My attention to the poison ivy did not prevent me from finding a new mystery flower in the woods Friday, though the abundance of bugs almost stopped me from getting a photograph. The bugs usually ignore me as long as I keep moving. The second I stop, they’re all in my face looking for a snack. I had only enough time to take a couple of serendipity shots and then skedaddle.
A “serendipity shot” is what I call it when I put the camera near something, let the auto focus do its thing, and then snap the shot without any idea of how it’s going to come out. Sometimes this method produces beautiful pictures and sometimes not. This time, I shot upward, which allowed me to take advantage of the light still in the sky. This is the best of the three shots that I took.
The focus isn’t perfect, but you can see that the plant has clusters of yellow flowers and in the center of each flower there are radiating orange parts or lines. It also appears to have a woody stem, which seems likely, since the plant looked shrublike to me. Whatever it is, it’s pretty. But what is it called? My best guess is in the comments.
I think this is common barberry. If I’m right, then the berries will be edible (yum!). But also difficult to harvest because barberry has thorns (ouch!). Hmm. I’ll just leave the berries for the birds.
One of the things that I found interesting as I looked at pictures online is that common barberry is on the list of invasive plants banned in CT. Also on the list are things like ground ivy, Japanese honeysuckle, and oriental bittersweet. Yeah, good luck with that ban. Those are plants I know well, having encountered them first in childhood and routinely since. I think it’s safe to say they are firmly entrenched. Given how common those “banned” plants are, I expect to see barberry again in many other places.