I have written in the past that something I treasure about Medford Leas is its proximity to undisturbed land. Let me share with you, lest it disappear in coming weeks, one such experience I had within walking distance. Go to the parking lot of the nearby WAWA on Church Rd. and start walking west on the left-hand shoulder. You will immediately encounter a house and on its front lawn these:
They are Eurasian Garden Stars of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbellatum; the bird part, Ornitho, is explained here along with a depiction of their appearance in a lost masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci.
A cluster of flowers is one thing, but a field of them is a spectacle! This is what you will see as you walk further west to the meadow next door.
The yellow flowers in the background are buttercups:
There are quite a few buttercup species, almost all European, to choose from. The reflexed sepals and hairy buds pointed to by arrows are field-marks of the Hairy Buttercup (Ranunculus sardous).
Walking west to the next pasture, this feast for the eyes:
This is a field of the European Crimson Clover (Trifolium incarnatum), a nitrogen-fixing, edible clover just like the familiar small ones.
And they do have shamrock leaves:
Interspersed are these tall yellow mustards. You can only speciate them from their basal leaves, and I was tick-unprotected at the time.
Do visit these two spectacles before they are succeeded by what we can hope are equally beautiful species!
Text and photos by Fred Kahan