Atkins Flat
Date: September 6, 1998
Location: Atkins Flat, Amherst, Mass.
Plants seen: Bull Thistle (Cirsium vulgare);
Butter-and-eggs (Linaria vulgaris);
Common Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare);
Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis);
Silverrod (Solidago bicolor);
Turtlehead (Chelone glabra);
Notes: Atkins Flat is the low-lying field between Mt. Pollux and Lawrence Swamp.  The Amherst Conservation Commission has posted a sign at the entrance of the Lawrence Swamp trail, "Closed due to beaver activity," forcing me to shorten my walk.

Click to enlarge
bull_thistle~.jpg (10226 bytes) Bull Thistle (Cirsium vulgare).  Some of the thistles have already gone to down.
butter_and_eggs~.jpg (9151 bytes) Butter-and-eggs (Linaria vulgaris).  A member of the snapdragon family.
tansy~.jpg (11666 bytes) Common Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare).  It seems that many of the flowers I'm finding in bloom this time of year, including the tansy, are members of the aster family.
royal_fern~.jpg (11023 bytes) Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis).  Royal ferns supposedly like water "up to their knees," but Lawrence Swamp was  dry today.
unknown_vine~.jpg (8014 bytes) Vine (unknown).  I've seen a lot of this around the past couple of weeks, and I feel like I should know what it is.
WB00759_.gif (539 bytes)