet dock, Torches, Hedge taper, Candlewicks, Cow's Lungwort, Shepherds club, Adam's flannel. "Mullein" is from the Latin name Mulandrum, from Melanders, meaning leprosy, as it was thought to be a remedy. A 3-5 foot woody stem, covered with smaller leaves and ending in a dense spike of yellow 5-lobed flowers, grows from a basal rosette of velvety, gray-green leaves. It is a biennial. Mullein - Image -- Mullein in flower - Image
Eastern Mud Snail (Ilyanassa obsoleta) is black gastropod (lat. "stomach-foot"), a mollusk (lat. "soft") about an inch long and 3/4 inch high. Gastropods are also called univalves. It is a deposit feeder and has a long tongue with minute teeth, called a radula, for collecting food. These are the snails you see by the thousands on mudflats at low tide. They are eating layer of diatoms, bacteria, and blue-green algae covering the mudflats. They are also feed on large algae like sea lettuce and dead fish and crabs. It is a host for the parasite causing "swimmer's itch," a trematode which can burrow into human legs. Avoid them. - Mudsnails - Mud Snails eating a crab
The Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) is considered an invasive weed that threatens native plant habitats. Family: Rose (Rosaceae) Grows 5 to 10 feet in fields, thickets, roadsides. Flowers, 1 inch, white or pale pink, May to June. See much of it at the Visitor's Center end of the bike trail and at Fort Hill. - Image
Muskrats (Ondatra zibetthicus) the largest American rodents, weigh up to 4 pounds and are up to 25 inches long, including the tail. They eat mostly aquatic plants but also clams, snails, and frogs. They are not closely related to beavers or rats but are more like a large aquatic field mouse. We saw one in the water from the foot bridge on the Nauset marsh trail and another in the frozen marsh near the causeway to Coast Guard Beech. - Image
"Mushrooms are a type of fungus. There are many different kinds of fungi, including molds and crusts, as well as more developed types that have a stalk and a cap. Fungi are distinct from plants because they do not possess chlorophyll, the green pigment that allows plants to manufacture sugar from the sun's energy; they need to absorb their food from the environment in which they live.
"Fungi use fibers called hyphae (that as a group are referred to as mycelium), to take in food. The mycelium can remain dormant under the ground for many seasons, similar to the roots of plants. Each hypha that is sent out makes its way through earth/wood/plant matter until it reaches the surface. During the organism's specific growing season, the hyphae develop into mature structures capable of reproducing spores. The structure that you normally see above the ground is the part of the mushroom that is producing and dispersing spores.
"Each spore is a single cell that is capable of sending out a hypha that will develop into a group and form its own mycelium. If the hypha of one spore meets up with the hypha of another, it begins the sexual process of spore prodcution through special spore-producing cells." Maya Goldin-Perschbacher www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/mgoldin/tutorial.html.
See also: Bessette, Arleen and Alan, Neill, William. Mushrooms of Cape Cod and the National Seashore. Syracuse U. Pr., 2001. 174p. ill.
There are numerous patches of what appears to be Wild India Mustard (Brassica juncea) along the Fort Hill trail. Bright yellow flowers bloom well into the fall. The leaves are supposed to be edible, but as the plant is also used to remove heavy metals from polluted ground, I think I'd hesitate to try it. - Image
See also entries for the Cape Cod National Seashore, Red Maple Swamp, Audubon, Nauset Marsh, Doane Rock, and Fort Hill. No pets. There are trails also in the town-sponsored Cottontail Acres Conservation area, located at Samoset and Lawton roads, and the Lamont Smith Conservation area, accessible from the Wiley Park area.
LINKS:
Cape Cod Pathways, Directory of Hiking Trails
Long walks on Cape Cod
Salt marshes are divided into low and high marshes. Low marshes are more marine and are flooded at least once a day. The boundary between low and high is a mean high-water neap tide. They are dominated by Salt Marsh Cord grass (Spartina alterflora), which has flat narrow leaves and grows tallest at the edge of the tidal creeks. Cord Grass produces a huge biomass and can purify large volumes of water. A tidal salt marsh is a very productive ecosystem. Salt March Cord Grass
High Marshes drain well and are submerged only during high spring tides. They are dominated by Salt-meadow grass or Salt Marsh Hay, or Salthay (Spartina patens) which grows on the upper edge of the marsh. The rounded blades grow only 5 to 8 inches high but are often flattened by storm surges. Salt hay was used as fodder by Cape farmers and is now used as a mulch. Salt Meadow Grass Other plants that grow in the high marsh are glasswort, seaside lavender, seaside plantane, seaside goldenrod, and, where freshwater is supplied to the marsh, reeds (Phragmites) and cattail (Typha).
The marsh serves as a nursery for clams, lobsters, and 50 species of fish and shellfish. Among the birds that frequent the Nauset marsh are gulls, black ducks, mallard ducks, bufflehead ducks, great blue herons, kingfishers, crows, cormorants, mergansers, Canada geese, yellowlegs, terns, sandpipers, and swans.
LINKS:
Salt Pond and Nauset Marsh
Salt Marsh Hay, Spartina patens
Cord Grass, Spartina alterflora
Cord Grasses
We see, I think, White-Breasted (Sitta carolinenses)and Red-Breasted (Sitta canadensis) Nuthatches and related Brown Creepers (Certhia familiaris) at our feeder. Red-Breasted Nuthatch
There are several varieties of oak growing in Eastham:
White oak (Quercus alba) has a leaf with 7-9 smooth rounded lobes. Acorns are encolsed in a cap about a quarter of its length. The acorns were eaten by the Indians. The bark is gray to grayish white and consists of narrow block-like plates.
Black oak (Quercus velutina) have leaves with 5-7 deep lobes with barbed or pointed ends. Bitter tasting acrons are coverd to mid-length by a cap. All the oaks were used for posts and beams, furniture, and boats. The bark is dark gray and grooved. Black Oak - Image
Old Man's Beard (Usnea Spp.) or Tree Moss is a lichen which grows on oak trees. Lichens are composed of a fungus and a photosynthetic green algae or cyanobacteria living in a symbiotic relationship. They live on light, air, and the minerals in rainwater. Although lichen will eat away at rocks, it doesn't harm trees. Image
Cape Cod National Seashore: Animals & Plants Includes articles, reports on plants and animals, restoration and water resources and Illustrated Guides to saltmarsh plants and animals,
turtles, amphibians, etc.
