Stand outside on the warm nights of June, as spring folds into summer, and turn on a light. Soon enough you will hear the engine-like thrum and eventual collision of a June Beetle (sub family Melolonthinae) clumsily seeking the source of illumination. Keep the light on and hang a sheet to attract the multitudes of…
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Nantucket’s sandplain grasslands are upland plant communities unique to this region of North America. Once common along the northeastern seaboard, residential, and commercial development and succession to shrublands has all but eliminated these habitats from other coastal areas from Long Island, New York to coastal Maine. It is currently estimated that between 85-98% of the…
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Nantucket’s fauna is very unique – maybe more so for what is not here than for what we have. Numerous species that are common elsewhere in New England are missing from our assemblage of terrestrial wildlife, including chipmunks, possums, raccoons, skunks, fox, woodchucks, and coyotes. What we do have on Nantucket are several species of…
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*Please note, this blog post was originally published in The Inquirer and Mirror on July 21th 2016 pg 6B in the article series Island Ecology. The Foundation’s Science staff will be regularly contributing to our local newspaper and reprinting articles here the following week.* As we all know, Nantucket is unique in so many ways…
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New England Blazing Star (Liatris scariosa var. novae angliae) Flowering August-September Native to the northeastern United States, New England blazing star is a showy wildflower with star-like clusters of brilliant purple florets arranged on an upright stalk. Found only in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island this globally rare plant is…
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Turk’s Cap Lily (Lilium superbum) Flowering July-August Turk’s cap lily is a rare but spectacular sight in the Polpis area of Nantucket, where it grows in shrubby edge habitat. The ornate flowers are bright orange or red, tinged with yellow and spotted with dark speckles near the center, rising above the surrounding vegetation, which affords…
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