RED SKY IN THE MORNING
WOODBINE, PARTHENOCISSUS VITACEAE
...CLIMBS BY TINY TENDRILS AND TWISTING VINES
A BAYFIELD GOLDEN ROAD
COUNTRYSIDE IS BEAUTIFUL BUT MORE MUTEDWednesday, 7:30 AM. 57 degrees, wind NW, brisk. The barometer still predicts rain and the sky is pink in the east.
One of the most colorful plants of fall is the Virginia creeper or woodbine, which I have described earlier. I had called it Parthenocissus quinquefolia, and Betsy, a blog reader here in Bayfield who works for the Park Service thought it to be P. vitaceae (synonym inserta). The two species overlap in their ranges, the main difference being the former climbs by tiny adhesive discs, the latter by tendrils. One must look closely to see the difference, which Betsy did, and she is correct.
The red oaks are mostly coloring bronze this year and many red maples have turned golden yellow like the sugar maples. So, the overall effect is somewhat muted, lacking the more brilliant reds and scarlets. I think it is because few nighttime temperatures have approached freezing. Fall colors are very unpredictable, which makes them all the more fascinating.
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