World Wildlife Federation
Field Guides - birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, seashells, seashore creatures, spiders,
insects, butterflies, wildflowers, and trees.
Connecticut Botanical Society Wildflower and fern
photo galleries.
USDA Plants Database
Univ. of Connecticut Plants Database
Brooklyn Botanical Garden
World Wildlife Fund
Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary
Cape Cod Connection for Bird Watchers
Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge
Assateague Naturalist Home Page
Assateague Naturalist - Birds - Many of the birds that frequent Assateague Island in
North Carolina are also common on Cape Cod. Includes many
photos
Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) Aquatic fresh water plant with dark blue to violet flowers on 1 to 3 foot stalks. A single heart-shaped glossy green leaf with each stalk. - Image [Whately, p.20]
Pods of Pilot Whales (Globicephala melaena) or Blackfish, a big social dophin, occasionally strand themselves on the Eastham bay beaches. No one is sure why. They won't abandon a sick or injured whale. 1400 came ashore in one stranding in Truro in 1886. 54 died after stranding first in Eastham and then in Wellfleet in August 2002. They grow to 20 feet (about 3 tons)
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) are attractive small shorebirds that fly well and run swiftly on sandy beaches. They are sand colored with a dark ring around the neck and a dark tail patch. Their call is a plaintive whistle, 'peep-lo'. Their nesting areas are sternly protected on Cape beaches because plover are much cuter than all-terrain vehicles. "Plover" rhymes with "lover." - Image
Pitch pine (Pinus rigidus) and oaks are the most common trees on the outer cape. The pines were re-planted as ground cover over the past 150 years. Many Cape pitch pines are now diseased and are gradually being replaced by oaks. They have an awkward beauty. Pitch pines can resprout from the trunk or base after a fire.
Pitch Pine grow to 40-60 feet, 1-2 feet in diameter. Three stiff needles in a bundle are 2"-5" long. Used in Colonial days to provide pitch but little used for lumber. [Whatley 10] - Image
LINKS:
Pitch pine
LINKS:
Connecticut Botanical Society Wildflower and fern
photo galleries.
USDA Plants Database
Univ. of Connecticut Plants Database
Brooklyn Botanical Garden
Anyone who was a child in the 1940's may remember the Bad Pipsissewa from the Uncle Wiggly stories. The books are still in some Cape libraries.
The striped or spotted wintergreen or striped or mottled pipsissewa (Chimaphila maculata) is a small evergreen plant with leathery dark green, white streaked, pointed and toothed leaves that grows pretty much everywhere on the forest floor. There is some of it along the trail from Doane Rock to Coastguard. White or pink waxy flowers bloom on a stalk rising 5 or 10 inches above the leaves. [Whatley 15]
Pipsissewa is from the Cree word pipsisikweu, "it breaks into small pieces", a reference to its use for the treatment of gall and kidney stones. The whole plant is sometimes eaten for its spicy flavor. Oil distilled from the leaves has been used as flavoring, a local antiseptic, and an ingredient of liniments; it is now produced synthetically as methyl salicylate. - Image
Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) is an attractive ground cover. It protects the fields and trailsides from being walked on, and the birds love the white berries in the fall. A perfect plant, except for one thing! [Whatley 27]. - Image Poison ivy in early spring - Image
Many plants are poisonous. Among others: poison ivy, pokeweed, black locust, bittersweet, groundsel, delphinium, goldenrod, lady's slipper, laurel, milkweed, nettle, oleander, sumac, thistle, yew, and privet. Not all parts of every plant are poisonous, but unless you're an expert, get your fruits and vegetables at the food store.
Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana), also know as poke, pokeberry, inkberry, Virginia poke, pigeon berry, coakun, American cancer, pocan, and chongas, is a weedy, large-leafed branching plant with reddish stems that grows like a small tree to 10 feet. It is a perennial. It produces blueblack berries in late summer. Enjoyed by many species of birds. The roots and seeds are deadly. The leaves are, in some places, cooked as greens but are poisonous until cooked. Don't do it. - Image
Poverty grass (Hudsonia tomentosa) or Beach Heather has scalelike leaves that grow close to the stem. - Image
Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa) is the only widespread Eastern cactus. (Many varieties are found in deserts of the American Southwest.) The flat pulpy pads are actually modified stems, used for water storage, photosynthesus, and flower production. Usually prostrate. Yellow flowers, pulpy red fruit. See patches on the Goose Pond Train at Audubon. - Image
Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) of the Parsley family grows widely at Fort Hill and in other Eastham fields. Also called Wild Carrot, which it is. Grows 1 to 4 feet. It has carrot-like leaves and big flat-topped clusters of tiny white flowers. Also called Bird's Nest, because of the appearance of the dry seedheads in the fall. It gives an unpleasant flavor to the milk of cows that eat it, but there are few cows in Eastham. - Image
The Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus) is seen frequently along the trails, particularly near the Red Maple Swamp, and in your garden. It is enjoyed by cats, foxes, hawks, owls, and hunters. To keep up, it has several litters a year with up to 7 young. - Rabbit
Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) grows along roadsides to 3 or 4 feet. Lacy, deeply cut palmate leaves. Spikes of tiny inconspicuous green flowers. Hay-fever provoking pollen. Image
Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) springs up everywhere on the Cape in untended fields. It is a juniper rather than a cedar. Trees reach 40 to 50 feet but are eventually driven out by shade trees. Green (later blue) berries on the female trees are eaten by birds. [Whately 29] Juniper or Cedar berries -- Cedar tree
LINKS:
Red Cedar, PA. Dept. of Conservation
There is splendid red and yellow foliage here in the fall. The new red leaves on the maples and oaks are lovely, and flowers bloom along the trail in the spring. A fascinating walk in all seasons. A wheelchair accessible boardwalk covers most of the trail. The swamp largely dries out by mid-summer. (The surface of the swamp water is the water table for Eastham.) The large red maples are twisted and storm-battered. The surface of the swamp is in most places an impenetrable thicket of briar. Rabbits, frogs, snakes, and many birds are seen. Footprints in the snow suggest other inhabitants, such as the River otter.
