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.
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).
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:
Text and photos by Fred Kahan