Thursday, April 14, 2011

Lonicera involucrata

Yesterday I paid a visit to Azalea State Reserve in McKinleyville. It's not far from where I go on Wednesdays to feed the horses from Heart of the Redwoods Horse Rescue, and the azaleas are supposed to start blooming around mid April. 
The buds are definitely more developed than they were on my last visit. In the photo above you can see the different stages of budding out that are taking place. Some plants at the reserve have leafed already, while others haven't, and a couple have bloomed. I'm really hoping there will be a good flush of bloom coming up and the whole place will look just spectacular.

I did find a few flowers, and they're pretty in the otherwise very drab landscape. This shot of the flower is probably one of my favorites from the day.   
While prowling around I also came across the bush pictured above. It stood out because it was one of the few green things along the path, and had those funny little flowers! A look at my plant guide tells me its Lonicera involucrata, black twinberry. It will eventually have black berries, but they aren't considered edible. Apparently the Kwakwaka'wakw people believe that eating the berries would leave a person unable to speak.


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