Red maple (Acer rubrum) grows in moist boggy freshwater lowlands. The leaves turn from scarlet to yellow in the fall. [Whatley 23]
"Red maple is a moderately flood-tolerant tree that is most common on sites that are intermediate in wetness between permanent flooding and temporary or intermittent flooding. The red maple's ability to persist under these adverse conditions when compared with other wetland tree species lies in its ability to produce a heavy seed crop nearly every spring, its rapid seed germination, and its ability to vigorously sprout from stumps and damaged seedlings on a variety of disturbed sites." N.H. D.E.S. Red maple swamp communities.
LINKS:
Red maple swamp communities
Red tide is a massive multiplication (or "bloom") of single celled algae. It produces neurotoxins which are deadly to fin fish and can collect in oysters, clams, and mussles and make humans sick. Red tides occur naturally all along the U.S. coastline, and occasionally in Eastham. They may last a few weeks.
Take no shelfish without a license or from areas marked as unsafe, and you'll have no problems.
LINKS:
Red Tide
River Otters (Lutra canadensis) grow 3 to 4 feet long and weigh up to 80 pounds. They are a large weasel, a member of the mustelid family. They have short legs, webbed feet, and dense fur. They eat crusteceans, fish, amphibeans, and small animals and birds. -- We haven't actually seen a river otter in Eastham, but we've seen their trails in the snow at Salt Pond and the Red Maple Swamp, and we talked with someone who had just seen one! - Image
Robins (Turdus migratorius) are common the Cape. What is a bit surprising is to see large flocks of them in the winter, particularly on the Coast Guard Beach trail and the Red Maple Swamp trail. They've come south from Canada. - Image
Common St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum) grows in the field at Fort Hill. One inch yellow flowers, with tiny black dots on margins of petals. To 1 - 1 1/2 feet. - Image
Salt Pond is a 40-foot deep glacial kettle pond that has been breached by the sea and is a tidal basin. This winter we saw a small seal resting at the edge of the pond and being watched by a fox. A park ranger said that seals often come in with one tide, rest on the shore a while, and go out with the next. She thought it was a Grey Seal. `
Kettle ponds were formed when the last receding glacier left very large blocks of ice that depressed the softening ground beneath them. There are 365 fresh water kettle ponds on the outer cape. They support a wide range of fauna and flora, from single-celled animals to very large snapping turtles.
Thoreau wrote that the Rosa rugosa arrived in 1849 as a survivor of the wreck of the Franklin, which was bringing plants from Asia. A 5-petal open flower, its six-foot branches provide effective protection for the dunes and beaches. The stems are very hairy. Rose hips, the fleshy fruit, are rich in Vitamin C and are used for jelly. Blooms May-October. [Whatley 26, DiGregorio 116] - Image
Sand is particles of rock from 1/16 to 2 millimeters in diameter. Smaller particles for silt, clay, or mud. Larger are gravel, pebbles, or cobble. The composition of sand varies. Our sand is largely quartz (silica or silicon dioxide) and feldspar, formed from the weathering of granite. Most beach sand also contains fragments of shells. The bright white sand of tropical beaches is made up of calcite (calcium carbonate) from coral and the shells of foraminifera. The slope of a beach depends on the size of beach sand, the coarser the sand the greater the slope. Igneous (volcanic) rocks, such as granite produce sperical or egg-shaped pebbles, such as are found on our beaches. The part of the beach which slopes toward the ocean is called the foreshore or beach face.
Sand ripples usually visible on the bay beaches are caused by wave and current action. Evidently the process is complex and not fully understood. - Sand ripples
From Geology Fieldnotes CCNS: "A summary of Cape Cod’s geology is not complete without mention of sand dunes. This feature epitomizes Cape Cod itself—migrating constantly yet somehow enduring. Dunes are shaped by the prevailing winds and migrate constantly. On the Provincetown spit, there are parabolic dunes, or “U” shaped dunes, with the open end facing the wind. These are formed when the wind blows away the sand in the middle of the dune, exposing the underlying beach deposits. The eroded sand is transported by the wind and deposited along the advancing leeward face of the dunes (Oldale, 1998). The parabolic dune orientation is driven by strong winds from the northwest predominantly in the winter, but occasionally important in the summer." (Allen et al., 2001)
"Active coastal dunes are dynamic landforms whose shape and location are ever-changing. Youthful, unvegetated dunes are on the move as the sand, exposed to the prevailing wind, is picked up, transported, and redeposited repeatedly. When the dunes become vegetated, they stabilize and tend to remain unchanged for a time. If the dunes lose the protective vegetation, they will move again. This can be seen along US Route 6 in Provincetown, where once stable dunes are advancing on the forest and highway and are filling Pilgrim Lake." (Oldale, 1998)
Wild Sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) of the Ginsing Family, grows on the forest floor throughout Eastham. The individual plants grow to 15 inches. The compund leaf has 3 leaflets at the tip (looking a bit like poison ivy) and two more opposite leaflets further down the stalk. It turns a lovely yellow in the fall. The plant was used to make a refreshing drink. In our woods they look like a crowd of Munchkins. -- Sarsaparilla leaves -- Sarsaparilla in woods
Scientific classification is how scientists categorize and name plants and animals. Generally only the genus and species are used to identify a plant or animal. The scientific or latin name for coyote, for example, is Canis latrans.
