July 16
*Review of invasive issues was a treat esp. the glossy buckthorn--such an innocuous plant
*Finally! I learned how to distinguish low bush blueberry from young burning bush
*Loved the process of compiling questions then condensing them to help us focus on a project topic. A neat method to come to consensus while being mindful of people's contributions.

Brought the corpse of an autumn olive shrub I had gurdled in May-ish to class today. I thought I had cut it up good, but it kept on growing..."La-di-da! Didn't you hear? I'm an invasive--tough to impossible to kill!"  The old leaves were fragile looking and many had fallen off. But there was tremendous new growth. The new leaves were much larger and the cut I had made had started to both heal over and it sprouted eentsy little mouse ear leaves!!!  Since I cut it down this morning, I'm curious to see how the stump behaves.

Learned about the humble umbel family today. Delicate but deadly. Tom Lee explained that the hemlock used to kill Socrates came from the umbel family not the coniferous tree. The study of poisonous plants must be full of fascinating stories. I work with a woman who, on the word of a neighbor, cooked dinner using a mushroom found on their property. She inadvertently poisoned her whole family. Her young son died. We tend to forget how powerful plant toxins are.

The spot in the center looks like a tiny dark red set of petals--shaped differently than the rest of the flowers.