Phenology

Observations by Gary Fewless for Green Bay WI (Lat.N 44.51° Long. W 88.02° ), except as noted. For flowers lacking conspicuous petals or sepals I define "anthesis" as release of pollen by mature anthers.

September 2014

Date

Observation (Click on links for photos)

Sep 28

	Shaggy mane mushrooms are common in this season, and often occur in lawns where they are easiily seen.
	High temperatures the last 4 days have been unusually warm and weather has been quite mild for the last week. Sep 25 77° F Sep 26 77° Sep 27 80° Sep 28 80°

Sep 26

The leaves of our common blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) are bright red now in many areas of northeastern Wisconsin.

Sep 25

One conspicuous element of our northern forest is the group of fungi sometimes called bracket fungi, as in this photo of one on a dead beech tree.

Sep 24

The grass Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) is also very prominent this time of year as the fruits mature.

Sep 23

Another plant that is having good seed production this fall is white pine (Pinus strobus). This photo shows a couple of cones taken apart by red squirrels, who then ate the seeds.

Sep 21

	Dogbane (Apocynum sibiricum) is one of the brighter yellows among the fall leaves now.
	Green Bay received another 0.26 inches of rain today.

Sep 20

	Highbush cranberry (Viburnum trilobum) fruits are now ripe in our area. This shrub is not really a cranberry.
	Green Bay received 0.54 inches of rain today.

Sep 18

In general it seems to have been a poor year for larger fruits in northeastern Wisconsin, raspberries, cherries etc. There does seem to be a good crop of acorns in some areas though, as for these red oaks in Door County.

Sep 16

Among the many prominent asters and goldenrods in our area at this season, New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) is one of the showiest.

Sep 13

Green Bay's morning low temperature was 39° F today and Rhinelander to the northwest had a low of 29°. There was frost widely north of Green Bay, though not as hard as was feared. There was some frost yesterday too.

Sep 10

There are numerous fungi in the woods now, of a wide range of colors and shapes. I renew my annual plea to people not to eat wild mushrooms, unless you are fully trained in their identification. There are no easy ways to be certain that you know what species you have and the consequences of a mistake can be dangerous and even fatal. It's not worth it.

Sep 8

Fruit of bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) are conspicuously bright orange now. As they mature further the outer layer will split open and curl back, as shown in the "mature fruit" photo at the above link to bittersweet.

Sep 5

Strong thunderstorms moved through northeastern Wisconsin on Sep 4 and 5, with some initial strong winds that blew off many small branches and fewer trees, but thousands of people were left without electric power due to power line outages. Some local areas, as near Baileys Harbor in Door County, received up to about 6 inches of rain and there was some flooding of a magnitude not previously seen by long-term residents.