Example: Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
Kingdom: Animalia (many cells, ingest food, from fertilized egg)br>
Pylum: Chordata (has spinal cord)
Class: Mammalia (warm-blooded, 4-chambered heart, milk glands)
Order: Cetacea (mammals that live completely in the water)
Suborder: Mysticeti (have baleen filters in mouth)
Family: Balaenidae (pleats around throat)
Genus: Balaenoptera (closley related species)
Species: musculus (only individuals of the same species can interbreed)
Example: lion (Panthera leo) -- Kingdom: Animalia (animals); Phylum: Chordata (vertebrate animals); Class: Mammalia (mammals); Order: Carnivora (meat eaters); Family: Felidae (all cats); Genus: Panthera (great cats); Species: leo (lions).
Example: human beings (Homo sapiens) -- Kingdom: Animalia; Phylum: Chordata; Subphylum: Vertebrata; Class: Mammalia; Order: Primates; Family: Hominidae; Species: Homo sapiens
Seaside Lavender (Limonium carolinianum) grows along the edge of the salt marsh. It keeps it's red color well into the fall. See a lot of it on the Nauset Marsh trail, and the Goose Pond Trail at the Audubon. Don't pick it. Image
Shadbush, Serviceberry, or Oblongleaf Juneberry (Amelanchier canadensis), a shrub or small tree which may grow to 25 feet. Clusters of white flowers with 5 long narrow petals bloom in early spring before most leaves appear. Small (1/2 inch) dark edible fruits (red at first, then purple) appear in June and later. Swamps and fresh water marshes, and also uplands. Dotted throughout the area. Labelled on the Audubon trails.
Sadly there are almost no shells now found on the Eastham beaches. There used to be many.
LINKS:
Assateague Naturalist -
Many of the shells illustrated in this Assateague
Island site are also common on Cape Cod.
Magnificent view of Nauset Marsh and the 2 mile distant Coast Guard Station. There is a shelter, benches, and exhibit panels describing marsh life and Champlain's visit in 1605. The "sharpening rock", used by the Nauset Indians to sharpen stone tools and bone fishhooks, was hoisted from the marsh edge to the hilltop some years ago. Reached by the Fort Hill and Red Maple Swamp trails.
The Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis) grow up to 30 inches long, including the 10 inch tail. When it arches its back, raises its tail, stamps its front feet, and shuffles backward, it's wise to heed the warning. Few animals other than large owls prey on skunks. They eat plants and insects and sometimes stop beneath our bird feeder at dusk. They spend the winter in a den, coming out to forage on warmer days.
Snakes found in Eastham: Eastern garder snake, Eastern ribbon snake, Northern ringneck snake, Black racer, Eastern hognose snake. We've seen Black racer and Garter snakes. There are poisonous rattlesnakes and copperheads in Masschusetts but not on Cape Cod. There are 24 species of reptiles and amphibians that live their lives on Cape Cod.
See: AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF CAPE COD NATIONAL SEASHORE," by Robert P. Cook, Wildlife Biologist Cape Cod National Seashore
From: Geology Fieldnotes: CCNS --
"The soils on the lower Cape are relatively young, having formed since the end of the last glaciation approximately 16,000 to 18,000 years ago. They exhibit only slight alteration of the original parent sand and gravel material and are well drained (U.S. Soil Conservation Service, 1993). Depth of soils on the Cape range from just a few inches in new dune and beach areas of the Province Lands to several feet in others; however, average depth is less than 6 inches. The soil on lower Cape Cod is predominantly a podzol, characteristic of climates that are both cold and humid. Cold temperatures inhibit bacteria and promote frost action, while humid conditions leach water soluble materials downward and support the growth of a vegetative cover (U.S. Soil Conservation Service, 1993; Oldale, 1992). A podzol soil profile typically consists of an upper organic layer undergoing decay, a middle layer of mixed humus and mineral grains, and a lower layer of mostly mineral grains (Oldale, 1992). The historic cultivation and burning of the land on the lower Cape, the associated current abundance of conifers, and the near shore ammonium loss through cation exchange with sea salts create acidic and nutrient poor soil conditions which contribute to stunted vegetative growth (Barnstable County Soil Survey, 1993; Brownlow, 1979; Blood et al., 1991; Valiela et al., 1997)".
"Soil type on the Cape is very important because it has a direct relationship to the rate at which infiltrating waters are purified. Soils which are coarse and sandy are highly permeable and allow effluent waters to travel quickly over large distances. Low organic matter and clay content provide little contaminant removal through soil sorption or cation exchange. Low organic content of the soils also decreases bacterial immobilization of nutrients as well as denitrification of nitrate-nitrogen. As a result, Cape Cod ground water is susceptible to contamination (Brownlow, 1979). "
Squirrel is a common name for many rodents belonging to
the same family as the woodchuck, chipmunk, and prairie dog.
Grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) are everywhre in
Eastham. We see red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
and a few blond squirrels,
which are rumored to be a cross between grey and red. Could be.
Eastern gray squirrels are found throughout the eastern
United States. They live mainly in trees, and their food
is largely vegetable (especially nuts, seeds, and buds),
although they occasionally eat insects. Their habit of
storing seeds helps in the dispersion of trees and other
plant forms. Tree squirrels do not hibernate, but they
stay inside during bad weather. They mate twice a year,
occasioning fights and other noisy activity.
Males play no role in raising the young. Image source:
photo Russell Smith, Squirrel Almanac. -
Image
LINKS: The Swamp Loostrife or Water Willow
(Decodon Verticillatus) is a shrub
that grows in shallow freshwater ponds,
pond edges, and swamps. There is a lot of it in
the Red Maple Swamp. Thin, vertical, arching
stalks up to 8 feet long may dip down and re-root;
2-5 inch, narrow, pointed leaves,
opposite and not toothed;
small pink to purple (magenta)
flowers in clumps along stalk. Grows to 4 feet. Also called
Swamp Oleander.
[Whatley 24] - Image
Sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia) is a 3
to 8 foot shrub of the White Alder family.
The peppercorn-like flowers are spiked clusters of small white
fragrant blossoms which appear in August and September.
Found throughout Eastham, in yards, and in quantity
along the boardwalk in the Red Maple Swamp. [Whatley 17]
- Image
The Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense Scop.) or Creeping Thistle, is considered a
pernicious weed. Grows 1-5 feet, with numerous small pale lilac flowers.
