Urban Bears?

Black bear sighted in Concord, Mass.

The link above takes you to a Boston Globe story (very short) about the bear sighting. "Since this Spring, there have been four bear sightings in Concord." Possibly the same bear, or family of bears, I suppose. Concord is about twenty miles out of Boston, but the article describes it as "Greater Boston."

I have posted before on my feelings about urban bears. Long story short: I hope we can learn to live with them, cause they ain't goin' anywhere (their population is increasing, from low post-colonial numbers) and we're spreading into their neighborhoods.

Unknown weed

I've never seen this plant before, and suddenly it's blooming in three different locations at work. One "waste area" where a lot of clearweed (Pilea pumilagrows, one woody path edge recently invaded by garlic mustard, and one very woodsy area (though adjacent to what passes for a sidewalk in rural Lincoln).

Any guesses?

365 Urban Species. #209: Purslane

Photos by cottonmanifesto

Urban species #209: Purslane Portulaca oleracea

If you can't beat 'em, eat 'em. That could be the motto for those who find purslane taking over their garden. This succulent, subtropical weed is enjoyable raw or cooked, and has high nutritional value. It appears toward the end of summer, when other wild greens have become bitter. In the city it is an adventurous colonizer of sidewalk cracks and crevices along roads and paths. It has a distinctive, crabgrass-like growth habit, and thick paddle-shaped leaves. When mature, it produces small yellow flowers, but this observer finds these to be rare. (One source claims that the flowers "open only on sunny mornings." Perhaps I wake too late?) The plant is pollinated by the wind, therefore needing no particular animal partner to develop fruit. Purslane seed production is profuse, and the tiny seeds, blown on the wind or cast adrift in the stormflow of the gutter, find purchase in the most meager soil. Though the plant is native to subtropical Eurasia and North Africa, it is now found in cities and suburbs around the world.



(Also, knightchik took some pictures of her lawn's purslane, in flower: http://knightchik.livejournal.com/1783613.html)