Although I didn’t really know what the flowers/tree in the last two posts were I’m fairly certain that I know what this is: A Magnolia, and a pretty spectacular one at that. It stands next to a house on Route 9.

According to Wikipedia:

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol.

Magnolia is an ancient genus. Appearing before bees did, the flowers are theorized to have evolved to encourage pollination by beetles. To avoid damage from pollinating beetles, the carpels of Magnolia flowers are extremely tough. Fossilised specimens of M. acuminata have been found dating to 20 million years ago, and of plants identifiably belonging to the Magnoliaceae date to 95 million years ago. Another aspect of Magnolia considered to represent an ancestral state is that the flower bud is enclosed in a bract rather than in sepals; the perianth parts are undifferentiated and called tepals rather than distinct sepals and petals. Magnolia shares the tepal characteristic with several other flowering plants near the base of the flowering plant lineage such as Amborella and Nymphaea (as well as with many more recently derived plants such as Lilium).

The natural range of Magnolia species is a disjunct distribution, with a main centre in east and southeast Asia and a secondary centre in eastern North America, Central America, the West Indies, and some species in South America.

Taken with a Sony Alpha 500 and Tamron A18 AF 18-250mm f3.5-6.3,

Once again I’m not really sure what kind of tree this is, but my wife (who knows much much more about flowers and flowering trees than I do) tells me its a flowering pear (Pyrus calleryana), described by Wikipedia as follows:

Pyrus calleryana, or the Callery pear, is a species of pear tree native to China and Vietnam, in the family Rosaceae. It is most commonly known for its cultivar ‘Bradford’, widely planted throughout the United States and increasingly regarded as an invasive.

Pyrus calleryana is deciduous, growing to 5 to 8 m (16 to 26 ft) tall, often with a conical to rounded crown. The leaves are oval, 4 to 8 cm (1.6 to 3.1 in) long, glossy dark green above, on long pedicels that make them flash their slightly paler undersides in a breeze. The white, five-petaled flowers are about 2 to 2.5 cm (0.79 to 0.98 in) in diameter. They are produced abundantly in early spring, before the leaves expand fully.

The inedible fruits of the Callery pear are small (less than one cm in diameter), and hard, almost woody, until softened by frost, after which they are readily taken by birds, which disperse the seeds in their droppings. In summer, the shining foliage is dark green and very smooth, and in autumn the leaves commonly turn brilliant colors, ranging from yellow and orange to more commonly red, pink, purple, and bronze.However, since the color often develops very late in autumn, the leaves may be killed by a hard frost before full color can develop.

Callery pears are remarkably resistant to disease or fireblight though some cultivars such as ‘Bradford’ are particularly susceptible to storm damage and are regularly disfigured or even killed by strong winds, ice storms, heavy snow, or limb loss due to their naturally rapid growth rate. The ‘Bradford’ in particular is also known for its sickly sweet, often unpleasant smell during its flowering stage.

The species is named after the Italian-French sinologue Joseph-Marie Callery (1810–1862) who sent specimens of the tree to Europe from China.

These trees are all over Ossining, including spectacular lines of them on either side of Main Street, giving the town a very cheery Spring feeling. I’ve never noticed them before. Are they recent plantings? Or is it just that I’ve never bee there at this time of year.

Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.

After a particularly cool and persistent start to Spring it was great to see the blossoms and flowers finally coming out. On the way to the Ossining waterfront we passed a large mass of these bright yellow flowers. I’m by no means an expert, but a little research on the internet leads me to think that they are Lesser Celandines (Ficaria verna), described by Wikipedia as follows:

Ficaria verna, (formerly Ranunculus ficaria L.) commonly known as lesser celandine or pilewort, is a low-growing, hairless perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae native to Europe and west Asia. It has fleshy dark green, heart-shaped leaves and distinctive flowers with bright yellow, glossy petals. It is now introduced in North America, where it is known by the common name fig buttercup and considered an invasive species. The plant is poisonous if ingested raw and potentially fatal to grazing animals and livestock such as horses, cattle, and sheep.For these reasons, several US states have banned the plant or listed it as a noxious weed. It prefers bare, damp ground and is considered by horticulturalists in the United Kingdom as a persistent garden weed. Emerging in late winter with flowers appearing March through May in the UK, its appearance across the landscape is regarded by many as a harbinger of spring.

I was at first shocked to read that it’s considered to be an invasive species in the US, but having reading about its toxic nature I’m no longer surprised.

Taken with a Sony RS-100 M3.