- Image
Thoreau, Henry David. Cape Cod, 1865.
(copies in the Eastham Library's Cape Cod
Collection)
There is an excellent brief film based on Thoreau's
book which is shown regularly at the Salt Pond
Visitor Center.
From "Virtual Cape Cod" Web Site: "Between 1849 and 1857,
a relatively unknown
Henry David Thoreau made four walking tours of
Cape Cod in Southeastern Massachusetts, two
accompanied by Ellery Channing and two alone.
These excursions formed the basis for a series
of talks and essays that were not published
together in book form until 1865, three years
after Thoreau's death." From "Thoreau's Cape
Cod, an interactive tour in words, photographs,
sound, and video."
- Portrait
Tides are ocean surface waves of very long wavelength caused by the gravitational attraction of the Earth, the Sun, the Moon and by the Earth's rotation, specifically the imbalance of gravitational attraction and centrifugal force. Tides range from 8 ot 12 feet around Cape Cod. There are roughtly two high and two low tides each day. High and low move ahead approximately 45 to fifty minutes per day. Add about 1 1/2 hours to high or low tide at
Salt Pond because it takes time for water to flow through Nauset Marsh in and out to the ocean.
Maximum tides, or Spring Tides, occur when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are approximately in a straight line. Minimum tides, called Neap Tides, occur when earth and sun are 90 degrees apart when viewed from the earth and their gravitational attractions partially cancel out. They are about 20% above or below average tides.
LINKS: The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly can be identified its large size and bright yellow color with black tiger stripes. Male tiger swallowtails have a few orange and blue spots near the tail.
Image
We see tracks in the snow and mud. We once saw something in the snow that looked like the track of a large python. We were told it was probably a river otter slide. The first time we saw wild turkey tracks in the snow we thought someone was fooling around, making fake dinosaur tracks. -- Some animals seem to like to deposit their scat in the middle of the trail. There are detailed books on tracks and scat for sale at the National Seashore Visitor's Center.
Coyote tracks: are pointed or oval-shaped with four toes (dog tracks are more compact and rounded), have claw prints, and have a hind print that is smaller than the front track. The larger front foot has a much larger pad than the smaller rear foot. Coyote tracks tend to follow a straight path across open areas while dogs and foxes will wander or follow the landscape.
Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) is a non-native, from Eastern Asia. Smooth gray bark, pinnate leaves
from 1 to 3 feet with 11 to 41 3 to 5 inch leaflets. Disagreeable odor, rapid growing, hardy, invasive. There is a stand near the beginning of the Bike Trail to Coast Guard Beach, where it touches the Buttonbush Trail. Gets its name from its height, to 100 feet.
Leaves: Image
Shape: Image
Most of the woodland in Eastham is Pitch Pine, White Oak, Black Oak,
Bear Oak, Red Cedar, Black Locust, and Black Cherry. There are Red Maples and Tupelo or Sour Gum in the Red Maple Swamp. In the older, southern parts of Eastham there are Maples and other large shade trees. The wonderful big tree on the road to Fort Hill is a Poplar. There are several venerable Elms on Locust Road in the Historic District. There is a stand of Tree of Heaven on the Nauset Marsh trail. Oaks tend to drive out the pines. Many Eastham oaks are afflicted with Gypsy Moth caterpillers. See entries for most of these trees.
The Eastham 1651 Arboretum is being planted in Wiley Park to resemble the woods when the first settlers arrive.
Native trees will include, for example: oaks, pines, sassafras, beech, juniper, birch, holly, ash, and walnut.
The woods were mostly open without much undergrowth. The Indians annually burned out the brush that grew in the forests. See: Natural Communities of Cape Cod and History of Cape Cod Forrests
The Tufted Titmouse (Parus bicolor) is usually found in flocks of 3-8 birds and often associated with chickadees. 5 1/2".
- Image
A small grove of 90 foot Tupelo (Nyssa aquatica), or Sour Gum, or Black Gum (Nyssa salvatica)
is found in the moist soil of the Red Maple Swamp. Grey brown bark is patterned with small rectangular blocks. Egg-shaped leaves 2-5 inches long. Leaves, egg-shaped, not-toothed, turn scarlet in the fall. Produces dark blue half-inch fruit, eaten by many birds. The dead wood rots easily. It is cross-grained and difficult to split but very dense and once used for mallets. TO 100 FEET.
The Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is more slender than the domestic turkey. It was promoted by Benjamin Franklin as our national bird. He pointed out that the Bald Eagle was principally a carrion eater. Some Native American tribes considered Turkeys not too bright and avoided eating them for fear this could be catching. Turkeys are polygamous. We saw a group of 8, two adults and 6 adolescents on the Nauset March trail in mid-summer 2002, 25 in the Doane Rock parking lot in 2003, 30 or more in the road to Coast Guard Beach, Dec 2007.- Image
The Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)is a large carrion eating bird, length 25", wingspread 72". Soars in wide circles, holding wings in a "v" and rocking from side to side. One was pointed out to us by a birdwatcher at Small's Swamp in Truro.
-- Image
There are a number of marine (sea) turtles that are occasionally seen on Eastham shores: Leatherback, Green, Loggerhead, Hawksbill, and Kemp-Ridley. Snapping and Painted turtles are seen in ponds. The Diamondback terrapin and Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina) are seen.
-- Eastern Box Turtle
Vernal pools are small ponds that mostly dry up in the summer. There are hundreds on Cape Cod and many in Eastham. They are fullest in Spring and host a unique biodiversity, including spadefoot toads, wood frogs, yellow spotted salamanders, fairy shrimp, caddis flies, and fingernail clams. They are good indicators of groundwater level and pollution. See seveal along the Nauset Marsh trail.
There is a good deal of Crown Vetch or Axseed (Coronilla varia) along the National Seashore trails. This is the same plant that is used as ground cover along the nation's highways. There are cloverlike clusters of pink and white flowers and leaves with small paired leaflets. There is a lot of Cow Vetch (Vivia cracca) along the Fort Hill trail. This has leaves with 8-12 pairs of leaflets and many blue-violet flowers on long 1-sided spikes.
Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is a
vine which can climb high in trees. Also called
Woodbine and American Ivy. The leaves have 5
leaflets. They turn brilliant orange red in the fall, when
the plant has bunches of dark blue berries.
[Whatley 29]. -
Image
Salt Pond Visitor Center of the Cape Cod National
Seashore provides maps, interpretive
displays, an information desk, a theater showing
a series of brief films about the Cape, rest rooms,
a fascinating small museum, and a gift shop.
Nature walks and other programs are regularly
scheduled. (508) 255-3421.
The Nauset Marsh trail begins here, as does the
Buttonbush Trail for the blind.
LINKS: Voles are small rodents that resemble mice but with thicker bodies, short tail, and smaller eyes and ears.
The actually look much like hairy cigar butts with legs. Voles live in grass tunnels and underground borrows and eat plants and insects. They live 3-12 months. Ratty in Wind in the Willows is an English vole. There are lots of voles around, but you rarely see them. You occasionally see one run across the road.
- Image
From: Geology Fieldnotes: CCNS -
"The thick, glacial sand and gravel outwash plain of the lower Cape can be thought of as a huge sponge with a large capacity for water storage. Precipitation on the land surface easily percolates down through the soil until it comes to a level saturated with water. This level is the water table. Pore space above the water table, where water and air mix, is known as the unsaturated zone. Below the water table is the ground water or saturated zone, where all pore space is completely filled by water."
"The outwash deposits present by far the best opportunities for ground water development on the lower Cape. They are not only thick, but consist of sand and gravel which has high hydraulic conductivities of 100 to 500 feet per day and provides excellent well yields."
"Thousands of years of melting glacial water and precipitation have built up four distinct subsurface reservoirs of fresh ground water hundreds of feet thick on the lower Cape. Since fresh water is less dense than salt water, rain infiltrating the subsurface rests atop and depresses the surface of the salt water. In each of the lower Cape's four aquifers, a lensshaped body of fresh water exists, which is thickest at its center. A vertical cross section of the lower Cape's aquifers would show that the fresh and salt waters meet on a surface that starts near the shoreline and slopes steeply down below the center of the peninsula from both sides (Figure 2.5). The upper surface of the freshwater lens, defined by the water table, is convex up and the lower surface, defined by the fresh water-salt water interface, is convex down. The maximum thickness of fresh water, therefore, is toward the center of each lens (Oldale, 1992). The top of the aquifer is marked by the water table and the bottom by the contact between fresh and salt water (depth to bedrock on the lower Cape is far below the deepest extent of fresh water). "
"For example, in Wellfleet, water levels in the ponds are about 8 feet above sea level, and fresh ground water extends to about 320 feet below sea level. Freshwater lenses are as much as 200 feet thick in Truro, 250 feet thick in Wellfleet, and 275 feet thick in Eastham (Oldale, 1992)." " Ground water flows slowly and radially from higher areas to lower areas down-gradient towards the perimeter of the aquifer where it finally discharges to the sea, salt water bays, inlets, canals and streams (Figure 2.5) (Oldale, 1992; Strahler, 1966)."
Most waves are generated by wind. The size of the wave is determined by the strength of the wind, how long it blows, and the distance it blows over the water. Large storms at sea cause most of the swells which break on the beach. As waves approach a coast, when the depth of the water is less than half the wave-length of the wave (distance between peaks), the wave begin to interact with the sea bottom. The wave shoals or slow down, wave-length decreases, the wave hieght sinks and then rises until the wave becomes unstable and breaks and spills (on a shallow beach) or breaks and plunges and is reflected back out to sea (on a steep beach). Spilling waves such as are found on Cape Cod beaches are good for surfing.
Plunging breakers are dramatic and do the most damage. When waves break over nearshore bars, they generate a current parallel to the shore which eventually turns seaward forming a rip channel. The water in a rip current moves faster than an average person can swim. Swim along the shore, because rip channels are usually narrow. [Fox 142]
Weasels (Mustella sp.) grow 6 to 14 inches, with light-brown upper coat, white belly, black tail-tip. Long, slender bidies let them follow prew into burrows. They poke small holes into eggs and eat the yoke. We saw a weasel near Coasst Guard Beach. It poked its head out of a hole in the snow, saw us, and disappeared.
- Image
"Cape Cod weather is Appallachian. Meaning that we have the same weather pattern on the Cape as the Appallachias have down to north Georgia. We are about twenty degrees cooler in the summer than the mainland and twenty degree warmer in the winter. The ocean does it. That also means we have a long spring warmup as the ocean slowly warms and a long fall cool down.
In summer, at night and on the water or on the beach the temperature can drop to the fifties (or water temp) and the humidity rise to 100%. It is often foggy in the early summer morning as the water cools and condenses the warm land air along the shore.
The prevailing wind is from the southwest at about 14 knots. That makes the Cape about the third windiest place in the country. Such wind is mitigated or advanced by the onshore breeze of a warming landmass or the offshore flow of a clear and cooling night. [But sometime the pollution which has been held off by the thermal falls at night.]
Fall is lingering, warm and gentle, and possibly the finest season on the Cape. Water remains warm enough to swim in until November, and the days are sixties and nights fifties. If we don't get a Hurricane or Nor'Easter, this is the place to be.
Winter begins about Thanksgiving. Sub-freezing temperatures are rare during the day on the Cape in winter, though the wind can make it feel so. So chilly nights and cool days are the rule from November to March. If it snows, it rarely holds for more than a few days and rarely amounts to more than a few inches. [But we had a 3 foot snow in 2004]
Spring lingers cool and grey for a long time while the ocean warms [40 degrees for three months]. The Sound and Bay warm up for the bather by June, but the Atlantic is brisk." From: Cape Cod Outdoors
LINKS: Weeds have been said to be any plant that you don't
want in your lawn or garden. David Quammen, in "Planet of
Weeds" (Harpers Magazine) points out that in ecological usage
"weedy" species include both plants and animals and have these
characteristics: "They reproduce quickly, disperse widely when
given a chance, tolerate a fairly wide range of habitat conditions,
take hold in strange places, succeed especially in disturbed
ecosystems, and resist eradication once they're established."
Pigeons, rats, cockroaches, dandelions, and kudzu fit the description, as
do local species such as bittersweet and common reed,
and, as Quammen points out, "Homo sapiens itself
is the consummate weed."
Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) Geraniaceae. Grows 1 to 2 feet on shady roadsides.
5-part hairy leaves. Lavender, purple, pink or white flowers. Patches near the Coast Guard
end of the bike trail.
- Image
Local Wildflowers found at Samuel Hawes Park.
P=PETERSON -WILDFLOWERS NORTHEASTERN/NORTH-CENTRAL NORTH AMERICA
COMMON NAMES - BOTANICAL NAMES - COLOR - REFERENCES and PAGES
Common Winterberry (Ilex verticillata), or Black Alder, is of
the Holly family. A shrub growing in shallow swamps, it has
bright red berries in the Fall. See a large stand
surrounding an overgrown
kettle pond on the Nauset Marsh trail. "...the red alder berry glows
like the eyes of imps..." [Thoreau, Walden]. Image: USDA Plants
Database. -
Image
Wood anemones (Anemone quinquefolia) are low (4" to 8"), delicate early-spring flowering plants that grow in moist
woodlands. They produce a single very small flower
with 5 white sepals. The 3-bladed leaves are
deeply cut and can look like 5 blades.
Blooms in the spring. See along the Red Maple Swamp boardwalk. From Wikipedia: "It is a perennial herbaceous plant, growing in early spring to 10-30 cm tall, and dying back down to the root-like rhizomes by mid summer. The rhizomes, that spread just below the earth surface, grow quickly, contributing to its rapid spread in woodland conditions, where it can carpet large areas. The flower is 1-2.5 cm diameter, with five (occasionally four, or six to nine) petal-like segments (actually tepals). The flowers are white, commonly flushed pinkish.
Leaves are deeply lobed with toothed margins."
- Image
SOIL
SQUIRREL
Squirrel World
SWAMP LOOSTRIFE
SWEET PEPPERBUSH
CANADA THISTLE
HENRY DAVID THOREAU
TIDES
Cape Cod Tide Charts
New England Tide Charts
TIGER SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY
TRACKS and SCAT
TREE OF HEAVEN
TREES
TUFTED TITMOUSE
TUPELO
TURKEY
TURKEY VULTURE
TURTLES
VERNAL POOLS
VETCHES
VIRGINIA CREEPER
VISITOR CENTER
Visitors Center
VOLE
WATER
WAVES
WEASEL
WEATHER
Eastham Weather - Cape Cod Today.
WEEDS
WILD GERANIUM
WILDFLOWERS
A=AUDUBON -AUDUBON SOCIETY FIELD GUIDE TO NORTH AMERICAN WILDFLOWERS
N=NEWCOMB-NEWCOMB'S WILDFLOWER GUIDE by Lawrence Newcomb
V=The Vascular Plants of Massachusetts: A County Checklist by Bruce A. Sorrie Paul Somero
Arbutus, Trailing; Mayflower Epigaea repens N Pink N 198 P 236V 55
Aster, bushy a Aster dumosus N Blue N 458 P 360, A 359, V 20
Aster, flat topped white Aster umbellatus N White N 462 P 96 A 365V 22
Aster, late purple,Skydrop, clasping Aster patens N Purple N 460 P 356 V 21
Aster, narrow leafed white topped Sericocarpus linifolius(asteroides,v) N White N 202 P 96V21
Aster, purple stemmed, Bristly or Swamp Aster puniceusN Blue N 456 P 356 V 21
Aster, sickle-leaved golden Chrysopsis falcata N Yellow N 366 P 108 V30
Aster, small white Aster vimineus N White N 458 P 96 V30
Aster, stiff Aster linariifolius N Blue N 458 P 360 V28
Aster, toothed white topped Seriocarpus asteroides N 210 P 94
Bedstraw, Clayton's Galium tinctorium N N 126 V94
Bedstraw, Marsh Galium palustre N N 152 V93
Beggar Ticks, Swamp, Purplestem Bidens connata N N 440P 168 V22
Bishopsweed, Mock Ptilimnium capillaceum N N 220P 48 V16
Blue-eyed Grass, Eastern Sisyrinchium atlanticum N N 332 P 326 V120
Boneset Eupatorium perfoliatum N N 434 P 46 V25
Bugleweed, Northern Lycopus uniflorusN N90 P78 V68
Butter & Eggs Linaria vulgarisI N 48P 104 V98
Chicory Cichorium intybusI N 382 P 362 A 372 V23
Cinqufoil, common Potentilla simplex N N 240 P 134 A 749 V 90
Cinqufoil, Rough Fruited, Sulpher Potentilla rectaI N 240 P 134 A 753 V 90
Cleavers (SEE GRASS)
Clover, Hairy Bush Lespedeza hirta N N 64P 80 V60
Clover, Least Hop Trifolium dubium I N 68 P 150 A 540 V61 5/28/1997
Clover, Rabbit-foot Trifolium arvense I N 60 P 246 A 541 V61
Clover, Red Trifolium pratenseI N 60 P 246 A 541 V61
Clover, Round headed Bush Lespedeza capitata N N 64P 80 A 531 V 59
Clover, Violet Bush Lespedeza violacea N N 64 V60
Clover, Yellow Sweet Melilotus officinalisI N 58 P 150 A 534 V 60
Cow Wheat Melampyrum lineareN N 76 P 124 A 790 V 98
Daisy, Fleabane Erigeron annuus N N 382 P 94 V25
Dock, Curled Rumex crispus I N 404 P 380 A 709 V22
Everlasting, Sweet Gnaphalium obtusifolium N N 402 P 90A381V26
Frostweed Helianthum canadense N N 186P 142 A466 V50
Gentian, Plymouth Sabatia kennedyanaN N 386 P 220 V64
Gerardia, small flowered Gerardia agalinis N N268 P 254 V97
Gerardia, Purple Gerardia purpurea N N 254P 268V 97
Goldenrod, Downy Solidago puberula N 254P 268V 97
Goldenrod, Gray Solidago nemoralis N N 446P 194V32
Goldenrod, Lance Leafed Solidago graminifolia N (euthamia V) N 450P 202
Goldenrod, Late Solidago giantea N N 448P 190V32
Goldenrod, Rough Stemmed Solidago rugosa N N 448 P 192 V32
Goldenrod, Showy Solidago speciosa(not native cc/I) P198 V32
Goldenrod, Slender Fragrant Solidago tenuifolia N (euthamia V) N 450 P 202 A403 V26
Hawkweed, Field (King Devil) Hieracium pratenseI N 360 P 174V27
Hawkweed, Hairy Hieracium gronoviiN N368 P 174V28
Hawkweed, Mouse Ear Hieracium pilosellaI N 360 P 174V28 5/27/1997
Horseweed Erigeron canadensis N (conyza) N 384 P 376V24
Hyssop, Golden Hedge Gratiola aurea N N 124 P 123V98
Hyssop, Hedge Nettle Stachys hyssopifolia N N 80P 280V70
Indgo, Wild Baptisia tinctoriaN N 58P 150 V58
Indian Pipe Monotropa uniflora N N 172 P 232 V74
Iris, Yellow Water Iris pseudacorus I (not CC) N 120P 100 V 120 no CC 5/28/1997
Jewelweed, Spotted touch me not Impatiens capensis N N 54P 208 V34
Knapweed, Brown Centaurea jaceaI N 210 P 306V23
Knapweed, Spotted Centaurea maculosa I (biebersteinii) N 306 P 306V23
Ladies Tresses, Early or Spring Spiranthes vernalis N N 26 P 18 V127
Ladies Tresses, Slender Spiranthes gracilisN N 26 P 18 V127
Ladies Tresses,White Nodding Spiranthes cernuaN N 26 P 18 V127
Lettuce, Prickly Letuca scariola I (serriola) N 370P 172 V29
Lily of the Valley Maianthemum canadense N P 66 V124
Loosestrife, Swamp; Water Willow N 78 P 324
Loosestrife, Whorled Lysimachia quadrifolia N N 266 P 140 V83
Meadow Beauty, Maryland; Deergrass Rhexia marianaN N 160P220 V74
Milkweed, Common Asclepias syriaca N N 264 P 294 V18
Milkweed, Purple Asclepias purpurascens N N 262 P 294 V18
Milkwort, rancemed Polygala polygamaN N264 P 244V80
Nightshade
Orange Grass or Pineweed Hypericum gentianoides N N 172 P 232 V51
Phlox, Moss ground pink Phlox subulata (not listed I or P CC) P 222, 322 V80
Pickerelweed Pontederia cordata N N 50P 316 V141
Pimpernel, Poor Man's Weather Glass Anagallis arvensis N 270P264
Pinesap, False Beechdrops Momotropa hypopithys N N 172P122, 232, 392 V74
Pink, Deptford Dianthus armeria I N 258 P 222V45
Pipewort, Common Eriocaulon septangulare (E.aquaticum) N N 398 V120
Pipewort, Common a Eriocaulon septangulare
Poison Ivy Rhus radicans (Toxicodendron r.) N N 320 V14
Pokeweed Phytolacca americana N N 200P 60 V78
Primrose, Evening (common) Oenothera biennis N N 134 P 106, 156 V77
Pyrola, Lesser Pyrola minor (not in MA) N 178P 26
Pyrola, Round leafed, Shinleaf Pyrola rotundifolia (p. americana)N N 178P 26V84
Queen Ann'a Lace Daucus carota I N 220P 48V15
Ragweed, Common Ambrosia artemisiifolia N 438P 374
Rose, Multiflora Rosa multiflora N 318P 256
Sand Spurrey Spergularia rubre N 272P 264
Sarasparilla Aralia nudicaulis N 182 A 345
Selfheal or Heal All Prunella vulgaris N 78 P 350
Smartweed, Nodding, Pale or Dock-leaved Polygonum lapathifolium N 190P 276
Sow Thistle, Spiny-leaved Sonchus asper N 370P 178
Spearwort, Water Plantain Rununculaceae ambigens N 206P 276
St. Johnswort Hypericum perforatum N 268P 138
St. Johnswort, Dwarf Hypericum multilum N 268P 138
Star Flower Triantalis borealis N 386 P 22
Sundue, round leafed Drosera rotundifolia N 174P 232V54
Sundue, spatulate leaved Drosera intermedia N 174P 20V54
Sunflower, Thin-leafed or Forest Helianthus decapetalus N 388P 182 V26
Thistle, Bull Cirsium vulgare I N 430P 302 V24
Thistle, Spiny-leaved Sonchus asper I N 370 P 110,178V32
Tickseed, Pink Coreopsis rosea N N 386 P 308
Toadflax, Blue Linaria canadensis N 386P 308 V24
Vetch, Narrow-leaved Vicia angustifolia; v sativa I N 114 P252V62
Vetch, slender Vicia tetraspermaI n 144
Violet, Lance-leafed Viola lancelota N 28P 24 5/28/1997
Water Lily, White/fragrant Nymphaea odorata N N 358 P 6 V75
Water-horehound,Northern;Common or Tuberous Lycopus uniflorus N 90P 78 V68
Willow Herb, Purple-leaved Epilobium coloratum N N 140P 270 V76
Willow, Water Justicia americana N 78P 324
Wintergreen, Spotted or Striped Chimaphila maculataN N 284P 26,234 V84
Wintergreen, Round -leafed Pyrola rotundifolia, pref americana N 284 P 26,234V84
Wood Sorrel, Yellow Oxalis stricta N N 246P 148 77V
Yarrow, White Achillea millefoliumI N 220P 44 V18
Yellow-eyed Grass Xyris iridifolia, X-torta N 116P 116 not listed V
WINTERBERRY
WOOD ANEMONES
